Contributor Taylor Dibbert seeks reviewers for his new poetry bookOn the Rocks.Please email us at synchchaos@gmail.com if you’re interested.
Also, we will stop accepting submissions for November’s first issue on October 25th. You may still submit after that date, but your work will go into our second issue for the month.
Now, for this month’s second issue, Learning From History.
Sayani Mukherjee muses on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
Kelly Moyer’s film, created together with Hunter Sauvage and starring Robert P. Moyer and Annie, draws on ancient myth to understand the United States’ modern political situation. Abigail George analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of certain leadership styles illustrated by Donald Trump and several African leaders. Patricia Doyne speaks to the hubris of American political leadership. Andrew Brindle and Christina Chin’s tan-rengas explore society’s injustices and contradictions.
Patrick Sweeney’s one-line senryus decenter the author as head of the universe. Mark Young contributes a fresh set of altered geographies. Baskin Cooper describes encounters slightly mysterious and askance. Christopher Bernard describes the frenzied, ghostly glamour of Cal Performances’ recent production of Red Carpet.
Mahbub Alam extols the beauty of morning and nature in his Bangladeshi home. Jonathan Butcher’s poetry explores the different rooms in which we make our lives and the stories they could tell about us. J.T. Whitehead shows how external cleaning can parallel interior personal development. Srijani Dutta discusses her personal spiritual journey in prayer to the divine of at least a few faiths.
Alexandros Stamatoulakis announces his new novel The Lonely Warrior: In the Wings of the Condor, about a man discovering himself in the midst of a tumultuous modern environment. Chris Butler’s wry poetry explores long-lasting, but hopefully not implacable, truisms of the human condition. Ana Glendza speaks to the fear and insecurities that come with being human. Kavi Nielsen speaks to the experience of loneliness and rejection.
Noah Berlatsky satirizes faux-human tech support and our efforts to understand our whole world through technology. Timothee Bordenave outlines innovative ways to improve electricity transmission as Abdurofiyeva Taxmina Avazovna discusses treatments for cataracts.
Zarifaxon O’rinboyeva’s short story presents a woman overcoming poverty and grief to become a physician. Doug Hawley reflects on the ups and downs of summer jobs. Turdiyeva Guloyim’s poetic essay shares a complex emotional tapestry of childhood village memories. Rahmataliyeva Aidakhon highlights the importance of grasping folktales to understanding Uzbek heritage and culture. Madina Azamjon highlights the literary importance of Hamid Olimjon’s writing and how he drew on Uzbek folk culture for inspiration. Gulsanam Qurbonova extols the linguistic and cultural education she has received at her university. Ermatova Dilorom Bakhodirjonova explains the intertwined nature of Uzbek language and culture and the need to preserve both.
Mukhammadjonova Ugiloy celebrates her school and the sports and student leadership education she received there. Choriyeva Oynur outlines benefits of integrating technology into education. Abdirashidova Ozoda outlines the importance of encouraging and fostering creativity for preschool students. Nilufar Mo’ydinova discusses ways to encourage second language acquisition at an early age.
Anila Bukhari’s poetry celebrates the creative spirit surviving amid poverty and oppression. Taro Hokkyo’s prose poem details his protagonist’s escape from emotional and spiritual darkness to rise to the heights of creativity. Alan Catlin’s barman odyssey explores the roots of creative inspiration.
Emran Emon speaks to the recent Nobel Prize award for world literature and the value of writing. Abdusalimova Zukhraxon outlines strategies for teaching the Uzbek language to foreign students. Abdusaidova Jasmina Quvondiqovna shares some of her art and expresses her pride in her native Uzbekistan. Jumanazarova Munojot Elmurod qizi suggests ways to help young children learn to tell time. Qurbonova Madinaxon discusses the importance of games and play in children’s education. Hayotkhon Shermatova outlines issues with Uzbekistan’s educational system and how to address them. Azamova Kumushoy illustrates the importance of teaching language students how to analyze literary texts.
