Karntakuringu Jakurrpa In 1961, Professor John Wilson of the African Institute of London University published a paper in which he tells of an experience he had while trying to use film to teach an audience. He was working with a sanitary inspector who had the specific goal of edu … | Continue reading
"Teacher Tom, Arthur is calling us 'finger binger'." "Are you finger binger?" "No!" "Then I guess he's wrong." Most of the time, the children don't need us to get involved in their every day conflicts. "Teacher Tom, those guys won't let us in their factory." "How does that make y … | Continue reading
We must hang together gentlemen . . . else we shall most assuredly hang separately. ~Benjamin Franklin Happy Independence Day! And “happy” is the appropriate greeting for the day. The Declaration of Independence was the first historical instance of the word "happiness" appearing … | Continue reading
We can all, under the right circumstances, behave selfishly, but laboratory studies consistently show that when faced with things like resource distribution, say sharing a cake, we demonstrate what scientists call "inequality aversion." Even children as young as three will divide … | Continue reading
When visiting Woodland Park for the first time, and especially our playground, many adults at first feel disoriented. Not only are there dozens of children racing about, shouting, bickering, and laughing, but at first blush the space -- so unlike adult-oriented spaces like office … | Continue reading
"I'm Anna!" "No, I'm Anna!" It wasn't the first time that children argued over who was Anna or Elsa or Batman or one of the Paw Patrol characters. Their bodies were rigid beneath the thin fabric of their princess dresses, the faces red and fierce. The other children stood around … | Continue reading
Last week on my social media pages, I asked for readers to describe the summer breaks of their childhood. It's a question I've asked adults in various forms over the course of the last couple decades, sometimes asking it as "What are your fondest memories of childhood? or "Descri … | Continue reading
On a recent episode of Teacher Tom's Podcast, parent educator Maggie Dent tells the story of sheltering from a storm under a tree with one of her grandchildren. In this small, dim place the toddler went immediately to work, exploring the confines with all his senses, investigatin … | Continue reading
When those of us in the play-based world think of "risky play" we too often think only of the muscle, bones and blood of the playground, sometimes glamorizing the daredevils we've taught. I know I've often made the mistake of noticing the child who is climbing a little "too high, … | Continue reading
The children were rowdily queuing up to take turns jumping from the impromptu "diving board" they had created from a plank of wood that they had rigged up. The distance from springboard to the ground was less than two feet. A few leapt fearlessly, hurling their bodies into the ai … | Continue reading
Awhile back, a friend texted me a word with a definition. It was a word I'd never heard before, one that applies, in particular, to early childhood education. It was a delicious, juicy word full of meaning and nuance. I fully intended to use it here on the blog, but now I can't f … | Continue reading
With each passing generation, we are spending less and less time outdoors. There was a time, not very long ago, that we all understood that we needed, every day, for many hours a day, to step out from under our ceilings, to be free of our walls, to escape from the straight lines … | Continue reading
Not long ago, I was tagged in a Facebook thread of teachers complaining about the behavior of their students. I only spent a few minutes scrolling through the comments, but most of them seemed to be coming from middle school teachers in public schools who were accusing the kids o … | Continue reading
I don't know where the pogo sticks came from, but two appeared on day on the playground. I imagine that we had benefited from someone's garage or cellar purge. When I first spied them, I tried one out, something I've done a handful of times in my life. I didn't succeed in achievi … | Continue reading
I was sitting on a table near the entry to our playground. It's a spot at the top of the hill that forms our outdoor space and serves as a nice perch from which to observe the entire playground. Usually, I try to just observe, to make a study of my fellow humans. A two-year-old c … | Continue reading
My wife's former business partner was fond of an expression that I've adopted because it covers so many things in life: "That's true, but not useful." In his case, it referred to anything, no matter how insightful or interesting, that could not be practically applied to challenge … | Continue reading
Ethologists are zoologists who study the behavior of animals in their natural habitat. They study orcas in the ocean, not Sea World. They study cheetahs on the savannah, not in the zoo. This makes sense. When we study animals in captivity most of what we learn is how that species … | Continue reading
The problem I have with machine learning (what technologists have arrogantly labeled artificial intelligence, or AI) is that much of what it's attempting to do for me is take over processes like writing, researching, and making art, things that I choose to do for pleasure. As at … | Continue reading
When we sat down for circle time, three-year-old Hazel didn't sit. Or rather, she would lower herself to her knees until she was moved to speak, whereupon she would leap to her feet and pace as she spoke. At first, some of the adults reacted to her like a distraction, urging her … | Continue reading
I was watching the girl arrange her things, or rather, the things she had made hers by gathering them from around the playground. It was clear from her behavior that she had a plan, but since these were loose parts, anything could be anything to an outside observer. Only the girl … | Continue reading
Recently, I found myself in the neighborhood of one of those plastic fantastic fun palaces. There was a mini-golf course complete with the classic windmills and castles, a go-cart track, and a warehouse full of carnival games that issue tickets that one can trade in for crappy pr … | Continue reading
"Teacher Tom, what does this say?" The four-year-old was showing me a container that had once held some sort of plaything, but was now living on the playground as a bucket. The original instruction label that still clung to the side had caught his eye. I was in the midst of somet … | Continue reading
We are born curious. It's the urge to connect with the world, to understand it, to be a part of it, that drives us to nurse, to talk, to walk. Studies show that a typical four-year-old asks 200-300 questions per day. The average adult asks 25-30. Is this because, as wise adults w … | Continue reading
I didn’t start out my adult life as a teacher. I have a degree in journalism with a minor in English. I’ve been a junior business executive, a freelance writer, and a baseball coach. It wasn’t until I was close to 40-years-old that I found myself with my own preschool classroom f … | Continue reading
