Anyway, she was adorable, working hard at something on her cute pink laptop.
After perhaps 20 minutes, she got up quietly, unzipped a similarly colored laptop case, into which she quietly put her laptop. Even zipped the bag back up. I was impressed at someone so young being so independent and thorough.
When she was done, she sat back down with her bottle of root beer, and looked around. I noticed her looking at me quite a bit, which I returned a few times with smiles. Meanwhile my two boys and I talked and joked and laughed and ate our pastries. I didn't fail to notice, however, that this little girl was very quiet and calm, rather content to just sit and observe the world around her, lost in her own thoughts.
Then, her dad noticed she'd stopped working on her laptop. He said something to the effect of, "You've decided to waste time?"
He then continued to harp and nag every minute or so, each time getting more frustrated at her "wasting time", at one point suggesting that her wasting time was in fact wasting his, and that next time he would leave her home.
Throughout, the girl sat holding her root beer, not saying a word, nor looking defiant or bored.
Eventually, he got into her bag, took out a math book, and had her do a page.
I must admit, I was rather annoyed on her behalf, and decided that when I had the chance today, I would blog about it (of course).
Even though my readership is 3, perhaps 4 people-strong, I am going to send a plea out into the void, on behalf of all my fellow daydreamers:
Parents and educators, please recognize the immense value in daydreams, in quiet contemplation, in stillness, in peaceful solitude, in "wasting" time. In my most humble (or at least humbly offered) opinion, these things are just as important to a child's education and upbringing as is learning the 3R's. In this always-connected, high-speed world, the skill of and value in solitude and just being have become a lost art, much to our loss as a society and as individuals. Newton spent nearly his whole life in solitude. Buddha, much of his time in quiet contemplation.
Where will our inventors and spiritual leaders be? Will they go unnoticed, their talents underdeveloped? I think so, especially considering that a good number of those children who veer off task are medicated to keep them focused.
We lose a great opportunity for invention and problem solving when we are made to view daydreaming and stillness as a waste of time, to say nothing about the loss of our ability to nurture our spiritual and emotional selves. So, dare to let them daydream. While they're at it, put up your feet and give it a try as well!
2 comments:
I think we will find (I hope we will, anyway) that true genius will have a way of persisting through. Since the advent of socialized education, it has always been believed that the only place that could produce innovative thought was an institute of higher education. But if you consider some of the most innovative individuals of our time, not many were products of those hallowed halls.
Bill Gates quit college before earning a degree. Thomas Alva Edison was home schooled. Even the prestigious Albert Einstein failed the entrance exam to university (although he did spend a great deal of his time in several over the ensuing years)
I think you are correct in assuming that our current form of factory education does not inspire nor encourage innovative thinking. However, I am hoping that we find the next generation's out of the box thinkers boiling to the top anyway.
Great post and your pleas are not falling on deaf ears. In fact this ties in perfectly with a situation Laura and I have been struggling with. The saga between her and her parents continues (now it is both of the parents fully immersed). Laura was recollecting her childhood and the lack of encouragement for creativity, among other things, her parents expressed. Everything was very cold and structured. Laura vowed to never hold back Brenna in such a way, but rather to encourage her to be who she wants to be. It must start at home.
Thanks, as well, to Carmen for recognizing that people like myself (a high school dropout), while technically "uneducated", can think out of the box and bring a different perspective. Not that I do such things... ;)
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