Quick Look
- Written by a natural storyteller who expertly immerses the reader in the world of the classroom
- Explores the nature of wonder and intense sensation that children feel, and how best to preserve it
- Suggests that while mainstream education is the filling of a bucket, education should actually be about the lighting of a fire
A funny, poignant memoir of a teacher's six-year journey with her class, which also explores the nature of education and how to retain the element of wonder.
Description
Is education the filling of a bucket or is it the lighting of a fire?
Mainstream education is frequently characterised by high-stakes testing and anxiety and Kim Allsup feels that it sees the child as bucket to be filled up with knowledge. Conversely, she proposes that we should instead be trying to light a fire in children.
This book is, however, not a polemical treatise or academic argument. It's a story of a teacher's six-year journey with her class. But through the funny, poignant, relatable and finally life-affirming stories, this memoir gently shows the way to an educational approach that is worthy of childhood: one rooted in wonder.
Author
Kim Allsup studied at Brown University and Antioch Unversity for her teacher training before becoming a Waldorf teacher on Cape Cod and at the Pine Hill Waldorf School for 22 years. She lives on Cape Cod where she advises teachers and pioneers the use of school sunhouses. Her blog on the art of helping children grow is at ChildrenGrowing.com.
You can also visit the author's own website at http://childrengrowing.com
