Aardvark Learning Center

There’s a story in today’s New York Times that kids in schools will skip free lunch because it’s not cool. Because somehow in this country being poor is shameful, and it’s better to not eat than it is to ‘admit’ that you’re poor.

Before I go on too long about it, here’s the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/education/01lunch.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

And I wonder, why aren’t WE ashamed?  Why aren’t we ashamed that there are families in this country who can’t afford to buy lunch.  Why aren’t WE ashamed that there are kids who are starving themselves?

Creativity Made Easy or

Simple Steps to Flex Your Child’s Creativity
We all know that creativity is a good thing: it helps children and adults see various points of view and solutions to problems, helps people adapt better to change, and is a great asset in school and professional settings.  But just how do we GET it?  There’s a class for math and a course in Spanish, but where do we learn creativity?  Here are some easy ways to build your child’s (and your own) creativity!

First, remember that creativity is like a muscle– we build strength gradually and need to exercise often.  Don’t get upset if your first fliers into creativity are not brilliant successes– we’re aiming for everyday creativity, not world-class art.
Second, turn off your critic.  Nothing stifles creativity like trying to do something “right”.  Your child will sense if you’re disappointed in their efforts or you own, so try to keep your eye on the prize: here it’s the process of creativity that counts, not the product at all.  Just by trying to be creative, you’re succeeding!
Third, stay loose.  The most creative ideas are often the ones that come when we’re most relaxed.

Now that you’re ready, here are some fun ways to practice creative thinking with your child.

• Ask for solutions.  Say you’re making dinner together and the macaroni spills on the floor.  Ask your child “I wonder what are some ways we could clean this up?”  Wait for answers beyond “the broom” and see what else you can come up with– maybe you could borrow an elephant to suck up the noodles, or pour hot water on the floor and cook them right there.  Once you’ve generated some fun and some practical ideas, ask your child to pick the best one.  You’ll learn a lot about his critical thinking AND his creativity.
• Take the long way home.  If you’re walking or driving somewhere that you go often, ask your child to suggest an alternate route.  See if there are other ways you might go, and then notice the differences together.  “I never knew this street had so many trees!” “Look at this– we never see the backside of this school”
• Play along: let your child lead the play sometimes and really get down there with them.  On the long way home, your child may decree one block “sideways walking” or may decide that the neighbors only speak “Blurb-ese”– walk sideways for a block and jibber away at your neighbors.  You may look silly for a moment, but your child will see that you value their ideas, and that you’re willing to build your own creativity muscles!
• Encourage curiosity and solution-finding.  Sometimes the best answer to a “how” question is (like “how do you make a birdhouse?”, not “how do I turn off the sewing machine?”) is “Hmmm… great question!  I wonder where we can find an answer to that?”  Or “Wow!  What a great idea!  What do you think would be the best way?”
• Explore possibilities.  Ask questions like “would you rather ride a rocket ship or a horse to school?” or at the end of a favorite storybook “I wonder what happens next?”  This will remind your child that “the end” never is, and that many problems have multiple solutions.
• Admire process without judgment or comparison.  Rather than “what a pretty picture!” (they may have been trying to make something ugly, or just some blobs) say “I notice you used a lot of colors on that one” or “You just made that song up, and sang it for me!”  You’ll be showing your child that the fact of creative expression is a lot more valuable to you than the results, and you’ll also be respecting their ability to evaluate it themselves.  Face it, we’re all pretty critical of our creative expressions, so it would be nice to have at least one person (you) who doesn’t join in the evaluations.
• Reward reasonable risk-taking.  A lot of creative solution-finding is trial and error.  Don’t be disappointed if the first (or second) try doesn’t work.  Show active curiosity “I wonder why that didn’t work?” and encouragement “I wonder what else we can try”.  A little cheerleading “this is hard, but I know you’ll figure it out!” won’t hurt either.
• Show off!  Ask which pictures or projects they’d like displayed (don’t just pick your favorites).  Create a “gallery space” on the refrigerator or in a hallway.  Kids also get a kick out of their work being displayed at your office or workspace– ask permission to create a display near your desk and ask for contributions.

These simple tips will not only encourage your child to flex his creativity, but they’ll also build your creative muscles.  Enjoy!

The guns were purchased legally. An adult person had gone to a place that sold guns. He purchased those guns. And then he went into a crowded college lecture hall and opened fire.

As a native Virginian, of course this echoes another recent tragedy in my home state. And I feel so much sympathy for the families of the victims, for the students at the school and the community, and for the shooter and his family. I cannot imagine their grief, confusion and sadness. But the thing that I’m stuck thinking about this morning and the part of the Virginia Tech tragedy that keeps sticking with me is this: why is this not a good time to talk about gun control?

Last year, some Virginia politicians criticized people who were trying to exploit this tragedy in order to forward their political agenda of gun control. But why is it a political agenda? Isn’t it a human agenda? A public safety agenda? I know that gun control has become a political issue, but I don’t understand why this means we can’t talk about it. I know that the vast majority of gun owners do not open fire on school campuses– but some do. I think now, with our hearts still open and our fears realized, is the ideal time to talk about gun control.

