The Theory of Loose Parts
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
21h ago
In 1971, architect Simon Nicholson wrote an article for a magazine called Landscape Architecture entitled “How Not to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts.” Perhaps it wasn’t the first time that the phrase “loose parts play” was used, but it was this manifesto that in many ways kicked things off. In the half century years since its publication, the idea has grown, first slowly, and then suddenly in recent years as more and more early childhood educators have embraced Nicholson’s theory a part of their play-based programs. That the theory emerged from architecture is fa ..read more
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Why Do Orcas Sink Boats? The Same Reason Kids Put Underpants on Their Heads!
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
2d ago
For the past few years, orcas off the coast of Spain and Portugal have been ramming and often sinking smaller boats. Back in the 1980's, pods of orcas in the Pacific Ocean made a fad of wearing dead fish on their heads. The leading theory for these behaviors is play. The orcas don't need to ram those boats and bite at their rudders, although I imagine them cheering one another on. There's no apparent reason for orcas to wear a dead fish on their heads, and the same can be said for young children laugh themselves silly while sporting, say, underpants on their heads.  In my ..read more
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Change the Environment, Not the Child
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
3d ago
I was recently leaving a downtown store. When I came to the exit door, I saw that it had a handle. I grabbed and pulled. The door didn't budge. I then, counter-intuitively, pushed and the door swung open. This is a prime example of a failure in design: a handle means "pull" and a push plate means "push." Indeed, every time you see a sign on a door reading "push" or "pull," you're looking at a design flaw that someone has clumsily attempted to correct. Design flaws are all around us. My local supermarket began offering discounts to "members." To take advantage you open an app on your ..read more
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"How Many Times Have I Told You Not to Run in the Hallway?"
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
6d ago
A friend recently purchased a new home. The first thing she did was paint the walls, because, as she said, the old color depressed her. We all know that our surroundings can have a significant impact on how we feel and even behave. And this is even more true for young children. A long unobstructed hallway “tells” children to run. A mobile hanging from the ceiling says to jump, or climb, in order to reach it. Furniture arranged in a circle suggests a race track. A room that echoes, urges children to shout. Sand and water say, "Dig!" and "Build bridges!" In frustration ..read more
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Novelty is the Essence of What it Means to Learn
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
1w ago
Kleo I often watch the Great British Bake Off, a competition show that good-naturedly pits amateur bakers against one another. I don't bake myself, but I find the show relaxing. After 13 seasons, there are no surprises, the jokes are predictably corny, and the contestants, hosts, and judges seem like kind, bland, well-intended people. Each episode runs about an hour. It's been years since I've made to the end of one before dozing off. In other words, it's a program I choose to watch when the goal is an early night. Recently, however, I chose to watch a German revenge t ..read more
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What I Learned from Candyland
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
1w ago
When I was a preschooler, I'd beg my mother to play the board games with me -- Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, Hi-Ho Cheerio -- games in which skill was not pitted against skill, but rather luck against luck. Mom was a good sport, but she was grateful when my younger brother was finally old enough to play with me. Any adult who has ever played any of these games knows the feeling. They are all frustrating, meaningless, pointless exercises in which the draw of a card, the roll of a die, or the vagaries of a spinner can, from one moment to the next, send you right back to the star ..read more
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"You're a Bad Teacher"
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
1w ago
A five-year-old boy once accused me of being a "bad teacher." He wasn't mad at me. It wasn't intended as an insult. He was grinning as he said it, but he offered it more as a statement of fact than a joke. I've had children tell me that I'm "supposed to be a boy," "you smell stinky," and "you're a big, fat guy." Learning the unvarnished, unblinking "truth" about yourself, at least from one person's perspective, is one of the "perks" of being a preschool teacher, but I'd never been told I was a bad teacher.  "What do you mean? I'm not a bad teacher." "You are a bad te ..read more
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"Listening is Where Love Begins"
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
1w ago
Mister Rogers: "More and more I've come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another.  Whether the other be an adult or a child, our engagement in listening to who that person is can often be our greatest gift. Whether that person is speaking or playing or dancing, building or singing or painting, if we care, we can listen. In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers. Listening is a very active ..read more
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Decision-Making is Stressful
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
2w ago
The boy stood outside the door. I smiled at him from the inside as his mother tried to coax him forward. He smiled back at me, but didn't move. His mother asked him, "Don't you want to go to school?" He nodded that he did, still smiling. Indeed, he appeared relaxed, almost like he was just taking his time, breathing, pausing before launching into his morning. "Then let's go," his mother urged, taking a step toward the door, but he still didn't move. She gave me an apologetic look, then turned back to her son, "Are you coming?" He nodded that he was coming, still smiling, and ..read more
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Life is Suffering
Teacher Tom
by Teacher Tom
2w ago
Awhile back, I was experiencing a little lower back pain, concentrated on the right side. After a series of massage appointment, the pain was gone, but, irritatingly, now there was pain on the lower left side. Again, I booked a series of massages, this time focusing on my whole back. Soon, all my back pain was gone. That's when I noticed that my knees ached.  I saw where this was going: each time I alleviated one pain, it left the space for another to rear its head. When I was a child, this wasn't true, but since I've been an adult, something always hurts . . . Except when I'm wo ..read more
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