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10/24/2017

Listening with our Hearts and Minds

Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.
Isabel Allende, Chilean-American Writer, Teacher, Journalist

"Austin's teacher is observing him working carefully to fill the metal container to the very top with a variety of wooden balls and rings," writes Deb Curtis in her book, Really Seeing Children. Curtis explains how the teacher helps other children understand Austin's wish to put as many materials as possible into the container. The teacher says to Austin: "It's filled to the very top! Thanks for sharing with me." When it is finally clean up time, the teacher lovingly tells Austin, "It's going to be really sad for me to ask you to put those toys away, because you have been working so carefully with them all morning."

This is how Curtis describes what happens next: "Austin moves away, clutching the container tightly, while the teacher and other children clean up. After a few minutes of walking around and watching the cleanup, Austin comes back to the teacher and with a smile, hands over the container. When it’s time to go, Austin looks up at his teacher with a smile, takes her hand, and walks to the lunchroom...

"This simple story...illustrates that children know when their teachers are truly present with them. They see when our words and bodies communicate that we are listening with our hearts and minds. When we engage with children in this deeply respectful way...children will come to see us as we hope to be seen, and in turn, we will see children as they deserve to be seen and known."



Softerware - How to Set Prices for Your Child Care Services




Gryphon House - Put Play at the Center of Learning.

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