Cycle of support for learning differences

The workshop organised by the school counsellors in Harare and the Gifted, Talented and Learning Disabled Students committee at Bishopslea was interesting yesterday. The counsellor from the International School talked about the Individual Education Program in the States and how you monitor children's progress with feedback. Sas Kirk spoke on how the current educational system in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world is outdated and is derived from the model suited to the industrial revolution which creates a hierarchy and tailor made answers that don't allow for different learning styles and ways of processing information. Finland was mentioned as being the most progressive. Dr Jonathan Brakarsh touched on how to tackle bullying as often children with learning difficulties get targeted. I though of one of my previous students who was getting bullied at home and at school. It ended with how you can use mindfulness to tackle ADD and ADHD - I found it very hard to focus and stay on the present (my mind was wondering to what I had to still make for the braai yesterday afternoon). Apparently we spend 47% of our life thinking about the past and the future. Focusing on the past can potentially cause depression and sadness, whilst too much pondering on the future creates anxiety and in extreme cases possibly insanity.

Well I made food for 15 people and only 5 people came to the braai but it was more intimate and we had fun. I have a surplus of salad and stuff though - might make boxes and give it to street people at the traffic lights. It was lovely to enjoy the flamboyants from Lawson Ave that are visible from the garden and to sit around the fire afterwards.

Off to a concert by Gülsin Onay at St Johns just now, which is part of the Twelve classical music series that brings musicians to Harare. Apparently Onay is one of the top 100 pianists in the world and she originates from Turkey. The lady I am house sitting for sends photos from her travels around Turkey every day. It looks amazing and colours of spices, ceramics and pomegranates are intoxicating. I would love to visit there. Shame, sadly the aunt had to put the cat here down yesterday. It had cancer and wasn't doing so well but deteriorated this week.

I have just put together a lesson for my five year old for tomorrow on castles. Thought we should expand his vocabulary beyond space and dinosaurs - he does know words like nebula and palaeontologist now but perhaps we need to cover more ground on simpler things. I hope he enjoys tomorrow's lesson. From there I am thinking of possibly doing Egyptology (I won't call it that). I think he will remain fixated on space and dinosaurs though for the foreseeable future. Have told him there are real dinosaur bones at the Natural History museum here in Harare and also moon rock at the Geological Survey Museum. Perhaps we can go on an excursion but he does say he's seen a huge dinosaur in China so the bones here might not be as cool, although it would be something different for him.