We began July with Young Rembrandts artwork celebrating the 4th of July.
A Favorite Quote: “I’m an art nerd, genius, lover, pro advocate…” – Bette Fetter
Keeping our kids engaged is important during summer break. In the article, Is your child at risk for summer slide? we discuss ideas to help your kids feel like school never ended.
Creativity is a thought process but to hear our thoughts, we need to turn off the noise and tune into what our mind can imagine. Being comfortable in the quiet needs to start in childhood. Here are 10 ways to help your kids enjoy being quiet.
10 Quiet Activities for Kids
Building with Legos – Legos and other construction toy sets provide hours of quiet focused activity. While your child is deep in thoughts assembling pieces, their mind is learning to see and imagine, three dimensionally. Prepackaged sets help kids learn to see and follow directions, while independent pieces allow for more creative assemblages. Provide a balance of both.
Drawing and Coloring – Crayons, markers and sketchpads provide endless opportunity for time spent in quiet reflective thought. Be sure to stock up on lots of different drawing and coloring supplies for your child. A package of copy machine paper and set of washable markers, is a low cost investment with a high return.
Ever wonder why people do the things they do? Why doesn’t your husband read the directions? Why can’t you find anything once you take the time to file the papers in your office? Why do you have to pinch and poke yourself to stay awake during language heavy presentations?
It’s all about wiring. The way our brains are wired has a direct affect on the way we organize or don’t organize; the way we see, think and do and the way we operate at home, school and work. There are three distinct learning styles: auditory, visual and tactile.
Auditory folks are good with words and logical, linear thinking. Visual learners are big picture, innovative thinkers that need to see things. Tactile people take a very hands-on approach to life.
So what kind of thinker are you? There are a variety of learning style tests on-line but here’s a quick question to get you started:
Imagine you just came back from the store with a new cabinet that needs to be assembled. How would you proceed?
We recently had a wedding in the family – our first. While planning and executing such a grand and lovely event was thoroughly enjoyable, it was also a brilliant study on the way left and right-brain people approach a given task.
Our oldest daughter, the bride, is a visual-spatial thinker, full of ideas and vision; there’s a lot of that going on in our family. The groom’s, a social, left -brain analytical thinker, prefers numbers, budgets and excel spreadsheets; there’s a lot of that going on in their family. When it came time to plan the wedding, the right-brain, visual bride and bridesmaids immersed themselves in magazines, websites and social media, searching out ideas – visually. Pinterest became a family obsession, with everyone in the family searching out and sharing ideas. A few trips to stores, photographers, florists and wedding vendors, brought more options and ideas.
Are you creative? Can you draw? Paint a picture? Do you hold a patent for a new invention that will change the way we live?
Creativity is often defined in relation to artistic ability but creative thought reaches far beyond the arts and has profound implications in all parts of our lives. Creativity is about thinking outside the box, bringing fresh insight to established patterns of thought, rules and relationships. Creativity is a process of personal expression and playful pursuit, but creativity is also a highly sought after commodity, in business as well as the arts. Creative ideas may produce a work of art or music, it can lead to breakthroughs in science and engineering, increased personal satisfaction and career success, even solutions to highly complex social issues.
We are all capable of creative thought, but like other skills, it requires development. Countries all around the world have made the development of creativity a priority. However, while the United States has been a world leader of innovation in the past, increased emphasis on standardization, testing and cuts in arts programs, means we are no longer developing creativity and innovation in our students. Yong Zhao, author of
I was inspired after watching the Camden Sophisticated Sisters Drill Team on Dancing with the Stars. A powerful example of the impact the arts has made on the lives of kids.
Diagnosing ADD or ADHD is highly subjective and comes with a multitude of negative connotations. But what if it’s not a negative? What if your child is a visual learner….ADD and ADHD: Has Your Child Been Labeled.
Have you been labeled – scatter brained, distracted, inattentive, even impulsive? Has your child? Perhaps ADD or ADHD diagnosis has been away to explain these behaviors. Diagnosing ADD or ADHD is highly subjective and comes with a multitude of negative connotations. But what if it’s not a negative? What if its not even ADD ?
What if you are operating exactly like you’re supposed to?
What if instead of being deficient – you are actually quite gifted?
What if you could start seeing the gift – the opportunities?
What if you could harness and shape your gifts to work for you and not against you?
There’s good news. Visual learners share many of the same traits as ADD. Visual learners need more visual, hands on learning experiences and often struggle to organize, stay on task and pay attention. This is increasingly apparent with children in today’s language heavy, test oriented classrooms. And yet there are great advantages to being a visual learner. Some of our most creative minds, great leaders and innovative business people have been and are visual thinkers.
Imagine my excitement when Education.com asked me to share insight from my book, Being Visual. What an honor! If your child is a visual learner, they may be struggling in the classroom. Understanding learning styles is a fantastic way to help a child succeed academically. We parents don’t like to settle for anything less then success for our kids and I’m excited to have the opportunity to help.
Education.com is a great resource for parents and educators. They
I’ve gathered an assortment of fun activities to keep your kids busy. There are activities you can do In the House and activities that are Out of the House. And within each category, there are things kids can do independently and things to do as a family. You could even get a bit of mom time in!