When I was a little girl, like so many children, I was given dolls to play with. I loved my dolls. I dressed them, talked to them, sat them on a chair, undressed them and put them to bed. They were pleasant, lovely creatures to have around at all times and always perfectly behaved!

However, when I had real children of my own, quite early it occurred to me that my dear dollies had not prepared me at all for motherhood. These “dollies” now had minds of their own. Often their first words were not “Mama!” but “No!” No need for any further details. My readers could all supply hundreds of examples of the differences between the two genres!

Children, however, are living beings. Furthermore, for more complication, the child is a social being. No person can exist alone, no matter how brilliant or knowledgeable. We are all absolutely dependent on thousands of people we don’t even know in order to live our lives even at a very basic level.  When the child is born, mysteriously, he senses how vulnerable he is. His parents, the first people he knows, are his lifeline. Were you ever lost as a child in a store? Do you remember the desperate feeling you had until you saw your parent? A bee or an ant is also a social being. But it comes into this world with instincts as to how it can contribute to its own social milieu.

​Our dear children have no such instincts except that his or her strongest motivation is the desire to belong and to contribute to the group. His security or lack of it depends upon his or her feeling of success in this endeavor.  He or she comes to us without any guiding principles. Instead he or she learns only through trial and error.  The child feels that if he can get some kind of recognition of the parents or family, the task is completed. Often the recognition is what we might term negative. “Why do you keep bothering me? I can’t work if you keep making that noise!” The child feels he or she has succeeded. Alas!  He or she will continue the behavior, knowing the outcome.
 
Often the child finds that if he or she cries, the adult comes and serves him or her. Again, the same behavior is continued non-stop. The child now feels he or she is a part of the group. Children are expert observers but make many mistakes in interpreting what they observe. When the parent angrily responds or always gives the child what he or she wants, one can be sure that the learning the child has received will be employed. The child will draw the wrong conclusions and choose mistaken paths in which to find his or her way.

How can we as adults help the child find his place in the family so he can become a contributing and treasured member? We need first to realize that what he knows, he learned from us! This is unintentional on both sides. It is simply done, often to try to get the child not to bother us so much! How can we change our own behavior through knowledge in relation to him or her to get the desired and lasting results we all seek? In blog 2 in the You and Your Child series, we will begin to discuss this magic formula!

​By: ​ ​Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz

No ano passado, foi relatado que metade de todas as crianças em idade escolar no Brasil não sabe ler nada ou muito hesitante até a terceira série. É incrível como descobertas emocionantes podem ser feitas e ignoradas neste mundo! Na década de 1990, os pesquisadores da Universidade do Sul da Califórnia lideraram um amplo e abrangente projeto de pesquisa no desenvolvimento cerebral de crianças. Eles descobriram que o cérebro possui uma linguagem neural própria que, se as várias vibrações receberem números que correspondem a notas musicais parece muito com Mozart! Eles deduziram que Mozart é desenvolvimental para crianças pequenas. Eles passaram a testar a teoria em estudantes universitários, um grupo ouvindo Mozart 30 minutos antes de fazer um exame de cálculo e um grupo de controle ouvindo nada. O grupo ouvindo Mozart teve uma pontuação muito maior. Infelizmente, porém, o chamado Efeito Mozart, que recebeu cobertura da mídia mundial, teve vida curta nos estudantes mais velhos. Após participar da pesquisa, todos os participantes voltaram ao normal novamente.

Portanto, os pesquisadores se perguntaram sobre o chamado Efeito Mozart em pré-escolares. Foi aqui que as crianças que ouviram Mozart todos os dias durante um ano saíram na frente de outras crianças em raciocínio espacial e criação de quebra-cabeças. Isso gerou mais estudos. Um programa de quatro partes foi projetado para ser seguido todos os dias durante um ano, enquanto o grupo de controle fazia tudo o que o primeiro grupo fazia menos a música. O programa consistia em 1) cantar de maneira sistemática após o trabalho do compositor e pesquisador húngaro Kodaly 2) ouvir Mozart 3) mudar de música 4) fazer música com instrumentos simples. Os resultados foram fenomenais e, além disso, continuaram com as crianças receptoras de música no ensino fundamental.

