It's Not Just About Knowledge But Thinking Habits

------ Promoting my teaching philosophy and books through the "grandkids camp"

This 2024 Spring break was a great chance for me to experiment with my hypothesis --- In the AI era, training children in creative thinking habits is more important than remembering some information or knowledge. 

I  have quit my regular school job and devoted myself full-time to this "grandbaby business". It might be a bit uncomfortable to most traditional grandparents, especially, those who grew up in China, when they hear the response from kids to their instructions often is  "Why, this?" or "I don't want to do that". 

I remember when I was growing up in China as a child, I thought I had no right to question the "authority", the adults about what they told me to do, but obey. 

In this AI era, to make a person human, he or she is encouraged to raise questions;  no question is a dumb question. If we follow this rule, doing this so-called babysitting, then the job is obviously harder than the old-fashioned way. 

Here are some experiments that I would like to share: 

Artist Papa said, "Please prepare the background paint first."   "Why?" the little girl asked. 

My first reaction was that I wanted to tell her not to always ask "Why ?" because many things in the world have no answers. But I explained to her from the technical aspect of painting - It assigns a painting a general color scheme by preparing its background with a color tone. However, I still told her that Papa may not have all the answers to all her questions. In this way, I encouraged her to do her own thinking process when she has a question without discouraging her from asking questions.

"It should be reading as in this way." " Don't interrupt me, Papa." 

One part of her homework was reading loudly the whole book. In the middle of her reading, I made a correction to her, she did not like it. She said the school teacher only requires a parent (or a grandparent) to listen. I asked what would happen if she were asked to read it to the class and mispronounce the word. She told me the teacher would correct her --- I understand the teacher wanted students to learn from their mistakes. The experience of making a mistake in class is a more meaningful learning experience than just gaining the knowledge of the correct pronunciation of one word from parents at home. 

" Let me show you the design of this doll house." " No, Papa. I want to design it all by myself!" 

We as grown-up ones need to remind ourselves, that each occasion is a learning opportunity for a child. 

Regarding this 4-year-old boy, I cannot take him too seriously. However, I have discovered one little interesting thing. Do you see this photo of a posing thumb up? the little boy used both hands, one thumb up and another down. it suggests that even a little child knows the dual nature of reality. When he did this, we looked at the photo together, I asked him: " Is this thumb up or thumb down?"  He smiled but did not give me an answer. It is OK to let a child wonder or be playful. 

We are living in an interesting but challenging world. This world has been changing fast in our lifetime. We may see this younger generation facing a total technological evolution again. We grew up with rotary phones but depended on smartphones for daily functioning in our senior years. Our grandkids' generation may have housework taken care of by AI, need to plan space travel for a vacation, etc. Who knows?

Again, the most important education for the new generation is not knowledge only but creative thinking skills and habits. Good skills and habits can only be easily learned when one is young.  

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New book for mind training: Mandarin Is Fun For Kids

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Life Is A Puzzle, So Make Up What's Missing

It's Spring Break! My wife and I are lucky to be assigned a duty. Guess what? Babysitting again, of course:) 

Ok, we are more than happy to do it. We want to make this one week of time meaningful and beneficial. 

What is the goal? How about "Filling What's Missing"?

Those children usually live in a small-town environment with a lots of love and helps from parents, babysitters and teachers, etc. I was wondering if we should let them gain two useful expenses during that week: "Independent situations" and a "Big city environment".

Here were what we did ( Note: these experiments should be conducted under adults' supervision): 

1) Using a puzzle game board to let the children understand that "life is a puzzle picture", and sometimes we need to find out what our lives have been missing. 

When we play with kids, we should seize an opportunity to teach a philosophy that often kids would not comprehend by words but certainly can feel by their personal experiences.  

  2) Helping self, helping others, and helping each other are not only skills, but they are good habits to have. 

We praised the boy when he accomplished something. 

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                                    We helped and encouraged the boy when he met difficulties.

