Villages Big and Small

Find and Seek 's Curious Cabinet series at the Red Hook Library is beginning to feel more and more like a small village where familiar faces and families return again and again to share, explore and grow! The proverbial, "It takes a village", is beginning to signify real meaning for us and we couldn't be more pleased.

Tiny LED lights inspire movement and illumination both inside and outside the dwellings.

Tiny LED lights inspire movement and illumination both inside and outside the dwellings.


This past week, we set up a complex environment for the children. A tiny village of play houses displayed on tiered tables created a space for loose parts involvement and make-believe imagining. As usual, lights were dimmed to allow for children to investigate materials on light boxes and the overhead projector. While the room was filled with over a dozen people and varieties of ways to explore, we were amazed at the calm and peaceful organization and flow of the day. Yes, children played and made with vigor, and even while building large box structures to climb inside, there was an ease and gentleness to the multi-aged play that was astounding!

As facilitators, Kristin and I are honing best ways to curate what comes out of the "Curious Cabinet". On Friday the 14th of March, we displayed a row of clear jars filled with selections from our materials library collection. We don't want to overwhelm children, but love to have a variety to compare and inspire choice. We invited children to collect their items of interest in little bowl vessels so they could move about freely with their treasures and engage in making. Some chose to try building a tiny house structure of their own, others added things to the tiny house village, and still others simply sat down to explore adding items to dough. From nature-made to man-made, materials ranged from soft, colorful, smooth, and rough to doughy, sticky, shiny and earthy. With so much visual and tactile stuff to investigate, children made interesting and purposeful choices, working at their own pace and levels of understanding. Here are some of the things they created!


"Sophie is floating to Egypt in her house boat. And there's a rainbow in the sky."  - Fern, 4

"Sophie is floating to Egypt in her house boat. And there's a rainbow in the sky."  - Fern, 4

Shadows and Paint

Shadows and Paint were but a few of the materials on hand for our young visitors on the last day at the Red Hook Library in December of 2013, before taking a 1-2 month break. Realizing we needed to invest more time and energy into fundraising, we decided we had to close up shop; but not before inviting kindred spirits from Brooklyn Apple Academy to share in a day of free exploration and crafting. 

Oh, there's an elephant in the room! No, really things are quite honest here. Elephants apparently love to frolic on the grass, that is true.

Oh, there's an elephant in the room! No, really things are quite honest here. Elephants apparently love to frolic on the grass, that is true.

We laid out our materials with care and took our six young visitors, two adult chaperones and teaching director Noah Apple Mayers on a tour of the space. They were then free to choose a "station" that most appealed to their creative impulses. Shadow and Paint seemed to have the most draw. But squishing polymer clay through a pasta press, gluing together found objects to create ornaments, and rolling sculptures were close contenders. Today we were so much more focused on a social environment, getting to know each other and making together, that we had little time to document stories in writing. That was okay! We were happy to save that for next time.

One of the things we are discovering about our time at the Red Hook Library and at Beam Center, is that consistency with a group of children we see regularly over a length of time is missing.  As we have been opening our doors on a drop-in basis, we are unable to provide a truly project-based approach. This is part of growing our community as a grassroots entity, but it leaves behind much of what we hold to be truth about how children learn most deeply. We are looking to provide long-term and deep learning for our students. It is very important that we find children and parents who are willing to work together with us over a committed length of time.  There is a great deal of research to support our beliefs. We hope we find this community soon!

Painting Together

Teachers and children paint together. Watercolor on tiny cards are very appealing and draw out a lot of creativity over lively conversation and getting aquainted with our new friends.

Teachers and children paint together. Watercolor on tiny cards are very appealing and draw out a lot of creativity over lively conversation and getting aquainted with our new friends.

Children build characters out of our favorite amorphous, plastic shapes. This mysterious learning tool/toy was procured from a stoop sale, so we have no idea where to purchase it. For all we know, it comes from another country (not a surprise in Bro…

Children build characters out of our favorite amorphous, plastic shapes. This mysterious learning tool/toy was procured from a stoop sale, so we have no idea where to purchase it. For all we know, it comes from another country (not a surprise in Brooklyn). The blue shape is the outside of a spirograph piece. We cut the grass shapes out of black paper. The tree shapes came with a paper shadow theater set we purchased. And the red middle piece came from the transparent geometric connector set we own. We believe in putting lots of different options out. Even we are learning new things from this! We love it.

Materials!

We carefully curate the materials we provide on any given day, to maintain a delicate balance between too much information and too many limitations. This is something with which we continue to learn and experiment. Textures, colors and forms become more relevant when they are used in combination for a specific purpose. Often the items we provide lay untouched for an entire session. That is okay.  Having them there may function as a provocation, or simply a crucial step in a child's thinking process. 

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All in the Making, the Doing, or Perhaps Just Looking

Children enjoy pressing clay through a pasta press and watching the colors blend, then mushing them together to add to a found object sculpture. We honor every interesting thing, take photos, hold things up to light, and place them back down for another's curious examination.

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Shadow Theater is so FUN!!

This young boy puts his whole body into the story, dancing and flying his self-created character across the shadow wall. This activity kept him enthralled for quite a time as he watched the scene morph and grow at his will. There is a joy and an ease in this kind of natural play that we LOVE to witness.

  

 

 

Children's Work is Real and Serious

For all the people in the room, there was still quite a bit of focus. One boy discovered how to make a working wheel with a cork, two CDs and some hot glue. Wow! It even made an interesting squeaking noise to rival any real mouse out there. He loved it so much, he was excited to take it home. The Brooklyn Apple children, teachers and parents were generous to gift us many of their painted cards to sell at the market. We were so happy to host a day with this wonderful group of children and the Apple School, and we hope for more collaborations on the horizon. 

