Dear Gerard, my experience with after school day-care children (8 through 12 years old, see event Nr. 40 in my "Veranstaltungen" list with a complete documentation that you can see if you click on "Praxisbericht"), with elementarty school children (6 through 12, see event Nr. 25...there is also a marvellous video on that event) and then with older kids (aged 13 through 19) in various kinds of schools in Berlin (see events nr. 44, 49, 52 with 150 kids from 50 different schools from throughout Germany, 63, 74, 78 with 200 teenagers from all over Germany, 83, 85, 86, 90, 91,92) a number of them with pictures, invitation flyer, report on the follow up meeting... So there is a bit of experience and here are my observations: 1. Kids of all ages do wonderfully in open space. For them it seems much more natural and as if they "remember" open space more readily than older kids and adults. 2. Conditions in the open space with children need not be different than in other os: voluntary participation (not adults, parents or teachers "bringing" them along), healthy food (plain water, real juice, fresh fruit, finger food vegetables, yoghurt dips, salad, soup....no junk food, sweets, softdrinks, crackers...a simple fruit cake in the afternoon and for the adults, of course, coffee...), plenty of break out rooms .... 3. All the "special" needs that we perceive the group will handle in a selforganizing way or the planning committee will make arrangements for 4. Adults tend to vastly underestimate the abilities, skills, tenaciousness, creativity etc. of children and tend to install some sort of control....experience shows that that closes the space down for sure.
I always find open space without children to be in some way deficient. See you at the osonos in Denmark mmp On Tue, 6 May 2003 10:14:35 +0200, Gerard Muller wrote: > >My question is about the children. This school has children from 6-16 >years old. The preparation group I am working with feels the older >classes could participate. I expect also the younger ones would just do >fine - except that probably they will not be given a choice to >participate or not - parents who want to join the meeting will just take >them along so as to not have to pay for someone to look after them. Michael M Pannwitz boscop Draisweg 1 12209 Berlin, Germany FON +49 - 30-772 8000 FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464 www.michaelmpannwitz.de An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich. * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
