Making Children Cry

I don’t know what to think of these (scroll down on the page to the 3 YouTube videos).  They are trailers for a program on Belgian television called “Blocks,” a popular trivia and tretris combination game for adults. The message at the end translates to: “Life without blocks is not worth living”. The channel they were made …

A game for an almost-2-year-old

I am looking for a board game type of game: something that is fun (duh!) that is “conceptual” in that it requires concept-formation, forward-thinking, memorization, etc. that can be played in a group that is appropriate for a clever and patient 22-month-old. The social aspect is very important: I feel she needs and would welcome something interactive with …

Americans are Bad at Setting an Example

Oops! That’s quite a statement! Let me explain. “You’re setting a bad example.” Years ago, on a visit to Belgium, we went for a stroll in the city (Antwerp) with my mom and dad. At a corner, the walk sign was red, but there were no cars, so after stopping to make sure, I stepped …

More in Drawing as it Develops

Amie’s painting of 15 May 2007 I wrote a review of some of the interesting theory about children’s drawings. It briefly considers pre-representational drawing, but the meat of it deals with representation: realistic representation versus symbolism representation the tadpole formula for human figures children’s body-images: do we look like tadpoles to them? the possible sources of …

Toby Hemenway’s book “Gaia’s Garden”

  Just published a review on Suite101.com of Gaia’s Garden, the book that led me to Holmgren’s Permaculture. I  tremendously enjoyed reading Hemenway’s book and I hope the review does it justice. I also hope that, once we have some land, I can put the permaculture way of gardening into practice. I might have to revisit …

Philip Lorca di Corcia’s picture, again

That picture, again…: the tensions. We are looking at them, intensely, but they have their backs to us, unaware, busy. They are public now, in all their nakedness, but their interaction is most private, hidden from us. The mother is washing the child (a foot), but no one (but the jet of water) is washing her. The water isn’t …