The Courage to Imagine

Children have more courage than any adult I have ever known. They have the courage to imagine. They use their imaginations to create whole worlds and to act out the stories they wield through the power of their minds. Children still believe in magic, the magic of their imaginations, of creating something from nothing. They have the ability to see things that we, as adults, can no longer see. And they have the courage to believe in a better world than the one in front of them.

They believe in hidden worlds within our own, worlds with fairies and pixies and mermaids, worlds with unicorns and dragons. They create new creatures, never before seen in any legend, fairytale or myth. They draw what they see behind their eyes, what their imagination shows them and they create stories from what they draw.

Children are well-equipped to follow their dreams, because they are willing to imagine where that will take them. They are not afraid to face their dreams. They have the courage to imagine.

We would all benefit from listening to imagination of children.


Tweet

Children Finding Help Through Stories

The On Our Minds Scholastic blog recently featured an article about how in these tough economic times, children can find help in coping through the stories they read. The topic was brought into the spotlight by the NBC Nightly News when they ran a story about a little girl who found the courage to break her silence about her family's homelessness because of a book.

I agree that books can help children in so many ways, and children can see themselves, sometimes, in the characters they read about. That can really help them to cope with the variety of things that they are going through.

I also believe that sometimes telling stories can be cathartic for children. Even if the story they are telling is fictional, they can sometimes live out a fantasy or show someone else dealing with the same issue that they are, or even work through something through writing about it. Another method that writing can help a child deal with issues in his life is through poetry.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has a Young Writer's Program. It is free to join and it begins on November 1st and runs through November 30th. I wish more schools would get involved with it, but your child can sign up as an individual and start writing! I highly recommend it!

Tweet