Latest / Homeschool Insights - Biblical Home Education Inspiration in Under 10 Minutes! / Stop Filling Every Minute. Boredom Is Where Creativity Starts - Aby Rinella
Transcript
- speaker-0: It doesn't have to be that you're going out into the middle of nowhere. It can honestly just be that when your kid wants to do watercolor paints, you lay a blanket out in the yard and let them watercolor out there. speaker-1: One of the things that I find for myself, and this might sound really weird to somebody like you, but one of the things I find for myself is that I become fearful of them, you know, getting ticks or getting sunburned or s you know, so there there are all these fears, you know, that there's gonna be a snake outside or something. And so I I really have to check myself and just think, okay, God made the outdoors. It's okay. And you if if something happens, well then we deal with it at the time. Right. Right. But not living in fear all the time of something terrible happening to them. Exactly. And ⁓ and that I know that's a strange fear. speaker-0: But that can be like for us because we are outside so much. ⁓ for me, when I go to a a place where it's very congested with people, I feel that same fear that you fear. Like that, ⁓ my goodness, people's germs and the disease. And so I I really believe that that kind of fear just comes from what you're used to, what you're familiar with. If you're not familiar with the outdoors, but what an awesome opportunity then to go to the library and get books on You know, what kind of organisms live where we live? What what's growing in our yard? What kind of animals? Let's do a snake study so that we can identify a rattlesnake, you know, versus a ⁓ you know, a r a rub boa, like it what which which animals live out there, and also to really teach our kids that we do need to be aware, you know, when we live in an area where there are a lot of rattlesnakes. So my kids have identified rattlesnakes, but to release that fear and no, but also. ⁓ to speak to kind of probably more moms that are more like you than me, it doesn't have to be that you're going out into the middle of nowhere. It can honestly just be ⁓ that when your kid wants to do watercolor paints, you lay a blanket out in the yard and let them watercolor out there. No, because they're still getting the fresh air, they're getting the sun. ⁓ it doesn't have to be extreme. We we are probably more extreme than most, but it doesn't have to be that way. Sure. The benefits of your kids being out, it doesn't have to be extreme. You know, go. Go take them to ⁓ a garden center and pick out plants and pots and bring them home and let them plant. And and even just that, there's your biology, you know, you've got your you you've got so much you can learn in the outdoors as well, giving kids a hands-on approach rather than reading about it. So those are some ways that parents can work that into their kids' lives. speaker-1: Yeah, even ⁓ going out in the rain. You know, when I was a kid, we didn't go out in the rain. Like yeah, you it's so funny. My mom always thought, Well, if you go out in the rain, you're gonna catch a cold and we've since learned that that is not true. Not true. Not true. And ⁓ and so I remember years ago we used to have a ⁓ exchange student from China. She lived with us. This is about four years ago, and she lived with us for the whole school year and one day she was you know, at home with us one day and it started raining, but it was summertime and it was pretty unusual for it to rain in the middle of summer, ⁓ where we lived in California. But this one day it started raining and it was really warm outside. And or it was maybe late spring, but it was really warm outside and so it wasn't freezing cold or anything. And the girls said, Can we go outside and just play in the rain? And I was like my my first instinct was like of course not. speaker-0: it's green to stay inside, right? speaker-1: Stay inside when it rains. And then I thought, why not? I mean, it's not gonna hurt them. And so they went outside and I mean they were it was pouring. It was a torrential downpour and they got drenched. And they had they still talk about that to this day. And I remember our Chinese exchange student, she came outside and she looked at them, she was like, What are they doing? They're playing in the rain. She said, ⁓ we would never do that in China. Our parents would never, ever, ever let us do something like that. And ⁓ and so it's, you know, a cultural thing for people too. But ⁓ but it was just so fun and they still, like I said, they still talk about that day where they got to go outside and just play in the rain and get completely soaking wet. And it was just it was a fun thing for them to do. And ⁓ and so often I have to ask myself, why not? Like what's wrong with them wanting to do this? You know, why can't they do it? speaker-0: Yeah. Why do I feel the way that I feel about them going outside? You know, why do I fear the things I fear? Why can't they go in the rain? And I think one of the most one thing that I love about homeschooling so much is that because we're not bound by anyone else's schedule, you know, we tend to school around ⁓ the weather. Like if it's ⁓ if it's a day that they want to go outside, then that's when our spring break is, you know, then that's when they go outside. And if it's a day, you know, it's been raining here for ten days, which is not super normal for us. But For the few first few days they were outside playing in the rain and they loved it and they played. I mean, the creativity that comes out of a kid when you get rid of the craft closet and you get rid of the iPads and you get rid of all the things that we feel that it's our job to make sure our kids aren't bored. It's our job to make sure that our kids have structured play. When you really look at that and say, that was really never God's design for a parent. It is not our job to make sure our kids don't get bored. You know, actually boredom is the number one thing that breeds creativity. When you get rid of all that and you send them outside in the rain or the mud and and they have to find a stick or a log and they end up coming together and working as a team and the worlds that my children create when they're outside is absolutely incredible to me. And the stories that they live out when they're out there, because you've taken everything away and they've got they have to use their creativity. It's so good for them. it's it's so good for their minds and their bodies. And and honestly, it really goes back, I mean, everything we do and everything we believe, we go back to the Bible and say, well, what does God say about this? And over and over and over in scripture, ⁓ it talks about our relationship with God's creation. And like even in in Psalm 23, when it talks about I'll lie down, you know, in green pastures and and we will ⁓ he leads me bes beside still waters. He uses the image of nature for peace, for peace, you know. And then in so many places in scripture, and and if if we we can link to these, but Job 12 and ⁓ Romans 1 and Genesis 1, it just constantly talks about how we can see God's character in nature, how it tells us that you know the birds rely on him and and the animals need nothing because they've been provided with everything and When you get your kids out there and really see God's creation, it shows you the character of their creator and it shows you so much about who God is. And so we have to shake what we've been trained and realize this is who they were designed to be. This is how they were created to even relate to God through his creation. And that's they were designed to relate to him through his creation. So, ⁓ We have to shake this new that our cultural idea that we need to provide all these activities for our kids and provide all these things for our kids, and every moment of their day has to be filled. because that's really not what's best for them. speaker-1: This episode of Homeschool Insights is brought to you by BJU Press Homeschool, CTC Math, and the Explorer Bible for Kids. Visit the show notes to learn more about these excellent resources. And for more encouragement, listen to the Schoolhouse Rocked Podcast at Schoolhouse Rocked.com.