Really Seeing Children

05/25/2017

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction.
Audrey Lorde, 1934-1992, Writer and Activist

In her new book, Really Seeing Children, author Deb Curtis explains a powerful technique she discovered for forging deeper understandings of children’s motivations:

"A few years ago, I discovered that I could learn to see children’s perspectives in very powerful ways if I observed them closely and then tried out what they were doing. I had been frustrated with a group of boys who had taken to zooming small cars off of block ramps they built. They would fling the cars across the tilted ramps, watching them fly through the air, hitting the ceiling, the windows, and sometimes, people. I spent a lot of time trying to stop their behavior, but to no avail. After the boys left one day, my co-teacher and I decided to try out the cars and ramps ourselves. Much to our surprise, we had a blast! We experienced the excitement and challenge as we built the ramps and zoomed the cars.

"With this new perspective, we approached the children’s work in a very different way. We offered the boys challenges to build their ramps more carefully and control the speed of the cars more accurately. They took up our suggestion and the activity became a focused, complex learning experience for all. Since then, trying out what children are doing has become a regular practice for me to see them more clearly."

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