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Spreading the Word

On December 7th, we joined hands to celebrate Red Hook and the holiday season at a new craft fair started by Monica Byrne and Leisah Swenson, the owners of Home/Made. The market was set up inside an intimate and beautifully candlelit space on Commerce Street in Red Hook. In an effort to gain visibility for Find & Seek within the community and to build bridges with local business and artisans who might share an interest in our vision for children, we set up a table to demonstrate a craftier side of our organization and to raise funds. Jewelry and dolls designed by Kristin, little dolls and ornaments created by some of our students and own children, and hand-painted cards made by teachers were for sale. In addition, a collection of images looping on a laptop screen were on display to demonstrate our practice.

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The day before the craft fair, on our last Find & Seek day at the Red Hook Library, we had had the privilege of hosting Noah Apple Mayers and his school, Brooklyn Apple Academy, in our Materials Lab. 

The adults in the group--Noah and a chaperone/father--really got into the making of painted holiday cards. Here you can see the wide range of our creations.

The adults in the group--Noah and a chaperone/father--really got into the making of painted holiday cards. Here you can see the wide range of our creations.

Images of practice looping on the laptop.

Images of practice looping on the laptop.

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We were lucky to be situated next to Claudia Zoe Bedrick of Enchanted Lion Books, a small children's book publishing company that happens to be located on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook.  We were already familiar with the wonderful Emma's Journey, but today got to know many more of the titles Claudia has published, and we are excited to keep in touch with her for years to come.  As her website rightly states, "[Our books] evince a fierce belief in the imagination, exploring the inner world as richly as the world around us."  We also caught up with Tera Peterson of Lunacy Design and the artist L. Nichols (currently Window Shop resident at Beam Center), and met the lovely Karen Hagopian, a ceramic artist. All in all, we made some great new friends and were inspired by the dreaminess of the space and warmth of the community. So many little lovely surprises await in Red Hook as we continue to put ourselves out into the world and foster genuine relationships with the people here. So much good will! 

Magestic ceilings, a skylight and candlelight create a cozy feeling.

Magestic ceilings, a skylight and candlelight create a cozy feeling.

Aunt Claire reads one of the lovely Enchanted Lion books to Magnolia, who had quite an enchanted experience exploring Claudia's many amazing picture book offerings.

Aunt Claire reads one of the lovely Enchanted Lion books to Magnolia, who had quite an enchanted experience exploring Claudia's many amazing picture book offerings.

Magnolia and a friend explore the Find & Seek bead collection.

Magnolia and a friend explore the Find & Seek bead collection.

Kristin made felted acorns in a felted bowl! Fun, natural, colorful. Elisha and her daughter Sophia crafted a felt and yarn headband with braided strands. 

Kristin made felted acorns in a felted bowl! Fun, natural, colorful. Elisha and her daughter Sophia crafted a felt and yarn headband with braided strands. 

A reclaimed doll house, painted blue and gray by Elisha's two children, served as a perfect shelf to display  fairy dolls, cork dolls, and felted treasure. So sweet!

A reclaimed doll house, painted blue and gray by Elisha's two children, served as a perfect shelf to display  fairy dolls, cork dolls, and felted treasure. So sweet!

Everywhere Find & Seek goes, mason jars and tree branches seem to follow! 

Everywhere Find & Seek goes, mason jars and tree branches seem to follow! 

Some of Kristin's jewelry work on display. Her work incorporates hand painted beads, vintage beads and natural seed pod beads. You can seek more of her options for purchase at her Etsy site! Please do, help to support the arts and wear an original p…

Some of Kristin's jewelry work on display. Her work incorporates hand painted beads, vintage beads and natural seed pod beads. You can seek more of her options for purchase at her Etsy site! Please do, help to support the arts and wear an original piece. Kristin also works on commission and has a large collection of paintings and prints to sell. 

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Floating Stories at Beam

Setting Up for Movement Stories

On our third day at the glorious Beam space, we created a fantastical web like structure out of multicolored yarn to set the stage for dramatic story play. The Beam space was a perfect room to draw out the yarn environment as the threads could be walked, twisted, overlapped and wrapped around three prominent columns in the center of the space. The children helped to design the room by balancing cardboard ledges, hanging fabric, and weaving ribbons. 

Ribbons are loose parts waiting to be used.

Ribbons are loose parts waiting to be used.

A cozy interior space creates a tunnel and place to lay beneath it's whispering "branches". The children say the spools remind them of mushrooms.

A cozy interior space creates a tunnel and place to lay beneath it's whispering "branches". The children say the spools remind them of mushrooms.

Yarn creates a ceiling. Paper and cardboard balance and float upon the weblike structure of the children's fort.

Yarn creates a ceiling. Paper and cardboard balance and float upon the weblike structure of the children's fort.

Arms reaching upward as the children take flight.

Arms reaching upward as the children take flight.

We began the experience with a meeting circle to discuss the nuances and properties of air and things that float. This sequed into a movement adventure story lead by Elisha and set to the wonderful musical score from the motion picture Big Fish. In the dimly lit, twinkling room, surrounded by clouds projected on the wall, the story guided children on a journey from their sleeping rooms  into an imaginary forest land where they crawled through secret passageways, floated on cotton candy clouds, took flight on the back of a giant sea turtle, transformed into mermaids, found shell treasures buried in the sea floor sand, and danced through space as if immersed in water and floating on air. Through the story play, children were allowed to experiment with their own ways of floating and flying and were invited to express what associations arose for them as they did so. It was a joyful and uniquely improvised dance adventure indeed! 

 

Rolling, crawling, creeping, sleeping, hiding, exploring...children help to improvise and move through the vocabulary of the movement story.

Rolling, crawling, creeping, sleeping, hiding, exploring...children help to improvise and move through the vocabulary of the movement story.

Sharing space beneath a wave.

Sharing space beneath a wave.

Illuminated line drawing.

