|
With technology, consumerism, and extracurricular activities for kids, we have created a world where children lead highly structured lives, with little time to just ‘be.’ Now due to SARS-COV-2 kids are isolated in their homes without the high structure of these offerings. Kids are becoming bored, and not sure what to do. But far from being a bad thing, periods of boredom, where children have to rely on themselves for entertainment, are essential to a healthy childhood. Let's take a look at how your child will benefit from being bored. 1. Boredom encourages imagination and creativity.
When children are left to their own devices, they’re forced to be more creative and imaginative in finding ways to amuse themselves. ‘Giving them opportunities to try things of their own volition builds their sense of discovery and curiosity and helps them explore what brings them joy.' Research has found that people who are given a range of boring tasks to complete show more imagination when they’re then asked to take part in a creative thinking activity. 2. Boredom teaches ‘grit’ ‘resilience’ These have become buzzwords in schools, referring to children developing a ‘have a go’ attitude and not being put off when things are tough. Being bored – or having to think of ways to amuse themselves – is an important way to develop this ‘grit.’ Everyone wants to believe they’re good at everything, but children who never experience failure don’t know how to deal with it when it arises. Having free time to try things out without the fear of failure is essential if a child is to develop grit and resilience. 3. Boredom develops problem-solving skills. Does your child expect you to come up with something for them to do whenever they’re at a loose end? Well, stop intervening, because being bored will help them develop their problem-solving skills. In a world where children are constantly stimulated, they can feel uncomfortable if they don’t have anything to do. This encourages initiative and problem-solving, as they have to rely on themselves to tackle the ‘problem’ of being bored. 4. Boredom helps children form relationships Having unstructured time to play with other children will help your child develop interpersonal skills that are becoming lost to the technology obsessed generation. If children are given time and space with nothing to distract them, it helps them to negotiate and collaborate with each other and develop activities jointly. They’re learning to communicate, make eye contact and read body language: things that can only be learnt from experience. 5. Boredom builds confidence When your child has opportunities to occupy themselves, and manages to do so successfully, it gives their self-esteem a boost. When they have free time, they can try new things, test their limits and take risks, which will all build their confidence. 6. Boredom improves mental health Today’s kids (and adults, too) tend to be so busy that there’s little time to be still and let their minds wander. Having time to just “be” gives them the opportunity to think their own thoughts and get to know themselves better. Research has shown that allowing the mind time to wander rather than being focused on activities all the time is very important for mental health. 7. Boredom creates a sense of belonging As well as having time to think, unstructured downtime gives children a greater sense of community. If children are always busy with some focused activity, they take their surroundings for granted, It’s important that they have the chance to engage with their environment so they feel a sense of belonging to where they live. 8. Boredom makes childhood happier Your child may argue that being bored is, well, boring, but actually, it could make their childhood happier overall. When adults talk about their childhood memories, no one ever mentions anything material. It’s always the simple things they remember: connections, laughter and nature. All the activities that we think are making childhood richer are just getting in the way of a simple but contented life. Adapted from: The School Run & The Science Behind How Boredom Benefits Creative Thought Adapted from blog author Elizabeth Newcamp: author of "Mom and Dad are Fighting" Amidst the chaos of schools and offices closing, spring break cancellations, and frantic grocery hoarding, you may feel you must also take on the full-weight of your child’s education. All over the nation and beyond the USA, parents bemoan their inability to teach math, worry about their children falling behind, and throw up their hands at the idea of working a full-time job and somehow educating their kids. You may feel the same way. You may be thinking right now, "How on earth am I supposed to be my child’s teacher, on top of everything else?" Take a VERY deep breath. Now, say this out loud: “I am not my child’s teacher. I am their parent.” You have not suddenly become a home-school teacher overnight. The responsibility of reading, writing, and mathematics still lies with their school. While teachers are working on ways to best meet CA state standards in this new, uncharted world of large-scale virtual learning, you can calm themselves. You do not need to run out and purchase a home-school curriculum. You do not need to watch YouTube videos on teaching 6th grade Common Core math. You do not need to cram every hour of your child’s day with educational advancement. Your primary focus should be where it always has been: on the well-being of your child. Children thrive on routine and right now, all of that is gone. As a parent, you can provide a framework that keeps their brains active, as you likely already do during the upcoming spring break and summer. Academic achievement and testing benchmarks are a construct, constantly adjusted to fit educational philosophies. Don’t worry about them right now. Worry about supporting your child/ren as they process what is happening in our world. The entire world is standing still. Your child is not falling behind. When school starts again on the other side of quarantine, in September or whenever, every teacher will remember, and take into account, that nearly every child on earth experienced the same learning hiatus. Students will still get into college; they’ll still learn long division and the difference between the executive and the legislative branch; they’ll still learn to read, write, and think, even if they do nothing with this time but binge Netflix and snuggle with you when your work is done. The greater risk to our children, and ourselves, is the stress we are adding to all our lives by believing that parents have to take on the full weight of education. The lesson to be learned, is that what kids need goes far beyond classroom instructional time. A typical homeschool schedule for elementary school kids only has about two to three hours a day. The balance of each day is filled with exploration, reading, household tasks, and learning to manage boredom. Your child’s school schedule is much the same. Hours of their day are spent not on memorizing facts and learning new concepts, but on social interaction, games, and daily classroom tasks. Once you have relieved yourself of the burden of educating your children, you can shift your focus to teaching them how to cope with the unexpected. This is a time to lean in to your children, providing them with extra love and support. Spend the time you would have been commuting cooking together. Spend your lunch break eating as a family and read together afterward. Start game night traditions because after school sports and clubs are canceled. Agree to a family walk once a day, before work requires your online presence. Your children are going to remember how they felt during the COVID-19 outbreak, not what they missed in math class. Instead of fighting with your children about their schoolwork, focus on surviving and thriving as a family unit. This may mean shifting your kids’ schedules so that their time with you is on the weekend, and weekdays are full of TVs and tablets. That is OK. It may mean that you are happiest with an intricate schedule packed with all the resources schools, libraries, and publishers are providing. It may also mean you are wearing noise-canceling headphones, sitting on the floor of the main room, working on your laptop while the children run amok. These scenarios, and everything in between, should be considered perfect parenting. If your children feel supported and loved, and if everyone is going to bed mostly happy, make yourself a tinfoil star and put it on your computer right now. (Or, if you hate crafts, eat an Oreo.) You are winning! I can’t promise you that everything is going to be OK. But, I can promise you that if your child learns nothing during this pandemic but how to deal with the unexpected and how to care for themselves amid chaos, they will have learned more than any book could teach them. THANK YOU for being the parent of a BLOB NATION Super Star!
|
authorsYou may find a blog or two from the Blobs themselves. Archives
April 2020
Categories |