I’ve been thinking about bullies lately, and I’m going to be thinking about them for a while I think, so look for more posts and maybe some articles on this… Right now I’m thinking about the victims and why they don’t get help. I think that a lot of times, kids think that no one will help them– they’ve been told not to tattle and told not to whine. So we’ve got to figure out how to teach kids when they SHOULD tell. This seemed a good list to start:

• whenever a child feels in danger– if they’re scared, there’s probably a good reason for it, and an adult should be alerted
• whenever they’re avoiding certain places or situations: in an earlier post, I mentioned that bullying is one of the causes of school drop-out. If your child is not wanting to go to school or to the park or to practice, it might be because of a bully
• whenever the bully child is unknown to them: this child should be brought to an adults attention.

What do you add to this list?

We recently heard a statistic that 4 of 10 students don’t graduate high school. 4 in 10. That means that if you’re standing in a grocery line of five people, 2 of them didn’t graduate. 40%.

There are a lot of reasons people don’t finish school–some people need to go to work to help their families, some people move out of the country, some people use drugs or get pregnant or have undiagnosed (or untreated) learning disabilities, some people are bullied or discriminated against, and some just think school is boring and drop out the second they can.

So other than a surplus of caps and gowns, what does this alarming statistic mean to us as a whole culture?

Well, not graduating high school has a documented effect on income– those who do not graduate earn considerably less than those who do (figures vary, but even if it isn’t the difference between a Ford and a Lexus, it may be the difference between a Ford and the city bus). And poverty increases the risks of so many social and personal problems–

Impoverished people are

• more likely to be victims or perpetrators of violence
• more likely to develop depression, anxiety, or PTSD
• more likely to be affected by drug and alcohol abuse
• more likely to have children with learning disabilities
• less likely to get help for any of these problems

As our country slides into what looks to be an overall economic recession, it’s important to look for simple ways to help. I may not be able to assist someone who is having their home foreclosed upon, but I can volunteer at their child’s elementary school. I can’t do much to stop jobs from being outsourced, but I can encourage the kids who stay here. Children who like elementary school are more likely to graduate high school. We can start anywhere– helping parents to get GEDs or job training (offer babysitting while they go to school), helping kids with schoolwork, helping schools with funding and support.

4 in 10. That’s 4 too many.

So I know something’s up, because even in this house, with two voters (one party-affiliated and one an independent) we’ve gotten mail for weeks from various candidates, organizations and parties and the last few days half the phone calls have been from people we don’t know. Obama’s folks called the independent first and encouraged her to vote in the open primary. “Thank you very much for the information and please don’t call here again.” Two nights later, Obama’s folks called the democrat and reminded him to vote too. “Thank you very much for the reminder and please don’t call here again.” And tonight, somebody called again but we let it go to the machine because we were eating dinner.

And it got us talking. We live in California, which often has a lot of state measures on every ballot. And we’re pretty educated people, pretty political people, pretty intelligent active people, and neither of us feel like we have the time to really investigate or understand these initiatives, and are instead left with the unappetizing choice of either (a) leave those blank or (2) follow the recommendations of any of the voter guides put out by organizations we otherwise support. My understanding is that the state ballot measures were inspired by a desire to bring more of the workings of the state government to the people– to let people decide more of the issues. And this was so exciting to me when I first moved to California; this was exactly the push I needed to get smarter on the workings of the state. But now, nine years on, I think, well, really, isn’t this what the legislature is for? I vote for a representative with whom I agree, and who I entrust to investigate and weigh the issues and then let him/her vote on the specific issues. Asking me to decide these things, well, it feels a tad micro-manage-y now. And really, I stink at micromanaging legislature. I’m busy pricing organic broccoli and gluten-free cereals (I have lived in California for nine years) and so I’m going to the polls tomorrow uneducated, and is that really better than just letting the elected officials decide?

Oh, and I’m putting my independent vote down for Hillary, because I think she’ll get down and dirty with the how-to of change. And I’ll support either one in November, because I’m ready to be proud of my country again.

We just made the move from typepad, because someone told us it would be easier to integrate into our site.  Drew’s in charge of that kind of stuff, and I just smile and nod.  And today, I eat biscuits!

You know we Aardvarks  are excited all the time about children learning, and how to help children learn, and learning children and teaching learning and healthy teaching and really every single transmutation of the words children learning reading fun that you can come up with, but just today I’m realizing that we don’t just talk about it, we both do it.

Drew’s spent the day upgrading our website, so who KNOWS how many things he’s had to learn– he’s been frustrated and stymied and confused, but he’s kept going, because he loves learning.

I’m figuring out how to move a blog from one place to the other, how to write a press release (this’ll be a separate post — one that will keep you on your toes!), and at some point I’ll do my final preparations for a test I have tomorrow in my penultimate graduate school course!

Also, both Drew and I are learning Chinese (this is another post– Ni hao!).  And Drew is learning about wireless technology.  And I’m learning about knitting cables and setting sleeves.  We both just learn all the time.  (And meanwhile, my husband is having his very first day as a student teacher!)

What did you learn today?

