Ugh....Can't you hear the butcher paper ripping and the perfectly coordinated chevron paper lanterns exploding from those words. I mean, really? Less Is More?? Do you not even know what it is that we do?!? We make things pretty!! And by pretty, I mean over the top.
Well, from one excessive theme addict to another - I'm here to tell you - Yes, yes this is true!! LESS IS MORE and that is TOTALLY OKAY! Because once we understand the thoughtfulness and research behind this 'less is more' movement, you will take great care in being intentional in your decorating and it will make such an impact on sharing the love of Jesus with our children.
Let's begin with a Reality -
The truth is that we over stimulate almost every child we come in contact with. Through early childhood research we have learned the environment plays a large role in the brain development of a growing child.
Research suggest that -
* Over - stimulating environments inhibit cognitive functioning.
So, what do we do with what we know?
We put it into practice -
* Let the decor reflect thoughtful choices
* Makes sure the wall space provides a place for the eye to rest - art, print, instructional materials
To really understand why this research is so important, we must change our way of thinking a little bit. Instead of thinking about a child as a 3 year old, think about that child's age in months. That 3 year old child has only been on the earth for 36 months. The brain is wiring rapidly, but that child still has a lot to learn. Information is not only flooding into the brain, but the brain is learning how to filter all that new information.
All information comes in through
your 5 senses; Sight, Smell, Touch, Hearing, and Taste. Once the information is received it travels up through the brain stem to the brain and is filtered. We receive between
35,000 and 42,000 bits of information a second. Stop. Read that again.... Yes, it says per second.
Here is a statistic that will put this "LESS IS MORE" concept into perspective. It sure did for me!
Out of all the thousands of bits of information humans receive per SECOND, 85% of that information is
coming from your touch, hearing and vision senses. But 95%
of the 85% is coming in through your vision. We (adults) filter out a vast majority of
the stimuli from which we are bombarded. Our brains are mature and we have had plenty of experience to let us know what to do with the incoming information. Our age in years indicates the amount of experience our brains have had to learn what information to store and what information to filter out.
However, a child who has only been on this earth for 36 months, his brain doesn’t have the
maturity to know what information to let in and what information to filter out. So when we bombard
with too much information, especially in the area of visual stimuli, we overwhelm them. When we hang decorations on the wall, top to bottom, or we hang
things from the ceiling, or give the child too many options, we overwhelm them.
In early childhood development ‘LESS IS MORE’!
Think of DisneyLand - Perfect example! What are the babies and toddlers doing while at the park?? SLEEPING! Because if they open their eyes, they are overwhelmed.
Then notice the 3 thru 5 year olds. What are they doing? Playing with rocks or sticks and drawing on the ground. They are looking down, because if they look up, it's visual overload and their brains can't process the information. Those who do look up are running crazy through park because they are on over drive.
Knowing this information, we can put new practices in place and reach our children in a more consistent and intentional way. Helping them hear and see what we are teaching them without overwhelming them. Allowing their brains the time to process the information we are putting into their lives so that they can leave us having a better understanding of the fact that JESUS LOVES THEM!
Let me share examples of what NOT to do.... now, before I show you these pictures, I will say...If I didn't know now and understand this truth that I am sharing with you (this, LESS IS MORE thing) all of my classrooms would look like the ones below. As I've stated, I am an excessive theme addict, and if I didn't know better, I'd make Pinterest cry. But I do know better and because of this, I know that too much decor is hurting, not helping our children. Point and Case....
Look at this Kindergarten class through the eyes of a preschooler. What do you see?? You don't see anything specific. There is too much on the walls, the floor and look at the amount of choices that are on that book shelf. Their little brains don't have anywhere to rest the eyes and the amount of choices will overwhelm them. Before too long, the teacher could have kids bouncing off those awesomely decorated walls or sitting at their desk crying! All of the stimuli is more than the little ones can take.
So, here's the point.... Now that we know better, we must DO BETTER. Less is More and that's TOTALLY OKAY because you are meeting the child where they are, focusing on their needs instead of how pretty you can make your rooms, therefore reaching each child in a more intentionally way.
Here's how we do it - it's simple.
* Nothing should be on your wall unless it has an instructional purpose for that day.
I know changing a certain way of thinking isn't always easy, but, the "LESS IS MORE" concept is vital to the early childhood development of our kiddos!I know we want to be the best and most effective teachers of the Love of Christ to our littles, because thatis why we are all here!!
So, let's put away our 27 foot long, 35 foot tall hand painted under the sea mural, complete with glittered, hand print angel fish (with custom names on each, of course) and our motorized jelly fish that we would install to light up and "swim" around our ceiling for the week, and lets focus on what the children need. We can still be inventive, things can still be beautiful, but, we are going to do it in a more intentional way.
Come with me and I'll show you how!!
-Kylie
Information on this blog post, along with statistics given were courtesy of Dr. Pam Schiller and her training course - Brain Compatible Strategies. To learn more, please visit her site www.pamschiller.com
Images in this blog post are courtesy of google images.