The way you measure a society’s soul is by the way that it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela
Kidz Newz #180 – 26th June 2020
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I know I said I was retiring but I will keep going, slowly, until the end of the calendar year.
Ubuntu
I came across this term recently in an article by Carolyn Tate (https://carolyntate.co – The Purpose Project). Since then I have seen the concept referenced elsewhere in different guises. It seems appropriate at the moment so I am reproducing this version from Carolyn here –
‘Legend has it that an anthropologist visiting a village in Africa proposed a game to a group of small children. He placed a basket of sweets under a tree and asked the children to stand a few hundred feet away. “Whoever reaches the basket first gets all the sweets,” he shouted. “Ready, set, go!”
Do you know what these children did? They held each other’s hands, ran towards the basket together and then divided the sweets between them. When the anthropologist asked why, they said “Ubuntu. How can one be happy when all the others are sad?” Ubuntu. It means ‘I am, because you are’. It’s a reminder that we’re all in this together.’
As we come to end of term and end of year in the northern hemisphere, it is good to reflect on our values, especially given the uncertain times we live in now. What values do we hold that we want to impart to the children in our care? Sharing is a good value, obviously, but it doesn’t mean we don’t want our children to strive to be the best they can – to win in the race of life, as it were, to strive for excellence. Not everyone can win every time. But we take turns at winning and we find where our strengths lie and we play to our strengths. That is how we win. And we share our wins and our joy. We see the child who does not excel at all in sport or athletics or perhaps is a little behind academically. Where does their strength lie? How can they win? They may need help in finding their strength but I have often observed that these children have beautiful natures; they are popular because they are kind and generous and often funny or entertaining. That is how they win. What is tragic is when these children are allowed to feel like failures because the other children seem better than they are at everything. Seeing kindness as a very strong virtue is essential. If you can do nothing else exceptionally well, be kind. From my point of view, it is more important to excel in this respect than in any other.
It brings us back to the ‘ubuntu’ concept that kindness is what unites us. If we fail to impart this pearl of wisdom to our children, we have failed them.
ECE State Conference in Perth 19 & 20 June 2020 has now been postponed to 30 & 31 October
Move to Learn Mats
Winsome Richards from Move to Learn in WA has some wonderful mats that you may like to look at for use with your children. Click here.
Quotes of the Week
The major value in life is not what you get.
The major value in life is what you become.
– Jim Rohn, USA
Be the Biggest winner wanting to win.
Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to is.
Success is connected with continuous action.
It’s largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
You’re not finished when you’re defeated,
You’re only finished when you quit.
You can start fresh any time you choose,
Your failure is not in the falling down, but in the staying down.
It’s not over until it’s over.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.
If you’ve got the courage to stick it out, you can win.
The most important quality essential to success is
PERSEVERANCE.
Be the biggest winner wanting to win.
– Shelley Taylor Smith
Testimonials
From ECE State Conference 2019 Perth – What would you tell other people about this presentation?
Great music.
Fun and interactive.
Fantastic. Worth doing!
That it was worthwhile. Thank you.
Buy the resources.
Fantastic!
To attend as it is a well-presented and informative session.
Well-presented and fun.
Unbelievable range covered in this 90-minute session. Really practical and lots of fun. Thank you! Amazing music.
Really practical ideas. Thank you Marlene. It was a lovely afternoon session and the whole group was engaged.
That it was very good.
It was great. Thank you.
That it was engaging and with great ideas. Thanks so much. I really enjoyed the session.
Entertainment
How things change
- A computer was something on TV from a science fiction show of note.
- A window was something you hated to clean.
- A ram was the cousin of a goat.
- An application was for employment.
- A program was a TV show.
- A cursor used profanity.
- A keyboard was a piano.
- Memory was something that you lost with age.
- Compress was something you did to the garbage, not something you did to a file.
- If you unzipped anything in public, you’d be in jail.
- Log on was adding wood to the fire.
- Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
- A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
- A cut you did with a pocket knife.
- Paste you did with glue.
- A web was a spider’s home.
- And a virus was the flu.
(jokesforus.com – from Rachel Green’s Emotional Intelligence newsletter Engage – http://www.theEIinstitute.com)
PCGURU Newsletter http://www.pcguru.com.au/
About The Author
Marlene Rattigan B.A., Dip. Ed. (ECS), CELTA
Marlene Rattigan is an Early Childhood teacher, a teacher of English as a Second Language, and from 1987-2000 was a nationally accredited fitness leader. Her background is in music education. A keen interest in motor development in children led to the creation of Kidz-Fiz-Biz which she taught successfully for 13 years. Marlene also conducts workshops for children, teachers and parents at schools, in the community and at conferences. She has produced teaching manuals complete with audio CDs which are an extension of her ‘Kidz-Fiz-Biz’ program.
Kidz-Fiz-Biz
PO Box 6894, East Perth WA 6892 Australia
T: +61 8 9355 4890 M: +61 (0) 410 64 2781 E: info@kidzfizbiz.com
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Until next time … continue being a legend in your classroom.
Marlene Rattigan, Editor
Kidz Newz
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