Home
I know my kids will learn their ABCs and their shapes and their colors. Eventually. Right now I really want to stimulate a love of discovery and a fascination with play.
The latest issue of Cookie magazine has a wonderful feature on a Brooklyn preschool that puts its primary focus on nurturing children's imaginations. They study fine art. They take make-believe trips. They do interpretive dances with scarves while a visiting violinist plays tunes. There's nary a flashcard in sight.
I love the concept. But is this really "learning"?
"You get kids to learn by fostering their imaginations -- by encouraging them to bend the questions, to assume there's something more than the information given to them," Khahtee Turner, who founded the school, Studio Creative Play, told the magazine.
Want to spark your kid's imagination? Here are some suggestions Turner gave the magazine's readers:
_ First thing in the morning, ask your child what he dreamed of overnight. Ask him lots of questions: Where were you? Who was with you? And then draw a picture with captions to capture his dream.
_ When you're in the car, pretend you're in a vehicle with a special engine that can take you any place you can imagine. Ask where she wants to go. Space? The jungle? Back in time? Imagine out loud what you would see out the windows. "Look! There's an alien with three eyes!"
_ Stuck inside on a rainy day, create an indoor "sculpture garden" by collecting ordinary objects (shoes, books, toys, hair brushes, pillows) and aligning them along the floor in a creative arrangement. Name your creation and take a photo of it.
_ On your computer, ask your child about his favorite animal or a thing or place he'd like to see. Then do a Google image search and look at the photos with your child. Point out all the special details. Print out the pictures and hang them on his bedroom wall.
___