Os ensaios foram iniciados com crianças de quatro e cinco anos e, em seguida, seis e sete anos. Os mesmos resultados foram replicados. Então, apenas dois anos atrás, foram realizadas experiências com estudantes do ensino médio. Primeiro, os alunos, escolhidos aleatoriamente, tiveram que tocar corretamente ritmos de vários tipos de música, os pesquisadores ouvindo com fones de ouvido para acessar a correção. Para um estudante, aqueles que estudaram música em seus primeiros anos de vida e no ensino fundamental acabaram sendo leitores muito superiores aos demais. O próximo reconhecimento de mudança de tom foi testado. O resultado foi exatamente o mesmo e pode ser replicado. A música era igual a bons leitores. Crianças sem música estavam lutando.

Nos EUA, quando as escolas têm pouco dinheiro, o primeiro programa cortado é a música. Isso significa que apenas as crianças economicamente favorecidas cujos pais podem pagar instrumentos de estudo de aulas de música. Os pobres foram e ainda são deixados para trás.

No Brasil, a maioria das pessoas tem um amor natural pela música, mas, novamente, apenas aqueles que têm vantagens econômicas recebem o presente do treinamento musical. Devido a um tipo de talento natural entre a população brasileira, existem muitos músicos e muitos que lutaram sacrificialmente para aprender tudo o que sabem. O que estou sugerindo é que poderíamos dar a muitos desses músicos treinamento pedagógico que lhes permitisse ensinar nas escolas e contribuir para uma vantagem acadêmica indelével para centenas de milhares de jovens neste país. Oh, que sonho maravilhoso isso seria! Seria não apenas dar emprego às pessoas, mas empregos que importavam. O governo quer ver mais creches. Vamos dar a esses queridos filhos mais do que apenas cuidar de bebês. Vamos dar a eles o desenvolvimento do cérebro através da música, o desenvolvimento do cérebro que durará a vida inteira. É uma maneira infalível de empurrá-los adiante, e além do mais, é muito divertido! Eu nunca vi uma criança que não gostasse de música.

Eles amam isso!
​
​​Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz

This last year it was reported one half of all school children in Brazil cannot read at all or very haltingly by third grade. It is amazing how exciting discoveries can be made and ignored in this world of ours! In the 1990's researchers at University of Southern California led a large and comprehensive research project in the brain development of children.. They first discovered that the brain has a neural language of its own which if the various vibrations are assigned numbers which correspond to musical notes sound very much like Mozart! They deduced from that that Mozart is developmental for small children. They went on to test the theory on college students, one group listening to Mozart 30 minutes before taking a calculus exam, and a control group listening to nothing. The group listening to Mozart scored far higher. However, unfortunately, the so-called Mozart Effect which received worldwide media coverage was short-lived in older students. After having participated in the research, all participants went back to normal once again.

Therefore researchers wondered about the so-called Mozart Effect on preschoolers. It was here that children who listened to Mozart every day for a year came out in front of other children in spatial-reasoning and puzzle-making. That sparked further study. A four-part program was designed to be followed each day for a year while the control group did everything the first group did minus the music. The program consisted of 1) singing in a systematic manner following the work of Hungarian composer-researcher Kodaly 2) listening to Mozart  3) moving to music 4) making music with simple instruments. The results were phenomenal and furthermore continued with the music-receiving children far into elementary school. 

Trials were begun with children of four and five years, and then six and seven years. The very same results were replicated. Then just two years ago, experiments with high school students were performed. First, students, randomly chosen, had to correctly tap out rhythms of various types of music, the researchers listening with headphones to access the correctness. To a student, those who had studied music in their early lives and in elementary school, came out to be far superior readers than the others. Next pitch-change recognition was tested. The result was exactly the same and could be replicated. Music equaled good readers. Non-music children were struggling.

