We often hear the use of the word "phases" in a negative way as in "He's going through a very disobedient phase" or "she is going through a phase of rolling her eyes at me".
Not so in our house! Phases, to us, are a time spent being involved somehow in something of interest.
Look at your children now, unless they have had all the life and enjoyment sapped out of them they are SURE to have at least one phase, one thing they are interested in at the moment.
Is it: underwater creatures, space, cowboys, the great plague, model planes, Spanish, the Artic, collecting and using art equipment, the digestive system, teabags, Action Men, rocks and minerals, permaculture, German folk music, vintage tractors, doodling, helicopters, war machines, chickens, collecting and reading books, photography, natural skincare, aromatherapy, Japanese architecture, bones, piano, stationery, pregnancy and childbirth, motors, steam trains, paper planes, Gerry Anderson and every series he made, everything he said and all the books he is mentioned in ...???
Our daughter has many phases on the go at one time, going back and forth as the desire strikes. If her interest in one wanes, she turns to another, ensuring that her enjoyment and receptability (is that a real word?) for more and new information is not squelched.
All phases have the potential for learning so much rich information. If you are able to keep the lines of communication wide open, and discuss things with your child then if they start to be interested in something inappropriate I suggest you pray for wisdom in how to deal with it, and discuss that WITH them too.
A WARNING - I believe some children's lovely phases can be wrecked by an overzealous parent turning the phase into something "schooly".
However, providing materials or opportunities for the phase, allowing time and listening to the person talking about their phase is a FANTASTIC way to support and encourage phases.
No comments:
Post a Comment