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The Friday 5!

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Friday 5

Welcome to my first installment of the Friday 5!   During each segment of this meme- I intend to share with you 5 posts that I have read over the past week that have me “wired, fired, and freakin’ inspired!” (Thank you Nancy Blackwell for the quote). They may be new or old….  but are posts that I have come across that definitely deserve your attention to hop on over and check out!

If I opt to share your post and what I love about it, and you’d like to grab my button- you’re welcome to do so!  AND if you decided you want to join in on the fun…..  Please add any posts that you found especially inspiring this week in the comments. (Please keep this to posts that you have read, not posts that you have written Winking smile. )

HERE GOES…. (in no particular order......)

1) 10 Reasons Why Teachers Like Learning Outdoors in Scotland by I'm a Teacher Get Me Outside, Here! If you have been following me for any period of time, you know that I am an avid supporter of daily outdoor play. This post was wonderful, It talks about learning outdoors in Scotland, but clearly the justifications can be applied anywhere in the world. Hop on over and check it out!

2) DIY Superhero Cape Tutorial by The Southern Institute. I know this post is a few years old, but I just recently found it and this site..... I LOVE how easy this cape is to make and the fact that you have multiple options- you don't necessarily need to know how to sew and you are upcyling- BONUS!

3) Bike+trust+time = Learning to Fly from Child's Play Music. Alec has some great prose in this post, I love how he uses the metaphor of flying for this observation of a child riding a bike. I also love that the post focuses on the importance of teaching our children and then letting them navigate their environment.

4) It's a matter of trust from Bluyonder. Whenever I hear about new educational initiatives or movements in our country.. in the back of my mind..... I always think.... I wonder what they are doing differently in Finland? This is an excellent post- getting to the heart of the matter- our need to trust our teachers and our students.

5) Knitted Farm by Happy Whimsical Hearts. You know I love a good DIY- This project is just AWESOME- a collaborative knitting adventure. I just love it!

I'm hoping that this meme will help me keep up with my blog reading!

Have you read any inspiring posts this week? I'd love to hear about them!


Feel free to grab my button if you've been featured on the Friday 5!




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Comments

Juliet Robertson said…
Dear Amy

Thank you very much for putting my blog post into your Friday 5! I'm truly honoured, amazed and dazed. I just liked the idea of lots of positive power statements about being outdoors.

All the best with your Friday 5 and may many others visit share and enjoy this great weekly update.

Best wishes
Juliet
February 22, 2013 at 2:32 PM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for featuring "Bike+time+trust = learning to fly" - it's an honour to be selected! Supporting children to assess and manage their own risk is a topic I'm passionate about (and I know that so are you).

I think that cycling is a particularly crucial feature of childhood - bikes can allow children an amazing level of freedom and autonomy, and while cycling is perceived as being risky by many parents the statistics suggest it is not very risky at all. Not risk-free (NOTHING is risk-free), but cycling is a relatively safe means of travel for children or adults.

Any activity that on average takes over 530,000 years and 35.5 million kilometres travelled to kill you is clearly not very risky! What is really interesting is that the stats also suggest that children are at no greater risk when cycling than adults. (Stats courtesy of Tim Gill of the brilliant Rethinking Childhood blog)

Speaking of Tim (one of the UK's leading researchers and policy advisers on risk and play for children) here is one of his posts, "Playgrounds that rip up the safety rules" http://rethinkingchildhood.com/2012/03/07/playground-safety/

Thanks again! Alec.
February 24, 2013 at 10:27 AM
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