Barbara Karmazyn

I have been asked to talk about my favourite topic, Encouraging Creativity in Children, on Vancouver Co-op Radio CFRO 102.7 FM on Thursday, March 20th at 4 pm. Kara Ko, the moderator of the parenting show “It Takes a Village”, heard me speak at a Parent Participation Pre School (PPP) education night a few months ago. I was delighted when Kara called to invite me on to the show and am looking forward to the interview.

This talk was one of several that I have given over the past few month to various groups of PPP parents in Metro Vancouver and Gibsons. I really enjoy talking to parents who care so deeply about their children.

Catching Up

I have had a very full and rewarding 3 months of workshops and classes. In addition to my ongoing sessions at Burnaby Association of Community Inclusion and drumcircles with elders I gave a lot of workshops to many different groups:

The Vancouver Society of Children’s Centers hired me to run a series of expressive arts workshops for parents. This included a storymaking playshop and a rhythm playshop for parents with their children that were really fun. I also gave my workshops Move and Grow 1 and 2 to the caregivers who work in the day care centers. I am very grateful to the society for giving me the opportunity to pass on artsplay skills to so many people.

In January I was the keynote speaker for 2008 Calgary Pre School Teachers Convention. It was extremely gratifying to speak about Encouraging Creativity in Children to such a welcoming group of caregivers. I also presented a two workshops and passed on artsplay skills in rhythm, drama, movement and storymaking to large groups of enthusiastic participants.

In February I gave Tell me a Story/Make me a Story to an energetic group of caregivers for the South Fraser Family Child Care Society. Tri Cities Child Care Resource and Referral Service hired me to give Self Care for Caregivers to a group in Coquitlam. Given the fact that I had been running at full steam myself, facilitating that workshop was a good reminder for me to practice what I preach! I ended the session with the drums and as always those instruments brought the group together and helped everyone tune into themselves.

Speaking of drums, a few weeks ago I facilitated an afternoon of dancing and drumming at the Veracis Wellness Center in Port Moody. I created a new playshop Dancing from Your Heart . We had a wonderful two hours of dancing together to some great music, and finished of the day with a lively drum circle. A good time was had by all.

I am now getting ready for my spring session and look forward to what the next few months will bring my way. I love my work!

Lois Birkenshaw: Music for Fun, Music for Learning

Bev Bos: Before the Basics: Creating Conversations with Children

Bev Bos: Don’t Move the Muffin Tins: A Hands Off Guide to Art for the Young Child
Bev Bos/Jenny Chapman: Tumbling Over the Edge, A Rant for Children’s Play

Clare Cherry: Creative Art for the Developing Child

Clare Cherry: Creative Movement for the Developing Child
Joyce Boorman: Dance & Language Experiences with Children
Anne Green Gilbert: Creative Dance for All Ages: A Conceptual Approach

Anne Green Gilbert: Brain-Compatible Dance Education
Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences

Ann S. Epstein/Eli Trimis: Supporting Young Artists
Gordon Neufeld: Hold onto Your Kids
Daniel Goleman
Paul Kauffman Ray Michael: The Creative Spirit Companion to PBS Television Series
Carla Hannaford PHd: Smart Moves:Why Learning is Not all in Your Head
Eric Jensen: Teaching with the Brain in Mind
Alphie Kahn: No Contest and Punished by Rewards
Rhoda Kellog: Why Children Scribble
Steve Kline: Out of the Garden
Richard Louv: Last Child in the Woods, Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder
Viktor Lowenfield: Creative and Mental Growth
Moira Morningstar: Growing with Dance, Developing Through Creative Dance

Colleen Politano Joy Paquin: Brain-Based Learning with Class
Robert Schirrmacher: Art and Creative Development for Young Children
Philip Sheppard: Music Makes Your Child Smarter
Silken Laumann: Child’s Play