Illuminated line drawing.

 

Drawing with Light

The wall was aglow with our signature strings of lights, this time in the shape of mountain. Once again, we used the wall as a canvas for the light strings to create a scenic backdrop. The girls were invited to help tape up more lights into whatever shapes they chose to pursue.  They spoke quietly among themselves as they “drew” with light.

 

 

Climb to the top of a mountain in the sky!

Climb to the top of a mountain in the sky!

 

We imagined the children would be inspired to add much more of their personal touches to this growing space so we provided yarn and ribbons, and a stack of our favorite linkable architectural cardboard squares (for balancing once the web was strong enough to bear weight) . However, children were more engaged in physicalizing their imaginary story to play out ideas, crawling beneath the low hanging ceiling of the fort and building a tiny room space out of cardboard to provide shelter for a stuffed doll. 

Building a space just right for a doll and a blanket.

Building a space just right for a doll and a blanket.

Take a peek inside the safe little hideaway. 

Take a peek inside the safe little hideaway. 

Taking a slow walk through the shadowy fairy forest.

Taking a slow walk through the shadowy fairy forest.

 

 

 

 

Shadow shapes tell stories of clouds and kites.

Shadow shapes tell stories of clouds and kites.

Time to Make!

The materials library is always an important part of investigating visual expression during our workshops. To allow time for making, we had materials on hand to develop floating structures, fairy houses, whatever the children were inclined to do.  Rolls of colorful tape, cardboard odds and ends, yarn, sticks, stretchy bands, buttons and corks...oh the possibilities are endless.  We posed the question "how might some of these items be combined and attached to make something new, something that reminds us of the story just experienced"?  This part of the workshop is lacking in documentation. As teachers think this is an area to discuss. But we are always learning, growing, open to experimenting as we attempt to follow the lead of our student's creative learning impulses. 

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For the Love of Wearable Art

It never seems quite complete with us until a child dons a scarf or creates a wearable accessory out of found materials, which almost always seem to occur at some point. This time cardboard ribbon spools are threaded onto a pink, satin ribbon, fashioning a special necklace that soon becomes offered as a gift for Mommy. It is a perfect ending to a perfect morning at Find and Seek.

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Found in Red Hook

As NYC neighborhoods go, Red Hook has more than its share of fascinating characters, whose lives contribute to cryptic, tumultuous stories.  Strange artifacts often drift into the streets, where they beg for explanation.  As it happens, one of us who will remain nameless has a mysterious little blog called Found in Red Hook, which grew out of her odd finds during her neighborhood walks. The photographs that make up the soul of that site became the inspiration for the following video, which shows a bit of Red Hook, before and after Superstorm Sandy. Taking the lead from years of work we did through Digital Story Workshop and then Little Creatures Films, the video weaves together two of the threads we are combining in our Find & Seek program at the library: treasure and children. Red Hook, lost village by the sea, within yet very separate from NYC, is home to many hidden treasures, and many little children. At Find & Seek we are wondering: can't we find a way to bring the treasures to the children (metaphorically and literally)? Don't the children need to explore the treasures? Don't they have a lot to say about the treasures? (See Spirit Ship for more on mysterious treasure-finding in Red Hook). Could the children's framing and reframing of the treasures help to transform a neighborhood with many aching needs?  One year post-Sandy, those needs and questions are still very prescient.  If you have a few moments, sit back and take in this six-minute collection of stories and images from our neighborhood by the sea: 

What Sandy wrought, Red Hook has come together to heal.  But the process is long, and it is by no means finished. Sandy brought to light many inequalities that have become entrenched in Red Hook over the past century. Find & Seek was borne out of our need to respond to the disenfranchisement Sandy shined a light on, but which was always there before the storm, and which is still hereWe are developing our innovative early childhood program to respond to real needs in Red HookWe are seeking partners who are able to support our work with dollars, so that we can continue to provide open-ended play, materials exploration and storytelling to Red Hook's youngest. 

If these images and stories call out to you, perhaps you would like to pitch in and help with what we consider a project in long-term healing and prevention. You can give tax-deductible donations online through our fiscal sponsor World Education Endeavor (type "Find & Seek" in the PayPal memo). We will soon be launching a fundraising campaign on RocketHub, and we will also be raising funds locally, in collaboration with our partner Samora Coles' Alex House Project, a program which provides mentoring and resources to young mothers. To strengthen Red Hook's ongoing healing process, and to support children and families' resilience in the face of the struggles life brings, we are commited to getting to know Red Hook's youngest and their families, and to providing excellent early childhood education that is free and accessible.

Building Neighborhood Stories

Elisha and Kristin retell their own version of "The Three Little Pigs" contrasting themes of bullying with acts of kindness. This opens dialogue encouraging children to share ideas of how friendship occurs.

Elisha and Kristin retell their own version of "The Three Little Pigs" contrasting themes of bullying with acts of kindness. This opens dialogue encouraging children to share ideas of how friendship occurs.

We gathered in our lovely Red Hook Library home for another Friday of Story Play and Materials Lab, on a morning just sunny enough for wandering feet to play outside on the back patio between stories. Thanks to our friends at Happy Hours Day Care, and familiar faces from the weeks prior, we all gathered for a very special treat: a playful and captivating puppet show of the Three Little Pigs, performed in full character by Elisha and Kristin. Even our most squirmy little friends sat cross-legged with eyes glued to the knitted, finger puppet piggies and the fuzzy, orange big bad wolf. A few brave little explorers even scooted up close enough to pet our beastly puppet or feel the lovely straw, stick, and brick houses, all home-built with natural materials. It’s always amazing to see the curious gaze on those little faces, as their eyes peek through the mini-door of the straw house or their fingers feel the rough brick next to the soft knit piggy puppet. 

Meetings at the library always begin with song.

Meetings at the library always begin with song.

