Radiococo Broadcast #04

Rose, Thorn, Bud

The cicadas have arrived. Every summer, I am amazed by their abilities to vibrate their sound organs. I don't think any other bugs can beat their body-size-to-decibels ratio. I love how unapologetically loud they are, not unlike my preschoolers.

Last week during our Summer Camps, I took the chance to try out the Rose, Thorn, Bud exercise with them. You might have heard of this or some variations of this. It is a mindful way to reflect, and I thought that it visually referencing a common flower helps contextualise it for the kids.

I simplified the language a little to make it more appropriate for my 5-year-olds and made it into a colouring activity if some finished faster than others.

How adorable are their responses? I realised that the phrase looking forward to something is still a bit advanced for early learners, so I asked them what are they excited about that day. Their little delights from programming beebot to watching a flower grow in their garden to their favourite lunch (“I am going to have my favourite soup and bread later! You know, like when you can dip the bread in the soup!”) were beautiful reminders of being present. Even though I have the privilege of being with kids regularly, their capacity to be so fully present and self-aware still surprises me from time to time.

The same kid who was looking forward to his bread-in-soup lunch reflected on how challenging it was to wait for sphero to connect. Sphero is a programmable ball robot that connects to the iPad via Bluetooth. But, like most hardware, it can be pretty finicky. The day before our Rose, Thorn, Bud exercise, sphero was really giving him a hard time.

The fact that he was exasperated but was still receptive to my suggestions was an incredible feat in itself. But then demonstrating awareness for his own mental bandwidth and calmly communicating that he was D O N E with an activity was a whole other level! As someone who can be so stubborn and impatient with technology, I was inspired by how he regulated himself. Kids can indeed do anything if we show and model how to.

Thank you for tuning in this month! I hope you indulge in your favourite lunch this week :-P

P.S The activity sheet is available as a printable if you find it useful. Let me know, and I am more than happy to email it to you!

This month’s play-list:

1. Rop Van Mierlo’s ethereal paintings of wild animals.

2. This brief but dramatic video about Darwin’s Bark Spiders!!

3. Thom Yorke’s Very 2021 Rmx of Creep. Of course.

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