Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy free time, creativity and imagination

Too much clutter in the other post.

I would very much like to hear what others have to say, and you can judge me as uncreative too, doesn't bother me.

Judgements on this forum are so actual, they should be scientific.

Ren

Hmmm okay since DD is having free time in the other room I will post LOL

What is free time to me....time that DD can chose whatever she wants to do and I let her be (not saying ANYTHING, as the rules of the house still apply LOL), although sometimes she wants me to join in, in which case I do. I myself am a firm believer in structure, probably because even as a child I always needed it or I felt lost. I was the kid that hated summers and wanted to go back to school because I needed that structure LMAO.

I have an observation about DD, and this is just strictly her personality. She needs breaks structured time as much as she does free time. Take yesterday for example, no structure here because of some personal issues occuring yesterday, and DD got more and more wound up throughout the day and was unable to calm herself thus resulting in a midnight bedtime. She was in her room, but unable to calm herself enough to sleep.

This happens often, if I dont intervene after a while and do something structures, her energy level goes up, up, up, up....to the point it is insane. She has not learned self calming yet, although she is getting better. So what we have found works best is free time, structured time alternations throughout the day which works so much better, and she enjoys her day more.

Free time right now, she has chosen to draw....earlier it was legos, earlier today she decided to go out on the porch and shovel the snow (yep, she loves doing it and it is fun for her) Call her nuts, its okay LMAO. The theme through all of that, I did not even offer suggestions, she did it herself. Not to say I never say we can do this or this....I do, but that is usually resevrved for our structured time.

How much free time varies from day to day based on her mood as well as what we need to get done. I dont think there is any right answer. I don't think that even at 3 DD needs the whole day to play, because honestly lets face it, the kid enjoys doing science, math, and reading books way to much for play all day. But if I have those things out for her to do and she choses them I sat okay. I also say that on most day we do a little school everyday. Keeps me sane as a SAHM to be doing something structured, but hey she likes it, so HUGE help. I think it varies from child to child too. DD has a friend who totally resists structure of any kind and totally free plays all day. Works for her and her family at the moment. Would never work for DD, anytime DD plays there, she comes home and NEEDS something structured, heck she begs for it after there LOL.

I do think it gives her a chance to be creative, to figure herself out, and to play with her own thoughts....So for today she has probably had about 3.5 hours of free time so far. We went to the library, so although that is something she loves, begs for and enjoys, I don't consider it free time. We also did some visual perception worksheets as she is starting to read the chapter books where the lines are placed close together and her eyes skip alot which frusterates her, so we are working on somethings to help.

Okay so I have no clue if any of that made sense LOL. I am tired, Dh was out of town for a week, and has been sick since he got back, so has been at work or asleep...so I have had no break in 2 weeks and my brain is fried! LOL

Free time? It's anything DS8 wants to do. He's an only as well who loves my company. So free time for him is free time for me, and I NEED.

The link with creativity- I know he needs huge amounts of free time to let his mind roam wherever. If he doesnt have it, he gets really cranky. That happened when he went to school for a year. He started violin lessons a month ago and I basically don't interfere except to tell him he has to practice a few times a week. It's going okay (ie his teacher says he's doing well), but what's interesting is that he's started writing his own songs. This is Suzuki violin. They don't introduce note reading at the onset, so he made up his own coding structure based on what he can understand.

Over the years, free time has allowed him to build his Lego into transformers (and he made them moveable). People who've seen his stuff when he was 5 or 6 have asked if I did it. Duh! Free time has allowed him to chase up on whatever topics he wants. His reading is at grade 12 level because he reads anything he wants, based on interest.

My wish is for him to do more physical sports during his free time, and to mingle more with friends. He doesn't think so! Ive been encouraging this for the longest time but in our case, this part is structured time in that I've signed him up for yet another round of activities hoping that something will take and continue to look for social opportunities for him.

I wasn't judging. I was barely even speculating and only throwing out the idea because you seemed to be so confused about the connection between creativity, imagination, and free time. No offense intended.

You might want to google the ideas and see what you find.

Val

I love the judgement seen here. I really liked that we all seem to want to speak clearly and speak freely. I think. And I like people with thick skin (does that always go with hard heads?). I love that someone else believes women can be opinionated and judgmental with each other and discuss the various angles on the dangle without the discussion turning south. From what I've been seeing. That's pretty cool. Count our blessings.

Val, I like that you think weren't judging. My only criticism is that Sarah Palineque arguments don't work. Throwing something up on the wall to see if it sticks doesn't mean it is valid.

Not that I couldn't see the connection between creativity and free time but I asked where was the correlation on quantity.

DD's grade 1 class had a publishing party a few weeks ago. I was shocked when I read her work. It was amazingly creative and I have no idea where she pulled things. The dialogue, how she told the story. So somehow my overscheduled little girl is developing her creativity.

But my question is not tongue in cheek. I really want to hear what people say and think.

That is why I post.

Ren

So I did google and I got that creativity is linked to outdoor free time. Not inside free time.

Ren

Google "boredom is good for kid's."

And, no. I didn't just know that.

I saw a mother say "I think being bored is good for my kid's. I intentionally tell them I'm not responsible for their boredom they are.". I'm just quoting something I read there to be clear. Nnmo

This book
http://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Pa...appier/dp/0345507983/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

addresses the issue of unstructured free time and creativity. I would say that a link between creativity and free time would not be limited to the outdoors based on my own experience and recollections of readings in other places.

And here is another interesting link:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html#

This comment was in there: With intelligence, there is a phenomenon called the Flynn effect�each generation, scores go up about 10 points. Enriched environments are making kids smarter. With creativity, a reverse trend has just been identified and is being reported for the first time here: American creativity scores are falling.

This article is really interesting. The comments about what is happening in China compared to here and their creativity totally disputes some of the opinions here and worth reading.

Also it says that creativity is born out of "deep research". The arts are not enough. And probably why outdoor play does correlate well. When we were out in the woods making forts and making play out of what we found you had to be creative. But I cannot send DD out alone to play, not here. But she does get some during the summer at the beach. This really makes me think.

Ren