Ismoilova Gulmira celebrates the strength, thoughtfulness, creativity and resilience of Uzbek girls and young women. Abduqahhorova Gulhayo’s poem takes joy in the grace and kindness of young Uzbek girls. Svetlana Rostova finds beauty in everything, even ugliness, loss, and death.
Graciela Noemi Villaverde praises the creative insight of her dance teacher. Saparov Akbar outlines his personal quests and passions and his desire to educate himself and elevate his life. Mesfakus Salahin’s poetry celebrates the artistic inspiration that can come from romantic love.
J.J. Campbell details his middle-aged, disillusioned quest for love or maybe just a little break from reality. Donia Sahib speaks to spiritual and earthly love. Teresa Nocetti’s poem urges a loved one to invite her into their life. Eva Petropoulou Lianou shares a tale of lovers in search for one another.
Mykyta Ryzhykh presents a protagonist who explores alternatives and then revels in his ordinary humanity. H. Mar. shares the joy of day-to-day human companionship.
We hope this issue provides artistic, emotional, and intellectual companionship to you as you peruse the various contributions.
The Grotesqueness of Glamour, the Glamour of the Grotesque
Red Carpet
Paris Opera Ballet
Berkeley, California
Reviewed by Christopher Bernard
Cal Performances brought the legendary Paris Opera Ballet to University of California, Berkeley’s Zellerbach Theater over a sunny weekend this October to give the North American premiere of Hofesh Shechter’s new dance, Red Carpet.
The historic company, one of the world’s most celebrated (and the subject, some years ago, of a remarkable documentary by the almost equally legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman), traveled from its home at the Beaux Arts Palais Garnier to the modern concrete Zellerbach in a work that combines, mocks, plays with, celebrates, satirizes, and at moments transcends, the poles of an aesthetic whose tension keeps the arts alive: as Schecter says in the program notes, “between glamour and the grotesque.”
Red Carpet is a frieze of a little over a dozen vignettes complexly choreographed on a polymorphous, dimly lit space in a crowd of cohering and crashing styles. We begin in a timeless ballroom dominated by a magnificent chandelier lit by a blaze of artificial candles (a handful sometimes broken and unlit, in vulnerability and decay), beneath which—as it periodically descends to the floor, in full glory, or goes dark, withdrawing into its own ghostly shadow—more than a dozen dancers in a motley array of outfits, from an eye-catching core—a woman in a superbly glittering, blood-red ballgown and others sheathed in glitter-shouldered white—to weaving epicycles of strutters in the post-punk gear of an underground dance club, writhe and strut and wind and defy, as on any modern red carpet surrounded by an audience of obsessed fans, cynical press, and professional gawkers, to the grinding beat of a four-musician band hitting above its weight and whose pounding is layered, when the band falls silent, with the fluting whoosh of an electronically generated sound of perpetual wind.
There’s indeed as much grandeur here as glamour, and an always fascinating grotesqueness (as someone once put it, ugliness is its own aesthetic category, a kind of small change of the sublime).
Each section pits multiple styles against each other—from strained classical elegance to muscular modern, from the industrial synced in brutal competition to violent pop at the edge of disillusion and fury—in little troops of the mass dominating the piece.
There were only two extended solos, brilliant takes on a wild male chaos driven crazy in the dance of modern life, by Takeru Coste and a mohawked Loup Marcault-Deroud, in the performance I saw. And three quarters the way through, a quintet in sudden white dances against an ox-blood red curtain, suggesting the naked human form beneath the jungle of self-representative fashion hitherto on display, on stage as in human life.
Curiously, the representation of nakedness is often used to represent a kind of authenticity and purity that clothing supposedly hides. Yet here it had the opposite effect for this viewer: it is precisely clothing, makeup, style—the marks of individual choice and taste—that express the individual more directly than the body alone can ever do; the body merely bare, like the skeleton, is anonymous, a ghost, almost a nothing. It seems, if anything, less truthful, less communicative, than the elaborations of personal design. Nakedness, like sexuality, has the paradoxical effect of destroying the individual.
