OUR CHILD
NEEDS COURAGE!
BY: Mrs. Lata Lakshminarayanan
Guidance Counsellor, Child-Motivator
Suraj and Rohan are a study contrast. While 5 years old Suraj draws beautifully, reads voraciously and even sings out her own imaginary poem, makes her own story. Rohan, 9 years old, is a dull, passive child, more interested in trashy television programme; studies bore him and games even more.
Is Suraj so much more accomplished because he was born more talented? Partly, perhaps, but a lot can be attributed to the efforts of his mother who, despite a busy schedule took it upon herself to consciously nurture her child’s
creativity and
imagination powers. Rohan, left to his won devices, didn’t get this benefit. Mrs. Lata Lakshminarayanan, a counselor
says that a child who imagines will grow up into an adult who creates, who solves problems with lateral thinking and with innovative solutions.
But, questions critic, given that we have an educational system that negates any kind of independent thinking, how does one accomplish the above?
The answer is: through parents.
Parents
Need to foster their children’s creativity and imagination, and give them individual attention, appreciation and
encouragement .Encouragement is more important than any other aspect of child-raising. Parental love is best demonstrated through constant encouragement toward independence. We need to start this at birth and to maintain it all through childhood. It is made to manifest by our faith and confidence in the child as he is at each moment. It is an attitude which guides us through all the daily problems and situations of childhood. Our
children need courage. Let us help them to develop and keep it.
It is so important that the lack of it can be considered the basic cause for misbehaviour. Each child needs continuous encouragement just as a plant needs water. He cannot grow and develop and gain a sense of belonging without encouragement.
A mother of three grown up children, who’re into very creative profession, maintains that creativity and imagination don’t need to be taught – they’re god’s gift to every human being.
“All you have to do is help children use them,” says Lata Lakshminarayanan. And its very easy to do this, for unlike most adults, children are unshackled by inhabitations and tradition, there minds are free.
Plenty of encouragement and being a child with them are the keys to unlocking your children’s creativity. The child’s behaviour gives the clue to his self-estimate. The child who doubts his own ability and his own value will demonstrate it through his deficiencies. He no longer seeks to belong through usefulness, participation, and contribution. In his discouragement he turns to useless and provocative behaviour. To be spanked is better than to be ignored. Encouragement, then,, is a continous process aimed at giving the child a sense of self-respect and a sense of accomplishment.
Encouragement, however, needs to go beyond words, she says as she is seen conducting an unusual art programme for children and also coaching and consulting slow-learners, dyslexia and depressed kids-it also means providing materials space and ambience that motivates children to be creative. Here are some few activities that inspire creativity in children:
· Inspire children to make things—greeting cards, bookmarks, simple toys, necklaces from twigs leaf, stems, flowers etc. Think of ways to re-use throw away-for example the seeds of chickoo that your child had for breakfast can be colored and used as markers for a hand-made board game.
· Pretending is a great exercise to build up creativity. Provide props like old clothes and fake jewellery and observe what treasure they can be to an active imagination.
· Initiate children into the realm of creative problem-solving exercises. In a game called “How else could we have done that? Put questions like “How can we get the stool here without physically lifting it?”(Solutions: tie rope to it and drag it)
· Stories are good tools to develop a child’s creativity and imagination. Read stories to them and also encourage them to make up on their own through the following exercises:
· Tell them a story with a not-so happy ending, then tell it again and ask them to end it on a happy note.
· Let a group of children sit, begin telling them a story and then let them continue in turn by turn. The team of little authors will chart the direction of the story and take it to its denouncement.
· Play some music. Ask your children to close their eyes and tell you what kind of images comes to mind while listening to it.
REMEMBER! THOSE CHILDREN, LIKE ALL ARTISTS NEED PRAISE AND APPRECIATION TO FEEL THEIR FIRES IN THEM
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