"I'm only trying to love my kids the best I can..."

A line I get from parents all the time:

"I'm just trying to love my kids. How do I have time to worry about the environment?"

And when the dinner needs to be made, Johnny needs help with homework, the car needs an oil change, Sarah's being bullied, the bills need to be paid and I may get laid off from work... then worrying about the environment falls pretty low on the list of "things to do right now." I understand that.

I also understand that we're living in crazy times. The 21st century is the most exciting time in the history of the world to be alive. Like it or not, change is upon us. Some say we're in an age of information. Bill McKibben prefers to say it's an age of distraction. Yes, we're bombarded with messages, but most is delivered in shallow sound bytes, and much comes from advertisers hawking goods and services for consumption. I'll argue we owe it to ourselves and our kids to dig deep and learn what's really going on. What kind of world are we giving our kids? What does the world look like past the Industrial Revolution?

If there's one book I'd recommend for parents ('green-minded' or not) looking for answers, it's The Ecology of Commerce (revised edition, 2010). Author Paul Hawken comes at it from both a business and environmentalist perspective and leaves us with hope. He makes sense of business, it's relationship to the environment and then articulates a plan of how doing business and doing good can become one in the same. In fact, we're already on the path. It's early and the powers of status quo are strong, but the opportunities are HUGE.

So, being an environmentalist won't add more to your to-do list. Rather, it'll be like falling off a log and improving your quality of life. And for most, that probably means spending more time with the kids they love so much. Hopefully, some of that time is spent playing outdoors. :)

OK, enough with adult books.

These days most of the books I read are for kids and as long as I refer to re-reading books, I picked up Maniac Magee from my shelf last week and didn't put it down 'til I finished it. It's a super entertaining story about a wunderkid and at the top of my recommendation book for any 5th or 6th grader. Or adult...

Quote of the day:

“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire."

-William Butler Yeats

A Recent Interview and A Recent Review/Recommendation

A two part interview with Little Green Pen's Michelle Schaub with views on environmental education: http://www.littlegreenpen.blogspot.com/

And Sarah Davies of Unplug your Kids, wrote a review of one of the books I had mailed to her a few months ago:

http://unplugyourkids.com/2010/11/16/environmental-guide-from-a-to-z/

Education System: creating cars or teaching kids?

I crashed the ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States) conference the other day. Yes, I'm getting too old to sneak into events. I didn't do it for the rubber chicken served at lunch, but to listen to Sir Ken Robinson.

A world-renowned expert in creativity, Sir Ken entertains. After the lunch and a follow up session with him, my cheeks hurt.

Google him and watch one of his videos at the TED conference. Or visit his website: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com/

If you need more information on his thoughts, here are a few pieces I take from Ken:

Things are changing fast and the pace of change is accelerating. In the next 50 years everything must and will change, i.e. from technology to energy use. If the entire world lived like the USA, the earth could support 1.2B people. At issue is the education system in the USA. It's not set up to enable kids to flourish, to follow their passions and to become leaders of the revolution we're in.

Our politicians mean well with programs like Leave No Child Behind and Race to the Top. Rightly, they claim "our businesses need kids that can read and write." Talk with business leaders and, yes, reading and writing is nice, but they also need people that can work on teams, think critically and innovate.

Our school system is based on an industrial model. Like an assembly line, we fill up the brains of children (mostly just one side of the brain) with information as efficiently as possible and move them on. Yet, kids are not cars, but individuals. Why not celebrate diversity and encourage them to find and follow their passions? Kids are restless and curious by nature. The goal is to set up conditions that keep them restless and curious, Why not work to foster creativity, rather than penalize it?

Ken offers ideas to teach creatively and reward creativity, often found happening at schools he visits. In fact, there is a growing backlash against this industrial system. More and more people (in and out of the system) understand rote memorization is over-rated and school can and should be relevant. Additionally, Ken doesn't blame teachers and schools, but does claim they have more leeway than they think. Best of all, Ken's wit keeps it all far lighter than I'm able in a blog posting :)

How can your kids learn it all? Teacher Opportunity

So much to cover, so little time...

Being a kid today is different than a generation ago. Between an increase in the amount of enrichment activities, organized sports, "screen" options (TV, video games, computers, phones) and homework, some kids suffer from increased pressure. The only thing there isn't more of is time.

A lot of teachers I've spoken with feel the same way. They're expected to cover a growing amount of material in a limited amount of class time. Yes, kids have to perform well on tests, but the best teachers understand if they can keep their kids engaged and curious while developing critical thinkers that can problem solve, test scores will take care of themselves.

How do they do it?
Choose lessons they can cover in depth, where students learn multiple subjects simultaneously and tie into life outside of the four walls of the classroom.

To that end, please consider getting your schools involved with local organizations that offer cross-curricula lesson planning. If we're going to raise kids smarter than us, they will understand connections, i.e. we can't have a conversation about healthcare unless we also talk about exercise, agriculture and fossil fuels. The only way to more deeply understand nature around us is if we get in it, eat it, read about it, experiment with it and write about.

BRINGING UP BOOKWORMS:
USING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TO TEACH PLANT BIOLOGY
Nov. 13 & 20 at the Chicago Botanic Garden
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Fee: $150 ($140 for Educator Members)
Grade level: K-8
CPDU credit: 15, Lane credit: 1, Graduate credit: 1

The Garden brings you the latest techniques for fostering literacy through science and science through literacy. Learn how to develop practical lesson plans that inspire kids to read, write about, and discover science and nature. Toby Rajput, Children’s and Youth Literature Librarian at National-Louis University will introduce you to the best new books in a variety of genres and suggest learning activities to enhance teaching and learning about the natural world. You’ll take home a bibliography so you can plan your own lessons to engage students with these extraordinary and beautiful books.

We will look at some of our favorite books and learn a number of bookmaking techniques, including pop-ups. Local author, Cheryl Bardoe will be talking about her book Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas and making science content and literacy connections for the classroom.