If you have a child in school these days then you surely have heard of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math.) It’s the big thing right now~ there are STEM schools, STEM measurements, and people compare the STEM-ness of schools when making decisions about where their child will go. Personally, I’m wondering where creativity fits into science, technology, engineering, and math. It seems to me innovation is tied to creativity and we need to foster that in our children just as much as the other things. Not only that, but creativity gives people the space to appreciate art, music, literature, and all the things that still exist beyond our screens. Our kids will be proficient in computers, that’s a given, but do we really want to tie our futures so inseparably with modern technology? Has there really been nothing of use in the world up until the computer chip was invented? What about the natural world? Science seems centered on dissecting it, but what about giving kids the chance to appreciate it? Breathe it. Realize they live in it along with billions of other beings and need to think about that fact. An example of what I’m talking about is the fact our school district does not have art teachers. There are volunteer parents that go in and teach art to classes at most once per month, but often a lot less. Why are we teaching these kids that art in not that important? They have music and PE and library at least once per week, but art for some reason is not valued enough to have at least a weekly class with a trained teacher. This just blows my mind. Kids get so much out of art class and I’m not just referring to the kids who are gifted in it. When I go in and help with art lessons I’m always struck by the highly intellectual students who are astounded they can make something aesthetically pleasing with their own hands, and the hyper-active students who can focus on something that is truly their own, and the quiet students who love being able to work on something as an individual and not be overwhelmed with the constant group activities that are also so vogue in modern education. It gives students a place to pause and consider what art means to them, to recognize every single one of them has some creativity and how good it feels to express it, and to understand it is valuable to work on something purely for aesthetic reasons. These are just a few of things that I see falling out of schools in favor of STEM, and I’d like to propose a post-STEM environment focused on Creativity and Nature. Computers will be integrated in their lives more and more with textbooks changing into tablets, research done on Google, Kindergarteners giving PowerPoint presentations~ that’s all part of the modern world and I’m not trying to stop it, there just needs to be some focus on what goes on outside of a screen and perhaps inside of a head. Of course, I have to bring up the Edible Schoolyard Project as I so often do because it embraces nature and creativity both in such a beautiful balance, and in an increasingly teched-out world kids need to be reminded of the importance of these things. Isn’t education about expanding the mind after all…? It certainly can’t just be about learning how to use a single tool. Our kids are brighter than that and they deserve more.
Category: parenting
Schools a Healthy Place?
I had a strange experience last week when I went to my youngest son’s music class presentation. It was beyond cute of course, with all the second graders sounding angelic although I know they are often quite a devilish group as I’ve seen them enough in other settings. But sitting in the metal folding chairs as they sat on the floor or walked around singing, something else struck me besides the sweetness of it all~ when I looked at them each individually, as in really looked at them, they mostly looked kind of…sickly. Granted it was the end of the day and also the end of the week so they had reason to be tired, and maybe the lighting is not the best in their brand new school, but it seemed odd to me that they could all look so sluggish and lacking vibrancy considering their youth. My own son’s cheeks were flared up with the pink that signifies something is bothering him allergy-wise, either the carpet or something he ate, or who knows what, but that is what made me start looking at the other kids. There was one girl who looked completely healthy, alert, and engaged and I happen to know that this girl always looks that way or at least she does at library time where I help out and also field trips and parties, before and after school. She is just that kind of girl who notices everything and is part of everything and probably questions her teachers and parents ad nauseam. She was seriously the only one. The other kids were a mixture of eyes with dark circles, half closed eyes, wandering eyes and hands, bad skin, rashes, confused and disengaged looks, and tired faces and bodies. It made me wonder about kids, schools, and health. Is the modern school a healthy place for our students? Do they get enough outdoor time? Are they eating good food? Are we doing our best to help them learn? I don’t know, it just bothered me to see a bunch of second graders that just didn’t look vibrant and vivacious. They are too young not to be! The edible schoolyard project is one place to look for answers though my kids’ school has put me off for two years now when I’ve brought up planting a garden there. The students would get so much out of it, not the least of which would be a bit more good health. One bright eyed bushy tailed student out of 21 is not enough.