We then had everyone open our big red farm house and pick one (or two or three!) farm friends of their own, greeted by a chorus of preference and story: 

“I like soft animals!” 

“Cow and Horse are going into their little wooded house!”

“Princess Asania lives in the brick house.” 

We had a few girls very interested in the big bad wolf, as well, offering him lessons on how to make friends: “You say hello to them first and then you ask their names.” And comforting him, agreeing that he was just misunderstood: “Cow and Horse don’t say you’re a bad wolf,” “You’re a nice, good, friendly wolf.” This amicable play concluded with many hugs for the happily beaming big bad wolf puppet. 

"Who is that moving into my neighborhood?" chortles the Beastly Wolf as he plots to make waves. But Kindly Alpaca sweetly offers to help a little pig on his journey to set down roots in town. 

"Who is that moving into my neighborhood?" chortles the Beastly Wolf as he plots to make waves. But Kindly Alpaca sweetly offers to help a little pig on his journey to set down roots in town. 

After the puppet show, the neighborhood is open for business as a children's puppet show:  children are invited to choose puppets, handle the props, move around houses and engage in a new conversation with the wolf about how to make friends.&nb…

After the puppet show, the neighborhood is open for business as a children's puppet show:  children are invited to choose puppets, handle the props, move around houses and engage in a new conversation with the wolf about how to make friends. 

Our Materials Lab was a continuation of our Big Bad Wolf story, and we were lucky enough to have a few faces stay for both classes to try out our afternoon of building. With natural materials including sticks, acorn tops, dried flowers, crisp leaves, among others, each maker was given a real brick and a pile of homemade play dough to start building their own home for the piggies.  We had great ambition: “I wanna make a big house!”

One three-year-old was a big fan of the play dough. She even buried “a little tiny tent” under a mound of “grass” (green dough). Using the play horse and pigs she made a story out of her house: 

“A little horsey walked through the grass and fell into the trash water. His mommy was super strong and the horsey when to his mommy.”

Two young girls set up a “Nature Store” - “I’m not going to buy it, I’m the waitress in the store!" exclaimed one child imaginatively.

So many choices! Our student intern, Morgan, encourages story dialogue as children sift through materials. 

So many choices! Our student intern, Morgan, encourages story dialogue as children sift through materials. 

During Materials Lab, we always open the Cupboard of Curiosities to reveal jars glistening with colorful bits in all textures. A table is set out with bowls of natural materials for building houses. We use homemade play dough as glue.

During Materials Lab, we always open the Cupboard of Curiosities to reveal jars glistening with colorful bits in all textures. A table is set out with bowls of natural materials for building houses. We use homemade play dough as glue.

Children begin to build with brick, home made play dough and natural materials of their choice. Little plastic animals enhance story play.

Children begin to build with brick, home made play dough and natural materials of their choice. Little plastic animals enhance story play.

Midway through class, a young boy arrived, enthusiastically making use of all the building materials as well as the projector to tell the story of his house. We improvised a story of the big bad wolf befriending Pig #3, and their travels to different locations all around the world: the desert, the jungle, and in their home. 

It was a lovely day with some beautiful stories told and houses made. The little piggy dwellings now live on top of the ever expanding materials closet that we sometimes refer to as "The Cupboard of Curiosities". It is full of Find & Seek found objects and materials for play in the weeks to come! Thank you to everyone for a magical day. 

Sticks and straw build a fortress of walls with a little interior space hidden within. His mother is inspired to create a doll out of a pinecone as they work together side by side. 

Sticks and straw build a fortress of walls with a little interior space hidden within. His mother is inspired to create a doll out of a pinecone as they work together side by side. 

Many children love to take time to look closely and take pride in discovering new worlds of their own creation. 

Many children love to take time to look closely and take pride in discovering new worlds of their own creation. 

The outside comes in and sometimes beckons us in as the garden space is reflected whimsically in the glass windows blocks of our room. Many thanks to photographer Barbara Murphy who helped us to document this day with her inspiring perspective.

The outside comes in and sometimes beckons us in as the garden space is reflected whimsically in the glass windows blocks of our room. Many thanks to photographer Barbara Murphy who helped us to document this day with her inspiring perspective.

by Morgan Urquia

Tables Should Be Round

 Find & Seek hosts ongoing discussions about education in Red Hook. We co-hosted (with Anthony Fatato of World Education Endeavor) our first round table in the back classroom at the Red Hook Public Library (the same room where we give our classes) on the evening of September 10, and filled the room with representatives from Good Shepherd Services, Red Hook Initiative, Brooklyn Public Library, PS 15 (Principal & PTA), Brooklyn New School, Young Life (and its new Red Hook chapter of Young Lives, a service for young mothers), the Child’s Place for Children with Special Needs, Kentler International Drawing Space, Project Hope, and the Library’s GRE program. At that meeting we introduced our program by sharing images of our practice, and we invited members of the Red Hook community to discuss inspiring stories that had come about in and through their work with children.

Vivian Paley's book and the catalogue for the Reggio Emilia traveling exhibition The Wonder of Learning, front and center. We won't say we haven't been influenced.....

Vivian Paley's book and the catalogue for the Reggio Emilia traveling exhibition The Wonder of Learning, front and center. We won't say we haven't been influenced.....

Sept 10 education round table at our Find & Seek venue, the back classroom of the Red Hook Public Library.

Sept 10 education round table at our Find & Seek venue, the back classroom of the Red Hook Public Library.

Rasheed of RHI looks on as his 2-year-old son plays, during our Sept round table meeting.

Rasheed of RHI looks on as his 2-year-old son plays, during our Sept round table meeting.

