One Big Question

As a child, I believed in wishes and fairies and birthday candles and belief rolled into faith in bigger things.  But, something deeply significant lives inside a child’s imagination, meaning-making, dreaming.  Like the seeds of a sunflower, it is ethereal and beautiful.

It’s personal.  It’s magical.  And, it is worthy of our reflection.

Image courtesy of Coley Christine Image courtesy of Coley Christine

Education is wrestling with how to personalize learning.  We are considering time, pacing, and place.  Teachers offer “choice” and ensure experiences are designed to be right at the edge of each child’s learning.  We collaboratively write goals and invite parents into the process.  Our lesson plans adapt to students who need something different at every turn and our heart is to celebrate each child’s uniqueness.

But, this week I was challenged by the description of our Grade 1 teacher’s leaf art.  She relayed how children could look at a leaf and see an animal, all sorts of creatures, with eyes and arms and stripes!  Young children describing what they see in their imaginations…not just one child…lots of them…in detail!

Moments earlier our teaching team read this quote together,

…only in our imagination can we accomplish anything, go anywhere, or become anyone; only in our imagination do we have boundless possibilities and endless potential; only in our imagination can we even begin to conceive of what reality might become if it began to reflect the imagination of God.

                                                            ~Erwin McManus, The Artisan Soul

And then…

I had this thought…

What if the greatest gift we can give a child, the most personalized learning experience is one that unlocks imagination?

That’s my big question!

What if the height of personalized learning is unlocking a child’s imagination?

Unlocking Imagination

What if, metaphorically, of course, we can only achieve our potential because we can see the elephant in the fall leaf!  I wonder about the importance of imagination, creativity, and the significance of seeing with fresh eyes.

I don’t think I have answers here, but I hope this big question is stirring your imagination.

In our home we definitely value imagination!  Even The Builder and I set aside a whole weekend each year to ‘dream’ with each other!  We call it our visioning weekend.

As if a sign from heaven, my little girl just came in with strawberry muffins…

Imagination will unlock change in the world.  We are always working on changemaking: socks for the shelter, food for the food bank, and hampers for the needy.  The children imagine a world that is different from our own…better?  They imagine the gigantic disparity between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in our world?  Then, their imaginations inspire creativity?

Learn Forward builds imagining into our ethos.  Additionally, Learn Forward celebrates a child who can ‘see’ with eyes of faith and we believe in how imagination inspires creativity and creativity in action!  Then, dreams unlock imagination and we Learn Forward!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Can you remember a childhood dream?  What is your child dreaming about right now?  This week, how can you make space for dreaming and imagining in your home? Most importantly, reflect on how you can see dreams inspiring change and creativity in your child’s heart?

Dreaming…

For the sake of the children,

Karine