I created BRAVE games because I believe if school is playful, effective & challenging then children will become the backbone of communities that evolve into stronger, smarter, more resilient places. Hey look! I'm still a huge nerd, but with 4 board games in the series, I've learned the real value of BRAVE: building human connections in real time.
Creating a living model of the past produces a wide range of emotions & cognitive responses that need to be tracked, analyzed and organized. Students experience, in turn, a sense of enthusiasm, empathy, authenticity/honesty, humility, courage, commitment, forgiveness, generosity and joy. Strangers to this method might peek into the classroom and see chaos! Perhaps. But at the half-way mark, students break from first-person identification to gather around the board game surface as "scientists," saucing out the who, where, what, why. And, most importantly, "could we have done it better?"
Note to self: why do children seem to have an easier time moving from recognition to action after after they've identified and named emotions?
Word of mouth...you have to see it to believe it! Once teachers give this method a chance, after they've experienced the dividends of implementing inquiry-led learning, there's no looking back!
Call me! BRAVE is for K4-5 classrooms of 18+ students. Teachers appreciate guidance as they transition from "teacher" to "facilitator." Plus, historical content is wide ranging and comprehensive. If schools buy games--easy to ship--I'll train/advise until everyone feels comfortable leading sessions. That said, teachers adapt in a flash and outpace me in their facilitation skills in no time.
