Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/close-observation/5022425/
Children are miracles. Believing that every child is a miracle can transform the way we design for children’s care. When we invite a miracle into our lives, we prepare ourselves and the environment around us. We may set out flowers or special offerings. We may cleanse ourselves, the space, or our thoughts of everything but the love inside us. We make it our job to create with reverence and gratitude, a space that is worthy of a miracle. Action follows thought. We can choose to change. We can choose to design spaces for miracles, not minimums.
— Anita Rui Olds (as cited in Curtis & Carter, 2015)
The Power of Nature and Design
Those of us who have the privilege of working with and on behalf of young children have some of the most important jobs on the planet. I have long agreed with Maria Montessori that one of our primary roles is that of designing and preparing an environment for children that makes the most of the precious time they are with us. Montessori believed that it was important ...