He was having a prickly day. Things were not going his way. He'd been in tears or enraged several times already, the toys with which he wanted to play were already being used, the other kids weren't doing what he wanted them to do, and the adults were failing in their attempts to … | Continue reading
With days in the Northern Hemisphere lengthening into summer, my mind inevitably turns to reading. Reading books, especially fiction, was a habit I developed in my childhood when the local library or maybe an elementary school teacher would "challenge" children to read 20 books o … | Continue reading
"The real world consequences of imaginary dangers -- that's what I'm trying to fight." Lenore Skenazy, founder of the Free Range Kids movement and Let Grow, tells me on Teacher Tom's Podcast. She never planned to become a crusader for authentic childhood, but was rather thrust in … | Continue reading
Pipilotte Rist If a fortune-teller had told my 40-year-old self that I would one day be regularly traveling the world, standing at podiums, speaking into microphones, and addressing audiences of hundreds, even thousands, I would have dismissed them as a charlatan. Like most peopl … | Continue reading
We were messing around with pipe cleaners and tissue paper circles. It's a craft-ish project that most of the kids know, because I showed them. You can make nifty little flowers by sliding the thin disks of paper onto their bendy stems one at a time, giving each one a gentle "cru … | Continue reading
For most of human history we spent most of our days outdoors, on and near savannas, under canopies, only retreating to our nooks and dens when darkness, weather, or predators drove us there. These are the conditions for which our minds evolved. Even later in the human story, once … | Continue reading
When I was a boy, even as young as four, mom would say, "You're driving me crazy. Go outside." She would then open the door, close it behind me, and not expect to hear from me for hours. That's how we all grew up back then. If I didn't see any other kids out there, I'd make my wa … | Continue reading
In a recently publish paper a team of scientists and philosophers propose what they are calling the "Law of Increasing Functional Information." In a nutshell, they theorize that it's not just biological systems, but all complex systems -- from planets to atoms -- that operate acc … | Continue reading
From the day our children are born, they are destined to become independent from us. Not only do we know this is inevitable, but according to a recent University of Michigan survey 74 percent of parents with children between 5-8 report they "make a point" to have their children d … | Continue reading
My goal has always been to make this blog seem as homemade as possible. I use a basic off-the-shelf template and the cheapest, most utilitarian platform available. I rarely engage in marketing, promotions or give-aways. I don't accept advertising. And generally speaking I steer c … | Continue reading
The three-year-old was messing around with some long bits of string on the floor. He was at it for several minutes, lost in his process. From where I sat in my post of observation. He was obviously planning, or attempting, or questioning, or contemplating something. It didn't loo … | Continue reading
"Only birth," writes the eminent mythologist Joseph Campbell, "can conquer death -- the birth, not of the old thing again, but of something new." Occasionally, some credentialed person or another will predict that in the future, perhaps the near future, science will have conquere … | Continue reading
The California state legislature is currently working on a bill that would require schools to enact homework policies that take into account their students' mental and physical health. Introduced by Assemblyperson Pilar Shiavo, a member of the state's new "select committee on hap … | Continue reading
"No climbing to the top!" When our daughter was in kindergarten, her school installed an amazing rope-and-steel climbing structure. The kindergartners were forbidden from climbing to the very top, which meant that adults were always hovering around the thing, "reminding" the chil … | Continue reading
My wife and I have had four dogs over the course of our three and a half decades together. Whenever I have made the mistake of pulling on any of their leashes, they have all pulled in the opposite direction, every time. Believe me, left to their own devices, they always want to g … | Continue reading
I had an older relative who would respond to almost everything anyone said with "I know." You might say, "Pearl Harbor Day is just around the corner" and she would respond "I know." Now maybe she did know about Pearl Harbor Day (December 7). She was a well-educated person, but sh … | Continue reading
var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; I had an older relative who would respond to almost everything anyone said with "I know." You might say, "Pearl Harbor Day is just around the corner" and she would respond "I know." Now maybe she did know about Pearl Harbor … | Continue reading
They say there are no stupid questions, but I beg to differ. We hear stupid questions almost every time adults and young children are together. For instance, a child is painting at an easel, exploring color, shape, and motion, experimenting with brushes, paper, and paint. There i … | Continue reading
var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; They say there are no stupid questions, but I beg to differ. We hear stupid questions almost every time adults and young children are together. For instance, a child is painting at an easel, exploring color, shape, and motio … | Continue reading
I recognized them as the nice family from our building, their son, who looks to be approaching 4, was straddling one of those wooden, peddle-less "strider" bikes. He was in the midst of a tantrum, stamping his feet, while emitting a whine-cry of frustration. His father was kneeli … | Continue reading
var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; I recognized them as the nice family from our building, their son, who looks to be approaching 4, was straddling one of those wooden, peddle-less "strider" bikes. He was in the midst of a tantrum, stamping his feet, while em … | Continue reading
People often ask me if there is a particular curriculum to which I ascribe. More often than not, when I answer that it is up to the children, I can tell they are frustrated. They think I'm being rhetorical. Certainly, there must be some sort of pre-determined course of study. Aft … | Continue reading
var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true}; People often ask me if there is a particular curriculum to which I ascribe. More often than not, when I answer that it is up to the children, I can tell they are frustrated. They think I'm being rhetorical. Certainly, there … | Continue reading
I remember my first exposure to the "technology" of treating children like fully formed human beings -- and I often do think of it as a kind of technology in that it's the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. I'd previously been exposed to this technology v … | Continue reading