Posts
Collective intelligence: Number of women in group linked to effectiveness in solving difficult problems
Abunch of smart individuals do not make a smart group......women do.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Cultivate Hope: Gardening with Children
Little boys are going to love watching the ants, worms and other crawling things that emerge from the garden in the Spring. Give them a stick, some rocks and pile of dirt and watch the creativity ooze from them. Children are amazing when allowed to be free.
Little girls may love gathering the Tulips and tying them into a bouquet for their favorite person of the day. They will also love to get their hands dirty when as they plant the live, growing things. They will be inspired by their participation in making the world beautiful.
Children will get excited to taste the vegetables when they have had a hand in growing them. Children also are natural learners. If you paint rock labels, the children will learn more garden vocabulary. Go ahead and add more information, like the rock in the photo. These children will know how lettuce, grows, how to spell it, what nutrients are in it, and so much more by the end of the growing season.
The learning that takes place in the garden stretches beyond labels and science. Gardening has been shown to open channels of creativity, help people have a more connected sense to their food and happenings of the Earth. Gardening has helped people establish mental clarity and emotional stability.
Gardening also offers job skills along with relationship skills. A wonderful example of this can be seen at an important local event for gardeners and wanna-be gardeners:
Gardens on Spring Creek is hosting the 3rd Annual Cultivate Hope Benefit on Thursday, May 6th, 2010. The Garden on Spring Creek is located on 2145 Centre Ave, Fort Collins.
Here is how Matthew's House describes this very special event:
"A garden party and silent auction of garden art, flower pots, plants and all things garden.
This garden-themed party focuses on life and the new growth that can happen when young people are given the resources and support they need to grow and blossom.
This silent auction style event will feature a variety of innovative garden art, live plants and gardening accessories as well as live music by SHEL, tasty hors d’oeuvres created from locally produced food and tasty local beverages from Odell Brewing, Snowy Peaks Winery and Morning Fresh Dairy.
New this year will be a couple of mini drop-in, informal “garden chats” hosted by local experts, including Tom Throgmorton, local celebrity gardener and KUNC radio personality!
Bath Garden Center will give away "Plants for a Year" to one lucky guest.
Youth will also speak briefly during the event about their experiences at the Matthews House. It’s going to be a fun time - you won’t want to miss it!"
To see bios for guest speakers, list of artists and projects, and the list of generous Garden Sponsors, plus so much more, go to this website:
http://http://www.thematthewshouse.org/html/cultivate_hope_2010.html
To see more garden-based learning opportunities for adults, youth and children available through Gardens on Spring Creek, go to the following site:
http://http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/
For more great ideas, visit this FREE internet gardening magazine.
http://www.global-garden.com.au/gardenkids.htm
The video comes from a blogspot called Garden-Based Learning Videos. It is a collection of web-based videos related to garden-based learning, school gardens, and garden-based nutrition.
http://lifelabvideos.blogspot.com/search/label/Gardening%20Skills%20for%20Kids
Little girls may love gathering the Tulips and tying them into a bouquet for their favorite person of the day. They will also love to get their hands dirty when as they plant the live, growing things. They will be inspired by their participation in making the world beautiful.
Children will get excited to taste the vegetables when they have had a hand in growing them. Children also are natural learners. If you paint rock labels, the children will learn more garden vocabulary. Go ahead and add more information, like the rock in the photo. These children will know how lettuce, grows, how to spell it, what nutrients are in it, and so much more by the end of the growing season.
The learning that takes place in the garden stretches beyond labels and science. Gardening has been shown to open channels of creativity, help people have a more connected sense to their food and happenings of the Earth. Gardening has helped people establish mental clarity and emotional stability.
Gardening also offers job skills along with relationship skills. A wonderful example of this can be seen at an important local event for gardeners and wanna-be gardeners:
Gardens on Spring Creek is hosting the 3rd Annual Cultivate Hope Benefit on Thursday, May 6th, 2010. The Garden on Spring Creek is located on 2145 Centre Ave, Fort Collins.
Here is how Matthew's House describes this very special event:
"A garden party and silent auction of garden art, flower pots, plants and all things garden.
