The more you teach the measurable, the more children will feel like they can never measure up.
Since our early years, we have been inculcated with that which is measurable. We have not been fully supported to gaze in wonder at a butterfly, and explore the feelings and insights it gives us. Instead, increasingly we’ve had to know about it – to understand what kind of butterfly it is, how/where it flies, and what it eats.
Rational thought and knowledge has indeed surpassed the purity of wonder. Knowing about has usurped our ability and desire to just be with—to commune with our surroundings, to be present with life. With pressures from parents and schools, and influences from society as a whole, we have become gatherers of the information age, conquers of time and space. And our ability to live in simplicity, and to enjoy and celebrate the magnificence of life, has slowly faded.
We have forgotten what life is all about.
There will come a time when we finally realize how much of life’s essence our intellect has trimmed away. And only then will we once again let joy be the gateway to our understanding, instead of making understanding be the gateway to our joy.
HomePlay:
“Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder.” ~Eberhard Arnold
Engage children through the eyes of innocence. Let them have their experience without imposing an agenda. Simply stand in curiosity. Ask them simple open-ended questions such as:
- What do you notice?
- What do you feel?
- What does it make you wonder?
Let them show you the way. By doing so, you will help to preserve the wisdom of their innocence, and their vision of life.
If we want humanity to herald in a new vision, then we must let children birth it from the purity of their hearts.
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Check out Vince’s book: Let the Fire Burn ~ Nurturing the Creative Spirit of Children, A Children’s Book for Adults