In the USA, when the schools are low on money, the first program that is cut is music. That means that only economically-advantaged children whose parents can afford music lessons study instruments. The poor were and still are left behind. 

In Brazil, most people have a natural love for music, but again, only those who have economic advantages are given the gift of musical training. Due to a kind of natural talent among the Brazilian population, there exist many musicians, and many who struggled sacrificially to learn everything they know. What I am implying is that we could give many of these musicians pedagogical training which would enable them to teach in the schools and contribute to an indelible academic advantage for hundreds of thousands of youngsters in this country. Oh what a wonderful dream that would be! It would be not only giving people jobs, but jobs that mattered. The government wants to see more creches. Let's give these dear children more than just baby-sitting. Let's give them brain development through music, brain development that will last their whole life through. It is a sure-fire way to push them ahead, and what's more it's a lot of fun! I never saw a child who didn't like music.

They love it!

By: ​ ​Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz

Na BBC, ouvi dizer que os CEOs (do Vale do Silício) não oferecem smartphones aos seus filhos. Eu me perguntei na época o que eles sabem que o resto da população desconhece. Recentemente, o nevoeiro começou a levantar. As Nações Unidas enviaram uma advertência aos pais. Vários países levaram mais a sério e aprovaram a legislação sobre o assunto.
 
O problema é: MWR ou radiação de micro-ondas. Esse tipo de radiação é mais facilmente absorvido pelas crianças do que pelos adultos. Os crânios das crianças são mais finos e o tecido cerebral mais macio e absorvente que os adultos. Cérebros de crianças de cinco anos absorvem o dobro da radiação. Abaixo de cinco anos, quanto mais jovem a criança, maior a radiação. Os tumores cerebrais costumam demorar trinta anos ou mais para aparecer. Como os smartphones e outros dispositivos sem fio são novos na última década, talvez não saibamos a história completa por anos. Além disso, a medula óssea das crianças absorve 10 vezes a radiação dos adultos! No feto, essa radiação pode acarretar danos na bainha protetora ao redor dos neurônios do cérebro.

​Embora as normas da ONU não recomendem tempo superior a 30 minutos por dia para TV, computadores e smartphones para crianças menores de cinco anos, eu pessoalmente evitaria esses itens. As normas da ONU não recomendam mais que uma a duas horas para crianças mais velhas por dia. Apesar dos smartphones serem utilizados ​​para um tratamento ocasional, muitos especialistas não sugerem o uso durante a semana e o fim de semana. Esses dispositivos não devem ser usados ​​como babás e nem colocados no quarto da criança. Os smartphones emitem radiação, continuamente, a menos que estejam desligados.
 
Como se tudo isso não bastasse, muitos pesquisadores que estudam ressonância magnética alertam que os adolescentes, que usam smartphones mais de seis horas por dia, realmente ficam viciados. O próprio cérebro é impactado e começa a parecer com o cérebro daqueles indivíduos viciados em heroína. Esses jovens realmente experimentam um vício quando utilizam esses dispositivos e uma espécie de depressão quando são levados embora.
 
As crianças aprendem por interações com os outros, ligação com os pais e conversas. Elas devem praticar intensamente a leitura das expressões faciais de outras pessoas e explorar fisicamente o mundo. As crianças que só se comunicam por meio eletrônico têm poucas habilidades e podem se desprender dos sentimentos dos outros. Toda família precisa ter uma refeição reunida a cada dia em que a comunicação positiva, o encorajamento e a felicidade são as normas.
 
Quando as crianças utilizam esses dispositivos, é preciso ter muita distância física e moderação à moda antiga.

​Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz

On BBC, I heard that CEOs at Silicon Valley don't give their children smartphones.  I wondered at the time what they know that the rest of the population doesn't know. Recently, the fog began to lift. The United Nations sent out a warning to parents. Several countries took it more seriously than others and passed legislation about the subject. 

