"Children do not need to be made to learn about the world, or shown how. They want to, and they know how." -John Holt
Looking for any and all activities to get out of the house this winter, we tried out the "Habitat" program at Amoskeag Fishways on wednesday. The kids enjoyed playing with forest themed puppets and somewhat participated in the shelter/food/water games the woman had organized. It wasn't exactly the most exciting program I've ever seen though I'm not easily impressed either.
Simone was obsessed with the fox puppet that was passed out to her in the beginning so anytime it fell in someone else's hands she'd have a mini-meltdown.
Gabriel (being much less of an observer than he used to be) would offer tidbits of random information at random times to which the teacher would reply, "Uh-huh...yeah..." having no clue how to incorporate his thoughts into the discussion. It was mildly amusing at the very least.
"By nature people are learning animals. Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do - and all we need to do - is to give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for, listen respectfully when they feel like talking, and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."
John Holt
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself." -Grace Llewellyn
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
Real, natural learning is in the living. It's in the observing, the questioning, the examining, the pondering, the analyzing, the watching, the reading, the DO-ing, the living, the breathing, the loving, the JOY. It's in the joy. ~Anne Ohman
"How could youth better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?" -Henry D. Thoreau
Looking for any and all activities to get out of the house this winter, we tried out the "Habitat" program at Amoskeag Fishways on wednesday. The kids enjoyed playing with forest themed puppets and somewhat participated in the shelter/food/water games the woman had organized. It wasn't exactly the most exciting program I've ever seen though I'm not easily impressed either.
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