The Benefits of Boredom

I had a talk to day with my friend Cat Herder and we touched on many topics, one of them being the benefit of boredom for children.

Yes, that's right. BOREDOM.

What do kids do when they have unscheduled time and no TV, computer, or organizing adult to coach them through it?

Cat Herder brought up the topic because her son, also homeschooled, had spent the weekend at a friend's house and the two kept trying to go in and play on the computer or ask Mom for something to do. Mom just kept sending them back outside.

This wasn't cruelty or neglect - the house was safe, secluded, on the banks of a calm creek, and boasted its own basketball hoop and a play set in the back. There were plenty of balls and toys, etc. But instead of rambling, poking in the mud, or shooting some hoops, the boys spent the first day trying to get someone or something else to organize their fun.

Cat Herder's reasoning - they didn't know how to be bored. More precisely, they didn't know how to recognize boredom and deal with it themselves by making their own fun. There they were, completely unscheduled, and the expectation was that some adult, or machine, should tell them what to do.

Her resolve now is to try and make sure that her son gets more of this unscheduled time - preferably in the company of other kids (a bit of a problem as he is an only child).

Her comments made me think about my daughter's recent explosion of creativity. Since we started homeschooling, I've had very strict guidelines on TV time. Once school work is over, if there it isn't time for the TV to come on, then it doesn't come on. The first few days of this The Girl was at a loss. She actually did extra math, the first day.

Then, literally over night, she started drawing and playing her electric keyboard intensively, and asking for a guitar. While she has always like to color, this intensive drawing was new. and the musical interest was a complete shock to me. We have had that keyboard for four years, and she rarely did more than set it to play automatically so that she could dance. Now, she has memorized most of the songs on it!

We haven't started guitar lessons yet, but she is very intent upon playing her instrument and spends a lot of time just exploring the sounds it will make. It kind of reminds me of a baby learning to talk.

Our curriculum, Oak Meadow 4th grade, has supported this blossoming in creativity to an amazing extent, but I truly think that boredom has been the key to bringing out all my daughter's hidden talents.