Inspiration for the Week

"As a parent or grandparent, you have an innate right to be a storyteller. Don't give up! As you practice, the stories and children will give you more and more confidence."

- Nancy Mellon in Storytelling with Children

Just wanted to remind you about the Montessori Training Giveaway to be announced on Feb. 12!

Godly Play: St. Thomas Aquinas

January 28 was the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas and I told the children his story on this quiet Saturday afternoon. I have to admit that I fell in love with this story of the saint who "thought for God". In this story, we learned that Thomas had many questions about God and wrote pages and pages about God and his two favorite kinds of books, the Bible and those by Aristotle.  But in the end, he found that the most important things about God were beyond words and could only be expressed in being close to God.

Our materials for the story of St. Thomas Aquinas

For the story, we needed:
- a St. Thomas figure
- two felt books to represent the Bible and the works of Aristotle
- a wooden ox, because Thomas was called "the silent ox"
- a map of Italy to show where Thomas was from (a piece from a Europe puzzle)
- a bit of straw, because Thomas felt at the end of his life that all he had written was like straw in comparison to being close to God

My 6-year-old daughter, who was so eager to play with the materials as I was making them, said she did not really like the story. (In fact, she is still playing with them as I have added them to our Candlemas Winter nature table.) My 8-year-old son, who was not so impressed by the materials, found the story riveting.  I'm not entirely sure if the different reactions were due to age or personality or a combination of both.

Our Wondering phase was fairly quiet until I mentioned that the part of the story that told something about me was that Thomas loved books (just like me!). My son suddenly became attentive again and exclaimed, "I like books, too!" Then, my daughter started examining the felt books and asked if she could draw in them. When I explained that we might need them to tell the story again, she asked if she could make her own book. Since I had some extra felt in a closet, I thought, "Why not?" and pulled out the materials for her.  Then, my son decided that he wanted to make one as well.  They made the two books pictured below, cutting the felt themselves and binding the paper with a needle and thread. The red one is my daughter's and the black/green one is my son's. 

The felt books that my children made during the Creative Phase.

My daughter drew detailed pictures of Mickey Mouse in hers (which is, of course, just fine).  Expecting my son to draw super heroes in his, he shocked me by writing out The Lord's Prayer in English in his book. (He knows this prayer much better in German and usually only wants to say it in that language.) Then, he drew a "map of heaven" as he has been trying a lot lately to picture what heaven might be like. Then, he drew detailed sketches of the human body including the outer layer and then the internal organs. And when we visited the Berlin Aquarium on Monday, he insisted on taking the book with him to make sketches of the fish. 

A peek inside their felt books.
(I asked their permission to take this picture!)

So suffice it to say that our Creative Phase turned out much differently than I had expected or could have planned. But then again, that is one of my greatest joys in working with children: you never know what they are going to do next!

I will always treasure this story of St. Thomas Aquinas, because of what we learn from his relationship with God and for how my children have perceived and experienced it. 

linked to Catholic Icing

Montessori Training Course Giveaway

Many of you have read my blog posts about the things I have been learning and experimenting with as a result of being a student in Karen Tyler's World Wide Montessori on-line training course. Through my Godly Play training, I became interested in Montessori and wanted to learn more.  However, as a mother of two young children with two part-time jobs, attending a Montessori Institute in Berlin was not logistically possible.  And most of the on-line courses of study were way out of my price-range.  Then, I heard about Karen's course and knew immediately that it was for me.

Karen, who is AMS trained pre-primary teacher with over 30 years of experience, believes that Montessori should be for everyone. Because of this, she offers an on-line course that is unbelievably affordable (read the options here). It can be completed in either 12 or 24 months and at the end you have 12 valuable Montessori albums ranging from the core subjects of Math and Language to extra subjects like Botany and Geography. (If you had to buy albums like these from a Montessori supplier, they would cost far more than the cost of Karen's course!) You work at your own pace, but are able to be a part of an on-line community for discussion and advice. Karen also offers personal consultations per Skype as well. While the course is aimed at work with preschool children, I have been able to use the principles and much of the material in my work with both preschool and elementary-aged children.  The course is perfect for home-schooling parents, children's ministry workers, teachers or anyone working with children who would like to learn more about Montessori! For more details on the course, please see Karen's website.

