When my oldest was one and a half, I questioned the idea of decorating the house for Christmas. In my mind, it was going to be more trouble than it was worth. As he had recently become mobile, he was into everything. I pictured the Christmas tree being pulled over and ornaments flying across the room. As I shared my concerns with a colleague, she shared how important it was to begin establishing traditions within our family as this served as a basis for his earliest memories.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor E. Frankl
A low student-teacher ratio, like your child experiences at Currey Ingram, is undoubtedly valuable. However, having low numbers without intentional practices would fail to result in the same benefits. One of the greatest advantages to a lower ratio is the increased supervision and constructive feedback that a child receives, which is a powerful evidence-based practice that results in improved outcomes (Hattie, 2008).
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a leading researcher in the area of positive psychology, coined the concept of “flow.” Also referred to as being “in the zone,” flow is a pleasant experience in which a person is so focused and engrossed in an activity that they lose track of time. Another characteristic of flow occurs when a person is engaged in a task that is a slight stretch from his or her current skill set, not too easy but not too difficult. When the challenge is too high and skill level is too low, anxiety looms. On the other hand, when skill is low and challenge is high, boredom surfaces.
At the first cross country meet of the school year, I showed up completely unprepared. It was a sweltering 95 degrees, and I had dressed in long pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt and had failed to bring any water or snacks for my children. In addition, we were missing nap time for my youngest, which was already putting us on shaky ground. Thankfully, the cross country venue had thought ahead and had vendors that saved the day. Further, a really great playground entertained and distracted my youngest throughout the event. Unfortunately, I was stuck in my unseasonably warm dress.
