Tag: children
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Chess, 3D printers -or doing nothing: public libraries as “shared living rooms”
“Hanging out at Oodi without a reason is welcomed and even recommended.” So says the brochure for Helsinki’s Central Library, named Oodi (meaning ‘ode’) – a vast ship-like, spruce-clad building that opened five years ago. It describes itself as “an open space for culture and creation”, and “everyone’s shared living room”. I don’t think that’s…
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Advice of idiots
When someone you love is upset, ask one question before you do anything, suggests New York Times writer Jancee Dunn. She quotes her sister, a teacher of kids with special needs. When a child is emotionally overwhelmed by something, this teacher and her colleagues will ask: “Do you want to be helped, heard or hugged?”…
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Sticking around
A former colleague told me recently that he’s started mentoring a kid. It’s not just the occasional phone call or a few trips to the cinema, though: he has signed up to a programme that commits you to meeting up with the same child on three weekends out of four, for a minimum of two…
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“They don’t know how smart they are. You can tell them.”
Much of my work involves moulding and tweaking other people’s writing into shape. But with R and C, I never fix spelling mistakes or question confusing sentence structures. I never wince when they go off topic, never strike through nonsensical ideas. R and C are writers – nine and ten-year-old ones – who I’ve been…
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Speaking up
The first speaker’s voice barely carries above the hum of the crowd. Even with a microphone, it takes a while for the 200 or so people gathered to notice she’s addressing them. When she’s done, others climb onto the fountain steps alone or in pairs, reading aloud from notes on their phones. Not understanding the…
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