AnjiPlay: Let's talk about Risk!

"Risk" is one of the five pillars of AnjiPlay and probably the most visible pillar and the one that gives the most people concerns about this educational approach.  Let's break down this concept and think about how "risk" and "danger" are not the same thing.  There are many different types of risk and generally, children will only feel confident exploring these risks if they have a sense of security that comes from the love the adult caregivers feel towards the child.  If you feel like you're in a dangerous situation already, you're less apt to want to dive into risky behavior, so first and foremost comes love (and a sense that adults respect the children and their capabilities) and once that's established, children can explore these different kinds of risk. (more after the jump)

AnjiPlayDate, week 2: Water engineering galore!

This week, the preschoolers were joined by a few older homeschool kids.  One of the things I love about Anji Play is that the open-ended materials work equally well for people of all ages.  Older kids play differently with the materials than younger kids do, but it's fascinating to see them play side-by-side.  Here's a video of some water play that happened this week:

 

 I love how you can see him making different discoveries as he improves the design and watching how the kids interact together is fascinating to me.

We also brought in an old overhead projector this week inspired by Bakers & Astronauts.

The kids were doing early explorations with it -- putting objects on the screen, layering them, moving the projection higher and lower on the wall.  We did need to remove some pieces from the top of the lamp when it began getting hot.  Looking forward to seeing this progress next week!

 May you find a different perspective that brings you joy this week!

Please note: "Anji Play,” refers to a specific philosophy and comprehensive approach to early education developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin in Anji County, China. I use the term "Anji Play" to describe my programming and throughout this blog with the explicit permission of Ms. Cheng because our programming has been developed as part of a close collaborative relationship with her and her team of Anji Play educators. If you are interested in learning more about how you can bring Anji Play to your community, please visit www.anjiplay.com

Hello again....

I normally make it a policy not to apologize for long absences on a blog, but... this was a very long --unintentionally long -- absence and I'm at that point where I need to post SOMETHING or I'll never get past the mental block of "I will never catch up."

Readers, I will never be able to catch up enough to share all of the great things that happened in AnjiPlayDate programs last fall and I regret that.  But, like the photo above, I feel like I've been balancing a lot of things as I continue to refine my program structure and I need time to make sure I'm doing it carefully and doing it well.

I had the amazing opportunity to return to China for a second visit to the schools of Anji County last October.  I learned so much on this trip -- a deeper understanding of the role of Play Sharing time, more opportunities to witness video analysis (where teachers show videos of children playing and talk about what's going on in the videos), and so many other things -- from nitty gritty how-to details to bigger picture philosophy discussions. I can't believe that I've been neck-deep in this educational approach for almost two years now and still find myself feeling like an utter novice, learning the most basic things and getting surprised with huge a-ha moments all the time.

For today, let's do something easy to get me back into the swing of blogging.  How about some photos from my trip?

 

 One thing I tried to pay closer attention to on this trip was the way the teachers observed the kids.

  

And my librarian heart thrilled to see some of the incredible reading environments the schools have crafted for the students.

 

Deep breaths everyone.  It's time to leap into a new year!

Please note: "Anji Play,” refers to a specific philosophy and comprehensive approach to early education developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin in Anji County, China. I use the term "Anji Play" to describe my programming and throughout this blog with the explicit permission of Ms. Cheng because our programming has been developed as part of a close collaborative relationship with her and her team of Anji Play educators. If you are interested in learning more about how you can bring Anji Play to your community, please visit www.anjiplay.com

Wild Rumpus, in the Wild (one-off outreach events)

We did two Saturday neighborhood festivals this year.  The first was at West Fest and my two favorite happenings from the day involve a series of short videos of some siblings playing with the innertubes:

So much joy!!

The second favorite happening was observing this young building making a bridge.

I love his "I did it!" at the end of the first movie and I just want to point out that if I had given in to the temptation to "help" him make a stronger bridge, two things would have been different -- #1, the end result bridge wouldn't have looked like this and #2, I don't believe he would have had that amazing gleam of pride when he finished.  In fact, I'm guessing that he might have followed my suggestion, found that it worked, then shrugged his shoulders and walked away because he would have assumed that my solution was the only "right" one.  What a tragic loss that would have been!  Instead, after he completed his first bridge, he continued working on that same structure for quite awhile, coming up with more ideas of ways to improve it.

May you all find an opportunity to observe play quietly in order to be amazed by what kids can do.
Please note: "Anji Play,” refers to a specific philosophy and comprehensive approach to early education developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin in Anji County, China. I use the term "Anji Play" to describe my programming and throughout this blog with the explicit permission of Ms. Cheng because our programming has been developed as part of a close collaborative relationship with her and her team of Anji Play educators. If you are interested in learning more about how you can bring Anji Play to your community, please visit www.anjiplay.com