Living With Live Wires

Several gifted education authors talk about the creative characteristics of gifted children, from divergent thinking, to dealing with complexities to perceptions and learning styles, to having high sensitivities. These characteristics are ideal for the actualization of high creativity.

A gifted child’s view of the world is often non-traditional and divergent; he sees numerous possibilities hidden to others (Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1982)

Being able to see, hear, feel and experience aspects of life that most people miss is a necessary part of creative production (Dixon, 1983)

High levels of sensitivity may be what drives intellectual giftedness; they allow the child to pick up on vast amounts of input from his environment (Freeman, 1985).

Generally, when children are allowed to learn creatively, we unlock powerful and amazing learning potential (Rivera, 2002)

What does all this mean for me and my children? It means that we do not have to put our noses in books and worksheets to be learning and preparing for the future. We can relax about taking on creative projects that have sometimes felt like an indulgence of our time. We can relax and let the natural curiosity of the children take us to places we wouldn’t have thought of.

I place a much higher emphasis on exploring nature, of nurturing their natural abilities to closely observe differences in detail. I encourage their natural bent of divergent thinking. There is plenty of time for convergent thinking in our studies, and now I encourage, with equal emphasis, plenty of time for divergent thinking.

I attend to their observations of the world, ask more questions about what they see and feel. And, I describe to them the positive side of being highly sensitive and imaginative because of the creativity and beauty they can bring into the world. This is a completely different way of talking to and working with children than in previous generations that preferred to toughen children up and putting them down for pursuing creativity.

I pursue my own creative work  in writing, sewing, photography and whatever arts and crafts projects we try.  I let my kids see what I am doing and discuss it with them. We begin new kinds of art together and struggle through the learning process together. We appreciate the creative works of others, whether art, music, dance or drama. We love to go to plays and concerts. I try to add discussions before and after to increase their appreciation of the beauty of the performance and the hard work that goes into it.

[excerpt from my Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented State Conference presentation: Don't Fence Me In - Mastery, Creativity, and Adventure in the Home Education of Bright Children]