                                                              

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         Letting the big sister help her little brother, 

this is to let the kids learn the benefit of  "helping each other". 

3) Small-town kids going to DC Zoo  - Yes, we found a nice sunny day this past week and took them to DC Zoo. Instead of driving our private car there, we took a subway ride. That was some kind of experience that they haven't had too often (if not at all).  

a subway ride. 

Being with all kinds of people can improve "People skills". 

"It is dirty.. smells bad...  I got a headache! ...  I need a nice place to eat. ... someone pumped onto me... I just want to go home...home! I don't want to walk anymore! ",  these were the complaints from our princes (the granddaughter, 5)). The little boy (the grandson,3) also exhibited some comfort when he was in a crowded,  busy, noisy environment. However, not all was bad, they had some fun as you all can see through those photos. 

I really think such "uncomfortable experiences are needed for young children to gain so-called "abilities and skills of adaption". Let kids know, from very young,  that not all people live in an same environment - different lifestyles are the reality of this world.  

Don't Constrain Children's Habit of Free Imagination.

 

"Papa Nie's Thinking Outside the Box": 

Don't constrain children's habit of free imagination. 

The natural instinct and skills that people are born with are often insufficient in modern life, so everyone must learn and receive certain "skill training" at a certain age.  Good habits are the easiest to develop in childhood, and developing a good habit will benefit a great deal in life.  I am a school-trained art teacher living in a modern time. The old-fashioned method of education usually practices learning by imitation, that is to believe imitating the work of a master is a good way of learning the techniques of the master. If the copied painting turns out to be better than the original master's work, the student will often get a compliment such as "The pupil surpasses the teacher ..."

In my 30 years of teaching painting and creating my own artworks, I found that although the old-fashioned methodology of teaching art is very safe or even effective, it has a "fatal" disadvantage, which hampers people's creativity.

The Chinese often advise people not to make up something out of nothing. In fact, this is not the issue we need to worry too much about, because it is not practically possible to complete something that is created out of nothing.  What we should pay attention to is how to cultivate more talents who can create and invent. If we want our next generation to have more innovative people, should we pay attention to avoid that children's imagination is limited to finite graphics in their early childhood curriculum?  If I, as a teacher, ask a child to copy my painting, does this method inadvertently make the child develop a habit of just copying and not wanting to invent? 

I am a painter who makes a living by creating paintings. If I can only copy other people's artwork, then I may literally become no more than "a copy machine."  If you want to ask me, how do I create my own works "out of nothing"? My answer is that it is not really "out of nothing," when I was studying in a graduate school of Fine Arts, I understood the meaning of a nonobjective painting, and I have become good at developing images of concrete objects from these non-representational color blocks. 

My four-year-old granddaughter and two-year-old grandson both like to paint, I don’t let them first copy from my paintings, but encourage them to play freely on their canvases.

 

  

To learn more about DanNie Art Lessons, please visit: 

https://danielnie.webnode.page/art-lessons/

 A proper "first language" for the Child

December 2021

You may not need to read about John  McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue or Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis to be aware that "language" can truly affect ones thinking logic and thinking habits. 

Speaking of "Habit", I believe that a good habit is easier to be formed when a child is in his or her young age. As an art teacher, I think visual language is a proper language to introduce to children. We do not only need to encourage children to use visual language, but we also need to introduce this language to them correctly. 

Each time when my grandchild Ella (4.5) and Ethan (1.5) come to visit us, I and my wife prepared art supplies to let them play with. We let them use the art supplies generously. This investment is worth every bit! 

Of course, it comes in handy, since their grandpa is an art teacher and he has a home-studio room that is set up and ready for the children at all times.  Please see the following pictures of how Ella and Ethan are enjoying their drawing and painting. 

