Yesterday my kiddos were creative. Really creative.
It all began after I got out our tremendous stash of crafting and art and science supplies in an effort to reorganize the mess. Probably a year ago, things were organized and labeled. Neatly stacked and set up so that all three of us knew exactly where things were. And then we began to use things and in spite of my efforts to keep the chaos in check, I lost.
When I got up, I looked through the material to see if I could get anything out for the morning activity. I realized that I could not figure out where most things were in the pile and in fact if I could identify what I wanted to get down, the process of extricating it from the aforementioned pile would likely result in an avalanche of brushes, pom poms, and microscopes landing, most likely, on top of me.
And so I set about taking the pile apart, placing each separable chunk into a spot in the dining room. A task that would take the entire morning, but necessary regardless.
And then it happened… the monsters of chaos that are my children magically appeared and began picking through the growing piles. As I worked at organizing, relabeling, repacking, and cleaning, my kids set to work with bits and pieces of materials they discovered. My daughter made a harvest wreath with tissue paper, buttons, pompoms, and ribbon that looks like autumn flowers. And my son made a sculpture with craft sticks, glue and dryer lint that is meant to be set on fire as it’s final artistic moment.
If I had presented by children with those materials and asked them to make a wreath and a sculpture, neither one would have accommodated my request. But since they were given the freedom to choose their own path through the chaos I created, their creativity blossomed.
In a sense this mirrors the society in which we live. If we are given the freedom to choose our own path, free of restrictions and regulations, we exert our independent creativity. Our economy blossoms along with our creativity and, most importantly, our individual happiness. Yet another way in which homeschooling has taught me about life in general.
And now as I write this I find myself newly excited for tomorrow and the lessons my children and our shared adventure will teach.
