Today, I came upon a reference book on Amazon that I wanted to buy. But I didn't buy it because it was a paperback book selling for $35.00, even for a used copy.
Why?
It was overpriced because it had sold out only a few years after being published. "How strange," thought I, that a book on the subject of creativity would be in such demand—or was it strange?
Raising children in the 21st century of massive technology and a dumbed-down education is a perfect recipe for raising dull children.
THE IRONY
Twenty-first-century parents make decisions around technology and education for their children, and then they buy books, such as the one mentioned above, to correct the problems their decisions produce.
Why not prevent the problems in the first place?
If you want to train a racehorse, you don't raise him to be out of shape and then try to fix the problem later—by then, it's too late. No, you train him from the beginning to become the best racehorse he can possibly be.
It's the same thing with our children. Creativity is innate to each of us, and it is a large part of what makes our lives rewarding and interesting. Creativity is one of the key qualities that will aid our children in becoming their very best.
And children who are raised to function at their optimal levels—to become their very best—will be the children who are in demand later.
The formula is pretty simple: if you want to raise a creative, independent-thinking innovative child, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
EARLY YEAR’S HABITS
Don't coddle your children, but raise them instead to be independent of you. After all, your job is to teach them how to function as an adult so they can live a rewarding life.
For example, as early as two years, lay snacks out on their kid-size table and teach them that when they want a snack, they can get it themselves. Teach them how to get a cup of water when they are thirsty, which you also set up on the kid-size table, spill-proof, of course.
You can teach them how to put their toys away. If you give them more than one or two toys to play with at a time, they'll struggle to put them all away. Instead, give them one or two toys to play with, and when they are finished, exchange them for two more.
Start them in the habit of picking up after themselves when they are tiny, so they don't think about not picking up after themselves when they are not tiny.
Give them plenty of childproof space to roam in. A child raised competently can occupy himself for up to an hour at a time by the time they are 3 - 3 ½. This should be your aim. You do not need to be your child's 24/7 playmate—that's exhausting!
Play with your child when you feel like it or when you sense they need you, but let them learn how to play by themselves too. For most of their lives they'll have to figure out how to spend their time, and the sooner they learn how to do this, the easier and more rewarding their lives will be.
“The habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference.”
INTELLIGENT PRECAUTIONS
Keep your children off of screens. You would not let your child jump out a window because he would hurt his body, and sometimes irreparably. In the same vein, you do not want to allow your child to do things that will damage his developing brain, sometimes irreparably.
Maybe an hour of screen use a day won't hurt him, but at the end of one year, that's 365 hours that could have been spent learning a skill, such as a foreign language, a musical instrument, or a sport.
It's also an hour a day he could have spent reading hundreds of books over the years that would develop his language skills and expand his mind.
At the end of 10 years, that 3,650 hours, which would put him at an intermediate or advanced level in any skill he attempted to improve upon.
And that's only one hour a day!
NO SCREENS IS EASIER!
The reason I am a proponent for no screen time is because an hour a day, or even 10 minutes a day, of screen time will probably not be fatal, but it does open the door for constant discussions and arguments that will develop around screen use.
And it’s the stress of it all that I'm opposed to because it undermines your parent/child relationship. So why bother, especially when screens are so harmful to your children?
By harmful, consider the retardation of neural connectivity in the brain, less knowledge, poor social skills, poor emotional regulation, obesity, eye damage, and other health-related issues, decreased mental health with an increase in depression and anxiety.
It’s also a bad habit they develop, when they could develop a good habit instead.
“It is impossible, or not easy, to alter by argument what has long been absorbed by habit”
In addition to no screen time, other than the odd well-selected film now and then—and only after they have developed a reading habit—if you can delay school, or even homeschool until your child is about seven, then you will be well on your way to raising a creative child.
And children who are creative and can think independently will be the adults who are in demand tomorrow. Because until we bring about a significant change in how we raise children, there will continue to be a dearth of creative, independent-thinking innovators.
And, as long as the world keeps turning, we will always need creative, independent-thinking innovators.
Don’t miss your free download:
Get a copy of Liz’s “could not homeschool without” book, Education’s Not the Point: How Schools Fail to Train Children’s Minds and Nurture Their Characters with Essays by John Taylor Gatto and Dorothy Sayers.
About Elizabeth Y. Hanson
Liz Hanson helps parents raise and educate whole children by bridging timeless wisdom with modern research.
As an educator, writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach with 23 years of experience, Liz specializes in guiding families through the transformative early years and the homeschooling journey. After successfully homeschooling her own children, she now devotes her expertise to helping other parents get it right from the start.
Liz is a homeschooling thought-leader, as well as the creator of three unique online courses:
Whether you're navigating early childhood, considering homeschooling, or wanting to nurture a genuine love of learning in your child, Liz offers practical guidance rooted in proven principles.
One-on-one consultations available.
"I know Elizabeth Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. For a copy of The Short Angry History of Compulsory Schooling, click here.
