When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 5

What is play? Merriam-Webster defines it as "the spontaneous activity of children." The word comes from "plega," an Anglo-Saxon word meaning sport or game. While children's activities are often described as play, similar activities by adults are termed leisure. Recreation is seen as more purposeful and organized, like playing a sport.

The notion and importance of play has changed over the centuries. When Europeans first settled in the New World, they didn't have time for play. The average child might have a couple of modest, homemade toys—a carved animal, a rag doll—but chores filled up most of the day. Entire families worked at farming, homemaking, and earning a living. This was mostly a matter of survival, but Puritan belief also held that idleness was wrong.

Things started to change in the mid 1800s with the Industrial Revolution. As cities grew and technology advanced, people left the farm to work in factories and at jobs in town. At the end of the long work week, employees were left with a bit of free time. But what to do with it? Progressive-era social reformers promoted leisure activities as a way for the working class to renew their mental and physical energy and connect with family.

Before the Industrial Revolution, children were treated as little adults, wearing similar fashions, working strenuous chores, and being exposed to the same unpleasant realities as grown-ups. As industrialization progressed and affected society, children came to be viewed as innocents needing protection, instruction, and nurturing. Childhood was recognized as a separate phase of life, and toys, fashion, and attitudes changed accordingly.

At the beginning of the 19th century, adults believed that children’s toys and games should both educate and teach morals. America’s move towards industrialization made toys more plentiful and affordable for the expanding middle class. More toys meant more marketing. Products were designed and sold on an annual cycle, with Christmas as the focal point. By the late 1800s, it was okay for toys to be fun.

The growth of the business world changed society as well, bringing ideas of teamwork and competition to activities such as sports. Leagues were formed, rules were refined, and the strenuous, manly life was promoted. The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in England in 1844 to build character through a variety of means, including athletics. The notion of "muscular Christianity" furthered this idea by equating physical fitness with good morals and a strong nation.

Attitudes towards play changed even further in the 20th century. After World War I adults started participating in their children's play. Youth culture came into force in the 1950s as television shows and products were marketed to children. By the 1980s scholars started wondering what toys say about us. Do beautiful, shapely dolls make us feel inadequate? Do toy guns and war play decrease our sensitivity to violence?

In many ways, today's play seems different from earlier generations. Safety concerns keep children nestled safely at home or at sanctioned events, rather than roaming neighborhoods on their own. Activities are highly structured. There are play dates for youngsters, specialty camps for all sorts of pastimes, and numerous after-school activities. Technology and an emphasis on early education have brought computer games that teach toddlers their ABCs. More and more, children and adults are scheduling play, turning it into a job rather than free-spirited fun. Even dogs have their own play parks and doggie-day care activities. A 2007 study found that one in three American workers don't take all of their allotted vacation days. And when they do travel, many engage in goal-oriented activities while juggling work-related emails.

So what does the future of play hold? Will we overschedule ourselves, making play a chore rather than a pleasure? Will businesses marketing must-have gear and lifestyles make play too expensive? Will we be harmed by violent, addictive, or dangerous games and sports? Perhaps we'll once again find time to relax and enjoy a favorite activity, free from stressful competition and the need to get something done.

Poem by Leila P. Fagg

The Value of Play
You say you love your children,
And are concerned they learn today?
So am I - that's why I'm providing
A variety of kinds of play.

You're asking me the value
Of blocks and other such play?
You're children are solving problems.
They will use that skill everyday.

You're asking what's the value
Of having your children play?
Your daughter's creating a tower:
She may be a builder someday.

You're saying you don't want your son
To play in that 'sissy' way?
He's learning to cuddle a doll:
He may be a father someday.

You're questioning the interest centres:
They just look like useless play?
Your children are making choices:
They'll be on their own someday.

You're worried your children aren't learning:
And later they'll have to pay?
They're learning a pattern for learning:
For they'll be learners always

When I got [my] library card,

that was when my life began.

~ Rita Mae Brown ~

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 5

kydzilicious!!

