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Are your kids passionate about their interests, like Ethan and Aaron? If so, you are members of the target audience for this site. I hope that you are able to use this Web site to inform and extend your children's interests.
My assumption is that there are other kids who, like Ethan and Aaron, will sit still as long as you show them lots of pictures of the things they love. I'd like to imagine you sitting at your computer with your kids. If this site is successful, your kids will stay by your side as you surf though our sandbox -- or maybe they will yank the mouse from your hand and try surfing on their own. (That's what Ethan does!) If this Web site is really successful, you'll soon want to leave your computer and try out some of the things that Ethan and Aaron have done!
If you try to explore this Web site with your children, please write me at Webmaster@SaltTheSandbox.org and tell me how it goes.
This summer I published two articles for parents of kids who develop passionate interests.
The article in the September, 2002,
issue of Chicago Parent is called, "Islands of expertise
"Islands of expertise" is a term coined by Kevin Crowley, Ph.D., an educational researcher at University of Pittsburgh who studies the ways that children and parents learn together in museums ( http://www.kevincrowley.com ). It refers to the areas of relatively deep and rich knowledge children develop when they are passionately interested in something like dinosaurs, Pokémon, rocks, turtles and other things. These islands emerge over weeks or months as children talk, read and learn about their passions....
Crowley emphasizes that children aren't alone on their islands. They build and inhabit them with their parents through the things they do together every day. Preschoolers especially need their parents' help; if nobody reads them dinosaur books, explains what they see in dinosaur videos, or answers their questions about dinosaurs, preschool children will be starved of the information they need to build their islands.
An online version of the article is here:
< http://saltthesandbox.org/ChicagoParentArticle2.htm
>
I also published an article about kids' passion for collecting. It's called "Aaron's
Treasures: How
to nurture your child's urge to collect (without letting it drive you nuts),"
and
it was published in the July, 2002, issue of Chicago Parent.
Here's an online version of that article:
< http://saltthesandbox.org/ChicagoParentArticle1.htm
>
The Chicago Parent Web site is here: < http://www.chicagoparent.com/ >.
By the way, if you work with Camp Fire, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, or any other youth group, you may want to know my policy regarding the copyrighted materials. Although the materials on this Web site are copyrighted, I encourage you to make copies of things for educational -- and non-commercial -- use. Specifically:
| If you decide to use any printable activities
from this Web site, you have my permission to make enough copies for all the
children in your group (plus a few extras to account for spoilage!) |
| You have permission to copy my digital photos
for use in educational presentations for youth groups. |
| You have permission to use my digital photos
in youth-group projects that are published on the Web, with the following
conditions: (1) Credit the source of the photo somewhere on the
Web page as "Eric D. Gyllenhaal, SaltTheSandbox.org," (2) if the
Web site is going to be on the Internet for more than six months, please
write me for explicit permission, (3) if the Web site is in any way a
commercial venture (e.g., accepts advertising, or sponsored by a for-profit
venture), please write be for explicit permission. |
I'm working on a page of links to Web sites for and about Kindergarten.
| About this Site | Why "Salt the Sandbox"? | Search this Site | For Parents | For Teachers | For Home Schoolers | Home |
Copyright 2001-2002 Eric D. Gyllenhaal
Webmaster@SaltTheSandbox.org
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This page was created on August 26, 2000, and it was last updated on December 16, 2002.