What do you think of when reading: "SPACE" and "INFINITE"?

Two images (both from books) come to my mind as I contemplate 'a sense of space':

• Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" - I think about it all the time and how important it is to have this space I call mine - a space to explore, accept, reject, manipulate, rest and create.
• There is a wonderful picture book "Five Minutes Peace" where all a mother elephant wants is ...five minutes peace!  Even when soaking in the bath...

Kids need a sense of space at home and in school:

• A place that is safe;
• A place they can work and manipulate curriculum materials;
• A place they can let their minds wander to absorb something said or seen from the corner of their eyes;
• A place where they can explore "Who am I?" "How does what I know and how I feel fit in with this?" "How do I react to...?"  
• A sense of space is needed to navigate around the school building, the gym and locker rooms, the playground, the neighborhood.  Kids have to know where they should and should not be - for all sorts of safety and social reasons.
• A sense of space is needed when negotiating math concepts when playing with lego's blocks, train tracks, toys, books, and arranging clothing in drawers and closets.

How do can space and the infinite meet?


When a child has a sense and feels the security of space, he or she will be able to take more intellectual risks.  They will be able to more comfortably embrace "the infinite" world around them, "the infinite" possibilities in front of them. 

Space and power of infinite possibilities ... what a wonderful way to grow up learning about the world and exploring your place in it!