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Hello and welcome to Blooming Curious, a podcast

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dedicated to reimagining early childhood education

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through the power of curiosity. I'm Edwina, your

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host, and here to explore the strategies that

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inspire a lifelong love for learning in children.

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So if you're homeschooling, or you're a curious

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educator looking for creative, meaningful ways

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to engage children and move beyond the talk -and

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-talk traditional classroom approach, then this

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is the place for you. It's Saturday morning.

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Your child walks into the kitchen and says those

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words that make your heart sink. I'm bored. And

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immediately, you feel the urge to fix it, to

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suggest something, to pull out the craft supply,

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to turn on a screen. But what if that moment

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of boredom is actually one of the most valuable

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learning opportunities your child will have all

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day? Remember that saying, boredom is the mother

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of invention? Unfortunately, in trying to fix

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things for our children, we've robbed them. of

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learning skills to fix things for themselves.

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Think about how different childhood looked 20

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years ago versus today. Kids used to have hours

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of unstructured time and now their calendars

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look like a CEO's schedule. They have every hour

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of their day planned out for them. So it's no

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wonder they don't know what to do with themselves

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when they have five minutes of nothing. So then

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those unstructured minutes Of course, they're

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going to become what is perceived as boring.

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But boredom is actually really important. When

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kids experience boredom, their brains are actually

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looking for solutions. This is what we call executive

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function in action. Boredom creates space for

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creative problem -solving, for self -directed

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learning so they can come up with something to

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do on their own. for understanding their own

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interests and motivations, and building tolerance

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for frustration, because life isn't always just

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unicorns and rainbows. I remember hearing something

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years ago, someone saying that their child had

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complained of being bored. And so this person

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said, well, there are leaves to rake, bathrooms

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to clean, laundry to fold. In other words, there

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are a million chores to do, so pick one. And

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I think it's really important that children do

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have chores in the home, that they do contribute

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to keeping the home tidy, that they play their

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part in the family. But at the same time, having

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that empty space of having nothing to do also

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creates opportunities for creative thinking,

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for problem solving. You know, I remember many,

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many years ago when my brothers and I were children,

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we spent a lot of time at our grandparents' home.

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and behind the house was this empty plot of land

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and for some reason or other there was a discarded

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piece of kitchen furniture like a kitchen counter

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thing. And us kids, we went around and what we

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did was we found empty bottles, we filled them

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with sand, we found some stones and a whole bunch

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of other bits and pieces and we set up a pretend

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shop. No one told us to do this or no one showed

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us how to do it. We were just left to own devices

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to figure things out. And it took time to scour

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the place for the things we needed that we wanted

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to pretend sell. It took time to set this shop

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up. And then, of course, we had our roles as

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shopkeepers and customers. And it was hours of

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playing and entertaining ourselves. And the key

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point to this is that no one jumped in to tell

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us what to do. If there was ever a need to fix

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it, they certainly resisted that urge. So I want

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to give you three practical strategies to use

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boredom as a teaching tool. Number one is just

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normalize it. You can say something like, I hear

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you're bored. That's just your brain telling

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you it's ready to learn something new. So what

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do you think you can do about it? And notice

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you do not offer solutions. Number two is you

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create the conditions. You make sure that the

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children have access to open -ended materials,

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cardboard boxes, art supplies, books, and outdoor

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space. But you don't tell them or direct them

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how to use them. And number three is you just

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wait it out. Those first minutes can be uncomfortable.

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Kids will test you. But after 15 or 20 minutes,

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a shift happens, and they will start creating.

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But only if you do not offer them a screen, because

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screens kill creativity. Because they have to

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create something on their own. But the screen

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has already created it. It's entertainment on

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tap. So our children have become passive consumers

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instead of active creators. So what can we as

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parents do to shift our mindset? Our job isn't

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to be the entertainment director. It's to be

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the guide that teaches them what they're capable

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of, to create their own engagement. So the next

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time your child says, I'm bored, take a breath.

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See it as an opportunity, not an emergency. If

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you found this helpful, and you want more practical

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strategies for raising independent creative learners,

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please subscribe to the podcast so you don't

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miss an episode the next time one comes available,

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next week, for example. And if you're feeling

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generous, please leave a review. It really helps

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other parents and educators find these conversations.

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And besides the weekly podcast episodes, you

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can also subscribe to Get Curious. It's my weekly

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newsletter where I provide inspiration and strategies

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for keeping ourselves and our children curious.

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So thanks for listening. It's been a short and

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sweet episode. And until next time, stay blimmy

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curious.