I just found this website and it’s become my new favorite procrastination site brain exercise.  Go to Free Rice and you can start learning new words — and donating rice to needy folks around the world.  Ever wonder what froward or embrangle mean?  You’ll learn!  And as you click on your choice, you’ll see a little rice bowl fill up!  The site works by selling advertising at the bottom of the screen, but in my hours of playing research I’ve never been bothered by the ads– and I’m usually, ahem, bothered by ads (I have been known to turn off a movie when  the product placement reaches critical mass).
By the way, embrangle means "to confuse".  I earned twenty grains of rice for learning that!

There has been a lot of media attention lately about the power of
visualization.  It’s amazing to me to see how many people dismiss this
concept out of hand as if it were some kind of ESP or new age mumbo
jumbo.  When I started thinking about it, I realized that many of us
use visualization ALL  the time!  Think about it– you’re walking to
your favorite restaurant and thinking about the dinner you’re going to
order.  You imagine the dessert menu and your mouth starts to water.
You’ve just had a real physical reaction to the picture in your head! 
Or
remember the last time you were stuck in traffic– your mind may have
wandered to the meeting you were heading towards, and you imagined the
person you were meeting with being angry or upset with you.  You walk
into the meeting expecting to be greeted coldly, so you set down your
papers gruffly– your visualization has just set the meeting off on a
bad foot! 
So visualization is not as far-fetched as we sometimes think, and has real physical and relational results in the real world!
But
what does this have to do with Fun, Healthy Learning?  Well, we believe
that children who can imagine themselves to be successful and happy
often ARE successful and happy!  Children who are SURE that they are
going to fail their math tests usually do, but the kid who wins the
Science Fair has often already practiced her "trophy smile".  Of course
we know that it’s not that simple– the Science Fair winner has done a
lot more than smile into the mirror– she’s also put in a lot of
thought and hard work into her project.  And the child who fails the
math test also struggles with concepts and study habits.  But we really
believe that visualization is part of it.

Here are three easy steps to practice visualization by yourself or with your child:
1.
Visualize: picture the result of your goal.  Imagine the sights and
smells, make it as real as possible.  Spend some time creating this
picture and then revisit it often. 
2. Verbalize: tell someone,
even if it’s yourself.  Hear your voice verbalizing your goal– this
will make it real to your conscious mind (saying it) and your
unconscious mind (hearing it).
3. Share: maybe your friends or
family aren’t supportive of your goal, or your too shy to share it with
them.  That’s fine!  Put your goal in writing as a message in a bottle,
or a note on a community billboard.  Send an email to an old friend or
a celebrity– share your goal with SOMEONE — who knows?  Maybe they’ll
have an idea how to help you reach it!

This is the third part in our reading trifecta– we’ve looked at the
benefits and the don’ts, but now we’re going to outline some of the
best ways to encourage reading.

The first one is really easy– just HAVE a lot of books.  Several studies, like the ones cited in Motoko Rich’s New York Times article and the book Freakonomics,
have outlined the correlation between high test scores and a household
with a lot of books in it.  Sure, people who have a lot of books tend
to be of a higher socio-economic status and education level, but even
people without high incomes or advanced degrees who have a lot of books
in their house tend to raise higher-achieving kids.  AND people with
advanced degrees that don’t own a lot of books? Well, their kids tend
to test lower.  So head to your local garage or library sale and load
up– on books of all types and shapes and sizes and subjects.  I know a
kid who learned about math and fractions because he LOVED cookbooks–
and another who learned fractions from reading sheet music!  There’s
learning in every book!

The next is a little harder but so much fun–make reading part of
your family ritual.  I know a child who wakes up grumpy in the
morning– so his parents give him some milk and take him into the "Big
Bed" for two books.  By the time the milk and the books are done, boy
and family are ready to start the day!  In my own family, I learned to
read after dinner– my mother would clean the kitchen and dad and I
would retreat to the den for our lessons.  I thought they were
super-secret and I loved the time alone with my dad, working together
on something that so clearly delighted him.  I’m sure mom was glad to
have some time alone, too!

Model good reading habits– even if you’ve long ago left the
pleasure novel behind, show your child that reading is a way to get
information, to learn new things, and to gain perspectives.  While
there is (arguably) no inherent value in having read Melville or
Austen, the benefits of reading (the ability to sort out relevant
information, empathy and conscientiousness, flexible thinking and
reasoning, and on and on) accrue no matter what you’re reading!
personalized children’s book
And, sheepishly, I add this one.  It may seem a little self-serving (because we do make personalized children’s books of our own, but these books have been shown to increase reading pleasure (and therefore, reading).  Studies
have shown that personalized books increase self-esteem and a sense of
accomplishment– early readers will be thrilled to recognize at least
one word on every page.  And when they realize that this collection of
letters ("S-t-e-f") means ME, then they will also realize that other
collections of letters mean other things ("m-o-m-m-y" is YOU, "d-o-g"
is our beloved pet) and the concept of reading becomes less
scary.  Of course, many creative types have written their own stories–
buy a big drawing pad from the dollar store and write the story of your
child– add in pictures (photographs or drawings) for more interactive
fun.

Thanks for sticking with all three parts of this– and please send us the reading ideas of your own!