Get outta the way.
When we allow kids the time and space to create, think, experiment, fail, plan, sit, act, and so on, we help them to create great things.
When we ask questions instead of answering we grow their brains.
When we don't leap in to fix what isn't working, we allow them to become problem-solvers and critical thinkers.
When we hold back criticism or praise, we teach them how to evaluate their own work, both in regard to process and product.
When we stay outta the way and let them create and imagine, we blur the lines between work and play.
This lesson is difficult for teachers and parents to learn; somehow we don't trust that kids are curious when it is really us who need to stop thinking quite so literally and linearally (a word?) so we can see the possibilities.
Like the tiny house project; The Child has her model (above) and is working on floor plans and blueprints. I am giving her the tools and stepping out of the way. She is dreaming big, and I will give her space to see which dreams she can make happen, which aspects that she is willing to brainstorm and create her way through, and which ones she finds less important.
I am getting outta the way and watching her bloom.
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