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Made to Move!
When was the last time you got down on the floor and rolled around? Jumped like a frog? Danced like the wind? Climbed, spun or crawledaround? Probably not in a long time! For most adults we’ve forgotten howimportant movement is as a way of learning, exploring and understanding theworld and ourselves – this is especially true for young children. As anyone who has ever known a 3 to 5 year old they are made to MOVE!Education for Life defines the ages of 0-6 as the “physical years,” whenchildren are exploring and relating to the world primarily through theirbody and their senses. Preschoolers at Living Wisdom School get the chanceto move…
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“I like how things are right now!”
Our Middle School teacher, Matthew Fredrickson, shares a moment from his classroom. On what seemed like an ordinary Monday morning in our Middle School classroom, one of the sixth grade girls smiled cheerfully as she looked at me and said, “I like how things are right now!” For a moment, I didn’t comprehend her meaning. What, the stories? I wondered to myself. The children were crafting stories using their new vocabulary word list-nothing unusual for a Monday morning. The intent serenity of the room was occasionally, and thoughtfully, interrupted with questions about content, phrasing, grammar, or spelling. Smatterings of friendly chatter would follow for a minute or two until gradually,…
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Education for Life, Energy, Evenmindedness, Experiential learning, Focused Attention, Teaching Spiritual Principles
Raising Consciousness with Affirmations
One of our older students came to me expressing frustration about a difficult situation. Knowing this student and her learning process well, I suggested a positive affirmation. “How about, I am healthy, happy and whole?” “What’s whole?” she asked with a puzzled look. “It sounds like I’m a piece of pie or something”, she added. I laughed and said, “How about, I am healthy and happy?”. She replied, “That works,” and proceeded to say these words to herself and move through resolving the potential negativity of an everyday situation. A kindergarten mama shared a story of her child’s experience while receiving immunizations. She explained how her daughter was calm and…
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Joy Juice
At Living Wisdom, we use Conscious Discipline, the work of Dr. Becky Bailey, as a complementary tool in working with children. Two of our staff members attended a "Building Resilience in Classrooms" training with Dr. Becky Bailey this past October. Michelle Mall, our school secretary, was so inspired by the training that she's been sending out weekly emails to share...
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Everybody Gets to Play
Any game or activity initiated by students or teachers must include all who wish to participate. “Everyone Gets To Play” is a simple idea, but can be challenging for students to practice, and teachers often have to help find creative solutions. With help, most students are willing to include others when they see...
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The Power of Play
There’s a lot of talk lately about how much we learn through play. Research is showing the impact that free playtime (or the lack thereof) has on our kids, how they think and solve problems, and how they relate in community. Lately I’ve been interested in exploring how to integrate play into my curriculum...
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Calm and Focused Energy in the Classroom
One of the greatest puzzles facing teachers and parents today is how to teach students who can't seem to keep still, either with their bodies or their voices...
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Teaching to Make a Difference
This year, we have 3 interns at Living Wisdom School who are studying at Ananda College to become teachers. They have been spending 2 days a week in our classrooms observing and teaching a few lessons. In this post, one of the interns, Bardia Behmard, shares some of his reflection from the past 2 months. What is it that makes teachers want to teach? I have thought about this question for quite a while as I’ve been watching Living Wisdom teachers in action. Every Tuesday and Friday, (the days I come over to observe the classrooms) I try to answer this question. I notice a fire in the teacher’s eyes…
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Read Alouds and Energy
Reading aloud is a major part of Primary class time and I use picture books to spark interest in a new subject, to deepen understanding, or just to be silly. Lately, I’ve been exploring using read-alouds as a tool to shift energy in the classroom. One day, the students came in from a PE where there had been some conflict. Their hurt feelings carried over into the classroom and the endless he-said-she-said began as soon as they got in the room. One student curled up and wouldn’t say a thing except and occasional “no I didn’t!” at the top of her lungs. Communication had broken down, and aside from endless…
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Tonya’s Story
We want to add some stories from people who have attended Living Wisdom Schools; to hear about how this form of education has impacted the rest of their lives. This story is from Tonya Gorman, who was one of the very first students at the Living Wisdom School in Portland. These days, she is exploring Costa Rica. I went to the Living Wisdom School Portland (LWS) from 1st grade until 6th. During this time I learned many valuable skills. One skill I learned that I have been able to carry with me though my public high school years and now college is how to control myself and my emotions despite…
