Nurturing Creative Children by Dr. Yew Kam Keong - HTML preview

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I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I'd teach less about the love of power,

And more about the power of love.

By Diane Loomans

Copyright © 2004-2008 Dr. YKK Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D

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YKK Quotes on Nurturing Creativity in Children

Artists

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after

growing up. Pablo Picasso

Boredom

Boredom will always remain the greatest enemy of school discipline. If

we remember that children are bored, not only when they don't happen to

be interested in the subject or when the teacher doesn't make it

interesting, but also when certain working conditions are out of focus with

their basic needs, then we can realize what a great contributor to

discipline problems boredom really is. Research has shown that boredom

is closely related to frustration and that the effect of too much frustration

is invariably irritability, withdrawal, rebellious opposition or aggressive

rejection of the whole show. Fritz Redl

Brain

If the right brain abilities are developed between the ages of zero to six,

they will be with a child for life. As such, pulling out the brain’s natural

abilities should take priority over others, so that the child need not suffer

at all in learning anything in the future. Makato Shichida

Breast-feeding

The more you breast-feed, the smarter your kid will become. The brains

of kids who have been breast-fed are more optimally developed than

those of kids who haven't been breast-fed. Not only would the mother be

providing the benefit of breast milk, she would provide a biological link

with the child that would be very satisfying for both mother and child.

June Machover Reinisch

The longer the child is breastfed, up to study limits of 24 months, the

greater their IQ scores and school performance. The human child's brain is

growing most rapidly during the first two years of life. Since we know that

some of the ingredients in breast-milk are critical to brain growth and

development, the results are not surprising. Katherine Dettwyler

Childhood

Childhood is a land of great promise, a place where you should find

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something round and homelike, a place where there is room for a sense of

closeness and the cultivation of corresponding needs. Ernst Bloch

Community

Parents, community groups and business leaders must be engaged in

developing curricula, discussing student and community needs,

supplementing limited resources and finding solutions to school problems

like drop-out rates and absenteeism. Jonny Gevisser

Computers

There is no good evidence that most uses of computers significantly

improve teaching and learning, yet school districts are cutting programs --

music, art, physical education -- that enrich children's lives to make room

for this dubious nostrum. Todd Oppenheimer

Children with access to the computer and the Internet learn, work, think,

shop and create in ways different from those of their parents. The

Computer and the Internet are the playground of these children – a land

of new unlimited possibilities and opportunities. Don Tapscott

Creativity

To give a fair chance to potential creativity is a matter of life and death

to any society. Arnold Toynbee

We need creativity to understand the world for creativity is part of the

learning process. Ingrid P Samuelson

Creativity can be used to stimulate the aesthetic and emotional

dimensions of learning as a counterpoint to cognitive learning. Florence Beetlestone

Non-creative behaviour is learned. George Land

Creativity is more of a dull glow than a divine spark- the more fanning it

receives, the brighter it will burn. James Adams

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human

creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To him... a touch is a

blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a

friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.”

“Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to

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create, create, create--so that without the creating of music or poetry or

books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off

from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange,

unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.

Pearl S. Buck

Creativity should be considered a common goal for all individuals rather

than a unique trait of the genius. David Henry Feldman

When teachers or parents fail to understand highly creative individuals,

refusal to learn or withdrawal may be a consequence. The highly creative

person has an unusually strong urge to explore and to create. When he or

she thinks up ideas, or tests them and modifies them, he or she has an

unusually strong desire to communicate these ideas and to tell others

what they have discovered. Yet both peers and teachers named some of

the most creative students in our studies as ones who do not speak out

their ideas; there is little wonder they are reluctant to communicate their

ideas. Frequently, their ideas are so far ahead of those of their classmates

and even their teachers that they have given up hopes of

communicating. E. Paul Torrance

Creativity includes drawing and painting, but it is more than just art.

Creativity includes having fun and playing, but it is more than just fun and

games. Creativity provides an exciting way for children to become

intrinsically motivated, to find joy in the ordinary, and to discover their

hidden talents. All children possess creativity. Steve Dahlberg

Education

Education is that which remains after one has forgotten everything he

learned in school. Albert Einstein

What the educational experience almost completely excludes is the

exercise and development of the students’ creativity. Ray Boltz & Robert Dean

It is vital that the emotional needs of these complex, sensitive,

independent children be integrated into the educational process. Marie Friedel

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and

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generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education

should be to unlock that treasure. Emma Goldman

Alas, how much is in our education and in our social institutions to

prepare us and our children for insanity. Goethe

Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that

by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much

they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. Sir William Haley

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Mark Twain

The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing

new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done -

men who are creative, inventive and discoverers. Jean Piaget

The need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility -

- these are the three forces which are the very nerve of education.

Rudolf Steiner

Avoid compulsion and let early education be a manner of amusement.

Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot remain in

the soul. Plato

Environment

The challenge is to construct environments and ways of living life that will

boost creativity and increase children’s inborn curiosity for seeking

information and learning. N. Kobayashi

The success of early childhood education will depend on whether it can

connect the learning environments of home and school. It should be built

on the interaction and communication between children, teachers and

parents. Carla Rinaldi

Examinations

I should have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They always tried to

ask what I did not know. When I would have willingly displayed my

knowledge, they sought to expose my ignorance. This sort of treatment

had only one result: I did not do well in examinations. Winston

Churchill

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One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations,

whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on

me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the

consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire

year. Albert Einstein

Fairy Tales

To have brilliant children, tell them fairy tales. To have even more

brilliant children, tell them even more fairy tales. Albert Einstein

Family

Take back control of your family's schedule. Choose with your children

the activities that matter most. And most importantly, schedule some

down time every week. Make sure there are open spaces – time to just be

a family - with plenty of room for rest and imagination. Mark W. Merrill

Imagine an education system where none of the educators are trained.

