The Pursuit of Tinkering

The Psychology Today Beautiful Minds blog has a great interview with Joshua Waitzkin, the child chess wiz depicted in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. In the interview, Waitzkin offers some interesting advice to parents on raising resilient kids:

The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity. For that reason, it is incredibly important for parents to make their feedback process related as opposed to praising or criticizing talent. Think about it-if you tell a kid that she is a winner, which a lot of well-intentioned parents do, then she learns that her winning is because of something ingrained in her. But if we win because we are a winner, then when we lose it must make us a loser.

The interview goes on to cover Waitzkin’s thoughts on life-long learning. Definitely worth reading: Conversations on Creativity with Repeat Bloomer Joshua Waitzkin

Thanks to author Tim Ferris and his Twitter stream for pointing me to the interview.

Just ran across this post from Judith E. Glaser. When her children were in elementary school she coordinated the publication of an annual book that contained stories and pictures from all 550 students in kindergarten through 5th grade. In regards to organizing the content she writes:

Something amazing seemed to drive the process at an almost invisible level. It was as though each year there was something in the air that each child was breathing - some aromatic that they could all sense. This unique essence showed up in the patterns and substance of the student’s expressive art work and writings. Each year it was different - each year a larger story emerged and - once we saw it - mystified those of us working on the project.

Looking back on the success of the project, Judith writes:

My feeling is that we all have bonding instincts. We have the need — a strong instinct — to connect with others and make music. When validated and fulfilled, our connections elevate us to higher levels of growth, wisdom, creativity and insight.

I LOVE Judith’s idea and her story. Read the full post: Children’s World - The Emergence of Self Expression

Toys aren’t inherently bad. There are just lots of bad toys. WalMart is bad. I know that pretty much for certain. With that in mind, I deliver to you the following:

The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association just published a press release regarding holiday toy shopping on a budget. And while I usually avoid retail associations for shopping advice, I thought it was worth passing along. Here is one of several better-than-average tips:

If you have less to spend this year, make the most of it by buying toys that are a good fit with the child’s abilities and interests. If the toy is a good match, you can expect the child to spend more hours playing with it and you will need fewer toys. While big box stores generally do not have experts available, the staff at small locally-owned toy stores understand child development and specialize in helping customers choose safe, developmentally appropriate toys.

Read the full release: This Season, Depend on Your Creativity as Much as Your Credit Card

Check out this article: MIT Media Lab Creates Center for Future Storytelling.

From Media Lab director Frank Moss:

“Storytelling is at the very root of what makes us uniquely human. It is how we share our experiences, learn from our past, and imagine our future”

So true. The article describes how MIT’s creation of a new Center for Future Storytelling will revolutionize the art:

“With the establishment of this Center–whose research program begins immediately–the Media Lab and Plymouth Rock Studios will collaborate to revolutionize how we tell our stories, from major motion pictures to peer-to-peer multimedia sharing. By applying leading-edge technologies to make stories more interactive, improvisational, and social, researchers will seek to transform audiences into active participants in the storytelling process, bridging the real and virtual worlds, and allowing everyone to make their own unique stories with user-generated content on the Web. Center research will also focus on ways to revolutionize imaging and display technologies, including developing next-generation cameras and programmable studios, making movie production more versatile and economic.”

Our kids are growing up in a pretty cool world… Efforts such as this help me feel optimistic about their future.

What a cool find: The International Children’s Digital Library. Am I the last to know about this? Go check it out.

And for all you hipster parents, don’t miss the ICDL Books for Children iPhone app. Seems like the perfect solution for keeping kids cool in the car or restaurant. And their method for displaying native langauges, with a quick tap to get the translated version, is awesome.