This garden-themed party focuses on life and the new growth that can happen when young people are given the resources and support they need to grow and blossom.
This silent auction style event will feature a variety of innovative garden art, live plants and gardening accessories as well as live music by SHEL, tasty hors d’oeuvres created from locally produced food and tasty local beverages from Odell Brewing, Snowy Peaks Winery and Morning Fresh Dairy.
New this year will be a couple of mini drop-in, informal “garden chats” hosted by local experts, including Tom Throgmorton, local celebrity gardener and KUNC radio personality!
Bath Garden Center will give away "Plants for a Year" to one lucky guest.
Youth will also speak briefly during the event about their experiences at the Matthews House. It’s going to be a fun time - you won’t want to miss it!"
To see bios for guest speakers, list of artists and projects, and the list of generous Garden Sponsors, plus so much more, go to this website:
http://http://www.thematthewshouse.org/html/cultivate_hope_2010.html
To see more garden-based learning opportunities for adults, youth and children available through Gardens on Spring Creek, go to the following site:
http://http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/
For more great ideas, visit this FREE internet gardening magazine.
http://www.global-garden.com.au/gardenkids.htm
The video comes from a blogspot called Garden-Based Learning Videos. It is a collection of web-based videos related to garden-based learning, school gardens, and garden-based nutrition.
http://lifelabvideos.blogspot.com/search/label/Gardening%20Skills%20for%20Kids
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Teaching safety skills
The best, most effective way of teaching safety skills is practice with lots and lots of praise. It may seem silly, but it is a reliable technique. Overdo the praise.
"Good job staying on the sidewalk with me, thank you for holding my hand. When we cross a street, we stop and ________ _________ ________. Good job! That is right, we look both ways. Hey, you are holding my hand again crossing the street, thank you so much. I love it when you stay on the sidewalk. I feel so much safer that way."
If your child has developmental delays, it may be important to also teach and remind the child what the actual words mean.
What is the sidewalk? Make a song, draw it on pictures, highlight it with chalk. This pays off later, when you and the child are both very clear on the expectations. It also gives you a chance to work on vocabulary building and generalization while making you aware of which part your child might be getting tripped up on.
Another bonus, the child has many successful experiences while you build up his/her prerequiste skills. For instance, a child who is misunderstanding a key word (ex: sidewalk) will be not fulling responding successfully to your expectations. If you dont break the skills down, neither one of you may figure out why the task is so frustrating.
Activities to practice at home, at school or in the community:
http://http//lessonplancentral.com/lessons/Health/Safety/index.htm
http://http//www.teachervision.fen.com/school-safety-month/teacher-resources/6661.html
http://http//www.fema.gov/kids/teacher.htm
Safety helmet information can be printed in Spanish and French:
http://http//www.bhsi.org/spanish.htm
To see local events, check out my Examiner.com site!
http://www.examiner.com/x-34685-Fort-Collins-Special-Education-Examiner
"Good job staying on the sidewalk with me, thank you for holding my hand. When we cross a street, we stop and ________ _________ ________. Good job! That is right, we look both ways. Hey, you are holding my hand again crossing the street, thank you so much. I love it when you stay on the sidewalk. I feel so much safer that way."
If your child has developmental delays, it may be important to also teach and remind the child what the actual words mean.
What is the sidewalk? Make a song, draw it on pictures, highlight it with chalk. This pays off later, when you and the child are both very clear on the expectations. It also gives you a chance to work on vocabulary building and generalization while making you aware of which part your child might be getting tripped up on.
Another bonus, the child has many successful experiences while you build up his/her prerequiste skills. For instance, a child who is misunderstanding a key word (ex: sidewalk) will be not fulling responding successfully to your expectations. If you dont break the skills down, neither one of you may figure out why the task is so frustrating.