Red Carpet is an exhilarating experience, with many stunning moments and memorable gestures—a hammering of fist on fist in a forest of ecstatic writhing, a disco mass pointing skyward, an old-school butter-churn at one moment, at another an indrawn intensity apparently unaware and uncaring of being seen. Above all the deliberate density of movement, the obscurity and obscuring, of each dancer’s actions, like a fugue so densely worked out you can’t possibly follow any individual voice, or like the rituals of certain religions that are seen by parishioners behind a screen so their exact character is never certain, only their importance to the parishioners’ salvation.
And yet I came away with the frustrating sense it could have been even better than it was. It is such a fine piece, brilliantly danced by the company, yet it missed that perfect sense of rightness that the greatest dances, even those expressly aiming to express chaos, can provide.
Too much of the inventiveness in the piece is front-loaded, giving it little space to grow into later. In the final third, there was a feeling of exhausted inspiration, of repetitiveness, even of silliness (the quintet aforementioned quickly devolves into a series of pantomimes that, for this viewer, were both too obvious and too disconnected from the rest of the piece). And the ending of the piece was strangely unsatisfying; the world may or may not end in a whimper, but this dance, alas, does.
Nevertheless, what I remember most vividly is the grand ball of a crowd endlessly diverse in style, approach, movement, and form that, seemingly despite itself, combined in a strange rightness that was as moving as it was exciting: like a great abstract painting in motion, at those moments (and there were many) everything fell into place. Or like a living, moving forest that Shechter himself evokes: “[Choreographing a dance] is like being in a forest. . . . I continue to explore. I haven’t left the forest.”
Red Carpet was created by the Paris Opera Ballet’s multi-talented Shechter along more dimensions than usual: he also designed the atmospheric set and wrote the unrelenting music, which was performed by Yaron Engler (who also collaborated on the music) on drums, Olivier Koundouno on cello, Marguerite Cox on double bass, and Brice Perda on an array of wind instruments. The moody lighting was by Tom Viser. It frustrated some members of the audience, as they loudly proclaimed in the lobby afterward—but not this one: straining to see what was going on, as suggested above, seemed part of the point, though the point was sometimes over-drawn. But I’m a bit of a sucker for ghostly effects, so I have few complaints.
_____
Christopher Bernard is the author of The Socialist’s Garden of Verses, which won a PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award and was named one of the “Top 100 Indie Books of 2021” by Kirkus Reviews.
this is for all of you I mistook your hazy smiles for friendship.
how was I supposed to know you just wanted to run? I thought you were a mind-reader, a savior, a person who understood the deadly-slow inside-out gnawing my heart’s being subjected to-
but now I realize you’re just a breath, a moment, a memory I’ll touch on when I’m lonely you were there once, twice, a flash, a fleeting breath, a whisper in the dark
but now you’re gone like the sun at night and I should’ve known we’re all alone again
Interactive Methods for Increasing Preschool Children’s Interest in Learning the German Language
Abstract
The article analyzes the role and significance of interactive methods in developing preschool children’s interest in learning the German language. The effectiveness of methods such as games, songs, drawings, multimedia tools, and interactive activities in early language learning is scientifically substantiated. In addition, the paper outlines ways to develop children’s communicative skills through the use of modern educational technologies.
Keywords: German language, preschool education, interactive method, motivation, game technology, early language learning.
INTRODUCTION
In today’s era of globalization, teaching foreign languages from an early age has become one of the strategic priorities of every national education system. Learning foreign languages, particularly German, at an early stage develops children’s intellectual potential, broadens their worldview, and nurtures respect for the culture of other nations. The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Preschool and School Education” and the “New Uzbekistan – Development Strategy 2030” set forth the task of gradually introducing foreign language teaching into the preschool education system.
Language learning at an early age is considered a natural process. Between the ages of 3 and 6, a child’s speech apparatus, auditory perception, phonemic hearing, and communicative ability are actively developing. During this period, a child can easily acquire not only their native language but also foreign languages. Therefore, to enhance the effectiveness of teaching German in preschool institutions, educators are required to make wide use of interactive methods.
