Watch for an upcoming message about many other events scheduled for the coming year.  One highlight will be Amelia Gambetti’s visit to the Twin Cities on November 12th and 13th at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  She’ll be leading presentations on Friday from 6:30 – 8:30 and on Saturday from 9:00 – 4:00.  Details to follow.

The book is available through Learning Materials Workshop for $35.  Mark your calendars.  http://learningma.accountsupport.com/store/reggio.html

October 3rd
October 31st
November 28th
January 2nd
February 27th
March 27th
April 24th
May 22nd

Below is an invitation to the event along with a full bio of Dr. Brown’s work; admission to the keynote is free for those who RSVP by August 11th.  Please feel free to pass this along to friends and colleagues you think may be interested in attending an enlightening discussion about the importance of play in our children’s lives.  We hope you will be able to join us!

Children’s Theatre Company
cordially invites you to the
2010 Neighborhood Bridges Conference Keynote Address

WHAT:        Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play and author of PLAY: How It   Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

WHERE:    Cargill Stage, Children’s Theatre Company

WHEN:        Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
(Q&A and reception immediately following)

Please RSVP with the number of attendees to John Sessler at jsessler@childrenstheatre.org or 612-872-5306 by August 11th, 2010.

Dr. Stuart Brown’s Bio
Trained in general and internal medicine, psychiatry and clinical research, Dr. Stuart L. Brown’s years of clinical practice affirmed the importance and need for healthy play throughout the human life cycle. His broad based evaluations of highly creative individuals revealed the centrality of playfulness to their success and well-being. His recent years of independent scholarship and exploration of the evolution and neuroscience of human and animal play have helped to focus a central commitment bringing the promises and stories of play into general cultural consciousness and to the establishment of the National Institute For Play (NIFP). With the help of the distinguished Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute, newly acquired play-affirming knowledge is being assembled that is helping to establish a new Science of Play. The NIFP has produced a 3-hour PBS series, The Promise of Play, published a companion book to the PBS film, Where Do the Children Play, as well as conducted The First NIFP Conference on the Status of Play Science at Stanford University. Dr. Brown has authored the recently released Avery/Penguin book PLAY, How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. He continues to actively present keynotes and play workshops, is a frequent consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and has been featured on NPR, The New York Times Magazine, PBS NewsHour, ABC Nightly news, and is soon to be featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and Nightline.

Children and parents got involved in the playful experiences offered on Saturday afternoon at the Walker Art Center’s Open Field.

“I’m glad grown-ups can do this, too.” a participant

“Look at what everybody made!”

“It’s always nice to play.  We should be playing much more.” a parent participant

“I made the basement and the whole garden.  Dad did the building and the path.  I’m making something right now… I just made a subway… Is it OK if we use a pen ’cause we want to write a sign about it?” participant who created a house and “Sculpture Garden”.

“Can you imagine experiencing the world as a great sandbox given for us to play in like we did as children? As we play, we can also open ourselves to the exploration of our edges, always creating new adventures of self-exploration as we let go of old out-dated beliefs about ourselves.”
Judith-Annette Milburn

Click on “Teachers as researchers” then scroll down to the links and pdfs to find this compelling article.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

6:00 – 8:00 PM

Rondo Community Outreach Library’s Multipurpose Room

461 North Dale Street (corner of Dale and University) in St. Paul

http://www.stpaul.lib.mn.us/locations/rondo.html#parking

In the last year, at least 12 people from Minnesota participated in Study Tours to Reggio Emilia, Italy.  We have been drawn there because Reggio educators model a way of teaching and learning that opens new possibilities for people worldwide.  Join us as we reflect on our experience studying there and explore implications for learning in our own community.  What are the small scale and local experiences that we have generated, that we are generating and that we might generate which locally offer us this opportunity for civil and civic discussion?

Free of charge.  Questions?  Contact reggioinspiredmn@gmail.com

“Participation, in fact, is based on the idea that reality is not objective, that culture is a constantly evolving product of society, that individual knowledge is only partial; and that in order to construct a project, especially an educational project, everyone’s point of view is relevant in dialogue with those of others, within a framework of shared values.  The idea of participation is founded on these concepts; and in our opinion, so too, is democracy itself.”

Paola Cagliari, Angela Barozzzi and Claudia Giudici

There will be clay explorations, weaving on a big loom, play with a parachute and sand, natural materials to explore and space for reflection on play.  Children and adults of all ages are encouraged to participate.

“Play” is the topic of research this year for the Reggio-Inspired Network of Minnesota’s SEEING CHILDREN project. Feel welcome to come and play with us!

For more information contact reggioinspiredmn@gmail.com