The roots of education are bitter,

but the fruit is sweet.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 5

读书破万卷，下笔如有神——杜甫

图片说明:隋 智永 《真草千字文》

Is the Montessori Method for You?

byPaula Polk Lillard
Copyright © by Education in Focus 1990

Maria Montessori, the first woman graduate of the University of Rome Medical School, did not approach children's education with the traditional question "How can I give children the knowledge I know they will need to make a success of their lives?" The children she was given to care for as a young medical doctor in 1896 were the insane, shut away in the asylums of Rome.

How ludicrous to think in terms of education for success in the world. Rather, Montessori sought a means whereby she might reach the humanity hidden within these "poor idiots," as she called them. It was this open-minded approach to education that made possible a great discovery. The keepers of the children in the asylums complained that the children were so greedy, they would snatch up any crumb of food left on the floor. Montessori watched more closely and saw what others had failed to observe. The children did not eat these crumbs but began to manipulate and play with them. She regarded this spontaneous interest as a sign they could be reached on a sensory level. She traveled to France to study the work of two French doctors who had worked with deaf and neurologically damaged children in the early nineteenth century, Jean Itard and Edouard Séguin.

With their insights to aid her, Montessori began work with her children (now housed in the State Orthophrenic School which she directed) in 1898. For two years she labored day and night, developing her materials and methods. So successful were they that her children were heralded in the press around the world for passing Italian public-school examinations in reading and writing. This phenomenon upset Montessori for she knew her unfortunate children could not equal children of normal intelligence. Realizing something was radically wrong with traditional approaches to education, she returned to the University to study psychology, philosophy, and anthropology, becoming a Professor of Anthropology in 1904.

In 1907 Montessori was given her first opportunity to work with children of normal intelligence. She was to direct a day-care center in a housing project in the slum section of San Lorenzo in Rome. Montessori approached these children in the same spirit she had her mentally deficient children. She had not determined what she wanted to teach them; instead, she simply observed and recorded their responses to her special equipment. To her amazement, the children showed an incredible spontaneous repetition of certain actions and a concentration of the deepest level in response to the materials. These phenomena were evident to a degree not observable in the mentally deficient children at the Institute. Even more surprising, they appeared to be contented and rested from their labors, as though some great inner need was being satisfied.

As Montessori's children daily became more involved with the materials, other phenomena occurred. The children demonstrated they thrived on being free to choose their own materials and activities. Interestingly, they gradually ignored the dolls and other toys Montessori had put in the room, and she eventually removed them. They displayed a total disregard for either rewards or punishments in relation to their work. They appeared daily more self-confident, self-disciplined, and loving toward each other.

Many people understand that Montessori education involves a particular environment that is structured to meet the needs of children, that this environment includes materials to be manipulated, and that amazing benefits somehow accrue to the child. Common sense tells one, however, there must be more to it than merely placing children and materials side by side in the same environment. How, for example, do Montessori children learn to write and read? (In Montessori writing precedes reading.)

An indirect preparation for writing begins with Practical Life Exercises, which are presented to the children when they enter Montessori at age three. These are a series of carefully laid-out activities involving those tasks the children see accomplished daily in their own homes and which, therefore, they spontaneously seek to imitate: the washing of hands, ironing, preparation of food, etc. The purpose of these exercises is not to learn the particular skill involved, although this accomplishment undoubtedly will aid the children's self-confidence and independence. It is rather to enable the children to develop control of movement, concentration, self-discipline, and the ability to complete a cycle of activity. Without this early experience with the Practical Life Exercises, any further exposure to the Montessori materials is fruitless, for the children will be unable to control their own minds and movements even when they wish to.

A second series of activities in the indirect preparation for writing are the Sensorial Materials. These are materials the children spontaneously choose to work with because they fulfill their instinctive desire to touch, taste, and feel the world about them. Through the manipulation of a sphere or a cube, different lengths of rods, or fitting cylinders into holders, the children begin to order their perceptions of size and space. Muscular movement needed for writing is refined by the use of thumb and index finger to grasp tiny knobs used in much of the equipment. Control of a pencil is developed by tracing of metal frames with geometric insets such as a circle.