Interactive methods ensure that children actively participate in the learning process, think independently, and enjoy the process of learning. Such an approach strengthens intrinsic motivation, sparks interest in language learning, and develops communication skills.
Therefore, this article explores interactive methods for increasing preschool children’s interest in learning German, their theoretical foundations, and practical application possibilities.
MAIN PART
1. Theoretical foundations of early foreign language learning
Language is one of the most important indicators of human thinking, and learning it at an early age lays the foundation not only for linguistic but also for cognitive development. Psychologists such as L. S. Vygotsky, J. Piaget, and E. Lenneberg have scientifically proven that children’s ability to acquire languages is most active between the ages of 2 and 6. During this stage, children tend to learn through play, songs, movement, and visualization.
Hence, teachers should organize the educational process considering children’s psycholinguistic characteristics. The most effective approach combines visual, auditory, and kinesthetic methods.
The German language, with its pronunciation system and phonetic richness, helps develop children’s articulation and sound culture. For example, pronouncing sounds like “ch”, “sch”, “ei”, “eu” in words helps improve speech development, positively influencing their pronunciation in their native language as well.
2. The content and types of interactive methods
Interactive methods are approaches in which learners actively participate, express their thoughts, and gain experience. In preschool education, the following interactive methods are considered the most effective:
1. Game-based technologies.
Play is the most natural and effective tool for language learning. Through games like “Find the Color,” “Choose the Animal,” or “What is this?”, children reinforce new words and learn to use them in context. For example, short expressions such as Was ist das? – Das ist ein Ball are easy to remember.
2. Teaching through songs and poems. German children’s songs (such as Alle meine Entchen, Guten Morgen!, Zehn kleine Fische) make lessons lively, improve pronunciation, and help develop a sense of rhythm. Repetition in songs aids vocabulary retention.
3. Role play.
Through situational activities such as “At the Store,” “At Home,” or “In the Garden,” children practice real communication scenarios. This method fosters confidence and active participation.
4. Using multimedia and interactive resources.
Modern technologies such as Wordwall, Kahoot, and LearningApps generate great interest among children. With visuals, sounds, videos, and animations, children learn through seeing, hearing, and movement simultaneously.
5. Creating a “language environment.”
Displaying German words, colorful posters, and organizing a “language corner” in the classroom allows children to experience the foreign language naturally.
6. Interactive lessons involving parents.
Activities like “Family Day” or “Language Game Day” engage parents alongside their children. This fosters a positive emotional atmosphere and strengthens children’s motivation.
3. The importance of play and emotional atmosphere
Emotional atmosphere plays a crucial role in language learning. Psychological studies show that when children experience joy, surprise, and excitement, they retain information more effectively. Therefore, using games, humor, and colorful visual materials in German lessons is essential.
For example, during “Let’s Sing Together” activities, children not only hear the words but also accompany them with gestures, which develops their motor skills.
Moreover, a teacher’s positive energy and encouraging words (“Sehr gut!” “Prima!” “Super!”) boost children’s self-confidence. Thus, the teacher not only teaches the language but also nurtures self-esteem and positive emotional development.
4. Practical experiences and observations
Observations conducted in several public and private preschools in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Namangan regions have shown that lessons using interactive methods engage children 30–40% more actively and double their vocabulary acquisition rate.
For instance, during the “Language and Culture Week”, children easily learned expressions such as “Ich bin Anna,” “Ich habe eine Katze.” Through drawing, singing, and role-playing, they actively participated in communication.
Additionally, classrooms with a “Picture Vocabulary Wall” (Bildwörterwand) helped children memorize words more effectively by seeing them daily. Such visual methods strengthen visual memory.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, increasing preschool children’s interest in learning German requires using interactive methods that suit their age, psychological, and linguistic characteristics. Lessons that integrate play, music, movement, and emotional engagement encourage active learning.
The most effective approaches in teaching German include:
1. Organizing lessons through play and ensuring children’s active participation.
2. Using songs, pictures, and multimedia to make lessons engaging.
3. Creating a “language environment” and involving parents in the learning process.
4. Applying an individual approach and motivation system for each child.
The application of interactive methods enables children to enjoy learning foreign languages, express their thoughts, retain new knowledge, and develop independent learning skills.
