2 Lessons From Einstein That Can Change Your Child’s Course in Life.
There are many myths and truths about Albert Einstein. He didn’t fail math in school and he wasn’t a bad student during his school career. It’s something for parents and educators to latch on to when we see a student floundering. Really smart and successful people have trouble in school, right? They just need to unlock some door and then things work out, right?
What separates Einstein from you and me is simple. This separation is where we can find the key for some children who don’t fit into the boxes that are set up in school. This difference between a world class theorist and a “regular person” is not the size of his brain or the kind of education he received as a child.
It’s creativity and persistence.
In “Einstein” by Walter Isaacson, there are multiple references to these 2 ideas and how they helped Albert Einstein ascend into the pantheon of thinkers in our culture.
Think about your child’s day…
What opportunities are there for open-ended creativity?
What happens when your child meets frustration or failure?
What kind of things does your child do on a daily basis?
What chances are there for creative expression?
How does your child look at a problem?
If some of your answers are like this…
My child engages in multiple structured activities with adult supervision.
My child walks away from frustration or failure and does not try the task.
My child watches 1–2 hours of television a day followed by 1 or more hours on video games/computer time/phone time.
My child does not engage in art, music, dance, or other creative expression activities.
My child looks for help before tackling a problem.
If some of your answers look like the ones above, do not despair. You are not doing a bad job as a parent or educator. But there is room for improvement.
Encourage open-ended play and be a part of it: Yes, we are all busy. The house needs to be cleaned, the Facebook needs to be Facebooked, and emails need to be responded to from work. If you need to, schedule time to engage in some free play with your child. This is especially true when they are young. Bring out the dolls or superheroes and have a conversation. Play without thinking about what needs to be done. This kind of open-ended play can lead to divergent thinking and creative ways of seeing problems. Furthermore, children work out their own issues through play. A conversation or interaction between toys can help children with figuring out something that they can’t label or talk about just yet.
Be open to frustration and let it happen: How we model our responses to frustration and failure are not ignored by our children. Do you throw tantrums? Not kicking and screaming on the floor, but outbursts with anger or yelling when things don’t work out? The behavior we model is something to think about when we see frustration in our children.
When I say let it happen, I mean this: be open to the concept that you will be frustrated by some things. Modeling a calm response can show your children that we are going to encounter problems and there are different ways of how to handle them.
Turn off the TV, put away the iPad, and put down your damn phone: I don’t need to list to you the downsides of screen time both for yourself and your child. You are reading this on a screen, so I am no hypocrite. There is a time and a place for all things, and screen time is good. There is learning and humor, there is insight and wonder that can be fostered through the choices of screen time that we engage in.
On the other hand, by taking a break from screens and modeling other ways of spending time, you can give your child the balance they need. I was raised in a generation where television began to become a baby sitter. There is no friction in our current culture between screens and ourselves. Access to YouTube, Facebook, and random internet games and videos is easier than ever before. Keep this in mind as your child’s afternoon and evening devolve into watching instead of doing.
Find time for creative expression: Einstein played the violin and was part of groups that played music where he lived. Learning to play music is one creative outlet that can help children both develop and find a pursuit that is separate from a screen. If it’s not music, take a drawing class or work with clay. The mind needs other ways to express itself and artistic pursuits are one of those ways. Plus, it’s fun and rewarding for children.
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Finding time for creative expression is important, but let’s not overlook persistence.
Einstein’s ability to chew on a problem until it appeared to be solved was remarkable. As a modern human, what is your response to hard tasks? Remember that how we model things for our children is how they will respond to similar issues.
- Work on making time for hard tasks
- Work on cutting corners to get to the ending; the journey is the destinations sometimes. Showing our children the wonder of some hard work and how it changes you is also necessary.
- Work on flexible thinking and finding new solutions to old problems
- Be a lifelong learner- no matter what you do as an adult, there can be room for growth professionally or personally. Show your children that change is a constant, and that it’s okay to grow in other ways.
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We all want our children to be their best. While you may not wish for your child to be Einstein, but rather an athlete or some other profession in which you place value, the lesson still remains. Creativity and persistence are life long skills that will pay off for any child (and one day adult!)