After Practical Life Exercises and Sensorial Materials have laid a solid background, the teacher begins to present sounds to the children. She may say "sss," "some, Susie, bus. Can you hear sss?" Because at age three the children are still in their sensitive period for language, they enjoy the game. One day, when the teacher knows a particular child is aware of distinct sounds, she says "Do you know you can see sss, you can even feel it!" She then takes a tablet with a sandpaper S on it, and very slowly conveying by her manner the mystery of the written symbol, traces the letter S with her index finger. She invites the child to do this also. After a number of the sounds of the letters -- but not all -- have been learned in this way, the Movable Alphabet is introduced. This is a box containing the letters of the alphabet sorted into compartments for easy usage. Sound and symbol are placed on a mat in left-to-right progression. "D-o-g" is sounded out by the teacher and placed on a mat in a left-to-right progression. In this way, the children also reproduce their own words, then phrases, sentences, and finally stories.

The time comes when the children do not want to put away their stories, as they must with the Movable Alphabet. Because of the early indirect development of the skills needed for writing (the muscular control for holding the pencil through the gripping of tiny knobs on the materials, the tracing of the metal insets, the muscle memory developed by tracing the sandpaper letters), the children now can pick up a pencil and write their own stories. Other materials follow which present the intricacies of nonphonetic spelling and grammar. The creativity in Montessori is apparent here, for not many educational methods make it possible for four- or five-year-olds to compose their own stories, in spite of the fact this is the time when they show a spontaneous and unselfconscious desire to do so.

Because they know what they have just written, the children come to reading by the back door, as it were. They read their own stories to themselves and others. When at last they select a book to read, they already know how. Our reading children may be anywhere from five to seven, but they are most likely six, no younger than their non-Montessori compatriots in the first grade. The point then is not early reading, but an introduction to reading so carefully programmed and well thought out in terms of the children's own needs, interests, and abilities that its success is guaranteed. When well done, Montessori education leads to self-confident, independent, and self-disciplined children who acquire a sound background for academic and creative skills and interests.

Is it for you?
The question is purposefully stated: "Is it for you?" not "Is it for your child?" The philosophy and methods Montessori developed are based on universal laws of child growth and can certainly be helpful to your child. Whether Montessori will be helpful to you, however, is another question, for the answer depends upon your conception of your function as a parent. Montessori viewed parents as guardians, not as creators, for it is the children who must create themselves. They are given special powers for this task which the parents must seek to understand and collaborate with. How are they to do this? First, they must develop their innate capacity to observe, enjoy, and empathize with their young. On a practical level this means a frequent willingness to suspend the adult's achievement-oriented view of life and to adopt the much slower pace of the child, a difficult thing to do!

Secondly, it means preparing a home environment in which the needs of the children are met. This means that as tiny babies the children must be accepted into the social life of the family and not isolated in a nursery, where their need to absorb the world about them is thwarted. As they grow, their need to crawl and eventually to walk must be accepted and encouraged. Montessori did not believe the extensive use of playpens, cribs, and strollers is necessary. Rooms can be made safe for toddlers; low beds are much safer than cribs, which the adventurous children sooner or later climb out of; walks can be set at a children's pace and distance.

As the children grow, they want to touch and handle the same objects in the environment they see others using. The parent must encourage this, for it is the children's innate understanding that they must eventually take their place in the world as adults that compel them to this behavior. Inevitably, the children will want to explore things in the environment which belong to others. Where possible, a substitution should be made. For example, it is not mother's pen but one like it of their own the children wish. Because "don't touch" is synonymous with "don't learn" for the young children, it should be saved for only those situations where there is no other recourse. There is no question here of abuse, however, of either material things or the rights of others. The children have no way of developing respect for their environment and the people within it if appropriate limits are not set.

Parents must so arrange the home that they help the children master their environments and become increasingly independent of the parent's help. The children's room should be simple and orderly. Everything in it should be appropriate for their size and ability: low shelves with a few well-chosen toys, a low table with brush and comb, mirror, a pitcher and bowl for washing and brushing teeth, low hooks to put their clothes on -- the latter to be chosen for the ease with which they can get in and out of them, an accessible place to put their soiled clothes, hang up their towels, etc.