Our latest conversation widened to include other educators' voices from around NYC and Boston. On the evening of Oct 23 at the Miccio Center (NYCHA) in Red Hook, Find & Seek and WE Endeavor co-hosted a conversation with Alyssa Kierkegaard, the program director of the Boston-based group the National Institute for Student-Centered Education.  NISCE provided valuable context to the meeting with their model of "Why Context Matters– A Professional Conversation on Student-Centered Education.” Our discussion was facilitated by Anna Allanbrook, the principal of Brooklyn New School, and included voices from Red Hook Playgroup, Bumblebees R Us, the Alex House Project (for Red Hook young mothers), Cora Dance Studio, Red Hook Makerspace, Brooklyn Kindergarten Society, A Child Grows in Brooklyn blog, and parents and educators from the Red Hook and larger NYC community.  At Find & Seek we were happy to find a kindred spirit in Alyssa Kierkegaard of NISCE, who posed some great questions to our group about our collective efforts to achieve true child-centered education: How well are we doing in teaching to each child as an individual? Where is variability in teaching happening? Have we found any approaches that are scalable beyond a single classroom, school or district? All who attended seemed to have been led there by the power of these questions.

On Oct 23, Find & Seek, WE-Endeavor and the National Institute for Student-Centered Education hosted a meeting for educators from Red Hook and beyond.

On Oct 23, Find & Seek, WE-Endeavor and the National Institute for Student-Centered Education hosted a meeting for educators from Red Hook and beyond.

Anna Allanbrook opened the conversation with her claim that child-centered education is at risk. She then helped to provide a framework for student-centered education within Brooklyn New School (PS 146), by setting out a well-articulated definition that placed “relationship” at the center, and which followed the course of “flexibility” in teaching since the school’s inception in 1987. The emphasis on relationship was echoed by the recommended reading--a NISCE paper written by Dearborn Academy Director Mark Dix, “Putting Student-Centered Education in Context.”  Because relationship lies at the heart of the Brooklyn New School mission, all learning that takes place at BNS is dependent upon the child feeling safe within the school environment and with members of his/her classroom community. Secondly, Anna pointed out that each child’s learning must be differentiated and teachers must try very hard to determine what success means for each child. Anna provided thoughtful guidelines for implementation of child-centered education. She mentioned many, but these stood out:

• The school environment should support children in taking risks and making discoveries on their own.

• Children should be allowed to learn at their own pace.

• Teachers need to pay attention to a child’s development of interpersonal and social skills.

• Schools should avoid tracking with favor placed on diversity so that children can learn different things from one another.

• Schools should invite parents into the classroom on a daily basis.

Perhaps you can see: our round table produced an amazing discussion!

Perhaps you can see: our round table produced an amazing discussion!

Many in the room wondered why this model is not being implemented more widely today. “Since everyone loves BNS, why aren’t there more schools like it?” The discussion touched upon another point made by Dix in the NISCE paper, that schools seem to be still operating as if we were living in the original industrial revolution, when schools were truly designed to create factory workers.  Anna lamented that many student teachers are finding it difficult to locate truly child-centered schools to study under in the city. If our new teachers cannot learn a child-centered approach from teachers who are actually practicing it, then where will they learn it? As Anna mentioned, the role of the teacher is always to be “watching”. She encouraged us to “go at a way slower pace” and do away with damaging initiatives like “Race to the Top”.

Some main points emerged from our discussion:

• Why is student-centered education at risk? What are the forces stopping it from growing? Many people in the room could find anecdotal evidence in their own lives or teaching practices where the exact opposite of child-centered approaches to learning were being modeled.

• Play, the arts, parental involvement and other facets of a well-designed child-centered school are inarguably important as we strive to serve the needs of all children.

• There is a great disconnect between the inspirational philosophy behind student-centered education and the reality of the situation within today’s public school classroom.

• Why aren’t parents included in school community? When schools close themselves off to parents,  they not only do not support child-centered education, but they pit parents against teachers. We agreed that parents and teachers need to work together more.

This event was Boston-based NISCE's first NYC Professional Conversation. NISCE Program Director Alyssa Kierkegaard co-hosted with Find & Seek and WE-Endeavor, and NISCE board member Nanci Brody attended.

This event was Boston-based NISCE's first NYC Professional Conversation. NISCE Program Director Alyssa Kierkegaard co-hosted with Find & Seek and WE-Endeavor, and NISCE board member Nanci Brody attended.

Another idea arose: “We live in a culture of fear.” If that is the case, we must ask, as writer and mother Sarah Moriarty did, “What is everyone afraid of?” We agreed that there are a host of forces in education and society which are at odds with child-centered education: poverty, unequal schooling environments, big business in education, teachers facing top-down mandates, and a culture of teaching to the test.  Educators Takiema Bunche Smith and Joseph Ubiles reminded us of the danger of attempting to solve the complex problem of educational equality when inequities are so persistent a reality in our society. If children are not coming to school from a warm home, where they are well-fed, then how can we teach them?  “Child-centered learning” is thrown around a lot as a pedagogical term, and it sounds great in theory. As educator and mother Mollie McQuarrie noted, there are ever growing volumes of research in neuroscience to support it, and press touting it, but still our country is seriously struggling with allowing all children to access it.

At our next round table, we will discuss the  “how" of child-centered education: real life examples of ways it is working in the world. Real anecdotes of teachers’ and administrators’ practices and challenges when it comes to designing and best utilizing a child-centered environment. For Find & Seek, as educators with an eye to documentation, we are asking ourselves:  how might we make successful progressive schools, schools who are excellent at doing the how well, more visible to the the public at large, so as to begin to dispel some of the fears and myths surrounding student-centered education?  We are committed to having more conversations like this one, gathering together with kindred spirits in Red Hook and beyond to mobilize around this issue and to educate beyond families and schools. This will help us to deepen our understanding of student-centered education, so that we can become better advocates for it, especially as NYC experiences a massive shift in local government, in just a few weeks.

 

Winter Light

Family exploration with color and light.