Activities to practice at home, at school or in the community:
http://http//lessonplancentral.com/lessons/Health/Safety/index.htm
http://http//www.teachervision.fen.com/school-safety-month/teacher-resources/6661.html
http://http//www.fema.gov/kids/teacher.htm
Safety helmet information can be printed in Spanish and French:
http://http//www.bhsi.org/spanish.htm
To see local events, check out my Examiner.com site!
http://www.examiner.com/x-34685-Fort-Collins-Special-Education-Examiner
Monday, April 26, 2010
Fort Collins Rock Art and Gardens
As the days grow with sunshine, so do our desires to be outside. This is true no matter your age, if you love to walk or if you push wheels, it is time to feel the sun and smell the air. It is time to watch the green pop, or perhaps measure it, smell it, feel it, take photographs of it, and in some cases, taste it.
The time is ripe to spring into learning in the garden. Using arts-based learning blended with garden-based learning, rock painting lends itself to creativity, action-based learning, brain engagement, vocabulary building, experiential learning and multiple science lessons. All of this can be found in a rock, paint and anything growing.
Rock painting projects are also easily modified to accommodate any level of participation and offers a variety of potential further learnings. Rock painting can be expanded into cultural, holiday and social skills lessons also.
Do you remember the joy of simply painting rocks into little "rock pets"? Some children build entire "rock communities". The creativity a child puts into developing the entire character is astounding. A rock gets a face, a name, sometimes language and field trips, certainly a home.
Another rock painting activity that adds a creative flair to the earth science education is Rock Labels. Simply find a rock that has somewhat of a flat side to it. Decorate with paint as you would like. Then, with a paint pen, write the name of something growing in your yard, (Basil, Thyme, Daffodil). Place the decorated rock as a label for the plant.
Enjoy!
More Ideas (and pictures) for Garden Rock Painting activities:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalfun/ht/Painted_Rocks.htm
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/103860025FcHacU
http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2009/06/summer-crafts-for-kids-rock-painting.html
To really get in the spirit, there are events to connect your rock painting activities to the local community.
http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/newsletter.php?cmd=newsletter&id=576
http://www.examiner.com/x-6818-Fort-Collins-Green-Living-Examiner~y2010m4d5-Artists-and-collectors-Rethink-reuse-and-reinvent-yourself-at-the-ReVisions-art-show
http://www.rmcnargs.org/DesktopDefault.aspx
http://www.therockgardensite.com/
To read about the legend behind Whale Rock, see the following blog. It will also tell you how to make a visit to it.
http://lostfortcollins.com/2009/04/22/polly-brinkhoff-the-woman-behind-whale-rock/
The time is ripe to spring into learning in the garden. Using arts-based learning blended with garden-based learning, rock painting lends itself to creativity, action-based learning, brain engagement, vocabulary building, experiential learning and multiple science lessons. All of this can be found in a rock, paint and anything growing.
Rock painting projects are also easily modified to accommodate any level of participation and offers a variety of potential further learnings. Rock painting can be expanded into cultural, holiday and social skills lessons also.
Do you remember the joy of simply painting rocks into little "rock pets"? Some children build entire "rock communities". The creativity a child puts into developing the entire character is astounding. A rock gets a face, a name, sometimes language and field trips, certainly a home.
Another rock painting activity that adds a creative flair to the earth science education is Rock Labels. Simply find a rock that has somewhat of a flat side to it. Decorate with paint as you would like. Then, with a paint pen, write the name of something growing in your yard, (Basil, Thyme, Daffodil). Place the decorated rock as a label for the plant.
Enjoy!
More Ideas (and pictures) for Garden Rock Painting activities:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalfun/ht/Painted_Rocks.htm
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/103860025FcHacU
http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2009/06/summer-crafts-for-kids-rock-painting.html
To really get in the spirit, there are events to connect your rock painting activities to the local community.
http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/newsletter.php?cmd=newsletter&id=576
http://www.examiner.com/x-6818-Fort-Collins-Green-Living-Examiner~y2010m4d5-Artists-and-collectors-Rethink-reuse-and-reinvent-yourself-at-the-ReVisions-art-show
http://www.rmcnargs.org/DesktopDefault.aspx
http://www.therockgardensite.com/
To read about the legend behind Whale Rock, see the following blog. It will also tell you how to make a visit to it.
http://lostfortcollins.com/2009/04/22/polly-brinkhoff-the-woman-behind-whale-rock/
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