Noticing the Rich Stories Each Child Offers

07/31/2023

Noticing the Rich Stories Each Child Offers

Children cannot play without learning and cannot learn without playing.
Stacy Benge, child development specialist and author

In the beautifully reflective book Making Adjustments: Meditations on Learning with Children, Misa Okayama shares her thoughtful observations of Tsuki, a five-year-old who loves to build and through her constructions finds remarkable ways to build a sense of belonging by including others. Okayama concludes:

Tsuki’s story is not more extraordinary than other children’s stories. All children carry these rich stories with them. It is up to us to see and notice the stories that each child offers. The essence of that noticing is the power of kizuki: awareness, mindfulness, recognizing. It is in the moment we pause. It is in our willingness to see and to listen.

Our beginner’s humility allows us to see with new eyes. As we continue to grow throughout our lives, we will always have opportunities to embrace a beginner’s mind and to recommit to a shoshin mindset [beginner's mind or beginner's humility]. Our values keep our gaze on how we want to live and what we want to call forward in children and in ourselves. Our heritage reminds us of the footprints we are choosing to leave for the generations after. From this grounding, we begin to see the complexity and richness of each moment of children’s play—and the depths and magnificence of each child’s personhood.

Making Adjustments is part of the Reimagining Our Work (ROW) book collection from Exchange Press.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.