Now for the amazing offer: Karen is beginning a new class on March 1 and one lucky reader will win a place in her class tuition-free and be the proud owner of 12 Montessori albums!!

For a chance to win this Montessori Training Course giveaway, please leave a comment below stating why you would like to take Karen's course. On Sunday, Feb. 12, I will let my daughter draw the lucky winner's name from a hat. (No high-tech drawing programs here!) 

Extra entries if you blog about the giveaway on your blog and link it back to Explore and Express. Just leave me a note in the comments with a link. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere in the world!

Empowering Children to Serve

In Children's Ministry that Fits: Beyond the One-Size Fits All Approaches to Nurturing Children's Spirituality, David Csinos writes about four spiritual "styles"(or ways of drawing closer to God) among children: word-based, emotional, symbolic and action-oriented. Of all these styles, the action-oriented one can be the most challenging style for most churches or parents to facilitate (for children in particular), because it requires observation, creativity, planning and lots of flexibility. 

While this is not the dominant style of many children, I am committed to exposing children to ways that they can serve with the hope and prayer that we as a church are empowering them to use their gifts to make a difference in the world.  I am learning more about how to do this all the time and one of my teachers just happens to be my 8-year-old son . . . 

Coming to and from school we pass a lot of homeless people who appear to have alcohol and drug problems. When he was about 4 years old, my son heard the story of St. Martin giving half of his coat to a beggar for the first time. Since then, he has been very concerned about the homeless and has wanted to help them. This year, during Advent, he expressed the desire to take them some gifts.  After Christmas Day was over, when we had time off from school, I suggested that we bake cookies to distribute.  We baked all day, my son tied all the packages with ribbon,  and then my husband set out with both children to pass them out. Well, on that particular day it was cold and rainy, so they didn't find anyone . . . not one person in all the usual places. And then they set out on another day and the same thing happened . . . not a single person to be found. Pretty frustrating . . . 

So when some friends from our Serve the City chapter decided to throw a party at the local Salvation Army soup kitchen, the kids and I decided to join in . . . 

Friends from Serve the City

As soon as we got there, my son, who doesn't like crowds, got a bit shy.  To help him overcome his shyness, he wore a headband pushed down close to his eyes.: ) A Serve the City friend helped him pull out some board games and he immediately got into an intense game of Sorry! with an elderly lady. 

An intense game of Sorry!

We also baked chocolate chip cookies (again!) for the occasion and they turned out to be a huge hit with the regular visitors. Every single one was eaten!

My son eventually chatted with several of the people sitting at the tables.  I asked him afterwards how he felt about the whole experience and he said that he had a blast!  I am sure that he brightened the day of some of the visitors to the Salvation Army that day, and he also got some valuable experience in mixing with people who are different from him.  

Dad and friend giving a mini-concert for everyone.

My six-year-old was a little too young and didn't have such a great time.  She complained about being bored a lot and was not really in the mood to talk to anyone.  Oh well, it was another lesson for me about what kinds of projects are best for which age groups. 

I'm really glad that we took a couple of hours out on a Saturday afternoon to do this. My son was able to give in child-friendly, age-appropriate way and I know that the action side of his spirituality is being developed through it. 

I'd love to hear more about service projects that you have done with children. If you would like to share, please leave your ideas or links in the comments!


linked to One Hook Wonder

and The Magic Onions

and Sarah Bessey's Practice of Parenting Carnival

Sensorimotor Worship: Caring for a Pet

Sensorimotor Worship* can be defined as a spiritual lesson or experience that involves all of the five senses and incorporates visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles.

