In college I studied the works of the philosopher Gregory Bateson where I first heard the phrases "The map is not the territory. The name is not the thing named." After many years of teaching kids dance in academic settings, I have added my own: "The standards and indicators are not the education. The label is not the child."
Essentially, we can't just read the map and know what the journey will be like, what kinds of detours we will experience, where we will eat, what we will see along the way. In life, our brains 'know' things because we bring in sensory information through our bodies. Unless we can physically and kinesthetically go on that trip the map will never fully make sense.
As an artist and a teacher at the crossroads of dance, rhythm and math I have come to believe that creativity and problem solving are intimately related. My intention in this space is to have conversations, with myself and hopefully others, about kinesthetic learning, integrated curriculum, and the challenges of helping kids to become resourceful, self-reliant thinkers and problem solvers in any area of life. Because this blog is intentionally interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, you may want to start with the Key Posts .
And, I'll practice what I preach. The thoughts in this blog are based on concrete experiences of my own, past and present, from a program I created called Math in Your Feet and my two years homeschooling my daughter (now eight years old and have a grand time in her new school).
