CLIA Coaching

‘TRY THIS’ - Unlocking Children’s Imagination - what are children’s experiences of an adult’s world of expertise? All around the child are adult roles and rules of safety, rules of engagement. Environmental or Emergent Literacy can be a good place to start storytelling, especially for the child as camera-person.

Creating video stories: In the child’s world literacy emerges out of their environment, and from a video storytelling world of imitation, questions can arise that enable further storytelling to develop through the arts.

This page from the Photobook ‘Playful Learning’ (Charlotte Yonge: www.clia oaching.co.uk) shows clips from making home video during home education, using public spaces such as small streets, the zoo (looking at the seals), local shops (Three Father Christmasses) and parks. Roos and costumes from family heirlooms and joke shops.

Children’s stories

‘Try This’ - Unlocking Learning with Imaination: Mantle of the Expert - teachers’ manual: Key No. 7 - Create a Drawing - a great starting point for creating tension and mystery using VISUAL LANGUAGE and INFERENCE. Prompting imagination and narrative, a drawing can be given questions such as ‘What might happen next?’

An example: This collection of drawings are by a 9yr old child with ‘neuro-diversity’ and. strong interest in drawing his experiences using his love of cartoons. His writing and storytelling evolved later through cartoons and home video… he was always left to draw freely both in and out of school contexts. Reflective listening by an accompanying adult build bridges of spoken language to his abundant visual communication. “I wonder what happened next?” Could be followed by continued action dialogue.

Scribbble your stress away - Creative Journal liberates your healing imagination

Using both hands -
Your ‘Non Dominant Hand: enhances emotional awareness through somatic release - scribble your trauma and then dialogue non verbally through colour and patterning.

Emotions are encapsulated within muscle memory, and have a ‘neutral’. mental ‘label’ as playful journal is free-firm and non judgemental,

Memories of early childhood, emotions that just are. Adults have these memories and for some they are called ‘the inner child’. Make friends with this child through Creative Journal.

INNER CHILD SPEAKS: Try ‘expressive writing’ combined with your inner child: write about all your adult pre-occupations, stand alongside the ‘angry child’, the ‘sad child’, the ‘loving child’… and liberate your creative playful Self, invent a ‘magical child’, which can then become your ‘wise child’ … this is your true self waiting to dance!

Teach Children Gardening and creative self expression

I was about four years old when my first memories of being brought up in Africa began to be for ever memorable: flowers, vegetable plants like peas sprouting, daffodils in spring when we visited family in Devon. These were visual and emotional memories … bonding and binding our relatives close in my memory. Gardens are a source of excitement and intrigue for children … they love to watch tiny livings things like birds, bees and ants …. Adults can watch with them without talking too much and reflecting what children say with neutral tone of voice, ‘You like watching that little ant’, It is running along under that leaf’ etc. Montessori spoke about thee child’s .Absorbant Mind’ and advocated against telling the child what to do so often, controlling their behaviour to suit their own model of what is ‘right’ … the child’s self image groes strong through exploration and play without adult structure except to poin out what is safe, and this trust strengthens their curiosity and ability to make decisions that help natural patterns of growth.

This child could not talk at school, and Creative Journal gave her a visual language with which to express herself in her own way. An adult can simply reflect what a child is doing with no adult standards required, thus reinforcing her own thinking and independence. In many children the brain’s ‘visual processor’ develops ahead of the lexical interpretations of their world, which develop well on a foundation of physical and visual activities. This can explain many types of learning patterns that come on the ‘autistic spectrum’.

CHILD DIRECTED PLAY

The basic idea of this kind of play is that children benefit from regular periods of total attention from a caring adult. The adult supports and follows what the child is doing, rather than make suggestions or giving ideas of their own. The adult uses neither praise or blame.

‘To receive absolute attention from the adult develops the power of concentration in the child.’ (Pinney 1992-3)
(https://natural playand dlearning.co.uk)

Listening to Children

The art of Reflective Creative Listening… following Rachael Pinney’s guidelines (See ‘Sppeciel Times:Listening to Children by Pachael Pinney)
And Meg Robinson, The Children’s Hours Trust, 1985)

1. Listen without any judgements, by simply being there for the person or child.

2. It is OK to interrupt if you feel you cannot keep up with the amount of dialogue. Ask if you can stop them for you to feed back what you have already heard.