Thus, teaching German at an early age through interactive methods is a key factor in improving the quality of preschool education, developing children’s communicative competence, and preparing them for successful future language learning.
REFERENCES
1. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
2. Piaget, J. (1962). Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood. W. W. Norton & Company.
3. Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language. Wiley.
4. Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge University Press.
5. Brewster, J., Ellis, G., & Girard, D. (2002). The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Pearson Education.
6. Pinter, A. (2017). Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford University Press.
7. Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
8. Wright, A., Betteridge, D., & Buckby, M. (2006). Games for Language Learning (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
9. Rixon, S. (2013). British Council Survey of Policy and Practice in Primary English Language Teaching Worldwide. British Council.
10. Ellis, R., & Shintani, N. (2014). Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research. Routledge.
Nilufar Mo‘ydinova was born in Qo‘shtepa district, Fergana region, Republic of Uzbekistan. A graduate of the Uzbekistan State University of World Languages, she works as a manager at “Fair Print” Typography Service. Her articles have appeared in Bekajon, Kenya Times, The Diaspora Times Global, and Synchaos. Member of the International Writers’ Association of Argentina (Grupo de Trabajo de Escritores Internacionales – Argentina), holder of international certificates, Global Ambassador for Peace, and participant in international anthologies and conferences.
Formation of creativity and thinking in preschool children
Abstract
This article analyzes the theoretical foundations of the process of forming creativity and thinking in preschool children, pedagogical conditions, and advanced approaches used in world practice. The importance of play activities, art, fiction, modern information technologies, and parental cooperation in the development of creative thinking in children is highlighted.
In the context of today’s globalization, the development of human capital, the formation of a broad-minded and creative personality is one of the priorities of state policy. In particular, the preschool period is a decisive stage in the personal development of a child, in which the formation of creativity and thinking directly affects the effectiveness of future education and social activity.
According to the scientific views of psychologists J. Piaget, L.S. Vygotsky, E. Torrens, the period from 3 to 6 years is considered the period of active formation of a child’s thinking and imagination. During this period, the child not only acquires knowledge, but also forms their own views, strives for independent thinking. Therefore, ensuring the development of creative thinking in the preschool education system is one of the most pressing tasks of modern pedagogy.
Main part
The concepts of creativity and thinking are interpreted differently in pedagogical and psychological literature. Creativity allows a child to create something new,
if there is an ability to freely express one’s ideas, then thinking is its ability to comprehend reality, draw logical conclusions, and
means the activity of finding solutions in problematic situations. In preschool age, these two processes develop harmoniously.
The role of game activity in the formation of creativity is invaluable. Role-playing games enrich the child’s social experience.
allows you to try out roles and find creative solutions. Construction-games and constructors allow a child to develop spatial thinking and engineering skills.
develops their abilities. In the “Kodomo Challenge” program, used in Japan, children encounter problem situations through play,
to independently find a solution.
Art activity is also an important means of developing creativity. Through drawing, handicrafts, music, and singing, the child develops their own
expresses feelings, enriches imagination. According to UNESCO, the widespread use of artistic activities in preschool children
develops their aesthetic taste and intellectual potential. Also, methods of reading and compiling fairy tales, figurative thinking of the child.
and is an effective tool for enriching speech.
In addition, national values and traditional games also play an important role in the development of creativity. For example, folk tales
singing national songs and playing folk games broadens a child’s worldview and strengthens their national self-awareness.
Handicraft activities – carpet weaving, making items from clay, and the use of national ornaments not only develop the child’s creative abilities,
but also develops patience and fine motor skills.
The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) approach is of great importance in the modern educational process. USA, Finland
and STEAM projects in preschool institutions in South Korea allow children to experience simple experiences, technological activities, and creativity.
through assignments, they learn new approaches. STEAM elements are also being gradually introduced in Uzbekistan, and this creativity
serves as an effective tool for developing thinking.
