What will our childrens’ future look like? The world as we know it is changing so rapidly that it’s almost impossible to know what it will look like in just five years, let alone thirty. I saw the movie Social Network this weekend, and was reminded that Facebook has only been around for about five years. I don’t know about you, but I can barely remember my life before its existence. I vaguely remember getting family updates on all my extended family through my parents or those epic 2-page holiday letters, and now I find myself stopping my mom to say things like, “…and did you know that your best friend is about to become a grandma?” She didn’t. True Story.
And this is why it’s so important to foster creative thinking in today’s youth. It’s not enough to memorize historical facts, ace a multiple choice test, or correctly identify all of the elements in the periodic table. I’m not knocking these tasks, but if we want to our kids to thrive, and *gasp*…compete, in the unknown world of the future, they’ll need a lot more than good memorization and “passing the test” skills because we don’t know exactly what kind of information they’ll need. Sure, we can guess, but what will serve them best are the abilities to think independently, be open to new ideas, be inventive, apply their imaginations, suggest hypotheses, and search for innovative solutions.
Take less than two minutes to watch this adorable video that advocates for creative thinking skills in the classroom. If you’re a parent or teacher, ask yourself if your school is doing everything it can to support the aforementioned skills.
How is your school or your child’s school fostering creative growth?
What skills do you think are important for today’s children to develop in order to thrive in tomorrow’s world?
oh my gosh!!! the weight of preparing our kids to thrive independently. marking our success as parents. oh boy! and it’s at the forefront of my daily life as we decide where to send Simone to school. Marango for a sense of community. The labschool UCLA for it’s critical thinking. or los Feliz charter for it creativity. all are extremely important, but not one school possesses them all. Lordy Lordy. the pressure.
i’m sure you’ll make a good choice, and they all sound like excellent options. as long as you’re being mindful about your decision, how can you go wrong?
this also reminds me of a funny today.
we use the technique “stop, three breaths, now let’s think of a few solutions” when it comes to dealing with frustration. and today Simone was getting frustrated with a task, so I knelt down, held her shoulder and said,”now let’s……..”
and before I could finish she looked at me totally exhausted. “I don’t want to think now mom.”
it made me realize how much thinking she has to do in a day, how much thinking we do as parents and how important it is to embrace creative thinking and to know when to rest. 🙂
kids often know themselves (and us!) so well. resting (and taking deep breaths) is so important. It sounds like she may be reaching a point where she can calm down and reflect all by herself — you’re teaching her good skills, mom 🙂
If you could e-mail me with a few suggestions on just how you made your blog look this excellent, I would be grateful.
Love this video! I showed it to my husband too and he is sharing it with his students tomorrow (middle school) He teaches with a lot of video clips to grab their attention! Love the part about coping with change…that is definitely a skill everyone needs—including me! I was checking out some of your past posts and it just reaffirms that I Love your Blog! Thanks for the inspiration! Well done.
melissa ~ thanks for the comment. it was fun for me to revisit this video, too. i’d love to hear what the kids thought of it…and thank you for the ever-so-kind words of support 🙂