  The problem is MWR or microwave radiation. This type of radiation is more readily absorbed by children than by adults. Children's skulls are thinner and their brain tissue softer and more absorbent than adults. Children's brains from five years up absorb twice as much radiation as adults. Below five years, the younger the child, the more radiation. Brain tumors often take thirty years or more to appear.  As smartphones and other wireless devices are new within the last decade, we might not know the full story for years. Furthermore, the bone marrow of children absorbs 10 times the radiation of adults!  In the unborn, this radiation can lead to damage in the protective sheath around brain neurons.

​Although the UN norms are advising no more than 30 minutes a day for TV, computers and smartphones for children under five, I would personally avoid these items altogether. UN norms advise no more than one to two hours for older children per day.  Although smartphones can be used for an occasional treat, many experts are suggesting nothing during the week and weekend use when all else is done. These devices should not be used as babysitters, and never in the child's bedroom. Smartphones continually emit radiation unless turned off.

  As if all this is not bad enough, many researchers who study MRIs are alerting the public that teenagers who use smartphones more than six hours a day actually become addicted. The brain itself is impacted and begins to look similar to the brains of those individuals who are addicted to heroine. These young people actually experience a high when using these devices and a depressive withdrawal when they are taken away.

  Children learn by interactions with others, bonding with parents, conversations. They must get a lot of practice reading other peoples' facial expressions and by physically exploring the world. Children who only communicate by electronics have weak people skills and can become detached from others' feelings. Every family needs to have a meal together each day in which positive communication, encouragement and happiness is the norm.. 

  When children do use these devices, as much physical distance from them is necessary as well as lots of good old-fashioned moderation.

Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz

This time of the semester, Affinity embarks on projects that involve all the children in the school. These projects represent a type of evaluation called authentic evaluation in educational jargon that are considered the highest form of student evaluation that can be asked. A student must decide upon a topic, gather materials, put something together that is interesting to observers. This type of evaluation really shows what the child has learned, much more than simply answering questions on a test.

These projects in order of presentation are the theatrical plays, the festa junina and all its art displays, and the recital. These projects show incredible art works that were decided upon by the students with their teachers, representing the various states of Brazil, their music and dances, the plays which also demonstrate music and artwork as well as the theatre art of drama, and the musical presentations of students studying violin and piano, as well as ensembles. The learning represented in these presentations is immense. All students participate and contribute, from the tiniest to the oldest.

Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, the world famous child psychologist, states that children are born with a desire to be a part of the group and to contribute to that group. The projects at this time of the year would certainly gain Dr. Dreikur's complete and highest commendations. Still more, what is as fun and satisfying as working together to produce something worthwhile? All of us, staff and children, as well as the parents, look forward to these unique events at the end of every semester with eagerness and joy.

​Mrs. Sue

Nesta época do ano, a Affinity embarca em projetos que envolvem todas as crianças da escola. Esses projetos representam um tipo de avaliação chamada avaliação autêntica no jargão educacional, considerada a mais alta forma de se avaliar um aluno.
​
O aluno deve decidir sobre um tópico, reunir materiais e juntar algo que seja interessante para os observadores. Esse tipo de avaliação realmente mostra o que a criança aprendeu, muito mais que simplesmente responder a perguntas em um teste.
 
Esses projetos em ordem de apresentação são as peças teatrais, o recital e a festa junina com todas as exposições de artes. Esses projetos mostram incríveis obras de artes que foram decididas pelos alunos com seus professores, representando os vários estados do Brasil, suas músicas e danças, as peças, bem como a arte teatral do drama e as apresentações musicais das crianças com violino, piano e, também, em conjuntos. O aprendizado representado nessas apresentações é imenso. Todos os alunos participam e contribuem, do menor ao maior.
 
O Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, mundialmente famoso psicólogo infantil, afirma que as crianças nascem com o desejo de fazer parte e contribuir com o grupo. Os projetos, nesta época do ano, certamente ganhariam os elogios completos e mais elevados do Dr. Dreikurs.
O que é tão divertido e satisfatório quanto trabalhar juntos para produzir algo que valha a pena?

​Todos nós, funcionários e crianças, bem como os pais, esperamos ansiosos por esses eventos únicos no final de cada semestre com entusiasmo e alegria.

Mrs. Sue

This is countdown week to the drama presentations to be given on Saturday morning at Affinity. Drama represents hard work for many people in the school. Of course one thinks first of the children involved.

​They are required to stand and present lines in an expressive manner and many of them in a second language! That would be a big task for most of us adults! But in this mix we also have the teachers who one and all begin to lose some sleep, worrying about the many details that come up. Then we have parents who might hear some complaints at home. "I can't do it!" "I don't want to wear. . .!"
 
However, we need to keep sight of the goal. Why drama? What value does it have for the child?
 
We can look at the process of maturity, first outlined by Piaget. He gave a clear outline in this idea of the famous concentric circles. At the center of the circle is the baby,  To the baby he or she is the most important being in the world. His or her wants and needs are all that exist. The second circle around the baby is the mother and then another is the family. Now new difficulties begin to present themselves. Other people in the family also have wants and needs. These need to be adjusted and negotiated. The little being begins to learn to express his or her needs but in an acceptable manner of some give and take. 
 
As each child enters another concentric circle--the school, the community, the country, the world--new tests and difficulties present themselves. One in four persons, research tells us, really suffers as these stages present themselves. They can become frightened of so much change, unsure of themselves, and a tendency to retire into themselves. We may say these children are timid.
 
This is where drama presentations come in. At first many are very reluctant to participate. But we teachers can see yearly progress. More and more certainty appears, more expression, a greater ability to portray the feelings of others and understand them. With these new skills, confidence develops and the next stage is easier. 
 
So we at Affinity hope to see you on Saturday to witness and help take part in this awesome developmental process! Next month is our instrument recital. The gains of getting up to produce music in front of an audience are also the same, an important piece of Affinity philosophy.

Hope to see you Saturday!
​
Sue Frasunkiewicz

Esta é a semana de contagem regressiva para as apresentações de drama que acontecerão no sábado, 18/05, na Escola Affinity Arts. Drama representa um trabalho intenso para muitas pessoas da escola. Claro que se pensa primeiro nas crianças envolvidas. Elas são incentivadas a se levantar e apresentar de uma maneira expressiva e, na maioria das vezes, em uma segunda língua! Isso seria uma grande tarefa para a maioria de nós adultos! Mas nesse mix, também temos os professores que se empenham muito, preocupados com a intensidade de detalhes. Então, os pais podem ouvir algumas reclamações em casa. "Eu não posso fazer isso!"; "Eu não quero usar determinada caracterização!"; etc.
 
No entanto, precisamos manter a visão do objetivo. Por que drama? Que valor tem para a criança?
 
Podemos olhar para o processo de maturidade, primeiramente delineado por Piaget. Ele deu um esboço claro nesta ideia dos famosos círculos concêntricos. No centro do círculo está o bebê. Para o bebê, ele ou ela é o ser mais importante do mundo. Seus desejos e suas necessidades são tudo o que existe. O segundo círculo ao redor do bebê é a mãe e depois é a família. Agora, novas dificuldades começam a se apresentar. Outras pessoas da família também têm desejos e necessidades. Esses precisam ser ajustados e negociados. O pequeno ser começa a expressar suas necessidades, mas de maneira aceitável, de dar e receber.
 
À medida que cada criança entra em outro círculo concêntrico - a escola, a comunidade, o país, o mundo - novos testes e novas dificuldades se apresentam. Uma em cada quatro pessoas, segundo a pesquisa, realmente sofre quando esses estágios se apresentam. Elas podem ficar com medo de tantas mudanças, inseguras de si mesmas e com uma tendência a se retrair.
 
