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Lingering and Lollygagging: Essential Elements of Learning

February 4, 2015 by Rebecca Pickens 12 Comments

This morning our farm is covered in white. The snow is coming down hard and it is lovely. The fire in the living room is bright and hot and the dog and cat have wisely sidled up together beside the hearth. A fresh pot of coffee is on and its rich aroma is calling, but I’m too busy to stop and enjoy it. I’m too busy, in fact, to enjoy any of the cozy scene that is unfolding in my home this morning.

Frankenstein and Friends

Frankenstein and Friends

Our homeschooler’s co-op has awesome plans to visit the planetarium today and it promises to be a great event. Except that no one in my family wants to get dressed. Or eat breakfast. Or do anything but cut out felt dolls they’ve made to look like Frankenstein, Dracula and a motley assortment of ghosts and ghouls.

Over breakfast (still not dressed) my oldest tells me, “Sunday will be a lot of fun because we will probably not be busy.” Except we will be; we will be out all day in fact, and as I remind him of this I watch his earnest face fall. I pause for a moment. I realize that this is my signal to propose the unexpected. “What if we just stay home today? I know we were very much looking forward to the field trip, but you’ve been awfully busy lately. What would you guys do if we stayed home instead?” JoJo drops his spoon. “MAKE STUFF” he shouts out. “Sit still and use my brain” says my oldest. “Make an igloo” little Walden cheers. I imagine myself actually drinking my mug full of coffee and possibly getting some writing done. It becomes abundantly clear, we need a day off.

Interestingly, however, once given a day to do with as they please, the boys don’t remain in their pajamas for long. There will be, I realize, no lounging about. Immediately, my oldest retrieves his Snap Circuits kit. “Finally I have time to catch up on my work for the President.” (Elias has an ongoing game that he is an elite scientist commissioned to make a series of alarms and light switches for President Obama. It’s great fun to watch.) He races past me with his arms full of circuit boards and wires. “I need scissors and more felt, more felt, more felt” JoJo sings out and in seconds he’s gone, transported to Transylvania, where he crafts yet another Count Dracula and three companion wolves. Walden, who is enamored with complex puzzles, begins crafting his own out of scrap paper and leftover felt. By mid-morning, the house is an absolute blur of industry, design and innovation.

Oh and did I mention that no one needed me for any of it? I’m at my computer writing. And my coffee tastes so good.

It tasted really good!

It tasted really good!

A quick online search will yield article after article by Slow Movement proponents proclaiming the benefits of streamlining schedules, chewing our food carefully and taking time to smell the roses. These acts, they advise, can improve our health and foster stronger connection with our families, friends and communities. And all of this is, of course, exactly right.

However, slower, quieter living impacts far more than the mental health of an individual. As history shows, individual acts of ground breaking innovation and discovery rely on extended periods of unfettered time for thought and reflection. Many of our greatest scientists, artists and writers were bestowed not only with raw talent, but also with the critical gift of free time.

As a young man studying at Cambridge, Isaac Newton and his classmates were sent home for a season to avoid the plague. There it was expected that Newton would help out on the family’s large farm; he was responsible for tending the sheep in the fields. The young scholar thought this work was tiring and dull and yet it is believed that during this time of quiet he began to develop his ideas and theories. It is noteworthy that it was in the field, not the halls of Cambridge, that Newton first sowed seeds that would grow into ideas that changed science. When danger of the plague had passed, Newton returned to Cambridge and once there was able to share aloud his ideas with other intelligent thinkers. It is this magic mixture of solitary introspection and time spent in a stimulating environment that ignites deep learning.

Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit

Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit

Beloved author and illustrator Beatrix Potter was educated at home by a governess and credits her success to her own self-study rather than to time spent with textbooks. Left mostly to her own devises, Potter’s early interest in plants and small animals was easily indulged. During the long hours she spent in solitude, Potter sketched and studied the natural world. Holidays spent in Scotland and the Lake District inspired her love of landscape painting. Like Newton, Beatrix Potter enjoyed freedom and also benefited from a rich environment from which to draw inspiration and knowledge.

