Captivating children by Anna Rutten from Kidiwise Early Learning Centre

I've just finished reading ‘Making a Difference' by Owen Glenn, yes the chap who flew back from overseas to put the record straight on his big donation to Winston Peters.

I could relate to the book in a number of ways, the most prominent being a ‘can do' attitude.

I remember what my mother would say to me when I would run to her in desperation as a child. About to give up on a task, I would say to her in a frustrated tone ‘I can't do it'. She would say to me ‘There's no such word as can't'. Those words have held me in good stead through life. I've learned to approach new ventures with a ‘why not?' attitude rather than an ‘I can't' attitude.

How often do we regret something we've done and think of it as a mistake? They should not be looked at as mistakes but experiences to learn something from. Everything we do can be seen as having some benefit. It's just a case of positive perception.

Children need to be put in an environment where they are allowed to try and experiment without being chastised for getting dirty, breaking things, making a mess, or hurting themselves. Sure, boundaries should be made clear to them and the art of tidying up instilled. They must be allowed to extend themselves to be able to develop a life-long thirst for learning. How else are they going to gather the knowledge to take on challenges and be creative? To have this ability developed is to have the confidence to experience the world and its opportunities as their oyster. It is deleting the word ‘can't' from their vocabulary.

Children will not learn to create things, challenge ideas, form their own views, learn from experience, push themselves physically, unless they are given the opportunity to extend themselves.

It is not difficult to provide such an environment for our children. We simply need to put things in front of them and give them the support to work out how to create an object, climb, write, build, run, balance, count. Everything is attainable with practice. Let your children make things in the garage or the kitchen. You'll be surprised just how capable they are. Be patient and with practice they will soon be helping to fix things and helping with the meals and dishes. It has to be fun though!

This quote from Theodore Roosevelt sums it all up, 'Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”