WEB SITES
www.americansforthearts.org…click on Field Services: Arts Education Research
www.artsusa.org/public_awareness/…affiliate of above site…lots of research material www. www.brucevanpatter.com/getcreative.html… resource site for storymaking
www.creativedance.org….. resources and books by Anne Green Gilbert (see above)
www.chariho.k12.ri.us/curriculum/MISmart/mi_smart.html#t….resource site for using multiple intelligences in the classroom…..if this address doesn’t work do a google search for MI Smart and that will take you to the website
www.dana.org brain research and arts education site
www.turnthepage.com books, article and resources and official site for Bev Bos

The following programs are sponsored by Veracis Wellness in Port Moody

DANCING FROM THE HEART

Barbara shares her love of dance by bringing a wide range of music and fun dance games to stimulate and motivate. She provides a flexible structure for you to use what you already know and expand your range of movement. There are no steps or patterns to learn as the dance comes from within you. Dance by yourself, with a partner and with the whole group to great music. Please wear comfortable clothing.

Sat. Feb. 16, 2008
1.00-3.00 pm
$60.00

FEEL THE BEAT DRUMMING
Discover the benefits of Recreational Music Making as you express your own natural rhythm on drums, percussion instruments and found sounds. Drums and percussion instruments provided

Sat. Feb. 16, 2008
3:30-5:30 pm
$15

VALENTINE’S SPECIAL register for both workshops for $50.00
To register call 604.461.5511 or info@veraciswellness.com

Discoveries in neuroscience have shown that movement plays a vital and crucial role in learning and brain development. In order to fully activate their learning potential children must move. With young children spending more and more time sitting in car seats, baby carriers, and in front of television sets, the potential for growth and learning is sadly limited. Many children don’t even have the opportunity to run about in a back yard or in a playground. By integrating movement experiences throughout the day we can give children the opportunity to grow and learn kinesthetically.

Connection Between Movement and Learning

In Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, Carla Hannaford, Phd. explains why and how the body grows the brain. She says that all learning in the first15 months of life is centered in the vestibular system,the sensory organs located in the inner ear and the eyes. The first sensory system to develop, it controls our sense of movement and balance, locomotion, muscle tone and precise motor execution. Proper functioning of this system is essential to all higher learning.

Carla also stresses the importance of the corpus callosum, the nerve pathway between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Activating both sides of the brain in unison, is crucial for building neural pathways. Any activity that crosses the mid line assists development.

Cognitive Movement Break (do both several times a day)

Vestibular Stimulation
spin 15 seconds one way….stop for 15 seconds….repeat the other way
it is in the stopping that this system becomes activated

Crossing the Mid Line
crawling is the obvious choice, especially for younger children.
the opposite game:
sit or stand and slowly touch each hand to opposite knee 4-8 times
then hands to feet, shoulders, ears etc
standing helps activate vestibular system re balance

Integrating Movement Throughout the Day

Movement activities assist in development of all the multiple intelligences, particularly kinesthetic. Integrating movement into the curriculum gives children plenty of opportunities to learn through their bodies, shift emotional states and get rid of the “wigglies”. Ideally, follow a Creative Dance philosophy, giving children open ended activities to explore the concepts of movement: body and spatial awareness, force and time (see Anne Green Gilbert’s Creative Dance for All Ages). However, any movement is better than no movement at all.

Cultivate linguistic and musical intelligence by taking nursery rhymes, simple songs and stories into full body movement

Enhance mathematical and musical intelligence by giving children simple rhythm patterns to follow: use body percussion, voice, instruments and then take these patterns into movement

Facilitate interpersonal intelligence by circle dances and partner dances: use a wide variety of music

Develop visual/spatial intelligence by encouraging children to physically explore the concepts of place, directions, levels, size and pathways

Nurture emotional and intrapersonal intelligence by providing a non competitive, encouraging atmosphere

Conclusion
We can enhance the learning environment and the learning potential of each child by providing many opportunities for children to move and grow.

- Barbara Karmazyn

(Published in The Early Childhood Educator, The Journal of Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia  Summer 2003)