Coloring Outside the Lines

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

02 Oct 2006 07:41 PM

I have to warn you: I am on the war path. My child got in trouble today during school. We went down the block to play in our friend's back yard and they have a sand box. You know, because we have to socialize.

So we played at the sandbox for a while with another family and my daughter decided it would be more interesting to take the sand out of the box than to keep it in. She had made a nice hill before anyone noticed. Since it is not polite to spread sand all over someone else's back yard if they don't want it there, we asked her to pick it up. . .so she did. She built a contraption that allowed her to slide sand in and around the sand box. And then it happened. The other mother said to me, "I would punish my daughter for such disobedience."

Disobedience? Who is being disobedient? I wasn't in a hurry and apparently, neither was my daughter. The sand made it all back into the box. . .eventually. . .via my daughter's newly constructed sand-sliding-mover-machine-thingy. And I say kudos for her for tackling a problem in a new way!

So if you've stayed with me this long, you're likely wondering what this has to do with homeschooling? I'm advocating for coloring outside of the lines. I want everyone who reads this to go get your child some paper, crayons, blocks, a sand box or whatever and challenge them to do something creative.

Coloring in the Lines

Coloring within the lines is a phenomenon that goes with school. After all, how else do you ensure that all 30 of your students are doing what they're supposed to be doing. But I don't have 30 students and neither do you. We are free to not color in the lines.

The key problem blocking us from allowing our children to "color where they may" is that we've all been trained in the art of "supposed to be." "Suppose to be" training is very powerful. "Supposed to be", is what makes us cringe when our kids mix all the play dough colors together. But even more importantly, "suppose to be", is what makes those other people look at our kids with disdain. "Aren't they supposed to be learning math facts? Aren't they supposed to be reading by now? Aren't they supposed to be. . .coloring within the lines?"

"Supposed to be" is what determines where the lines are, and even sometimes what colors to put within the lines.

Scribbling

There are many who would say that coloring outside of the lines is merely scribbling. That might be true. But it seems like scribbling may be a worth while endeavor. It seems like scribbling might encourage creative thinking and new approaches. Scribbling may even inspire others to consider coloring out of the lines too.

So in an act of utter defiance, I am letting my kids scribble. . .metaphorically speaking that is. I hope you do too. I can't help but think that some of our world's most difficult problems might be solved by the scribblers of the world!

Related Articles:

Those Blasted Grass Roots Movements

The Power of Loving to Learn

Confessions of a Supermom: Fun Things We do to Blow Off a School Day

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

Gwyllum (301) 03 Oct 2006 04:31 AM

Oh, how I love it! God bless her little heart. From a long time scribbler of sorts - and to think for all those years, I worried about maybe I was bordering on a laissez faire style of parenting. Wonderful story.

Valorie Delp (49340) 03 Oct 2006 10:05 AM

Haha--this particular child is my "scribbler extreme". She has great potential to take her innovativeness and really inspire. Her scribbling can be a challenge at times to parent. . .but I hope we are able to guide her into channeling all that energy and spunk into doing really great things! As always, thanks Gwyllum!

Catherine Ipcizade (5617) 03 Oct 2006 10:24 AM

GREAT article. I have to ask, what did you do when she said that to you??

Valorie Delp (49340) 03 Oct 2006 01:59 PM

I simply said, "Would you?" and kept smiling all the while thinking about how she had just become the subject of my next blog. . .

Andrea Hermitt (5507) 05 Jun 2007 10:23 AM

I had a piano teacher suck all of the joy out of my daughters playing because she felt the child was "disobedient". She asked too many questions, did not sit up straight, and forget concepts she hadn't applied lately. She actually demanded that I take my child home and SPANK her so she would perform better. I wanted to spank the teacher. It took three years, including one year off, before she began to enjoy playing the piano again.

Valorie Delp (49340) 05 Jun 2007 10:43 AM

I hate it when teachers do that. LOL--can we spank teachers who are obnoxious?