A Child's Right to Dream

https://www.relicsworld.com/maya-angelou/we-are-all-creative-but-by-the-time-we-are-three-of-author-maya-angelou

If you read my first post, "Bugs Bunny Dug to China. I Can, Too!", you know that I am a dreamer. The idea of digging through the center of Earth to visit China was possible to my 4-year old brain. To me, anything I dream of is possible. I don't ever think I'm going to fail. I often think about quitting, but never failing. I am powerful when I dream. I know I can do it.

Maya Angelou's quote describes my life in school. I could dream and be creative at the private school I attended in 1st through 3rd grades. I stopped dreaming when my parents transferred me to neighborhood public schools for 4th through 12th grades (except in Mrs. Reason's 6th grade class). By 7th grade, I was like everyone else. I walked in a straight line, sat still at my desk, and repeated what my teachers told me to do and to think. I received good grades, but I was just going through the motions. At times, I honestly didn't care. Many of you had a similar public school experience. And many creative children still know how this feels. Public school in undervalued communities was designed to control black and brown minds and bodies. I'll talk more about that in a future post. I'm determined to redesign school by giving back to children their right to be creative and curious. Their right to dream.

Did you lose your right to dream? 
​Dream Time, customized learning, and social emotional learning are crucial components to the I Dream PCS model because we honor a child's right to dream. Young learners have time each week in Dream Time to decide what they want to learn and how they want to learn about it. We co-create customized learning plans with learners and their families to give learners ownership of their learning and to support their growth. Social emotional learning is just as important as academic learning at I Dream PCS. Learners develop an awareness of who they are as individuals, who they are in the community, and it is here that they discover how to navigate this world to pursue their purpose, their dreams.

Click here to learn more about the I Dream PCS model.
     

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Dream Time spaces for learners to    explore their interests and passions are in every I Dream PCS classroom. 

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Floyd Norman was empowered to dream. His love of drawing guided him to pursue his dream of making animated Disney films. Floyd was the first African American animator at Disney Studios. Floyd Norman talks with Steve Harvey about his journey. Remember the Soul Train? Floyd created that!