It is the children's instinct and desire for work and serious accomplishment that enable them to develop a healthy self-concept and realistic self-esteem. Therefore, they should be allowed to observe and participate in their parents' activities at the kitchen sink or garage workbench. An appropriate stool helps them into the adults' world, and the parents have only to slow their pace and expectations for the children to join them in making their own sandwiches and Jello or birdhouses. An overabundance of toys and many hours of television rob the children of their opportunity for these accomplishments and create an unnatural passivity and apathy toward life.

If you accept the Montessori viewpoint of parenthood, you may want to send your children to a Montessori school to complement your approach to them at home. You should know, however, what to expect from their experience. For example, children in Montessori are free to choose their own activities with only indirect guidance from the prepared environment, older children, and teacher. Children of parents who tend to over-control and manipulate them, albeit unconsciously, often use the Montessori classroom for a much needed rest from the pressuring they receive at home. The Montessori environment is good for them, but they may not be reading by 5 or 6. This is nothing to be concerned about, of course, but anxious parents may create a problem where none should exist.

All this freedom of activity in the classroom is balanced with discipline and structure. The Montessori environment is orderly, and the limits of social behavior are strictly adhered to. Dr. Montessori believed permissiveness, far from leading to freedom for the children, made them prisoners of their own destructive feelings and acts.

Is Montessori for you? It is if you can raise your children knowing that they belong not to you but to themselves, and that your job as a parent is one of temporary privilege and responsibility: the aiding and observing of another life as it unfolds.

If you decide to select a Montessori school for your child, you should check carefully those available to you. There is no franchise on the name Montessori, and even schools run by certified directresses are sometimes of poor quality. The only way to determine whether the school you choose is a good one is to observe it for yourself. Reading a good introductory book on Montessori may help you to have more confidence in your decision. But whatever you do, don't let anyone talk you out of seeing for yourself where you are going to leave your three-year-old for several hours a day.

_______
Paula Polk Lillard is the author of Montessori: A Modern Approach, which has been published in seven languages and is internationally known as the standard introduction to Montessori education, and Montessori Today: A Comprehensive Plan of Education from Birth to Adulthood. She is also the head of Forest Bluff School (8 W. Scranton, Lake Bluff, IL 60044), a school which she co-founded in 1982 to provide Montessori classroom environments for children ages 18 months to 15 years.

Education is the best provision for old age.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
Source: Diogenes Laeritius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, book V

readalicious!!!!

have you read yet?

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 5

BORN TO PLAY.

GLOSSARY OF READING TERMS

Background Knowledge:
the knowledge and understandings of the world that students have acquired through their everyday experiences -- riding in cars or buses, playing and talking with other children and adults, that help them to make sense of the texts they read.

Choral Reading/Chanting:

two or more individuals reading aloud from the same text -- this can help students to develop oral reading fluency.

Concepts About Print/Conventions of Print:

the understandings an individual has about the rules or accepted practices that govern the use of print and the use of written language. For example concepts about print include: reading left to right, top to bottom, words are made of letters, use of spaces between words, use of upper case letters, spelling patterns, punctuation, etc.

Constructing Meaning:

a process of making sense of text; by connecting one's own knowledge with the print readers "build" an understanding of what the text is about.

Context/Context Cues:

information from the surrounding text that helps identify or gives meaning to a specific word or phrase, i.e.: "yesterday I read the book". The words surrounding "read" help us know how to pronounce it.

Conventional Spelling:

spelling that is in the standard or correct form for written documents.

Copy Cat Story:

a story that is written based on the structure, theme, or other feature of another story. A story that copies another story.

Cueing System:

any of the various sources of information that may aid identification of a word such as: graphophonics, semantic and syntactic information.

Cumulative Story or Pattern Story:

a story that has many elements or language patterns repeated until the climax; a predictable text.

Decoding:

analyzing text in order to identify and understand individual words. Figuring out the written code.

Echo Reading:

reading of a text where an adult or experienced reader reads a line of text, and the student repeats the line. A good technique for Emergent and Early Readers to build fluency and expression.

Emergent Reader:

a reader who is developing an association of print with meaning -- the early stages of learning to read.
Grammar Conventions:

the rules, or accepted practices, that govern the use of grammar in written or spoken language.

Graphophonics (Phonics):

referring to the relationship between the letters and the letter sounds of a language.

Guided or Supported Reading:

a method by which an experienced reader provides structure and purpose, and models strategies in order to move beginning readers towards independence.