             

At this point, I want to make it clear that I do not know if it was first the thought that created the language or it was the language that inspires one's thought, during the children's art experiment. You may think that It is like a chicken-egg argument. However, I believe that one's thinking skills and abilities can be highly benefited while he or she has the right type of thinking tools ---- that tool is a language, and the visual language we use in the studio art is a powerful, effective and proper "tool" for the children to use for exercising their thinking skills. 

Happy New Year and happy painting with your grandchildren. 

Daniel Nie, M.A./M.F.A.

_________________________

Daniel Nie, M.A./M.F.A. 

704-574-1815 (I prefer texting) 

www.DanielNie.com

Baby Ethan is One Month Old

Baby Ethan is One Month Old

----April 10, 2020

Yes, it is never too early to start education to a baby. 

I, the proud grandpa, now is officially "twice" the papa and the teacher. 

With the help of his 3 years old sister, we gave the little boy a "show time" as a part of enrichment for this "shelter-in-place".

( Ella's day care center was closed. I drove 4 hours to my daughter's home for a good visit and to give her a hand, so to speak.)

This was an experiment that we did: To "stimulate" the baby ----- many scientists recognized that a baby starts to develop sense of hearing since in mother's womb. We discovered that baby Ethan not only could hear very well but also could respond to my facial expressions and moving objects near his sight. 

We asked his big sister Ella to perform a dance along with a music, and I was making my facial expressions accordingly. Interesting enough, baby Ethan was responding obviously. 

Here are some pictures to share:

                                 

Oh, yah! let me watch you.......

                                

Really, you can do that.......

                                 

Ohhhhh.... can you do something more exciting? 

??????????????????????

Noooo! I am tired, I need mom ......

Basically, the little man was a good audience. 

Look at him,  he seemed like ready to give his sister a critique. 

 

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After I entertained the little guy, Now it was my job to give the 3-year old girl Ella a theater lesson and an art / craft workshop. Here are some photos: 

Story telling: I am a pretty butterfly.... 

It's the craft time:

         

              

Well, we all had a good time while we all obeyed "shelter-in-place" in VA. 

Artist Daniel Nie Online Mini Show: 

https://www.instagram.com/namecoolligraphy/?hl=en

Forming A Good Habit From Very Young

As a teacher, I often share this wisdom with my students: "Life is not just writing a neat word, but painting a picture." If you wish to create a good picture of life, you really need to have a vision in your mind before you start the painting and to evolve your vision during the entire process."
The hard question is:  How can you have a clear and correct vision? We all want your children to grow up to be successful and happy. But how? Since I was young I wanted to learn from anyone whom I admire. I tried to ask those people if they had "a secrete to success" to offer me, but none of them could give me one single sentence of magic. Because there is none! However, I accidentally, found a book titled "Success Habits" by Dean Graziosi. I like his definition of Success. It is not all about knowledge (although we often say knowledge is power), but it is an "habit." If it is an "habit," then training a good habit should be easier at one's younger age than older. Does this make sense?

If Dean Graziosi's theory has a practical truth, then we all should take a good look at this topic. In order for all of you to comprehend what I am going to illustrate as a sample model that we have adopted for training our granddaughter bbE, I would invite you all to be open minded for the time being, and use our example for your reference only (Note: We are not giving any advice here).

Here are some trainings that we have experimented on this little girl who is now 11 month old:

1) Training the child to have a habit of being confident and independent: Letting herself to eat her own food ("Don't feed her."). We also train her to have an ability of self exploring and learning:

 

   

2) Training the child to have an habit of having curiosity and interest in varies fields: 

 

3) Training the child to have a habit of touching the reality - Letting her to participate housework: 

 

4) Training the child to have a habit of having a sense of teamwork - joining sports, group actives, and going to outdoor playground, etc. (Actives could form an habit of loving people and nature) :

Let us remember that success does not just come from a good seminar but a good habit that requires training. We wish every child on earth is healthy, bright and happy. 

Until nexttime, best wishes to you all. This is Daniel Nie with DanNie Studio. 

For more information about my artworks and educational programs, please visit : 

www.DanielNie.com