Fostering Creativity Through Classroom Flexibility

Fostering Creativity Through Classroom Flexibility.

Creativity is a process of developing original ideas and expressions and of employing abstract thought to find solutions for problems. There is such a demand for creativity in our world that we must seek to specifically nurture it in our children! 

A flexible and safe classroom environment is the best seedbed a school can provide for growing your child's creativity. Within a well-prepared classroom where there is room to explore, several children may gather to develop a play that solves some type of childhood situation. Others may gather at a water table with a variety of cups and measuring tools, doing experiments and cleaning up the resulting messes. In another area, a child may be looking at a picture book of children around the world and finding their homelands on a globe. Clear rules, well-maintained, reduce any anxiety your child may have and leave room to develop her curiosity and imagination. This leaves the fruit of creativity free to grow!

Creativity takes time, and in a flexible classroom, if your child is busy with a task or activity, he is allowed the time to finish it if that's possible. If not, he's given a means to lay it aside intact to be returned to later. His work is respected and taken seriously as something having value. This encourages your child to value his creative work and to feel capable of moving on to even greater things.

In a flexible classroom, the teachers know that each child learns differently and at his or her own pace, and they respect those differences. That means if your child's a more advanced student, she can challenge herself in her work, but a "late-bloomer" can accomplish at his level and celebrate his own work. That way, everyone has the chance to be interested in the challenge of creating, but no one is frustrated, confused, or held back. That atmosphere, such as the one found at a montessori school in Austin TX, makes all the children more willing to take the risk of working creatively!

In order to be flexible, a classroom must have visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile materials available so that your child work on projects in several different subject areas. Creativity has purpose, so the teacher must be willing to guide and help the children use the materials purposefully, rather than randomly. Every new use of material provides a new framework in the child's mind and your child will fill in that framework with other facts and experiences rapidly. More information about flexibility and creativity in the classroom can be found <a href="http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/01/10/30-ways-to-promote-creativity-in-your-classroom/">here</a>, an article you may enjoy.

Your child may be the next Einstein, Beethoven, Da Vinci, or Marie Curie....or s/he may never be famous but may enjoy creating, delight those who know him, or find wonderful creative solutions to the circumstances that arise in everyday life! Take the first steps toward this future now by establishing your young student in a flexible classroom setting.

Author's Note

Fostering Creativity Through Classroom Flexibility.