TED Community » Debra Silver

More About Me

I'm passionate about

just about everything...composting and poetry and good food and healing and art and children...I adore babies and make contact wherever and whenever...I usually have a balloon or clown nose in my bag!

An idea worth spreading

Save a Child's Heart...where my heart has been for the past 13 years and my soul has expanded in the past 4...treats children from 36 countries in the world...bringing them to Israel for open heart surgery or catheterization and often other treatments to give them life and a future. Now I would like to create a SACH Family network of follow-up programs that would create a local support group for parents and mentoring for new patients by older children and educational options that they have been exposed to in a limited fashion during their stay with us. and I'd love to connect them all with skype so that the children could maintain the friendships they created here in the SACH home and especially to allow the parents in their home country to contact and see their child as he or she progresses in a process that can take anywhere from 1 month to 3 and sometimes more. Children over 3 are rarely accompanied by a parent and a group of children is brought with a nurse who stays for that time.

Talk to me about

environmental design or art, children, healing, meditation, Africa, what you love, ..and what makes you laugh!! and whether you need a quick neck rub...one of my specialties

People don't know that I'm good at

smiling, sharing a joke, a smurk and a laugh, listening...although when I get excited...I do butt in occasionally...or finish sentences...I'm somewhat psychic, caring and can move clouds on occasion

Comments

• TEDCred score: +140.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: What are the advantages/disadvantages of learning models that exist outside of traditional educational institutions?

  Feb 15 2012: wow... thanks for this link... what a wonderful empowering project...

• A reply on Conversation: What are the advantages/disadvantages of learning models that exist outside of traditional educational institutions?

  Feb 15 2012: Now there is the skype option where there is facetime...
  I recently saw a video from the Baycrest facility in Toronto that is pioneering telemedicine vid/chats that connect these medical centers with communities in Northern Canada for diagnostic and educational purposes... quite awesome...
  and also teleconferencing between Baycrest and a geriatric mental health facility in Israel...
  so we can save some carbon footprints and not fly all the time...

• A comment on Conversation: What are the advantages/disadvantages of learning models that exist outside of traditional educational institutions?

  Feb 15 2012: My problem with most government sponsored educational facilities is the that they go for an average ... often a low average and don't seem to have the best tools or the awareness that these kids are wired differently than they were and that they have to upgrade their skills and work outside of the box ... which I am not sure they are allowed to do...
  My youngest is in 6th grade in a public school (in Israel) and I am basically happy with the level and with her teacher this year... what i am not happy about is the class size... 36 kids... and the low grade of some of the specialized teachers...
  Last year I took her for the year to Toronto and paid for a private school and only 16 children in a classroom... it was an incredible experience for her and she was blessed with a truly gifted teacher... but not in all subjects...
  It is important today for children to be made aware of the infinite possibilities and talents that they have before them... and there are plenty of after school classes (at least in my neighborhood) where they can get a taste of astronomy, ballet, film, capoeira, electronics, sculpting.... etc. etc. to spark something within them...
  but when you need them to choose outfits (even at age 3)... my suggestion... 3 options max... otherwise you will never get them to school on time...
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

  Dec 24 2011: Namaste... for the incredible imagery and the words that spark the shift of awareness back to the beauty in the world and all that we should be truly grateful for... a glorious sunset, petals unfolding and the bright gaze and sudden smile of a child... thank you for sharing your gifts with us...
• +4

  A reply on Talk: Raghava KK: Shake up your story

  Sep 10 2011: I fell in love with your vision the first time you spoke at TED and as a mother and grandmother, I have found that children are the best teachers... and that they are often more empathic and aware than we give them credit for... much love and gratitude...namaste

• A comment on Conversation: Are Educational Institutions responding to the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st Century?

  Feb 27 2011: I have been reading through the various threads and one point that doesn't seem to be mentioned in them... these kids... from infancy, are more tech savvy than their already savvy parents (not to mention grandparents)... and I qualify in both categories as a bubbe of a 4 yr old who puts me to shame on the i-phone and mom of a 10 yr old who has been on facebook for at least a year...
  I don't know if the teachers are at their level yet... though I have to admit... most of my miserable educational experience has been in Israel ... while here in Canada (for the year) I am amazed at the level and depth of study and teacher insights...
  I simply wonder if work in a sweat shop is so different from some of the institutions of learning I have seen... LOL
  Children definitely need the structure of a school in order to learn the basics... there is as yet no substitue for language skills... in every field... in order to reach your potential... (though I am family with a few auto-didact dyslexics who could knock your socks off)... but why can't learning be more fun? see you at TED... have to pack...

• A reply on Conversation: Are Educational Institutions responding to the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st Century?

  Feb 27 2011: hey sweetie... we had no google but we got by on Coles Notes...
• +2

  A comment on Talk: Halla Tomasdottir: A feminine response to Iceland's financial crash

  Dec 12 2010: sometimes the discussions are more interesting than the original talk... but I really enjoyed her "straight talk" regarding the unsustainable universe we have created... and really guys... at least acknowledge the weaknesses inherent in the still current old boys network of finance and government that "rules" the planet... and has for the past 2000 years... to the detriment of all... in the long run...
  Women can usually be relied on for their emotional response and basic compassion for their fellow being... and from my perspective... as a spiritual being... that includes rocks, trees and the animal kingdom for, on a molecular level... we share the same basic components...
  But seriously... time for a global shift from power over to power with... the good of all benefits all... women have been world carers for generations... as a biological necessity , while men have finally evolved and acknowledged their feminine sides and give me hope for the future... thank goddess!