Friday, 1 August 2008

Teaching Meditation to Children - new book

Teaching Meditation to Children: The Practical Guide to the Use and Benefits of Meditation Techniquesby David Fontana (Author), Ingrid Slack is a fantastic book written by experienced teachers of mediation. Not a Buddhist book but very insightful about techniques and particularly issues that appear while teaching meditation to children.
It is the type of book where I feel the urge to use a highlighter is stronger than the guilt of scratching a book (I feel this guilt, even when the book is mine).

Some of the things I highlighted:
  • "Working with children in meditation lifts our spirits as well as theirs."
  • "A fifth-century Buddhist monk, Buddhghosa, spoke of meditation as a training of attention"
  • Preparatory rules:.. 1. Don't expect too much. 2. Never show disappointment or impatience 3. Make it clear that children are not competing with each other 4. Keep all instructions simple 5. Keep explanations simple and 6. Use appropriate tone of voice.




2 comments:

Munisha said...

Dear Friend,

Do you know of our work at The Clear Vision Trust, making Dharma materials for schools in the UK? You might like to see our website: paid-for materials on the teachers' pages (with free clips) and free materials on the students' pages, including the free video FAQ service.
We have a CD of meditational Stilling Exercises for young people. www.clear-vision.org.

With metta,
Munisha, Education Officer

Rafael said...

Dear Munisha,
Thank you for you information. Yes, I have used a Dhamma textbook produced in the UK, I believe by your organization ("Buddhism for Key stage 2").
I did not know about the other resources.

with metta

Rafael