Family exploration with color and light.

In January 2013, Find & Seek offered a "Winter Light" workshop for a group of families in the Upper Room at Visitation Church in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For two hours in the afternoon, children ages 1-5 and their parents explored materials, built structures, made and played with shadow puppets, and shared stories in a cozy tent lit by a glowball. 

Children build with blocks and play with shadow puppets, in a space enhanced by a video projection on the wall.

Children build with blocks and play with shadow puppets, in a space enhanced by a video projection on the wall.

The Find & Seek team fabricated our own lightboxes out of translucent plastic boxes, mylar, Christmas lights and other small lights, and tape. 

The Find & Seek team fabricated our own lightboxes out of translucent plastic boxes, mylar, Christmas lights and other small lights, and tape. 

Common Senses at MoMA.

Common Senses at MoMA.

Moveable white blocks of all sizes and a video projection at Common Senses: heaven for young children!

Moveable white blocks of all sizes and a video projection at Common Senses: heaven for young children!

The Common Senses exhibition at MoMA was a major inspiration for our Winter Light workshop. This exhibition was curated by MoMA's education department in collaboration with a team of Italian educators from the Reggio Emilia preschools. The exhibition featured an installation of moveable materials, many of which were painted white, juxtaposed on the floor in the area between a projector and the wall. Children moved and changed the objects, from blocks and mirrors to plastic animals, such that the exhibition was constantly reinvented. This set up proved to be engaging for children (and adults) of all ages.
 

 

One notable thing about the Common Senses exhibition which we also foster at Find & Seek is the combination of open-ended materials with more specific animal or human-looking dolls/toys. MoMA had an array of plastic animals juxtaposed with the very basic painted-white shapes of the blocks. At our Winter Light event, we introduced 2D shadow puppets--cut-out cardboard shapes on sticks--into the mix of blocks that we set out near our projection. The children responded by play-acting with their puppets against the backdrop of the moving landscape of the projection. It was beautiful.

 

Story play with dolls and props takes on a new dimension when carried out against a backdrop of light. 

Story play with dolls and props takes on a new dimension when carried out against a backdrop of light. 

We are committed to providing experiences for young children that invoke in them a sense of wonder and awe at the beautiful world we live in. Explorations of LIGHT are crucial in our ongoing research and practice. Looking at light in new ways simply . . . turns the lightbulbs on . . . for our kids!  The wonder spews forth in beautiful original comments and super creative stories!  The eyes go bright!  The adventures and ideas multiply!  The shadows morph . . . into animals, monsters, robots, trees, anything we could imagine, and more. The simple materials of light and dark, aided by electrical technology (ie: an overhead projector, a video projector, a flashlight, a table light, a slide projector) become a door through which children can enter mysterious and captivating imaginative worlds. The folks in Reggio Emilia know this (see their Ray of Light Atelier), as do folks like Allie Pasquier of Play Lab/Bakers & Astronauts in WA State, Turtlewings in Brussels, Beginnings Nursery School in NYC, and many others . . . 

Magnolia and her Tatty prepare for Winter Light. Find & Seek is developing a program which will facilitate young children collaborating with elders on materials exploration and storytelling.

Magnolia and her Tatty prepare for Winter Light. Find & Seek is developing a program which will facilitate young children collaborating with elders on materials exploration and storytelling.

So often it's hard to trace the tracks of our multitude of influences. They run together like streams of water into the river of our experience, research and investigations. At times (like this, when writing), it's helpful to take account of the many incredible kindred spirits the world over who are as we speak, both in 1's and 0's to other professional educators, and to parents, and in real-life conversations with 3 and 4-year-olds, facilitating meaningful play and making.  We need their inspiration, to validate our work and to spur us on to Believe.  Of all of these many influences, neither of us can discount the wonderful foundations given us by our own parents (see Kristin's in this image above, with her granddaughter). Because Mom and Dad (now Tatty and Papa to my two girls) provided a loving, beautiful childhood for me, I am able to claim that dream not only for my own children, but for the many children we will serve through our Find & Seek programs in Red Hook, Brooklyn. 

We love these wooden dolls made by Anna and Juan Donado of Goose Grease Undone. We often purchase them unpainted and either paint them (or perhaps add an acorn cap) or leave them unpainted (so children's imagination can run loose) and add them …

We love these wooden dolls made by Anna and Juan Donado of Goose Grease Undone. We often purchase them unpainted and either paint them (or perhaps add an acorn cap) or leave them unpainted (so children's imagination can run loose) and add them to our selection of props. For Winter Light, we provided a doll and a set of wings to each child to bridge the Find & Seek/home play experience.

Our Winter Light event was just a 2 hour glimmer of the hope that lives in our plans for our program. We are so excited to see our steadily growing flame grow and burn bright, bringing beauty, color, light to a neighborhood that has struggled through the decades and that needs more innovative and free arts programming for very young children.

A small curtain of mirrors in a classroom window creates daily and ever-changing reverberations which, like light fairies, bring to life the children’s pleasure in discovery. Light is weightless ‘material’, almost liquid, capable of expanding and contracting, of being welcomed and studied, and—just for an illusory moment—stilled. The children dance and give voice to light, create empathetic relations with the light.
— Reggio Children, The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children

Cardboard!

Why CARDBOARD?

Materials in space rest and curve.

Materials in space rest and curve.

Well, first of all, what child doesn’t eventually prefer to climb into the box surrounding the shiny new toy it just delivered? Cardboard is lightweight, child friendly, recyclable, comes in great variety, and can easily be used to create paper sculpture. You can cut it, glue it, stack it, crush it, paint it and even wear it!  Isn’t cardboard really every art teacher’s dream? Children will be coming into contact with this material their whole lives. So let’s use it!! Over the years we have been collecting pieces of cardboard in a variety of sizes, shapes, and interesting textures. Our collection includes odd-shaped packing forms, paper towel tubes, huge carpet dowels, small and large boxes, egg cartons and a very long roll of corrugated paper. We purposely select pieces in non-dyed colors to preserve the natural feel and to draw attention to form and texture. These treasured items have been stored away and awaiting children’s curious explorations. We know the children will appreciate the possibilities as much as we do!

