I believe this passionately: that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.
Ken Robinson
We love to say that we value creativity, but we need to ask ourselves if that is true? The increase in standardized testing has been exponential.
I only remember two standardized tests from my years in school, though there were probably a few more. However, today some students will take over 60 standardized tests in their years attending school. That doesn’t leave much time for creativity.
Fortunately, homeschoolers have the time to encourage creativity and include it in their daily lives.
101 Reasons to Encourage Creativity
- Every child is a unique individual with their own learning styles, passions, and talents
- Creativity is intelligence having fun
- Creativity encourages problem-solving
- Creativity teaches that you shouldn’t just reiterate a solution, you should come up with your own
- Creativity is an important part of the learning process
- Creativity is an essential 21st-century job skill
- Creativity teaches us to step outside of our comfort zones
- Creativity helps us think outside the box
- Creativity allows us to be unstructured
- You can be creative in both thinking AND acting
- Creativity doesn’t always have to make sense at first, because it is a process, and our ideas can change through the process
- Being creative can be difficult for some people, but it teaches us to stretch our minds
- Creativity is a very freeing feeling
- Creativity gives us a break from the regular curriculum
- Creativity may help us have a breakthrough on a project
- Creativity can earn us money
- Creativity teaches us to innovate
- Creativity is an outlet when we’ve had a frustrating day
- Creativity allows us to hone our natural talents
- Creativity is a break from the monotonous
- Working with others can require the ability to think and act creatively
- Creativity is something we don’t necessarily have to *teach*, we can *model* it for our kids
- Teaching divergent thinking is an important creative skill
- Brainstorming is a creative skill that can be used in all areas of life, as a kid and as a adult
- Once a child learns the basic foundations of creative thinking, he or she will have that ability the rest of their life
- When we are creating, our confidence level can go up
- In the creative process, it is ok to collaborate and build off others’ ideas, as long as you are ethical
- Creativity helps us find our passions
- Unlike test scores, creativity is fluid and cannot be judged
- It is important to teach kids that they need to learn how to find answers on their own
- Most schools try to put a grade on everything. The real world is not like this.
- Learning to be adaptable to anything life throws at us is an important part of growing up
- Engaging with our work is more important than just getting it done for a grade
- When parents are creative, kids are usually happier and feel eager and more willing to participate in daily school activities and subjects
- When you allow your kids to be creative with assignments, they will take more ownership over their work
- With creativity, we can embrace geekiness
- Shutting down a child’s creativity is equivalent to shutting down their curiosity, and that can completely kill their love of learning
- Creativity is more than doing, it also means expanding on what you are doing with more ideas
- When you allow your kids to be creative with assignments, it gives them more incentive to work harder
- Life can be messy and to instill the importance of creativity teaches kids that it is ok for life to be messy at times
- Creative teaching can encourage our kids to dive into projects with fervor
- Long-term projects give our kids more opportunities to be creative since ideas have plenty of time to develop and nothing feels rushed
- Creativity teaches us to think about our failures, not as an end, but as a possibility to try again
- Creativity helps us challenge our assumptions and viewpoints
- Coming up with a new idea or a new way of completing a project is a very rewarding learning experience
- The creative thinking process shows us that big ideas rarely emerge immediately, but develop throughout a process
- Venturing into “rabbit holes” is often the favorite part of homeschooling for many students
- When creativity is important in our homeschool, we can incorporate Genius Hour
- We are rewarded, as parents, by seeing the creativity our kids are capable of. This can inspire us to keep homeschooling
- Seeing our kids’ creativity can inspire us to try being more creative in our own lives
- Learning how to think creatively can help us “MacGyver” our way out of situations
- Resourcefulness often comes from the ability to know how to think creatively
- Universities are now holding classes that teach creativity because companies are demanding it
- Colleges are looking for more than just academics, they are looking for creative thinking and projects completed by the applicant
- Being able to think creatively will give your child a jump on his or her competition for their chosen career
- Feeling comfortable showing your creativity shows others that you are a unique, open-minded person
- Teaching our kids both divergent and convergent thinking is very important
- Creative thinking can open our kids up to respecting other cultures
- Creativity is an important aspect of great leadership
- Creative thinking can open our kids up to respecting another perspective
- Without creativity, the world would be stale, with no fresh ideas or inventions
- Creative assignments can help keep an advanced or gifted learner interested in their school subjects
- Creativity can help kids see connections between concepts, people, places or things that may not seem connected at first
- Creativity can turn the ordinary in the extraordinary
- Creative people can turn doors into windows
- The results of creativity can change the world
- Creative people learn how to improvise
- Creative people know how to make something great out of a few materials
- Creativity is an amazing form of self-expression
- Creative projects can be used in a way that allows us to get to know our children’s’ innermost thoughts
- Creative projects can help us express emotions
- Creativity encourages kids to take a project and make it their own
- Creativity experiences can help a person deal with all types of emotional turmoil
- Viewing your child’s creative expressions can give us an insight into their hopes and dreams
- Because no two people should be expected to be the same, creativity should be celebrated.
- You can embrace hands-on learning over worksheet learning because it inspires kids to think outside the box
- Creative teaching means you can use manipulatives to teach math instead of stale, boring worksheets
- Creative teaching allows fidgety kids move while they are learning
- Music education can be fun when you let your kids use boom whackers to learn musical scales and tones
- Creative teaching embraces a child’s passions and helps them to hone skills and talents.
- “Creativity takes courage. ” ― Henri Matisse
- “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” ― Pablo Picasso
- Allowing a child to embrace their creativity helps them to shed self-doubt.
- “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ― Maya Angelou
- “Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express.”
― Brenda Ueland - The creative process involves identifying a problem, exploring multiple solutions, and accepting that failures are part of the process that leads us to the best possible solution
- Allowing children to explore their own creativity means that you can accept that they have something of value to contribute to the world
- Notebooking is a great way to let a child document their own learning in their own way
- Sketching & Journaling offers creative individuals freedom to explore their thoughts and ideas without any preconceptions standing in their way
- Let children explore creativity in a social way through dance, theater, music and other artistic pursuits
- Use of artistic tools such as paint brushes, pastels, markers, scissors and other items helps young children to develop fine motor skills
- When children are given the freedom to express themselves vocally they’ll develop the language skills needed to speak their own minds
- Exploration of nature is a great way to promote creativity
- Through experimentation, children can learn by trial and error that one approach may not always work but they need to think creatively to find an approach that will work
- Seeing your child develop their own logic and reasoning skills through trial and error is thrilling to watch for a parent
- When homeschooling creatively you can recognize that sometimes the brain just needs a break and you can be confident in allowing play time to act as a way to reenergize the thought processes
- Homeschool moms can use the strewing method to inspire children while still allowing them to discover their own educational interests
- Give them the gift of boredom which will allow them time to wonder and ask questions about the world
- Creative teaching means knowing that education can be fun with an agenda
- Every day there is something new to learn or experience! You can be the interesting parent who guides your children toward learning something new every single day
- Creativity allows children the opportunity to explore a variety of worldviews while still developing their own view and beliefs about the world
Homeschooling is Living Creatively
There are so many reaons why you should encourage creativity in you homeschool, but the decision to homeschool is itself an act of creative thinking. Not everyone can see the beauty of this unusual lifestyle, nor embrace the daily exercise in creativity that it requires.
Don’t think you’re not creative or that it will be difficult to encourage. You do it every day you get up and choose to homeschool you children.
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i love what creativity brings. 🙂