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THE
INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK
READING FOR CHILD
AND YOUTH CARE WORKERS One of our favourite child care literary magpies is Kathy Mitchell who reads a lot and shares her reading with us — this month we look over her shoulder as she digs into Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld’s book Teaching Language Arts Creatively
A Knapsack on Your Back Whoever you are, you have an invisible knapsack attached to your back. It has been part of you since your birth. Everything goes into your knapsack: impressions, sounds, words, songs, sensory images, people, places, things, dreams, fears, good times, bad times. You carry it with you everywhere you go and add to it all of your life. Your knapsack can never be detached from you. It provides you with a continuing source of material to tap when you want it, when you need it. Such writers as Hermann Hesse, Ray Bradbury, and Madeleine L’Engle strengthen the knapsack image. These pictures — there were hundreds of them, with names and without — all came back. They were my life’s possession and all its worth. Indestructible and abiding as the stars, these experiences, though forgotten, could never be erased. Their series was the story of my life, their starry light the undying value of my being If you look carefully, you will see the knapsacks on the backs of even the youngest children in your group. The material in your knapsack and in those of your students is priceless. It is a resource that never runs out! Dip into your knapsack. Rummage through the layers of words and images that symbolize all your experiences and impressions. Reach for those items that have become important in your life. A common expression today is get yourself together. We all must get in touch with our deepest feelings and concerns, our strengths and weaknesses, and cut through the layers of inhibition, programmed responses, and stereotyped answers.
In what direction does my energy flow
most easily? Where, in what I’m doing, do I experience myself as most
alive? In what areas do I feel most competent? Am I willing to experiment with new ideas at the
risk of their failing? What do I want to do? What am I doing? Who am I? "‘How are you this morning?’ The
eternal question."
These questions are pertinent to all members of
the human family. The process of self-discovery is fascinating and
often yields important revelations.
Beautiful music hits me and excites me. The poisoning of the minds of the
younger generation by the older one with the passing on of old hatreds
and prejudices hits me and saddens me.
Me I like the smell of the air
Feelings I like the world. I want more friends.
When I work with children, I always wear
T-shirts with messages.
This serves as a launching pad for a collective gathering of words answering the question "What do YOU care about?" In no time, the chalkboard is running over with "care" words. Some samples from a third-grade gathering: We Care About ... families — school — our teacher — our president pets — friends — our bodies — peace houses — food — money — god spring — birthdays — learning — the world. What care words will you write on your T-shirt? Stop, Look, Listen You, with your bulging knapsack, your unique
perceptions and personalities, are a marvellous piece of work. No
machine or computer can equal your capabilities or powers. You are
probably not even aware of all of your powers. Do you think you come
close to functioning at the peak of your abilities? When I went to those great cities I saw wonders I had never seen in Ireland. But when I came back to Ireland, I found all the wonders there waiting for me. You see, they had been there all the time: but my eyes had never been opened to them. I did not know what my own house was like, because I had never been outside it ... Stop reading this page. Look around you. What do you see? Where are you? What is the season? What is the weather outside of your window? What is your inner season and weather? Listen to the sounds around you ...
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