March 14th, 2010
Listening is respect. I have often wondered why we have classes and awards for speaking skills but none for listening skills.
Speaking and listening are two sides of the same coin. Listening, in general, and particularly when communicating with children is neglected as speaking takes precedence. I know of schools that conduct lessons in communication skills that comprise completely on developing speaking skills (reflecting a common perception communication = speaking).
UN Convention on Children’s Rights lists listening as a part of the Child’s Right to Participate. By that logic, not listening to children is a violation of their rights. Since children communicate in a more than a hundred languages (Loris Malaguzzi), adults must learn to listen to these hundred languages.
Take a Moment to Listen
Take a moment to listen
To what your children are trying to say;
Listen today, whatever you do
Or they won’t be there to listen to you.
Listen to their problems. Listen for their needs,
Praise their smallest triumphs, praise their smallest deeds;
Tolerate their chatter, amplify their laughter.
Find out what’s the matter; find out what they’re after.
But tell them that you love them, every single night;
And though you scold them, be sure you hold them;
Tell them “Everything’s all right; tomorrow’s looking bright.”
Take a moment to listen today.
To what your children are trying to say;
Listen today, whatever you do.
And they will come back to listen to you!!
By Dr. Denis Waitley
Tags: children speaking, communication, developing speaking skills, hundred languages, learning, listening, listening skills, listening to children, Loris Malaguzzi, mother and child, mother listening, neglected skill, Skill, speaking, United Nations
Posted in Education, Reggio Emilia | 1 Comment »
May 28th, 2009
This poem by the founder of the Reggio-Emilia approach beautifully conveys the important roles imagination and discovery play in early childhood learning. Much of Reggio-Emilia philosophy is based on protecting children from becoming subjected too early to institutionalized doctrines which often make learning a chore rather than an extension of natural curiosity.
The child is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred. Always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.
-Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach
In April of this year, I had the privilege of observing little children express themselves in these hundred languages, with the help of their teachers, the pedagogistas and the atelieristas in Reggio Emilia itself. You may want to visit the Reggio exhibitions when they pass by your city/country to get a peek into the work they do.
Tags: Child, Children, languages, Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia, Reggio-Emilia approach, Reggio-Emilia philosophy, The Hundred Languages of Children
Posted in Reggio Emilia | 1 Comment »
