children

Making Sense of Language – Mr. Rogers Set of Rules for Talking to Children

Aside | | Paul Greer

“Rogers was extraordinarily good at imagining where children’s minds might go. For instance, in a scene in which he had an eye doctor using an ophthalmoscope to peer into his eyes, he made a point of having the doctor clarify that he wasn’t able to see Rogers’s thoughts. Rogers also wrote a song called “You Can Never Go Down the Drain” because he knew that drains were something that, to kids, seemed to exist solely to suck things down.”

  1. “State the idea you wish to express as clearly as possible, and in terms preschoolers can understand.” Example: It is dangerous to play in the street. ​​​​​​

  2. “Rephrase in a positive manner,” as in It is good to play where it is safe.

  3. “Rephrase the idea, bearing in mind that preschoolers cannot yet make subtle distinctions and need to be redirected to authorities they trust.” As in, “Ask your parents where it is safe to play.”

  4. “Rephrase your idea to eliminate all elements that could be considered prescriptive, directive, or instructive.” In the example, that’d mean getting rid of “ask”: Your parents will tell you where it is safe to play.

  5. “Rephrase any element that suggests certainty.” That’d be “will”: Your parents can tell you where it is safe to play.

  6. “Rephrase your idea to eliminate any element that may not apply to all children.” Not all children know their parents, so: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play.

  7. “Add a simple motivational idea that gives preschoolers a reason to follow your advice.” Perhaps: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is good to listen to them.

  8. “Rephrase your new statement, repeating the first step.” “Good” represents a value judgment, so: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is important to try to listen to them.

  9. “Rephrase your idea a final time, relating it to some phase of development a preschooler can understand.” Maybe: Your favorite grown-ups can tell you where it is safe to play. It is important to try to listen to them, and listening is an important part of growing.

    via Maxwell King

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Hourly Comics Day

| Paul Greer

First thing next morning looking over it, it didn’t turn out as I expected, I meant to do it all myself, but chores and parental stuff took over, and once the children had seen what i was doing they all wanted to do it themselves.

So the experience has been great for three reasons:

1). Introducing me to the idea of diary comicing again. something I’d like to keep trying, because I do believe it helps fluency.

2). My wife really got into drawing her bit, and was inspired to do the “butterfly parade” page at the end there. That made her very happy.

3). Introducing my children to the idea of drawing comics. They’ve seen me sitting about drawing in little books, but was great to invite them in and then see them taking part.

My Eldest was so inspired, she ended up continutng her own spin-off-cross-over piece I’ll attach below.

So we all had a full day and a great time doing the comic, hopefully I’ll be on board next year.

cheers then

PG

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You can see our comic here.

Does Children’s Television Matter?

Quote | | Paul Greer

“Suppose, if you will, that I am part of a silent Martian invasion and that my intention is slowly to destroy the whole culture of the human race. Where would I start? I would naturally start where thought first grows. I would start with children’s television. My policy would be to give the children only the sort of thing that they ‘already know they enjoy’, like a fizzing diet of manic jelly-babies. This would no doubt be exciting, but their hearts and their minds would receive no nourishment, they would come to know nothing of the richness of human life, love and knowledge, and slowly whole generations would grow up knowing nothing about anything but violence and personal supremacy. Is that a fairytale? Look around you.”

— Oliver Postgate

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