"Daydreams
And How They Can Empower Your Child To Read And
Learn."
An
Unappreciated Ability.
It's
an all too familiar picture, the teacher walks into
the room and begins to talk. The child gazes wistfully
out of the window drifting far away on an imaginative
flight of fancy. Observing the inattentive student the
teacher fires a question in her direction. Unable to
answer the student is reduced to an embarrassed shameful
silence. Hardly the most productive emotional state
for learning.
This is the negative image of daydreaming
that many of us hold - a hindrance to the learning process.
Billy Bunter, the most famous fictitious public
schoolboy of all time (after Tom Brown), regularly attempted
to extricate himself from the exact same situation with
the response "1066 Sir". The law of averages
would dictate he was bound to get it right eventually.
What
we are doing is effectively denigrating the brain's
most powerful ability - the imagination.
The
Power Of The Big Picture Great
leaders have always been visionaries able to inspire
others with the big picture.
President J F Kennedy
had no idea of the technical challenges involved in
getting a man to the moon but he motivated people to
meet that challenge and succeed.
Dr Martin Luthor
King went to the mountain top and others followed.
Winston
Churchill inspired Britain to stand firm before the
might of Nazi Germany as Europe threatened to slip
into darkness.
They painted an irresistible picture
in the minds of men through the power of the
spoken word. Imagination embraced the dream and the
dream became reality.
Teach
Children To Dream Big Dreams
Einstein
said "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Captivate the heart and mind through the power
of the imagination and knowledge will follow. If we
are inspired to accomplish something, if the dream is
big enough we will acquire the skills and knowledge
we need to create the reality we desire.
"The
soul," said Aristotle, "cannot think
without a picture." The dream is an intangible
picture by which we create a tangible future. Nothing
ever happens without a dream. A man or woman with
a clear dream can achieve anything. If your dream is
big enough nothing else matters. Walt Disney lived by
that truth and children everywhere have enjoyed the
fruit of his vision.
That is why the learning
process should always begin with an appeal to the imagination.
Children should always be given the big picture not
asked to follow blindly step by step a well worn path
that has been trod many times before.
Reading:
The Big Picture
How
can we help children to learn to read? Inspire them!
Parents
have a crucial role to play. Does your child ever
see you 'lost' in a book? Do you spend time reading
to them so that it becomes associated with a pleasurable,
intimate experience? How do you value reading? The
ability to read fluently is probably one of the greatest
gifts we can give our children. Reading enables us to
see with the eyes of our imagination beyond the
mundane and the ordinary where there are on limitations. Edison
declared, "I never think in words only picture."
Like
Lucy we can stare into the shadowy depths of the wardrobe
and glimpse strange and magical worlds. We can leap
into the breaking surf and stand alongside Achilles
as he gazes up at the shimmering walls of Troy and dreams
of immortal glory. We can shudder in dark underground
caverns as we huddle alongside Bilbo Baggins and listen
in terror for the flapping of webbed feet on the cold
hard floor.
To deny children entrance to these
worlds is nothing short of a crime.
Phonics?
Humbug!
A
plea to parents! Leave the technicalities to teachers.
It's a sad fact that education will always be a
political football. As I write synthetic phonics
is gaining the ascendancy in the U.K. Don't even
ask! As parents you don't really need to know.
Your role is to encourage and inspire.
Many
children will become fluent readers almost naturally
regardless of how they are taught. Sadly, there will
be others for whom it becomes a struggle or, worse,
a source of humiliation. These are the children who
need to be motivated not constantly confronted with
their own perceived inadequacy compared to everyone
else. UK. and U.S. prisons are full of young people
who never learnt to read properly and consequently branded
themselves as failures or inadequates.
Children
need to hear themselves succeed. They need to be driven
by success. We have a method that will help.
This approach has been used successfully by parents
and by peer mentors. It is not based on any technical
knowledge. It does not focus in on failure. It is based
on improving a child's reading flow and reflects the
results from research into brain-based learning.
TV
destroys the imagination. Radio nurtures it. I have
seen many superb Sci Fi movies where technology has
made the impossible appear real but nothing bears comparison
to the childhood experience of listening to Dan Dare
on the radio every Sunday evening. That was truly creepy.
As magnificent as Lord Of The Rings may be on screen
it could not compare with what was conjured by
my imagination as
I read the printed word.
Children need to listen
to great stories read by gifted storytellers. They need
to be given the big picture of what reading is truly
about. This is where audio-books can have a dramatic
influence. Read the comments below that reflect one
reader's experience of listening to an audio recording
of The Alamo by the Colonnial Radio Theatre. It is an
expereince he will obviously never forget.
Audio-books
model good reading, set the imagination free and touch
the emotions. That is why we are pleased to have
partnered with ListenWithUs.
"You can feel the desperation and sweat in
the character's voices and swear you're right there holding a line as hundreds
of Santa Anna's troops run over the top of you. This should be in every history
teacher's repertoire for teaching kids about history in a fascinating and factual
way." John Roach from Kingston
"I would recommend this to anyone, but especially to parent who
would like to get their children excited about history. What a great way to
bring history to life!" Janis from Texas
"Great story, serious action, cutting-edge production quality! If you are looking
for something serious that doesn't beat around the bush, you may consider all
BATTLETECH series. As a radio drama producer I can say: "Profoundly powerfull!"
(TimeshipStudio.com)
Imagination And
Math Our
early years math program is founded on the premise that
play not only stimulates the imagination but also provides
the foundation for enabling your child to succeed at
Math. Our program shows you how.
Although
cuisenaire rods are a precise mathematical tool they
can stimulate the imagination, enhance visualization
and make learning an exciting experience.
"Just
listen so what children have said about their
audio-books."
*****
The most great Classic you Will Ever
read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'Lizabeth Sphere is an amazing Auther
you can never forget. The Witch of Blackbird Pond is sooooooooooooooooooo great.
This is coming from a kid!!
*****
all i can say is i will never pick up a harry potter book again,and
pendragon rocks!!!!!!!!!
*****
This is a great book for all ages
including school age kids like me I am 13 and i loved this book! It makes you
keep listening and is very exciteing!
*****
Wonderful Children's Story Although my two little children have
lots of audio stories, this is the one they enjoy the most!
*****
!!!!!!!!!!!!THE BEST BOOK
EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! This
is a great book and very interesting although it is packed with miserable events
which follow as you go on, it is a type of book that you wouldn't normally find,
but it's brilliant, fantastic, marvellous, excellent and don't forget that it
will be one of the best books you've ever read in your whole entire life but
ofcourse you'll only know that if you pick it up and read it despite what Lemony
Snicket says about how the children in this story have terrible lives or how
this book has absolutley no happy ending I STILL THINK THAT YOU SHOULD READ IT,
SO TODAY OR PERHAPS TOMORROW I THINK YOU SHOULD FIND THIS AMAZING BOOK AND
SETTLE INTO THE MOST SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCICATED BOOK EVER
