Oh, the Places You Will Go!
November 20, 2017
“Out there things can happen, and frequently do,
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry, don’t stew.
Just go right along, you’ll start happening too!”
to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry, don’t stew.
Just go right along, you’ll start happening too!”
Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You’ll Go!
The first spoken word, the first step, the first day of Kindergarten as children head off into the world. In reflecting about the sheer joy and excitement of learning something new for the first time, these milestones come to mind.It’s really the same for children as it is for adults. When we pick up a nugget of information that changes the way we see things, adds to our collective knowledge, or is the key to solving a perplexing problem… there is a sense of joy that surrounds this experience.
This is how we move forward as a person, it’s how we move forward as a group of people in a business or organization or school, and it’s how we move forward as a community of people in society. If we take time to gather new information, find ways for this knowledge to be applicable in our lives, and then pass it on, we — as a people — move forward.
I have thought about schools — what they should look like, the kind of places they should be for children, and the instructional manner in which learning should enrich the curriculum.
I think about the examples at the start of this blog. The first word, the first step, the first venturing off into the world; and in each case… adults are there, cheering on our kids. We didn’t criticize our children because the first step was wobbly, or because the first word was mispronounced, or because there were a few tears of apprehension at whatever “first” lay ahead. Instead we looked forward… knowing that the children under our care would learn and grow and improve. The same is true for more complex learning tasks like learning to read and developing the social skills to interact appropriately with peers.
If we make school enjoyable and a safe place where children can grow without limiting criticism, but rather constructive, supportive autonomy, we offer them an opportunity to be the most of who they are destined to be. That, readers, is a place where children always come first and it is what Forest Ridge District 142 aspires for all children.