Inference:

drawing meaning from a combination of clues in the text without explicit reference to the text. "The sky was dark and cloudy so I took my umbrella." We can infer that it might rain even thought the text does not say that.

Invented Spelling:

an attempt by beginning writers to spell a word when the standard spelling is unknown, using whatever knowledge of sounds or visual patterns the writer has.

Inversions:

reversal or "flipping" of letters either horizontally or vertically, i.e.: p - d, or d - b, m - w, u - n. Not unusual for Emergent writers or readers.

KWL chart (Know, Want to know, Learned) :

a pre-reading or during reading activity to support understanding in which adult and child develop a chart organized in three columns: 1) things the child already Knows about a specified topic, 2) what the child Wants to know about the same topic, and 3) what the child Learns about the topic after reading about it.

Language Experience Approach:

a method of teaching reading by using the reader's own dictated language.

Language Structure:

the organization of words (both spoken and written) into meaningful segments (phrases or sentences) using conventions of grammar and syntax.

Letter Recognition:

the identification of individual letters by name and/or sound in a variety of contexts.

Letter/Sound Association:

making a connection between individual letters and the sounds they represent (graphophonics).

Linguistic Approach:

a reading approach based on highly regular spelling patterns. Such as: Nat the cat sat on the mat.

Miscue:

any substitution of a word in a text that a reader makes.

Miscue Analysis:

an examination of reading errors or substitutions (miscues) as the basis for determining the strengths and weaknesses of students' reading skills.

Modeled Reading:

an experienced readers' oral reading of a text to aid students in learning strategies, understanding intonation and expression, and the use of punctuation, among other aspects of reading.

Pattern Story or Cumulative Story:

a story that has many elements or language patterns repeated until the climax; a predictable text.

Phonemic Awareness:

awareness of the sound system of spoken language including individual sounds, rhyming, components of words, etc.

Phonics:

the letter/sound relationships in language, and also the relationship of spelling patterns to sound patterns.

Phonics Approach:

teaching reading and spelling in a way that stresses the connection between letters and the sounds they represent, teaches the dissection of words into parts and then blending the sounds together again. Phonics can be taught directly or can be incorporated in ongoing reading and writing.

Picture Cues:

use of images that accompany and reflect the content of a text to help readers figure out words and understand the meaning of text.

Picture Walk:a pre-reading strategy:

an examination of the text looking at pictures to gain an understanding of the story and to illicit story related language in advance.

Prereading Strategies:

activities that take place just before reading, like reviewing a book cover or looking at the pictures, predicting, and formulating questions; these strategies provide students with valuable information about the text and prepare them for reading.

Print Conventions/Conventions of Print:

the understandings an individual has about the rules or accepted practices that govern the use of print in the use of written language: for example concepts about print include: reading left to right, top to bottom, words are made of letters, use of spaces between words, use of upper case letters, spelling patterns, punctuation, etc.

Reversals:

the result of reversing the order of letters in a word (tap/pat), or confusing similar letters such as d - b, or writing letters backwards. Not uncommon with Emergent readers and writers.

Self Monitoring:paying attention to one's own reading process while reading, and taking steps to reread or make corrections as needed to make sense of the text.

Semantics:

the study of the meaning in language; the analysis of the meanings of words, phrases, sentences.

Shared Reading:

when children are involved in reading a text with an adult in such a way that the adult models strategies and concepts such as predicting and noticing letter patterns. Helpful with very early readers in developing concepts about print such as "word" and directionality.

Sight Word:

A word that is immediately recognized as a whole and does not require word analysis for identification.

Sound(ing) Out:

using phonics to figure out words.

Story/Text Structure:

a set of conventions that govern different kinds of texts such as characters, plot, settings, or in an informational text, comparison and contrast.

Syntax:

the pattern or structure of word order in sentences, clauses and phrases; the grammatical rules that govern language.

The Writing Process:

a view of teaching writing as an ongoing process involving several steps such as: planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing.

Trade Book:

a book published and made available, for sale, to the general public.

Visual Information:

information that is accessed through visual means such as the size and shape of a word, format, pictures, diagrams, etc.

