After a challenging week, you may not be entirely sure you were “in your right mind” when you decided to homeschool.
…Or perhaps it’s your children who aren’t in THEIR right minds?
It’s true, some people aren’t in their right minds
The left half of our brains controls most of the logical functions while creativity lies mostly in the domain of the right half. Those tests on Facebook and Pinterest tell us what we probably already know–whether we’re more comfortable operating out of the logical, analytical half or out of the creative, intuitive half.
But everybody’s brain has two halves!
That means we’re ALL capable of both logical and creative thought.
It’s just a matter of becoming comfortable using both sides of our potential brain power.
This takes practice.
While some people have brains that pass information easily between the two halves, most people are more comfortable operating out of one or the other.
What does that mean?
The more you use both halves, the easier it becomes
When writing a paper, for example, it’s often helpful to separate the creative writing function from the analytical editing function.
When you write, let the ideas flow onto the page from the right side of your brain.
Don’t worry too much about spelling, punctuation, or sentence structure (analytical, left-brain stuff) until you get the story told.
Then you can turn down the creative voices and turn up your internal editor to fix the details.
When you’ve marked the rough spots, turn the creative volume back up to fix what needs fixing.
There’s an interplay between the two functions of our brains–almost like taking turns in a polite conversation.
The trick is to help our children realize that this is normal.
Too often we expect perfection, but there’s a reason the first draft is called a “rough” draft!
It’s been said that there is no great writing, only great rewriting.
This is true of other disciplines, as well.
An artist first lays out the systematic lines for scale and perspective then goes back to creatively fill in the finished artwork.
A scientist analyzes existing data, creates theories, then returns to analytical mode to test the theories.
Higher-level thinking skills involve analysis and evaluation (left-brain activities) as well as creativity (a right-brain activity).
Help your child identify the activities with which they are most comfortable, then encourage them to relax and give their minds time to play the mental ping-pong that creative thinking requires.