#240, Destiny Benson on Curating Young Minds Through Real-World Trades

Okay.

Well, I know when you and I first chatted, I know curating a child's mind was o- one of the things we first talked about and how obviously important that is for schools all across the country.

But you guys did some kinda unique things about how you curate a child's mind.

So give us some, uh, things that you guys are doing and how other schools could also focus on doing this with a child.

I would say, um, I, I truly believe in like children are people.

And so while, you know, at, at the same time while you're cur- curating a mind and, you know, there-- it's not like, I mean, they are a blank canvas because you, you're gonna, they are somewhat a product of their environments and their families and things like that.

Uh, but they eventually grow up to make their own decisions.

And so we try our best to offer flexibility within the classroom.

And so if that is a hands-on activity, so we're not just doing pencil and paper all day and, you know, just giving them the information and expecting it to come out.

Um, we expect it to come out in multiple ways.

And so we give tips and, you know, things like that for our families at home, say, "Hey, we're studying about perimeter.

If you're on a walk, talk about perimeter about, you know, uh, the concrete or the, the slab or wherever you are," um, so they can kinda see the practicality of it.

And so we take that same approach in the classroom.

Um, if it's a good day, if it's not raining, if it's, you know, sunny outside, they're gonna be outside.

[chuckles] And so, um, maybe even that, just that maybe 15 minutes of maybe a, a, a walk around campus outside to kinda decompress and, and get some sunshine.

So I really believe in the nature part, the nature component of education, even if it's not necessarily a science class.

You can implement it, you know, outdoors and, you know, with, with multiple subjects.

So at this point in my career, I've kinda taught here and there almost every subject, um, that, uh, uh, uh, in regards to core subjects with children, and there's a way to implement it as much as possible.

Um, I do, I emphasize movement in the classroom.

So if we're playing the alphabet, you know, uh, video for our kinder kids or, um, if our older kids are learning about multiplication, we do a lot of song, you know, implementing different learning styles, trying to complement as much as we can.

Um, so and some of my kids say, "Hey, can I get up and dance?" "Yeah.

But hold on, let's listen to it first.

[chuckles] We're gonna watch it first.

I'm gonna see what you know," you know, things like that.

"Then we, then we can dance.