Creativity - Not Just for Artists!

Wow, can you believe it's almost the last day of school? No, wait! Homeschoolers don't have "school" so to speak. School calendar? What's that? Or, maybe you could say homeschoolers have school all-year-round.

Bottom line is, does it really matter? Shouldn't learning be happening all the time, not just during school hours, or on school days, or when the teacher says so? Do any children simply stop learning during the summer months? Of course not. As homeschooling families, we can ensure that our children have positive learning experiences no matter what the season or the month or what day of the week it is. (Just as schooled children should!)

One of the most important things we can do to for our children is to encourage creative thinking. Creativity itself is a process that involves and encourages inner motivation and self-reliance. As we learn to foster our children's creativity we provide them with creative problem-solving skills that will prove to be invaluable as they mature and become adults.

Some children are just naturally creative. Right from the start they are able to solve simple problems in creative ways; that is, without depending upon someone else to solve them. Even the toddler with the battered dirty "blankie" has found a way to comfort himself through his own creative devices...surely no one encouraged him to drag that blanket around!

I believe that most children initially have great creative potential; their imaginations are fertile and they love to pretend to be someone or something else. My middle son dressed in costume on almost a daily basis. A cape was an integral part of his daily attire. At the age of four we began to see the artist in him. He began creating intricate drawings and books with covers. By the age of six he was building pop-up books (that worked!) and giving them away as gifts. As part of his homeschool curriculum, we provided him with professional quality art pencils and pastels, and by the age of eight he was selling (for money!) copies of his drawings, and later winning first place awards in art shows and fairs. One of his pieces won a high school sculpture competition and was bronzed (it's sitting on my desk!) Fast forward - he is now a full-time student at the Art Institute of Portland, on a full scholarship.

Each of my children has a similiar story, but not all of my children are artists. Creativity transcends life, no matter who you are or where your talents lie. For a wonderful book on nurturing creativity, take a look at Growing Up Creative, by Teresa M. Amanbile. I have this book in my homeschool library, and you will want to own a copy too.





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