A Primary Shade of Lego

A Primary Shade of Lego

I have followed a number of articles on Lego lately. This one crossed Facebook today and is worth a good read. 

The number of pieces on PINK Legos abounds. Really, we've never had pink Legos in our house. Our daughter was not our Lego fanatic, even though we had plenty of them and gave her sets right along with her brothers. It wasn't her toy. That's fine. Regardless,  I do agree with the gender toy slant.

 But I feel the stronger issue is the loss of creativity with "universal sets and the growth of  the world  "pre-determined model kits. I'm the first to suggest that what a kit started out as was never what it ended up being...and the spread of Legos across a floor lent itself all the more to the mixing of kits and wild new "creations." 

--I think it was really a marketing effort on the part of Lego to retain their market share in a world where tv/movie shwag had taken over. Star Wars, Harry Potter, BatMan, you name it. How do you stay competitive in that market? 

You make your product mesh.

I also think there is a component of driving play in such a way that it's "educational." If a child understands the physics, math, etc while they play then they have a job/college edge, right? Hence, Lego Robotics, Lego Movie studio, Lego Architecture. I don't believe that Lego is entirely responsible for all this shift. The responsibility really is with parents. What do we want to teach? Do we want to teach or inspire?
 Do we want to open doors and let the kids experiment while playing? What are we after with the toys we give our kids after all??

Lessons in Unlikely Places

I read a lot of things in the course of each day, looking for inspiration, good ideas, great practices, new technologies, and anything that can help me to improve in  my work and help our families do theirs better.

I read things in places that are clearly ALL about public education, its strategies, theories, gambits and trends. I read things that are written by the denizens of pedagogy, the nay-sayers  of policy and both publically acknowledged as well as self-proclaimed geniuses.

I read things in places that are about parenting and home education,   special education and gifted education. I read blogs and Facebook and listen to audio clips and watch videos from all corners of our world. I consume a lot of content in a day.

Every day I find things worth sharing, reposting, boosting, tagging and sending on. I find things that I think I have something to add to and write about.  I also find things worth passing over.  

What I found today is not worth passing over. It's worth enjoying and learning from.

Today, I found this. 
(Thanks, Sharon, for sharing!)
Go ahead and check it out. It won't take long.

This story is not about ANY of the stuff I'm usually digging for or by any of the people that I usually read and some might consider it fluff. But what it says speaks to all of those things that matter.

Marilyn Hagerty  has a great deal to share with all of us.

She says to work with what you've got and don't give up.

Don't only focus on the kid who is the perfect one, but to stick with the one that works hard and meet him where he is.

Notice the little stuff, even when the big stuff isn't perfect. The little stuff  makes the difference.

Always have something nice to say.

You can express your point with no explicit words  at all, and indeed, it's often what you don't say that speaks loudest.

Be polite to the folks that seek to drag you down, and don't dwell on it. Move on.

Cheer for the home team! All the time! (and wear the team colors!)

Enjoy yourself several times a week.

Keep working at it, because it's the little guy who's going to benefit...and then you will too.

Even the run-of-the mill needs to be checked out and admired.

Keep looking.

A different shape can be better than the shape everyone else is taking.

Folks will see what you're doing and, no matter how big they are, they will see your value and come alongside.

What Marilyn has to say speaks!

What Marilyn writes matters!

How Marilyn works teaches!

And this video told me not to stop looking for messages that matter in places both likely and unlikely.

So tell me, what is Marilyn telling you?

And next time you pass an Olive Garden, remember that the soup is hot! As it should be!