Playworks sells toys that invite play and enhance early childhood development [fun for all ages]

George Gershwin lyricized about “Summertime, And the livin’ is easy,” and Nat King Cole sang of rolling out “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” and wishing “that summer could always be here.” I cannot guarantee that in summer living is easy, but I appreciate the slower pace that lends itself to active learning and believe that once experienced, we’ll all wish that aspect of summer could indeed always be here.

I am passionate about active, learner directed, experential, open-ended learning opportunities. I think we all learn best when we are actively engaged in the process and follow our investigations whereever they lead without interference from those, however well-meaning, who would tell us what to do and how to do it. Summer is an ideal time for delving deeper into the familiar and for exploring new territory, whatever our age, abilities, or interests.

Perhaps we’re bookworms at heart and enjoy nothing more than devouring every book by a favorite author or on a topic of keen interest. Here’s our chance. Indulge yourself.

On the other hand, perhaps we’ve been wondering about something new and different. What better time to focus on that? I know one high school student whose primary academic focus is science and whose curiosity about the challenges and advantages of a vegan lifestyle led her to set aside a month, plan and prepare meals that fit vegan criteria, and discover for herself what eating vegan means. Her family continued preparing and including meat and dairy products in their meals while taste testing the vegan dishes.

She took the intiative, engaged her family as participants, and assumed full responsibility for the project and its outcomes. Both by agreeing to participate in the experiment and by “backing off” and allowing her to implement her plans without “distraction,” the family encouraged acts of discovery and learning. Along the way, everyone in the family gained insight and formed an opinion based on experience.

That’s my idea of a perfect learner directed, experential, open-ended collabortaion. What do you think? We’d like to know. Please e-mail your comments to christina@playworks.net. We look forward to hearing from you.