Children aren’t designed for speed. They simply aren’t built for it. They linger and they lollygag. These tendencies afford kids their deepest joys and their most exquisite moments of learning. The child that dawdles spots the best puddles to stomp in and at the same time begins to understand the scientific concept of displacement. While cloud spotting, that same child notes his preference for cumulus clouds—they make the best dinosaur shapes. Children know all of this intuitively and when we stuff their life and learning into too many 45 minute increments they will revolt. And they should!  Children recognize that original art, stirring poetry, cures for disease and moving sonatas are not created in 45 minute blocks of time. Like all important work, a child’s activities require time and a great amount of exploratory freedom.

If we wish to promote innovation and new discoveries, as educators we must devote ourselves to cultivating quiet spaces and unhurried stretches of time for our learners. We must squelch our impatience and instead applaud childhood tendencies to dawdle.

As a bit of an overachiever myself, I want to connect my kids with all of the amazing happenings our vibrant community offers. I don’t want them to miss a thing. But it is essential that each activity selected is balanced with time to linger in a thought or grab a snuggle with the dog and to do so with time to spare.

What amazing pursuits do your own kids (or you for that matter!) pursue when given the time and space to do so?

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Filed Under: Balance, Education Reinvented, Student-Led Learning

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Comments

  1. Cait Fitz @ My Little Poppies says

    February 11, 2015 at 6:27 am

    I love everything about this, from the truth of it (which I see here, too), to the snap circuits, to Beatrix, to you having coffee and work time while they played (and learned!). Thanks for this one 🙂

    Reply
    • Rebecca says

      February 12, 2015 at 8:04 pm

      Thanks, Cait

      Reply
  2. Erin says

    February 11, 2015 at 8:02 pm

    What a lovely post! It makes me ache for the days when I home schooled my daughter and could decide to spend all day focusing on one project or reading some fabulous books. Moving to a traditional public high school has forced an unrelenting pace on our entire family. There is no time to relax and reflect. Not only is this type of hyper schedule tiring, it is also not conducive to learning. Studies in how we learn have shown that we often solve difficult problems after we stop focusing directly on them. If you go into a “diffuse focus mode” where you are no longer concentrating directly on the problem, your mind still works on it in the background and that is often when the “Ah Ha” moments occur.

    Reply
    • Rebecca says

      February 12, 2015 at 8:16 pm

      Erin, you are exactly right! “Diffuse focus mode,” I love this. Thanks for writing and I hope that you and your family have the chance to do nothing at all together someday soon.

      Reply
  3. Esther says

    February 12, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Oh, this post makes me want to snuggle with my children on the couch and read them all a book (while we sip hot cocoa and watch the snowflakes fall)! Thanks for validating how important the slow times are, for our health, learning and enjoyment. I especially loved the snuggle with a dog. My daughter often tells me, as she drifts from the dining room (work) table to the cat tower, that “Whatever you’re doing, it’s not as important as petting the cat.” (We even have a refrigerator magnet to help me remember.)

    Reply
    • Rebecca says

      February 12, 2015 at 8:17 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Esther. Go do it. Go snuggle your kids and watch the snowflakes fall!

      Reply
  4. Lisa Nelson says

    February 13, 2015 at 4:19 am

    This is a fantastic post. I know what your boy was feeling. Just wanting to stay home is huge. I have had moms ask me what I was doing on Saturday. I just respond, nothing. Nothing at all. They are running here to there and ask me how I do it.

    I just don’t plan anything. It’s so easy!

    Thanks so much for linking up with us!

    Reply
    • Rebecca says

      February 16, 2015 at 11:11 am

      Many thanks to you, Lisa!

      Reply
  5. Kristy says

    February 18, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    I’m a recovering type A, so I tend to fall back into productive mode and then wonder why I’m getting stressed out. My kids are 8 & 3 and the best at helping me marvel in the beauty of the moments when they happen. We’re so much happier when we don’t try to keep up with others time frames.

    Reply
    • Rebecca says

      February 20, 2015 at 6:57 am

      Kristy, your words are so true! Thank you.

      Reply
  6. Gabriela says

    February 20, 2015 at 8:03 am

    Great post! My son is always surprising me with the fantastic stuff he gets up to in his ‘free time’.

    Reply
  7. The Cardinal House says

    February 24, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    Such a great reminder for me today. (Also an overachiever over here…)

    Reply

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