Animals are a unique part of God's creation and the Christian scriptures teach love and respect for them. From Adam's tender care of them in the Creation Story to the exhortation in Proverbs that " . . . a righteous man cares for the needs of his animal . . . " to Isaiah's prophecy that someday the lion will co-exist in peace with the lamb, one can see that part of honoring God is taking care of the animals that he creates. And whether you are religious or not, you can't easily miss the wonder in a child's eyes when they come into contact with an animal or dismiss the therapeutic effect that pets have on lonely people. Animals are amazing and taking care of them can be a part of showing love to our Creator.

My son received a hamster for his 8th birthday last August. "Hammy", as we call her, has become a member of the family. When Hammy first came into our home, we explained to our son that he was being given the awesome responsibility of taking care of one of God's creatures.  He would be the primary caregiver by daily feeding the hamster and cleaning her cage. Along the way, Hammy has also provided some important spiritual lessons:

Lesson #1: Responsibility for another living thing. Learning the value of being a caregiver as a child can certainly make it more natural when that child becomes an adult. Also, in an age where children are often exposed to violence in the media, caring for a pet cultivates the value of life and the natural world.

Lesson #2: Choosing to love and respect even when you don't necessarily feel appreciated. Hammy was not an easy hamster at first. She bit often and my son ran to us many times with a bleeding finger and crying that Hammy didn't appreciate all that he did for her. (We, of course, explained to him that Hammy wasn't being "mean", but rather signaling that she was scared or didn't want to be bothered at the moment with the only means of communication that she posesses.)

Lesson #3: Consistency. With few exceptions, my son cleans Hammy's cage every other day no matter how tired he is or how late it is. Hammy depends on him, and since our son is not naturally an organized person, this helps teach him rhythm and discipline. (For this reason, many Montessori curriculums recommend pet care for children.)

These are all things lessons that we need to understand and reflect the character of God (no matter how big or small we are!). How fun to learn them through one of His cutest creations!

* "Sensorimotor worship" is a term coined by Dr. Sonya Stewart, co-creator of Young Children and Worship, that is rooted in the Montessori educational philosophy. I use it to describe spiritual experiences involving the five senses beyond the church envirionment.

Inspiration for the Week

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."

-Carl Jung

Art & Child Development: Two Great Resources

If you want to set up an artistic atmosphere for children where they can explore the world of art, then it is helpful to know something about the developmental stages that young artists go through.  The ability to recognize what stage a child is in can help you set up user-friendly ways for him/her to make art, treasure their baby steps and also keep you from overwhelming the child by demanding more than he/she is developmentally ready for.

When my son was very young, and although I was artistic myself, I was fairly clueless about child development and how to even begin doing art with him. I knew enough to start with finger paints when he was about a year old, but that was about it.  I began to do some research and stumbled upon some great resources that I have learned a lot from.  And two of these resources can be found for free on-line.

The first, Drawing Development in Children, is a pamphlet of sorts compiled by Susan K. Donley based on the work of Viktor Lowenfeld and Betty Edwards. It provides concise explanations of the various developmental stages that children ages 2-12 experience in drawing. Click below to view the pamphlet.

Drawing Development in Children

The second, Young in Art, is "a developmental look at child art" written by Dr. Craig Roland, a professor of art at the University of Florida. An easy read with helpful real-life examples of different stages, I often go back to this for a quick reference. 

Young in Art

Roland also includes examples of constructive questions to ask a child about their work in order to encourage their verbal skills.  For example, he advises caregivers of children in the scribbling stage: "As the child gains control of scribbling, comment on the variety of movements and different marks the child has made . . . As the child starts naming his or her scribbles, listen to the child’s comments and use the meanings offered by the child as a source for dialogue." Doesn't that make more sense than the negative commentary usually give to scribbles?

I hope these articles are as helpful to you as they were to me! And I hope that you'll never look at scribbling quite the same again!

linked to The Magic Onions