Where do ideas come from?
‘‘How do you do it? How do you find such amazing ideas?’’ A mom asked me while watching her kids unfold their creative juices into a Who Lives in Your House? Book Making activity.
Well, I could say: Pinterest. But really it’s the kids that inspire me. Their creativity inspires me, then I give them something that (hopefully) inspires them, and on and on goes the circle.
Creativity is an energy that bounces off from one another, creative children need inspiration. And I’m here to share a few ideas about how to implement that in your home.
See, for the past 14 years of homeschooling I’ve been asking myself the same question over and over again. Here it is; how to tap into children’s creativity so that they are inspired to do the work instead of me spoon feeding their education?
Big question- and easy to understand, but it’s hard work and not always easy to put into practice. It’ a bit like eating a cake without skillfully baking it. It’s working backwards, upside down, only if we can tilt our heads a bit and do things from all sides, but surely not in a straight line.
Balancing this concept for years, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully brandishing the carrot at the end of a stick in order for my kids to do their work. Ahh…
One thing is for sure. I know it works.
Another thing; our actions to inspire might not always work, but the quality of their learning experience when they are inspired is always superior compared to forced learning and rote memorization, except of course for Shakespeare, poetry and religious texts (more about that another time).
So, in order for them to be inspired to work, that eventually leads to owning their work and in time means owning up to their education and taking responsibility for their own learning. That is what we want, because once they are adults, it really is up to them to keep on learning. So why not start now? Giving them the tools to fully understand how to be inspired and take ownership of their learning.
Over the years, I’ve tested and tried several things, and it all comes down to three habits.
1. Read for Pleasure.
Read for yourself, with them, without them, for them, anything you like, but take the habit of reading for pleasure. All learning can be summed down to reading. Anything can be learned through books, except of course, experience and hands-on activities. But notice here I said read for pleasure. Modeling reading for pleasure demonstrates that learning is pleasurable and fun. Learning should not be a thing to do on a list, but a way of living. It’s a habit to adopt as a lifestyle. And here is another thing, by reading for pleasure, your child is not only learning about the subject matter at hand, be it fiction or nonfiction, your child is also learning vocabulary, grammar and syntax. But more than that. They are learning that learning can be fun, can be enjoyable, can be inspiring, can be uplifting. Books equal knowledge and knowledge equals pleasure.
2. When inspiration comes, step back
Ahh, this is a hard one. We all have these amazing agendas in which our children successfully follow through without complaint and perform all the required assignments on time. When a child is inspired to learn a new recipe, try out a science experiment or spend a whole afternoon curled up on the couch just because he can’t put that book down. We get the urge to remind our child to put that down and get back to work. I say; let’s give space and time for that inspiration to unfold and follow that rabbit trail. You never know where it will lead your child. We all get nervous about this, ‘‘what if my child falls behind’’ But the question is: behind what? What they are learning when they are self motivated is far greater than what a textbook can teach them. Their motivation is like fire that propels them into their minds and they are absorbed more efficiently then when it is presented to them from us. Please note, I’m not saying to drop everything all the time and let them follow their desires. Only when inspiration comes visit them.
3. Modeling the Love of Learning
Do you love to bake, garden, paint, write, exercise or anything else? Your child needs to see you do those things. They need to see adults enjoying doing things they love to do in order for them to do the same. Not only these activities will give you pleasure, they need to think ‘wow, being an adult looks fun, wow, my mom keeps on learning and does things she enjoys doing’. This one is subtle and might take a while to see the results, but it comes and in the meantime it’s a type of self care-which we all need.
All this put together creates an outstanding learning atmosphere, reading for pleasure, stepping back when inspiration comes in, and modeling love of learning.
So while you take a moment here to step back, read a book for pleasure or pursue a long lost interest, here is a little creative activity for your child. There are a few folding techniques, but really it is meant to be done without much instructions. Simply ask your child ‘‘ Who or What lives in your house’’ and let them draw or cut out from the template. They can add text with the bubble sheets and play around with the opening flaps. See what they come up with!