Children at school doing creative journal.

Playful Learning

Sand Play

For adults or children, making patterns with miniatures in sand can be a new experience. Each object speaks of a feeling or experience. For a child the start of their imagined story, and for an adult a journey back to far memories which become symbolic for what may be happening to the present or near past.

Adults’ Sandplay sessions - these are done with journal entries that explore interpretations for the player. Objects taken from Nature - pieces of wood, shells etc - as well as the adult world such as mementoes or glass ornaments, etc, are used from the CLIA collection. Circular or square trays add extra meaning to the spaces in which stories are created.
Journal entries are confidential and need not be ‘explained’ to the facilitator.
If there is a need to share insights, these can be explored in a session with therapists you know.

If required a CLIA facilitator will use ‘creative/reflective listening’ to prompt summarising.

A session can lead to ,Expressive Writing, or other Creative Journal Expressive Arts activities such as ‘Drawing a Picture of Health, Vision Collage, or Drawing Your Stress Away,’.

NATURE IS OUR TEACHER and our MUSE

Would you like to make Nature a constant companion? Natural surroundings are always interesting and make me dream up ideas. I relax and go into a dreamy state. Sometimes ideas jump in, nothing is boring, as all the seasons keep changing. This is what I found out: natural settings speak through all my senses: my ever waiting classroom and healing parlour! I am always growing and changing along with the natural laws of life.

Try using these cards to speak to Nature as if to a very caring, good friend. Ask her a question and you will find answers filtering through your awareness from your feet to your crown. In the centre of Exmoor lie huge quartz crystal boulders reaching down deep into the earth's crust. How deep and grounded can you become in your physical reality, when Nature gives you such powerful models of persistence?

Get my pack of meditation cards at: https://natureisourteacher.weebly.com

From here you can buy my pack of 67 glossy cards - covering all sorts of daily pre-occupations. Ideas to celebrate the seasons, and I hey, personal dilemmas can be sorted.

Treat Nature like an intimate friend, no holds barred….there are no judgemental replies from Nature. Nature’s MUSE will speak to your inner self, so listen to your own insights and wisdom. Be inspired by the quotes.

Create your answers in the ‘journal’ section: free expressive writing … add any photos or artwork as you write to issustrate your experiences. Write about your pre-occupations, let them go, feel free at last.

Nature’s muse moments - in Exmoor, my back door, my niche, (thank you Carolina for your muse-face - The Henna Lady, Bristol)

Expressive Writing
Researched and pioneered by professor James W Pennebaker, this method involves only writing down anything and everything that is on your mind, and no-one need to know about it. Pennebaker began offering ‘writing therapy’ and found it eased emotional trauma effectively. He then began promoting Creative Journal Expressive Arts and became great friend of founder Lucia Capacchione in California. (Learn more about certification program at: Creative Journal Expressive Arts Institute: project-insight.net/cjea)

Prof Pennebaker says:

‘What write three times a day for 15 minutes. Great question. The simple answer is that is what we have found what what works. BUT since the original studies in 1980s, many researchers have found that there is no one true way to write. Some studies have found that writing for as little as 2 minutes or as long as 30 minutes can be beneficial. Most studies have varied between 2 - 5 writing times a day with comparable effects. Sometimes people write multiple times on the same day. If you are thinking of trying out writing yourself, expleriment. see what works. If you are a researcher, experiment and see what works for you.’

In research it was found that a person’s working memory was much improved once pre-occupations have been written, released and mad3 evident to the writer. In addition there were signs that the pathology of a healthy immune system were evident.

In CLIA Coaching this free-flow expression can Involve any arts you choose as well: photos for reminiscence, felt tips for scribbling your stress away in smooth motion. Talk to yourself, be your own best friend, and get the best out of your counsellor or therapist too.