Word Analysis/Word Attack Strategies:

the process of using strategies to figure out or decode unfamiliar words.

Word Families:

a group of words that share a common feature or pattern, for example: stay, play, day, hay are all part of the ay family, and stick, stop or stuff are part of the st family.

Education is the way to move mountains, to build bridges, to change the world. Education is the path to the future. I believe that education is indeed freedom.-- Oprah Winfrey

Reading Aloud to Children

Helpful Hints

Listening to literature read aloud is one of the most valuable and pleasurable experiences beginning readers and writers can have. It is so important to a child's developing literacy, that reading aloud to the child(ren) should be a part of every individual or small group lesson. Here is a chance to model good reading and thinking strategies and to expose young learners to the rich variety of literature that exists-- fiction, nonfiction; poetry, biography; humor, fantasy... Immersing young learners in various types of literature helps them understand the critical features of written language, and the varying structures of different genres. When this exposure is accompanied by supportive and relaxed discussions, children are able to extend their world view, and develop important critical thinking skills.

Plan enough time in each session (10 - 15 minutes) to read aloud, to enjoy, and to discuss a story, poem, or information text.

Choose stories or texts that respond to children's expressed interests and experiences. For very young children or Emergent readers/listeners choose books with vivid pictures, a strong story line, engaging characters and evocative language. Humorous and predictable books are particularly successful. (Visit our store)

Preview the book yourself, so you can anticipate questions or reactions. If possible practice reading it through so you can decide where to pause for emphasis or to elicit questions, predictions or reactions.

Introduce the book, pointing out the cover illustration, title and author. Invite some predictions or comments that help the listeners connect the book to their own experience or to other books heard or read. Or give a brief explanation about why you chose to read this book. "This is the story of a boy who goes on an unusual trip. I chose it because you just came back from a trip." Or "This is the story about a special friendship between a mouse and a whale. I have read this many times. I wonder what you will think about it."

Read with expression that reflects the tone of the story or the characters. And not too fast. Vary your pace so you can pause for emphasis, or to allow time for child(ren)to think about what's happening or what might come next.

Allow time for children to study the pictures as you read, and to make comments and ask questions about the story.

Encourage predictions, and then help children confirm or revise these as the story unfolds. Try to honor many ideas and interpretations, not just the "correct" ones. Instead of accepting or rejecting comments or ideas as right or wrong, use comments such as "that's one possibility, let's see what the author has in mind." or "Well that's an interesting idea. How did you think of that?"

Watch the children's expressions and body language and be sensitive to signs of boredom or confusion; you may need to change your reading plan, change the book or do more preparation.

Save time at the end of the story to get reactions. Ask open-ended questions that don't have right or wrong answers, and that can't be answered with a yes or no reply. For instance ask what the child liked (or disliked) about the book, and why? You may ask what s/he thought about the characters or how the problem was solved? Find out if the book made the listener think of any personal experience or other book heard or read.

Point out parts of the story you particularly noticed or liked -- special language patterns or phrases, or parts of texts that made you feel or visualize something. Ask child(ren) if they noticed other parts.

Vary the length of time you spend reading aloud. Don't be constrained by time. Some longer stories or chapter books can be read over several sessions, if the time in between is not too long, and if you plan good stopping places. Don't spoil a story by rushing to finish it. Children need to see that pleasurable reading involves time to savor language, ideas and pictures.

Remember that for some children, listening to stories is a new experience, and they need to develop that interest and ability. Start with short, interesting selections, with strong pictures. In some cases allowing active children to manipulate play dough or to draw while listening may help. Be responsive to facial expressions and body language, and if the book is not working, don't be afraid to stop, without being punitive. Next time you might find a better selection.

Encourage discussion about the story. Ask the child questions about what's going on, and encourage the child to predict what will come next -- but be sure not to turn a discussion into a quiz!

Most important: Have a Good Time!

书犹药也，善读可以医愚。
----- 刘向

图片说明:元 赵孟頫《行书二赞二诗卷》

Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.

Oprah Winfrey

When your child creates using the Froebel Gifts, they are actually learning. Here are some tips on using the Froebel Gifts to help your child learn.

Gift 5

It is the supreme art of the teacher

to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)