Indeed, where training is seen as a sign of weakness. There is no

curriculum but the amount to be learned is vast and is assumed that

everyone knows what it is. There is no assessment, but if people fail the

penalties are severe. This is not any old education system but the

foundation of every course, job, and profession the world. It is of course

the family. Titus Alexander

Games

“Avoid compulsion and let early education be a manner of amusement.

Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot remain in

the soul. Plato

Genius

“A genius must be a well-rounded person, familiar with many things: art,

music, science and sports. He or she can't be restricted to only one field of

expertise. Yoshiro Nakamatsu

Traditional academic programs are sometimes poorly suited to humans of

extraordinary potential. One is left to wonder how many geniuses did not

survive educational disasters. John Curtis Gowan

Society has not given the same attention to the education of the genius

Copyright © 2004-2008 Dr. YKK Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D

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as has been given to other groups. We spend millions every year for the

mentally retarded. The unfortunate child of superior intellect spends his

time in a usual commonplace school assimilating a diet far below his

expected capacity. Josephine Concannon

It surely may be questioned whether geniuses like Mozart would have

reached the prominence they did if they were kept from public

performance or tournaments because that would be exploiting the child! It

is also an abuse to withhold opportunities from precocious youngsters who

are eager to advance and excel. Sidney L. Pressey

All children are born geniuses, and we spend the first six years of their

lives degeniusing them. Buckminster Fuller

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it

does not know what to do with genius. Oliver Wendell Holmes

Gifted

“Never in the nation's history has there been so vital a need for careful

nurturance of the nation's gifted student pool. Never has there been so

great a threat of annihilation of importance of values and mores. Never

has there been such a dire need for better minds in so many increasingly

complex problem areas of our national life. Theodore E. Tetrault

“It is known that the unrecognized gifted child is the one who is often

punished rather than being rewarded for his abilities. The creative child is

often able to do two or three things at once. Typically the teacher doesn't

like this because in her estimation this child is not attending to the class

lesson. Repeatedly the child is scolded and punished and banished from

the group, when actually he isn't giving any real trouble. Ann Issacs

By this refusal to recognize special gifts, we have wasted and dissipated,

driven into apathy or schizophrenia, uncounted numbers of gifted children.

If they learn easily, they are penalized for being bored when they have

nothing to do; if they excel in some outstanding way, they are penalized

for being conspicuously better than the peer group and teachers warn the

gifted child, "yes, you can do that; it's much more interesting than what the others are doing. But, remember, the rest of the class will dislike you

for it. Margaret Mead

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Gifted children, especially young ones, often have difficulty in making

friends. So when a child becomes so absorbed in his own activities that he

doesn't have friends, it's because he hasn't had a chance to make the

right kind. E. Paul Torrance

There are gifted children and, like other minorities, they need help. It

may be difficult to grasp why children with the potential to achieve

eminence should require special attention. To a very considerable extent,

those individuals who constitute that "creative minority" in our society have achieved their eminence in spite of rather than because of our school

system. Dr. Harold C. Lyon, Jr

More often than not, children are unevenly gifted, often being especially

gifted in one area. It's not uncommon to find them quite gifted in a

specific area, but average or learning-disabled in another. Ellen Winner

As with a disability, giftedness can lead to unhappiness and social

isolation. With adult minds in children's bodies, profoundly gifted children

tend to be persecuted by other children. They tend to find little

commonality with their age peers, relating to older children or adults.

Ellen Winner

Grown-ups

“We need grown-ups who are also children, who speak the language of

children's dreams. Francois Debary

Home

The home is the principal learning environment for the child and parents

are the primary educators. Thomas Armstrong

Homework

Some children were not interested in attending school because there was

too heavy an emphasis on homework. We should shift the focus of the

school day away from homework and toward in-school learning. Ibrahim

Sobhan

Imagination

The need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility -

- these are the three forces which are the very nerve of education.

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Rudolf Steiner

Inspiration

“Encourage your child to appreciate the inspiration that surrounds him.

Marvel at the power of the wind, the immensity of the ocean, the

perfection of a snowflake, the night sky, or the rugged beauty of a

mountain range. Brenda Nixon

Judgement

Whenever we pass judgment on a child, we fail to see him as a whole

person. True, he may be nervous, shy, stubborn, moody, or violent; we

may know his siblings or his background, or think we recognize family

traits. But to focus on any one aspect of a child, especially a negative one,

is to put him in a box whose sides may not really be determined by

reality, but only by our own expectations. Johann Christoph Arnold

Learning

“Real learning is a process of discovery and if we want it to happen, we

must create the kind of conditions in which discoveries are made. We

know what these are. They include time, leisure, freedom, and lack of

pressure. John Holt

Learning does not begin and end at the classroom door, but must be

integrated into the lives of children, taking into account their home and

community life. It needs to be a relevant, interesting experience for

children whose attention can too often be diverted by television and video

games. Michele Jolin

When you create an environment where learning can happen, learning

happens. Maria Montessori

Seventy-five percent of teachers are sequential, and analytic

presenters... and 70% of all their students do not learn that way. Eric Jansen

Mind

The greatest invention in the world is the mind of a child. Thomas

Edison

“The mi