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Salt the Sandbox
Helping children pursue their deep
interests in the world around them
My kids' lives are ruled by their
passions for things. Thirteen-year-old Ethan usually loves things from nature --
fossils, rocks, bugs,
leaves, shells, Pokémon, and more. He's currently in a birding phase.
With eleven-year-old Aaron, it was cars, cars, and more cars for two-and-a-half
years, until he developed an even stronger passion for trains, which lasted three years. Now, Aaron loves
birds and music most of all. Both boys seem driven to discover,
observe, and, when possible, collect their objects
of desire. (With birds, they mostly build lists of what they've seen
and take a few photos as documentation.) |
Neighborhood
Rocks |
Aaron Likes
Cars |
The Salt the Sandbox Web tries to help other parents support their kids' passionate interests in the world around
them, the way I've tried to support my boys' interests over the years.
In the real world, Dad and the boys are involved in the
Academic
Fair at Irving School, and we also help with ESCONI
Juniors at the
spring Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show. Dad currently works for Selinda
Research Associates, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois, although he
will be taking some time off in the fall to work on a writing project
about children's interests.
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Here are some smaller Web sites we have developed:
Ethan's
Dinosaurs. This site is about how seven-year-old Ethan relates to
dinosaurs, rather than about dinosaurs themselves. It's really
about understanding -- and learning from -- one particular child's
interest in these prehistoric animals.
Trees Near Our
School. This site has a photographic key to trees found near our
school, plus links to many other Web sites about trees.
Dad has published two articles in Chicago
Parent magazine. One is about the Islands of Expertise
that kids can develop about their passionate interests. The other is about kids'
collections; it's called Aaron's
Treasures.
We also maintain more-or-less archival websites
related to our volunteer work with nature
and science programs at Wonder Works, a Children's Museum in Oak Park,
and the Nature and Science
Club at Irving School.
Go here to see images
of Redpolls at our feeders.
Copyright 2000-2008 Eric D. Gyllenhaal
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This page was created on August 30, 2000, and it was last
updated on May 29, 2008.