Did you know that 98% of children have imaginations in the realm of genius? By the time they reach adulthood, however, that number drops to 2%—why?
At the risk of sounding redundant, school is the culprit.
NASA funded a study to discover the most creative people in their organization so they could give them the biggest problems to solve. The researchers themselves got interested in the idea of creativity, and they wondered where it came from.
These researchers had the brilliant idea to give the adult creativity test they had devised for the NASA employees to young children, and the above numbers are what they discovered.
School knocks the creativity right out of our children—their innate genius, usually gone forever.
The late Sir Ken Robinson built a career on the subject of creativity and how we could foster it, not only in schools but also in the workplace. He said, “Sometimes getting away from school is the best thing that can happen to a great mind.”
Leonardo da Vinci had a great mind. He has been known mostly for his artwork, but he also dreamed up many inventions; such as the flying machine, weapons of war, work tools, and water systems. Clearly, da Vinci was a man with an unusually creative mind, a genius.
In 2024, 70% of employers said that creativity is the most in-demand skill. We have a dearth of creativity in our adult population because most children no longer experience wholesome childhoods, and then—to add insult to injury—we enroll them in preschools and schools at too early of an age.
Rather than nurture our children's creativity, we are being advised to put them into environments that inadvertently squash it.
“In some urban centers, the competition is so intense for places in the “right” kindergartens that children are being interviewed—for kindergarten. What are the interviewers looking for, evidence of infancy?”
Is anyone to blame for this apparent lunacy? Who knows, nor does it matter. What does matter is that we understand what is happening to our children so that we can raise them to embrace their creativity and thrive because of it.
Most parents are concerned about raising their children to get into good colleges and become successful in their careers. What we fail to understand is that creativity is a key factor, not only in their career success but also in the quality of the lives they will lead.
The irony is that when we focus on raising and educating our children well rather than preparing them for acceptance into a good college, getting into a good college will naturally follow.
“We have to go from what is essentially an industrial model of education, a manufacturing model, which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people. We have to move to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture. We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it’s an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”
If you want to raise your children to get ahead, creativity is where you want to put your focus. Any obstacle, struggle, or challenge in life requires creative thinking.
People who rise to the top are creative people. They are the visionaries, the thinkers, the leaders. They are not the people who need to be told what to do because they lack ideas, the sheep, so to speak.
The first seven years of a child's life are critical years of development, years where—in the right sort of environment—a child's imagination will bloom.
Preschools and kindergarten programs, even first grade, will most likely interrupt this process, which is why you may want to consider keeping your children out of schools and early education programs. You may want to keep them out of school altogether, if possible.
If you are homeschooling your children, you have the advantage, as your children will have more free time to pursue the wandering of their minds—that is, if you are homeschooling them according to the sound principles of education.
Warning: Virtual schools are not an educational option that's conducive towards nurturing a child's creativity.
If you can protect your child's natural genius—the genius that he was born with—he'll be way ahead of the curve where creativity and innovation are concerned and of more value to himself, his family, his friends, and his employers.
He may even become his own boss someday.
A few things you can do to help your child's creativity flourish include some of the following:
Teach your children a lot of general knowledge (during the educative years)
Give them plenty of free time to let their mind roam
Ask your children open-ended questions
Encourage them to be in the habit of exploring different possibilities
Support them in seeing themselves as creative people
Help them make connections between different ways of seeing things
Encourage them to explore their ideas so they develop confidence in their ideas
Help them to learn resilience around ideas that don't go as hoped or planned
Guide them towards their creative abilities, whether it be in music, math, drawing, etc.
Always express respect and interest when your children share an idea with you
Let your children take risks (within reason!)
Encourage them to trust their own judgment
Keep your children off of devices!
Teach your children the skill of listening; they'll learn a lot more
These are just a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing so that your children can excel in the ways which will make their lives fuller, richer, and more meaningful.
Don’t miss your free download, 6 Reasons Homeschooled Kids Have Better Social Skills.
Get a copy of Liz’s “could not live without” book, Education’s Not the Point: How Schools Fail to Train Children’s Minds and Nurture Their Characters with groundbreaking Essays on educating your kids by John Taylor Gatto, Dorothy Sayers, and Liz herself.
About Elizabeth Y. Hanson
Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a “whole” child, based on tradition and modern research, Liz devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
Liz is a homeschooling thought-leader, as well as the creator of two unique online courses, Raise Your Child Well: Preserving Your Child's Natural Genius by Laying a Solid Foundation During the First Seven Years and the Smart Homeschooler Academy: Homeschooling the "Whole" Child for a Well-Trained Mind and Character
As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, Liz has 23 years of experience raising children and working in education.
Liz is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.
"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”
—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. For a copy of The Short Angry History of Compulsory Schooling, click here.