 

Find & Seek #2 at ArtsCetera 

High, low, up and down: Cardboard World!

High, low, up and down: Cardboard World!

On August 28th, 2012, a small group of children (9 to be exact), ages 18 months to eight-years, collaborated in a room filled with these amorphous and strange cardboard forms (along with a little string and some gold duct tape). The first day with a new material, as with any art-making material, whether it be paint, clay, wire, musical instruments, or whatever else we can conjure, we feel it is best to allow as much free time as possible to explore and examine, to share and inquire. So without much provocation, children were invited to just play…

What themes and imaginings occurred? In the short hour and a half that we spent together, and for some it was less, cardboard was put to use in a myriad of ways. It became pirate costumes, telescope-like instruments to gaze through, places to sit, hide and relax, little places with doors, windows, and ceilings, nests for treasures, bowls for nesting objects and serving pretend food, logs to balance upon, various components of a range of different buildings, and it was even used to engineer a tiny working elevator! The experience required sharing a large space and for some, materials negotiations with peers.  It was discovered that pieces could not only be combined in a variety of ways, but that they could also be propelled, either by throwing or dragging. The younger children were not so different from the older ones in their willingness to create, however, the older children naturally were able to adapt the string and tape as it was more suited to their developmental abilities. What did these children not do? Nobody shredded a cardboard tube or smashed a carton to bits, although that would not be surprising as we’ve seen it done before! The children seemed happy to use the materials primarily as they were in their natural forms.

 

The Intricacies of our Observations

A box space awaits. It doesn’t take long for a child to discover the possibilities here. Many children discover the joy of climbing into boxes. A box makes a brilliant hideaway space, a place to remain hidden for a while. A box big enough to sit inside will most definitely become a seat.  Some pieces inspire pretend kitchen play. Corks and an egg container work to play kitchen. Lunch is served! The corks represent each a tasty morsel of something good to eat, carefully placed where they nestle perfectly in the cups.“Look what I can do!” An eight-year-old girl beckons to us, just before meditatively balancing on a cardboard tube.  

An abandoned roll of cardboard resting upon a tube is such a beautiful form full of interesting shapes and shadows. We couldn't help but document through the camera lens. What do the children see here?

Looking through the telescope.

Looking through the telescope.

Observing a pile of cardboard, a sculpture in two dimension.

Observing a pile of cardboard, a sculpture in two dimension.

Taking a mass for a walk.

Taking a mass for a walk.

Here Ye! Is that a knight in shining armor?

Here Ye! Is that a knight in shining armor?

Inside, Underneath and Above

A boy appears looking through a telescope, peering through the rounded openings of cylinders. Attaching them together has further purpose. The openings provide different views and serve different functions. The boy tries looking through and upward, checking out the view from a variety of angles. Will looking through to the ground while peering through the tiny opening reveal a new perspective or a hidden secret?

 

We photograph a kind of Artscape of Materials. We think of materials as seen through the eyes of a camera lens. Were a picture of this kind to be presented to our child participants, what might they see there?

Materials are amassed, rolled out, spread out, spilling over into the space. The room continually transforms. Getting up close provides an interesting perspective of this transient world.

Moving the mass is a delightful discovery! A five-year-old boy can engineer a way to take the mass of cardboard forms for a walk. The forms appear to move as a single unit as the rope clings on to pieces in a triangular configuration.

 

 

Some cardboard is wearable! Suiting up, two boys figure out that this garble of rolled paper is actually wearable. This is exciting and inspires one to spin and laugh freely. Cardboard feels and looks a bit like armor. The boys continue suiting up for battle, perhaps as a king, a knight or a pirate. Dressing up is a common expression of young children as it leads them further on a journey through make-believe adventure.

What is happening for us as facilitators

As we engage with children in these open-ended play workshops, most importantly we are beginning to find  that interesting themes emerge and that stories develop.  We try our best to listen and watch closely to what children do and say. We record and ask questions. Every interaction becomes a valuable new piece of information, bringing us closer to understanding the imaginary worlds of young children.

What does this all mean for children, all this unstructured manipulation of stuff? Where can it lead? Many places! We hope a conversation may develop around a story or play. Perhaps children will be compelled to build a city or world as a collective group. Perhaps children will consider the addition of other materials as we slowly present them, such as chalk, paint, glue, buttons, fabric. The direction it goes depends on the children and what they are trying to say. We look forward to deepening the process with future groups! We thank all the young participants and their willing caregivers for expressing interest in imaginative play. And thanks again to Howard Weiss and the staff at ArtsCetera for hosting us!

Box panel hideout.

Box panel hideout.

Magnets Ribbons Spools Tops & Tubes

Here are some videos of our first Play Lab at ArtsCetera! We explored magnets (“Magformers” specifically):

Children explore magnets in our Play Lab at ArtsCetera. Thanks to Linda White for facilitating! The children loved these Magformer magnets! blog.playlabbrooklyn.org

Children explore ribbons in our Play Lab at ArtsCetera. Facilitators: Linda White and Kristin Eno (of Little Creatures Films) http://blog.playlabbrooklyn.org

Children explore spools in our Play Lab at ArtsCetera. Thanks to Linda White for facilitating! The children loved this splendid array of recycled shapes and forms. blog.playlabbrooklyn.org

Children explore tubes in our Play Lab at ArtsCetera. Thanks to Linda White for facilitating! The children loved this splendid array of recycled shapes and forms. blog.playlabbrooklyn.org

