In case you forgot it's all physical.

Achievement and personal satisfaction is a common goal for teachers of young children and we see the determination of children's will power push this through.
 But there is the flip side to that, the reluctance and the insecurities that become barriers for children, and try as we might, theorise as we do, reluctance can sometimes disable children like a virus.

 This story is very dear to me, because i have been working with a child whom i have seen experience a world of different emotions about his own drawing practises.
I fully believe that you must never draw for children and part of the long fustration this boy has experienced is because he is in love with popular cartoon culture and he wants someone to make representations true to the graphic images he is in love with.
 I have observed this boys journey and it has been slow and gradual, but it has taught me a leason in patience and authenticity, because we are always telling ourselves that to teach well you must know the subject matter, and for me to teach well is to know the children i teach well.

If i had been true to this i would not have worried about the fact that this boy could not, would not try to draw or express himself visually, because he has always been in charge of his choices and has always been able to catch up when he was mentally and physically ready.
 Being mentally ready and physically ready to draw is the key to success i believe, no amount of inspiration is going to be able to help you if your body has not been prepared for the journey ahead.

So for the Early Childhood places of play that have little value for being outside and emersing yourself in nature and the value of open space and risk, i believe the journey will be so much slower.

 So the inspiration in this case was Hatupatu and the Bird Woman, and the physical preparation came in the way of a wheelchair. Puzzled? yes i was too actually, but you see this child had a full cast on his leg for six weeks so he was in a wheel chair on and off for that period, and what happend was very natural, as he gained very strong hands from learning to move his wheelchair.
 So when he sat down with a piece of chalk and expressed his interest in Hatupatu, what happened astounded him and the control and movement had all clicked into place and he was able to draw images he was happy with.

Space and natural settings have to be the biggest priority for Nga Tamariki of the 21 century, it seems to me that everyone you talk to valued there freedom, independance and physical activity growing up, so why is it that as a Universe we are not fighting for the same priorities for Nga Tamariki 100% of the time, why is space being taken from our children for the sake of a crazy notion that learning only happens inside the wall of an institution.

 Learning Institution's for our children are becoming more compact, the space inside the class is given the space and the numbers of children inside this space are growing, but what really matters should be the space and state of the environment outside the classroom.
The natural world around us is being classed as out of bounds and too risky and needing too much supervision.
 We are restrciting Nga Tamariki from the natural desire to learn as we experience the world evolving around us, and many of us are turned off like a switch when we are put into classes.

There is not a single thing we can not learn watching nature unfold.
 My friend learnt that his fingers were strong and that he could draw only because his will power kicked in and being in a wheelchair did not stop him from being outside and joining in with others, his body just adapted, his muscles grew stronger and as a spin off his brain opened new pathways and he linked it to being able to draw now.

 The body and mind are our most powerful tools, if you have them both on your side really the world is your oyster. So get outside everyone.