by Renee Owen | Feb 24, 2013 | Director's Blog
“The old ways of learning are unable to keep up with our rapidly changing world,”is one of the premises of A New Culture of Learning, by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown. We know that when children are young they learn by playing — imagining things, experimenting, and so on. In our world of constant change, adaptability and innovation are highly valued. Interestingly, in a world of flux the ability to play at all ages becomes more necessary. Why? Because an attitude of play is an attitude of inquiry — as Thomas and Brown describe it, “A child playing with a new toy and an adult logging onto the Internet, for example, both wonder, ‘what do I do now?’…play becomes a strategy for embracing change.”
Thanks to John Johnson for recommending A New Culture of Learning. It gave me another look at systems thinking in education. A new way of living has ushered in a new way of learning. Unfortunately, the public school system is such an excruciatingly slow moving bureaucracy it can never facilitate the adaptability today’s children need to learn to be prepared for tomorrow’s future.
by Renee Owen | Feb 20, 2013 | Director's Blog, News
Did you know Rainbow Mountain has an Odyssey of the Mind team? Odyssey of the Mind has been described as “Olympics for Geeks” (Geek being an affectionate term these days.) Kids form teams and spend weeks solving massive, multi-page problems, and then present their solutions in the form of a performance, a contraption, or whatever is necessary. “OM” is where wildy creative meets rigid logic. Our team will be competing at the high school level at regionals this Saturday. You can see their innovative performance at 2pm at Erwin High School. We have a feeling they are going to advance to the state level.
by Renee Owen | Feb 16, 2013 | Director's Blog, News
Rainbow Mountain Children’s School has grown slowly and steadily since 2007, my first year as director. However, I have never seen anything like what we have been experiencing over the last few months. We have about three times the inquiries and tours of any previous year. We have at least six times the number of new applicants than we normally have this time of year. Happily, our strategic plan had already identified a desire to grow by another 40% to 50%, in order to reach an enrollment number that will best serve the children, the community, and provide economic efficiency for Rainbow. (We need to construct another building to accommodate those numbers, but that is another chapter.) Until a new building is a reality, we have limited space. Sheila Mraz, the admissions director, and myself are scrambling to determine where each classroom will be located next year in order to best accommodate everyone who needs a spot, while continuing to enhance the quality and creativity of the program. If you have a sibling of a current student who is going to attend next year, please don’t delay in getting your application in. It would be heart-breaking to turn any members of current families away. As for new families, if you know anyone who is considering Rainbow, but has not yet toured or applied, please encourage them to do so as soon as possible. We anticipate several classes being full as of March 5, although we will try to open up new spots, if possible. Thank you everyone for your faith and support in our special school. Your synergy is making this happen, and it’s very exciting.
by Renee Owen | Feb 11, 2013 | Director's Blog
City Councilman, Gordon Smith, centered with the fifth/sixth grade class this morning. After lighting the candle and opening with three breaths, the seven directions, and greeting one another with namaste, each child reflected on what they love about Asheville (as they are beginning a “local” unit). Reflections ranged from pristine water to great food and beautiful mountains. The candle was blown out for “home.”
by Renee Owen | Feb 9, 2013 | Director's Blog
The highlight of my week is leading fourth grade centering every Friday. Nine and ten year olds are teetering between the imaginal realms of childhood and the rational existence the grown-up world has created. My goal is to savor that imaginal realm as much as possible so they will still be able to access it after crossing the threshold into adulthood.
I want them to remember how to fly. We are exploring the element of AIR, so we became as light as air and went on a visualized journey hovering over the classroom, Rainbow Mountain, Asheville, and Earth. Do you remember being able to fly in your dreams as a child?