Children explore tops in our Play Lab at ArtsCetera. Thanks to Linda White for facilitating! The children loved this splendid array of recycled shapes and forms. blog.playlabbrooklyn.org

Why We Document

Much as the Reggio preschools have done with their creation of the role of teacher-researcher and dissemination of the explorations that take place in their schools through the traveling exhibition “The Wonder of Learning” (formerly “The Hundred Languages of Children”), Find & Seek functions as a venue for research about the way children play, create and learn. Kristin B. Eno, co-founder, is also the director of Little Creatures Films, where she produces films based on children’s imaginative play in the natural world, featuring children’s original voiceover narration. The original premise behind Little Creatures dovetails that of FInd & Seek: Children’s voices as they explore and investigate their world are fascinating, brilliant and poetic and need to be captured. We are designing Find & Seek to function as a more public home for the video production and editing that Little Creatures has been doing with and for children and teachers since 2001. These two entities will have a symbiotic relationship so that ultimately, Little Creatures can share with the world the wonderful explorations and stories that children develop during their time at FInd & Seek.

 

Drop-In Play Lab at Artscetera (1)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 from 3:30-5pm, Linda White and Kristin Eno hosted the first "Play Lab Brooklyn" (now called Find & Seek)–at ArtsCetera, a space for children in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Around 50 children, babies, mommies and nannies showed up--what a pleasant surprise. We had advertised that our target age group was a whopping range of “0-7,” but the average age of the children was 18 mo-2 years. Still, the few older kids who came had fun too!  A 10-year-old investigated some tubing before I handed him the Flip cam so that he could capture some footage.

The materials we brought into the space and introduced to the children for exploration included:

• Plastic/rubber tubing (small and large, short and long, rigid and flexible)

• Magformers magnets

• Plastic bottle caps

• Ribbons

• Large plastic spools

• Cardboard spools and cones

The day was a success! Even after the event we were attracting the public, when across the street at a restaurant Linda stuck many vibrant colored Magformers to the doors, and we watched as children of all ages became captivated. “If you put out Magformers, they will come”: what a simple marketing plan! And what a testimony to the power of materials, to spark the imagination of children of all ages.

 

Our Story and Our Stories

Once upon a time there were two artist/teachers, who came all the way from CA and NC to the Big City to learn all about the teaching of Art to children. Elisha Georgiou and Kristin B. Eno met in the M.Ed. program of the Art Education department at Columbia Teachers College, where they each finished up their theses around 2004. Kristin started to make films about the things children do and say in their imaginative play, and continued to teach art and video; Elisha also taught art.  Then they each became mommies. Elisha's daughter became a part of Kristin's Spirit Ship film, a Little Creatures production shot in 2008 that culminated in a 17-minute film and a very special companion book illustrated by that very creative daughter, and co-written by Elisha and Kristin. Over coffee with the wise and wonderful Richard Lewis in the Winter of 2011, the seed of Find & Seek was planted. As Richard asked, why not start something, and put our dreams and education to good use?  Just as he had done many years ago . . .

 

Elisha: 

Elisha Georgiou

Elisha Georgiou

Elisha Georgiou is an educator and artist living in Brooklyn. Originally from Napa, California, she began her career teaching elementary school in the San Francisco Bay Area before coming to New York City where she eventually switched her focus to arts education. Elisha discovered her love for teaching art while working with several NYC non-profit arts organizations as an artist-in-residence.  There she designed curriculum and facilitated instruction for after-school programs and also helped to bring arts into the school day in collaboration with elementary school teachers all over New York City. In order to broaden her own scope and study, Elisha then attended Teachers College Columbia University (M.Ed.) where she researched methods for providing interdisciplinary arts learning to children. There she became especially intrigued by the preschools of Reggio Emilia and also the works of many interdisciplinary arts educators and expressive arts therapists. Elisha believes strongly that children’s voices need to be heard and intently listened to, and that there is no better way to do that than through expressive art and play. She knows that children have the capacity to invent, create, navigate and teach in ways that may astound and exceed our wildest expectations if given space to do so. Elisha’s dream for her children’s collaborative art and play space in Brooklyn is that the children will create community, express their inner worlds, share their ideas, expand their imaginary play horizons and grow in body, mind and spirit. Elisha lives with her husband and their two young children in Park Slope.

Kristin: 

Kristin grew up in NC and went to Dartmouth College to study Studio Art (painting) and Elementary Education. She moved to NYC in 1999 to pursue a painting career; meanwhile she taught art and first grade.  In 2001, inspired by the fantastical stories of her students in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the skills and insight of her future husband Sean Eno, Kristin began exploring the potential of using video to support and enhance children’s original stories. Her research (M.Ed., Columbia Teachers College, 2004) and practice (Digital Story Workshop, 2004-2008) led her to see that video making for and by young children was an untapped tool for use in early childhood education, and that children even as young as four were ready to participate in the making of their own media. After ten years of providing video making opportunities to pre-K through third grade students in NYC public schools, Kristin established Little Creatures film company to raise the quality of the work and to distribute it widely. She shot her short film Spirit Ship in her neighborhood of Red Hook while pregnant with her first daughter, who is now 4. Her latest little creature, a second daughter, is 1. In 2011-12 Kristin taught art at the Red Hook Playgroup, bringing to that setting inspiration from the beautiful work done by children and teachers in the ateliers of the Reggio Emilia preschools. Kristin is an advocate of children’s free play, especially as seen through the lens of play-facilitators such as educators and playworkers, as evidenced in her studies of and collaboration with Vivian Gussin Paley, and her work collaborating with colleagues such as UK Playworker Penny Wilson and Pop-Up Adventure Play. Kristin is happy to be building Find & Seek as a home for the many little creatures of Brooklyn to play and explore, and she is committed to providing documentation of early learning for the benefit of children, parents and teachers all over NYC and the world.