Slowing Down

09/29/2023

A mind that is racing over worries about the future or recycling resentments from the past is ill equipped to handle the challenges of the moment.
Eknath Easwaran, Take Your Time: The Wisdom of Slowing Down

In her book, Slow Knowledge and the Unhurried Child, Alison Clark quotes educator Júlia Oliveira-Formosinho: “I've seen the acceleration of the life of children in preschools to increase with the awareness of society and of parents about the importance of the early years, the importance of preschool. So then, the pressures for schoolification instead of looking at preschool as an avenue, a pathway to help children to research the world, to research with their 'one hundred languages.”

The story of Tsuki in Making Adjustments: Meditations on Learning with Children, by Misa Okayama, explores the kind of 'slow knowledge' Clark and Oliveira-Formosinho espouse. Okayama notes, “There is not just one way to think about a moment with a child. When we linger with the play and listen to its many resonances, a kaleidoscope of possible understandings reveals itself. We can meditate on those complex patterns and startling illuminations by slowing down, keeping our attention focused and quiet, and seeing what offers itself into our thinking.”

In the opening pages of Making Adjustments, Racial Equity Trainer Barbara Yasui writes, “This slim little book can be read in one sitting, but don’t! Take the time to read it slowly and mindfully, savoring the deeper meaning behind the simple story of a child building a motorcycle. Pause and think about the meditative and reflective questions at the end of each chapter. Then when you’ve read the whole book, go back and read it again. You’ll find hidden gems that you missed the first time around.”

Here's to slowing down enough to find the hidden gems, whether in books or in moments sprinkled throughout our days.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.