Information technologies are another effective tool for supporting creative thinking. Interactive programs, virtual constructors and
educational cartoons arouse children’s interest, directing them to create something new. However, excessive technology addiction is a child’s
), it should be used in moderation.
In the formation of creative thinking, the cooperation of parents and educators is of great importance. Creating a creative atmosphere in the family, free for the child
asking questions and supporting their interests stimulates independent thinking in the child. The teacher is creative in the lessons.
By applying assignments and valuing the child’s thoughts, they reveal their abilities. Parents and children in the experience of Israel
joint participation in classes and joint implementation of creative activities yielded good results.
From a psychological point of view, creating an environment that encourages creativity is very
is important. Search for news without fear of mistakes
If they have the opportunity, they can freely demonstrate their abilities. Therefore, educators and parents should not allow the child to make mistakes.
Instead of punishing them, they should teach them to accept it as an experiment. This approach increases the child’s self-confidence and creativity.
directs.
Also, various international pedagogical approaches – Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf systems – are aimed at developing the creative abilities of children.
is widely used in development. For example, in the Montessori method, the child is given freedom and chooses activities according to their interests.
In the Reggio Emilia approach, creative forms of expression are widely used based on the principle that “a child is the owner of a hundred languages.” In the Waldorf method, art
and nature, creative abilities are developed.
As practical recommendations, it is possible to organize small projects for the development of creative thinking in children. For example, family album
creation, staging small performances, observing natural phenomena and discussing the results, conducting simple experiments – all of this
increases the child’s creative interests. At the same time, creative tasks allow the child to make independent decisions, work in a group.
strengthens their skills and social activity.
In general, the formation of creativity and thinking is a multifaceted process, in which games, art, national values, modern technologies,
high effectiveness is achieved only through the harmonious application of parental and educator cooperation, as well as international pedagogical experience.
Conclusion
The formation of creativity and thinking in preschool children is of great importance in their personal, intellectual, and social development. Studies show that children raised in a creative environment are characterized by high academic performance, independent thinking, and a striving for innovation later in school.
Despite the fact that significant reforms are being carried out in the preschool education system of Uzbekistan, the study and implementation of world experience will further improve the process. In particular, important tasks include increasing the methodological literacy of educators, the widespread introduction of STEAM approaches, promoting the creation of a creative environment in family education, and providing preschool educational institutions with modern didactic tools.
Thus, the development of creativity and thinking in preschool age not only increases the effectiveness of the educational process, but also serves to strengthen the intellectual and innovative potential of society.
References
1. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Measures for the Fundamental Improvement of the Preschool Education System.” – Тошкент, 2017.
2. State Program of Preschool Education “Ilk Kadam.” – Tashkent: Ministry of Preschool Education, 2018.
3. Vygotsky, L.S. Imagination and Creativity in Childhood. – Moscow: Prosveshcheniye, 1991.
Piaget, J. The Language and Thought of the Child. New York: Routledge, 2005.
5. Torrance, E.P. *Creativity: Prospects for the Twenty-First Century*. Westport, 1993.
Gardner, H. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books, 2011.
7. Runco, M.A., & Acar, S. Divergent Thinking as an Indicator of Creative Potential. Creativity Research Journal, 2012, 24 (1).
8. Sawyer, R.K. Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation. – Oxford University Press, 2012.
Craft, A. Creativity in Education. London: Continuum, 2005.
Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach. – Тошкент, 2012.
Robinson, K. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. – Тошкент, 2021.
12. UNESCO. Arts Education for the Development of the Whole Child. – Тошкент, 2019.
13. Ministry of Preschool Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Innovative approaches in preschool education. – Тошкент, 2021.
14. Kim, K.H. The Creativity Crisis: The Decrease in Creative Thinking Scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Creativity Research Journal.
15. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.” – Тошкент, 2022.
Abdirashidova Ozoda, Born in Chiraqchi district of Kashkadarya region, studied at the Pedagogical Faculty of Karshi State University, majoring in Preschool Education. Ambassador and member of international organizations. Holder of international certificates.
