ENCORE EPISODE: Spooky Stuff

Tom asks, how do we encourage children's agency? It seems like more than just offering choices. Mike defines agency as when you can affect your world.  What does it look like in simple classroom actions like using scissors or eating snack? Agency is not the same as independence. Tom asks us to consider where we find agency on our lives. Joey wonders if there is such a thing as too much agency? 

Maybe it's because he's been listening to too much Pink Floyd, but Ross says it's time to leave the kids alone. He doubles down on team stop helping so that children can feel empowered, trusted, and capable. Mike is reminded of toddlers doing clean up jobs with gym mats. Joey thinks adults are really bad at waiting. Tom believes that children are always looking for challenges.

As everyone is busy preparing costumes for Ross' favorite holiday, enjoy this episode from way back: Ross wants to talk about spooky stuff. Being faced with scary things, from monsters to giant potatoes, is a big part of childhood. Fear will pass (like all emotions), but what do children do when they have these feelings and how should adults respond? Originally recorded October 2019

Fall is busy and internet connections are not so good in rural Michigan. Until the group gets a few new episodes recorded, enjoy this one from way back in 2021: After a visit to the zoo, Tom wants to talk about boundaries. What can be learned about boundaries when children walk on the edge of the path? What gets lost if we only walk in the middle?

We often see restlessness as a problem, but what if we saw restlessness as a good quality? So many of our spaces for children don't support restlessness and so we've come to see restlessness as a bad thing. Restless children are the ones who discover new things. Restlessness can be a motivator for curiosity—boredom's cousin? The conversation takes a brief detour at the end to consider how children do or don't use pathways.

Turns out Tom, Ross, and Joey had more to say about children's confidence and how adults often (unintentionally) interrupt its development.

Ross is thinking about confidence. Does practice in one area translate to gains in confidence overall? Is it a trait that is already there for children or can we help it grow? Tom points out how giving encouragement can help someone be confident. "You got this!" Part of the art of teaching is figuring out what conditions different children need to feel confident to try things. Ross wonders if it's as simple as working alongside one another and keeping things fun. Joey mentions a recent critique she read of how too much adult interference in children's activities increases anxiety. The conversation winds up with a deep dive into the organization of block shelves.  

Parking cars for the MN State Fair has Tom thinking about spatial literacy. Skills built in childhood are very useful in adult life!

Watching children playing with driftwood at the beach has Joey thinking about classroom materials. Sometimes it all just feels like so much stuff! How do we balance simplicity and complexity? Tom reflects on intentionally empty bulletin boards. Mike recalls times of relfection while packing up materials at the end of an investigation.

Mike continues the conversation about physical literacy. How can we be encouraging and support learning, even if we don't have all the skills ourselves? Mike talks us through the early stages of stilt-walking as an example.