This CD and Book is a simple and enjoyable way of integrating the SPHE curriculum into your classroom timetable. Strands covered are: MYSELF Self Identity: self-awareness, developing self-confidence, making decisions Growing & Changing: feelings and emotions. MYSELF & OTHERS Myself & My Family: My Friends & Other People, Relating to Others MYSELF & THE WIDER WORLD Developing Citizenship: environmental care. Media Education Where do you use it? Mainstream classroom work. Smaller groups. Individual lesson plans. TEACHING AIMS OF THE ENCHANTED FOREST are compatible with the approaches and methodology of SPHE particularly Active Learning and Quiet Tim. Specifically the aims cover the following topics: CONCENTRATION This can be increased by a few minutes each time a class listens to the CD. Soon you will find that a class that could only concentrate for a few minutes can now listen to the CD in its entirety. Exercises like this are good for increasing overall concentration. FOCUS This is achieved through repeated use. Soon all children will be able to focus on some item on the forest. Getting the children to draw or write about their experiences can increase focus. Focusing on abstract ideas like these helps the child to be able to focus better on new concepts introduced into the classroom during other lesson plans. IMAGINATION Increasingly imagination is being shown to be a useful educational tool. Research has show that the brain reacts to imagined events in an almost similar pattern to real events. Harnessing a childs natural ability to imagine can be a very effective educational tool e.g. uncovering blocks in learning or presentation of new tasks or goals. The CD can be used over and over again, as there are over 1,000 patterns in the way the CD can be listened to. CREATIVITY The CD emphasises Action on Creativity not just creativity itself. This is why we encourage the discipline of exercising imagination in a purely creative state first (listening to the CD) and then by bringing these creative creations into the real world through drawing, writing, digital photography, etc. This helps the children distinguish between the imagined world and reality. It also helps the children develop the skills of bringing ideas into the world i.e. self-expression. MEDIA The CD is an excellent platform for teachers who wish to introduce some of the media requirements of SPHE curriculum. Many projects have been run from using basic camera enabled mobile phones to sophisticated digital cameras. Children can also be encouraged to make up and record their own stories.