Natural Anti-Anxiety
This was definitely one of those days where I needed some good news. Our refrigerator is on the fritz, the sky can’t decide whether rain or sleet is better for pelting, and my son made a huge deal about walking to school this morning~ not a fun way to start the day. It was sunny then, by the way, when we chose to walk, OK I chose to walk them, and that is one of the reasons I thought they should walk~ the forecast was not a happy one so all the more important to take advantage of the sun, right? Well, my oldest didn’t agree and he certainly knows how to make his feelings well-known. But, here’s the good news: I saw our family naturopath today to talk about my oldest son’s needle phobia which is causing him to dread turning 10 in a month b/c then he’ll turn 11 and have to get some shots. I know kids in general hate shots, but his fear goes well beyond the norm~ he has seriously talked about his fear of turning 11 due to shots at least once a week for about two years now. The last time they tried drawing blood to test something they literally could not do it b/c he was screaming and hitting and thrashing around so much. They actually gave up after one person tried to control him while the other tried to poke him and all the while I tried distraction techniques, not that he noticed. (I guess I don’t have a future in puppeteering.) So, that’s how badly he dreads needles, but our naturopath gave me some great suggestions and I have a sliver of hope they might actually help him. The biggest piece of advice is to use GABA which apparently is a neurotransmitter that helps keep the body calm, in other words a natural anti-anxiety supplement. After looking around the web a bit for side effect information, this article seemed to sum up what I found, and WebMD has similar information. There is actually a ‘listen’ option on WebMD which is nice if you are sick and tired of reading articles on your screen, and believe me, I can relate. I guess I got so excited about this because I know so many people with anxiety triggers and I’m always talking about kava and other herbal sedatives with them, but this is something that’s found in the brain already and is supposed to keep you calm but alert, something herbs don’t necessarily do as well. Everyone is different, so herbs might be one person’s answer and GABA another’s, or a combination of both. Of course, talk to your own doctor first, or better yet, your naturopath (who has actually studied these things.) And if you want a recommendation for a naturopath is Bellevue, I think ours is the best and I’d be happy to pass along her info.
Activity Time
The weather here has been less than bliss-inducing, to say the least, which really effects the mood of the whole family. Usually there are two or three days I can pick up my two boys from school so they can run around and play with friends on the school property before heading home (as opposed to just riding the bus straight home.) It was rainy and icky all week so they missed out on that play time, and by the weekend it really showed. I’ve noticed this before~ if they have that free play time, they are far more centered, even on the following days, so the centered-ness stays really lasts a long time. Both my boys just seemed all wound up yesterday morning, and even though we made it to the park for a bit before bedtime, it was brief, and today my older more sensitive son woke up again all ‘off’. Nothing could change his mood indoors, so I knew what I had to do~ take him down to the park in the cold, windy, morning air for a walk, or run, or whatever got him happier. It took some convincing but he is old enough now to realize that those ‘mood changer’ park outings really work. It took about 20 minutes before I started hearing his voice move from whiny to joyful, which happened while in the damp, cold sandbox. (I had to keep circling the sandbox just to stay warm while he made a castle and then a Roman town.) He was “too exhausted” to do much physical~ he had worn himself out by getting frustrated with a painting he messed up earlier. After about 20 minutes in the sandbox though, he wanted to run around the track~ where he got hit in the arm by a careless soccer ball. This would have caused a total meltdown less than an hour before, but he just smiled and waved and said, “good thing it didn’t hit my head.” Oh yes. And it’s a very good thing we live by a park. Very good indeed.
Sunday Cooking
There is nothing better than cooking all day on a rainy, windy, dark Fall Sunday. We had a busy time outside yesterday, first the zoo for early trick-or-treating, then to a lively farm for pumpkin picking. It was nice out so everyone else was out too, because the forecast for today was not for the weak. Even those native to the area of western Washington have to pause when headed out the door today, although it did not stop the three natives in my life heading out for a Sunday drive. And actually, I heard at the store today that there is a game or two happening today (Huskies? Seahawks? Some other team?) so I’m sure somewhere there is a stadium full of gortex yet remarkably few umbrellas. Before the weather turned quite so wet we went to a nearby elementary school for some playtime. My older son found the baseball pants that his cousins handed down to him so he was immediately interested in baseball, fussing at me to find a baseball shirt and scurrying around the backyard looking for an old, forgotten bat. One does not pick up a bat and perfectly hit a ball (tennis-all we had) from the start though, much to his chagrin. There were some frustrating moments, to put it mildly, and also some moments of pure excitement when he actually hit the ball. My younger son was cold and not thrilled with how wet the playground was. In short, Charles Dickens came to mind as we were packing up to leave, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Indeed. Taking refuge in the kitchen was a no-brainer for the rest of the day. Here’s what I made: penne for Asher (boxed shells and cheese. The reason we call it penne is a long story.) A simple green salad with a lot of fresh basil to make it taste not quite so mundane. Chili from scratch~ I used about a cup of veggie stock this time to make it thinner than usual, and I added a big leek, both are changes I like. Then I roasted ridiculously few pumpkin seeds from my older son’s pumpkin with butter and Mediterranean salt. Next I made gluten free cardamom cupcakes with chai “buttercream” frosting~ both are recipes from the gluten free, vegan cookbook put out by the Flying Apron’s original owner, Jennifer Katzinger. I use this cookbook all the time because it uses whole grains and does not use xantham gum, an ingredient in gluten free baking that I’m just not convinced needs to be there. I substituted the garbanzo bean flour with oat flour and as for the liquid sugars, which she gives 3 different ones as an option, I did not have, at least not 3 cups worth. So I used one she recommended (maple syrup) and two others that were not listed as options (honey and molasses.) Obviously, those change the taste quite a bit, but it is still really good. Oh, and I made egg salad. If you happen to live where you can get the Mediterranean salt mix that Whole Foods sells in plastic containers with their own name but it is actually Sarah’s salt mix, then you really need to put that salt into egg salad. And if you can eat that mixture on rosemary bread, gluten free or otherwise, it is awesome.
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