What's more: children HAVE the RIGHT to creativity. I remember when I first took my kitten to the vet. After vaccinating him and doing everything necessary for his physical health, the man told me that if he wanted him to grow well and healthy he had to play a lot with him. And that the vet told me for my cat and they do not tell us for our children or doctors or educators! Why? (I hope that my words do not get out of place or that I am not equating children with cats. You always have to be with a thousand eyes with "the politically correct"). I have already mentioned in previous posts to the brain. And it is that our brain needs us to develop it and one of the things that best serve the case is creativity, imagination, the artistic, the free.Well, in contrast to this (which is more than proven) our educational system continues without giving any importance to this "subject". We fill our children's heads with irrevocable data and hardly leave room for them to think for themselves, have their own ideas or have their say. How are they going to develop their personality then? They will develop someone else's, the imposed one, but not yours. Regarding this, parents and society are quite guilty too. We want our children to be the same as those that society has championed as "the best" and if they are different from everything known, they are "rare" (not "unrepeatable") or a disappointment because they do not meet our expectations. But those expectations are tremendously UNREAL because they are based on our personal desires and disappointments as adults,when what is REAL is our son as an independent and wonderful entity as is.
We usually educate with NO. "That is NOT done", "that is NOT said", "that is NOT right". (How uncreative, how boring!) And of course you have to set limits and teach what not to do, but very rarely do we explain WHY NO or give an example of what it is that you CAN do, yes he says, or yes it's fine. Also if we stop for a moment to recap we will see that we say to our children many "NO" that do not serve to teach them as much as to make them older as soon as possible. We presume that our children are very mature when in reality that is a pity. A child has the right to be a child for as long as it is. You have the right to get your clothes dirty, you have the right to be cuddly, you have the right to be self-centered, you have the right to fantasy (please!How many parents have worried me because their children "have a lot of fantasy" and they spend a lot of time "daydreaming"! Thank you, your son is still a child!), He has the right to cry and of course HAS THE RIGHT TO HAVE LIMITS. It seems complicated but it is not, it is only a change of mental scheme, and that is achieved by BEING CREATIVE, seeing and truly listening to our children. How do we start being creative? being humble, that is, not assuming that what we know is the only answer. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. For example: our children is telling a story and says that "the giraffe was flying on a boat that was running with 11 little legs." And his mother responds with the voice of a 2-year-old girl: "No, my life, giraffes do not fly, giraffes go for it? Tieeeerra very well! and the boats go for it? maaaaar and they don't have legs, welleeeeeee! ” Yes,how good how funny the mom has taken all the fun away from you. Then they will go to the cinema someday to see a movie in which a pirate ship cuts through the clouds chasing a flying golden giraffe that is the treasure of Patatin Patatán. And it will be a box office hit and the director will say he came up with the theme for the script while listening to his kids play. Point.
To put into practice:
- Do not constantly correct your children, especially when they are creating. It is more follow them the subject. If they are telling crazy stories, add even more crazy data. If they are painting, paint with them and jump off the lines, paint the lemons purple, the faces green and draw round houses… if they are dancing (or more importantly if they do not), you also dance in the most free and energetic way You can not let them see your shyness because you will transmit it to them and they will learn it, like your fears. A shy child is a self-conscious child, a child who has learned that if he is not going to do it well, better not do it. Do not treat your child as an adult, he will have time to be (and get tired of it too). But don't talk to him like a cartoon either. Speak coherently and easily, although it's good to add new vocabulary whenever you can.If you ask questions, listen to their answer. (Listen with your ears, eyes and your whole being) There is a question that I love to ask children (especially when they are younger or if they have been in my classes for a while and their little heads have returned to healthy ”Never Never "From Peter Pan):" Tell me and you, what were you when you were older? " The answers are wonderful and a whole lesson! I say a lesson because it may seem like a meaningless question and instead the children respond to it with all the sense and seriousness in the world. So let's face it: they have all the answers."Tell me and you, what were you when you were older?" The answers are wonderful and a whole lesson! I say a lesson because it may seem like a meaningless question and instead the children respond to it with all the sense and seriousness in the world. So let's face it: they have all the answers."Tell me and you, what were you when you were older?" The answers are wonderful and a whole lesson! I say a lesson because it may seem like a meaningless question and instead the children respond to it with all the sense and seriousness in the world. So let's face it: they have all the answers.