Podemos afirmar que as crianças são tímidas. É aí que as apresentações de teatro serão fundamentais. No início, muitas relutam para participar. Mas nós, professores, podemos ver o progresso anual. Mais e mais certeza aparece, mais expressão, uma maior capacidade de retratar os sentimentos dos outros e compreendê-los. Com essas novas habilidades, a confiança se desenvolve e a próxima etapa é mais fácil.
 
Então, esperamos vê-los, no sábado, para testemunhar e participar desse processo incrível de desenvolvimento! No próximo mês, será o nosso recital de instrumento. Os ganhos de se levantar para produzir música na frente de um público também são os mesmos, uma parte importante da filosofia da afinidade.
 
Esperamos vocês no sábado!

Sue Frasunkiewicz

​Bilingual education is becoming more and more important with each passing decade of life on this planet. We are just beginning to discover how vital it is that the nations of the earth are able to communicate one to another. Language is the essence of communication. Just as it is indispensable for each human being to learn the language of his or her country in order to live cooperatively in that space, it is being perhaps just as important to learn a language in which all the peoples of every country can also live and share ideas with each other. Therefore each citizen should ideally learn his mother tongue as well as an international language which will make for a free-flow of ideas around the world. Will English become that international language? Of course, we don't know. Perhaps in the future another language will be chosen, although English is certainly at present the closest language we have to an international one.
 
Therefore, how should we teach this second language in our schools? When I was growing up in the United States it was commonly thought that language learning should only begin in secondary school when a student was fourteen at least, perhaps older. However, in the last few decades, it has through research and observation, begun to be understood that language learning is best done by very young children. They have been given brain sponges for language (and other skills as well). They are little language geniuses, all around us! They not only have no trouble learning their native languages without accent, but can also easily learn a second language (or a third, fourth, fifth). As each language has its own space in the brain, there is certainly room for another without taking any space from the first. Research shows that this window closes at about ten years of age. After that time, it will be virtually impossible to learn another language with fluency and without an accent.
 
My husband and I along with another couple came up with the idea to start such a school, which is now the School of the Nations in Brasilia. We began with five-year olds and gave a Portuguese program for half-day and then an English one for the other half-day. We found our experiment to be the first of its kind in Brazil in 1980 and successful as well. Our first children now have children of their own and for the most part are carrying the tradition onwards of bilingual education for them too. Then in the mid-1990s we began seeing new and exciting brain studies that saw the child as capable of learning another language as well as the mother tongue as early as two-years old. That's when we began Affinity Arts which enrolls children in our system at that early age. We have since had 23 years of experience and have daily been discovering the enormous potential that small children have just as naturally as breathing. 
 
At first, MEC was skeptical of our educational system. This was certainly understandable as few educators in the world had ever tried such an audacious idea of a school, although schools in Europe had long since realized that European children had a necessity of learning other languages due to each country bordering close on the other. But pre-schoolers? We put two teachers along with an assistant in each classroom. One teacher spoke Portuguese, and the other only English in the classroom. At first the Portuguese-speaking children gravitated towards the teacher who used Portuguese, and the foreign children towards the English teacher. But gradually, the children would also become fond of the other teacher and seek to speak to her as well. The second language grew from love. We were careful only to put teachers in the classroom whose language was perfect in every way because children of that age have wonderful ears and memories for sound. In such a manner, the children who are marvelous at imitation, were easily speaking a second language in several years. Now we have a very cordial relationship with our friends at MEC!
 
We believe at Affinity this system will most likely become worldwide someday and accepted in all countries. It will be a powerful tool in the search for world peace, and we are privileged to have been given the chance to demonstrate to all that it is a tremendous and important principle for the children of whatever race, nationality, or culture to have as their own the heritage of an international second language from early childhood on for enrichment of their own lives and those of their fellow citizens.

By: Mrs. Sue Frasunkiewicz