by Krissi Lyn Mazon

Created on: March 02, 2010   Last Updated: March 03, 2010

Creativity does not mean the absence of all structure.  Designing a building is both a stressful and creative task and it requires the imagination as well as other key ingredients that without such, the building design would fail.  The problem in education is this: how do we teach our children the key ingredients necessary to function in our society but at the same time not strip them completely of the ability to think on their own and in their own way.  There's no easy, clear cut answer to that.

Children, whether they like it or not, are humans beings and we are all creatures of habit.  We need routines and structure and without those weaved into our foundation, we are not stable.  Children without enough structure at home not only end up hating school and doing poorly, but they often develop the mindset that they are too stupid or not worth anything; they give up and stop caring.  Children with too much structure in a home where they are over planned and over schedule tend to be anxious and can put up a wall because they feel too stressed to deal with building proper bonds with humanity.  So, as with most things in life, too little or too much is not the balance we need or crave.

Education systems should strike a balance in our children's lives between work and play.  Play is creative.  Work is more logical, but can be just as creative.  There are certain things a teacher can do to make learning more fun and to encourage creativity over the rigid guidelines, but there must be a limit on doing such.  Drawing your ideas is not equal to learning proper grammar in order to write or speak your ideas clearly to others.  We do not have to settle for one or the other.  Teachers can combine both a writing assignment with an artistic outlet, or teachers can alternate between standard and creative assignments.

School curriculum typically includes creative classes such as art and music.  There is not real reason to make these classes strictly structure.  If a student wishes to excel at music, they will seek out more proper and dedicated instruction from the teacher as will a budding artist.  So, a classroom of twenty gradeschoolers can finger-paint any subject they wish without being scolded about doing a particular style or subject.  These classes are meant to unwind the child throughout a day of structure, because we need both.  Adults take coffee breaks, don't they?  You think one period of recess is enough to balance out 8 hours of learning?  Try surviving you next shift with only one coffee break.

We also must look at ourselves as parents if our children are becoming more rebellious about going to school or acting like little learning robots.  Not everything in our child's mind is the product of their school; we are just as accountable.  If your child is being "burned out" at school and you can see that they'd rather watch television than draw or invent a game to play- snap them out of it yourself, don't wait for the school to do it.  Using Google, searching Helium, or even About.com, you can find thousands of ideas on how to rekindle that creativity spark in not only your child, but yourself.

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