One day I glanced through the window to a wonderful scene; a group of kids building a treehouse. Ages five through twelve, this group of 5 were using the real stuff! Real nails, real tools and real boards to construct a “Clubhouse” about 6 feet off the ground, in a tree, and all with very little adult “help”. They planned, and they figured and they learned a lot, especially when one kid sawed-off a limb, while sitting (it’s true!) on the outside end of it! These guys thought they were playing! For sure, they were having the time of their lives!
What they were learning was as critical, and as useful to them as any academic knowledge they may get in school. I thought about this recently when reading about the problems in public schools, nationwide, the consistently low scores for all grades and especially in problem-solving and higher order thinking skills. Those are what we used to call “plain old common sense”, and this area is, in my opinion, nearly as important as are more academic skills of reading, writing, math and science.
My own definition of intelligence is “knowing what to do when there are no directions”. You might be amazed to know just how few kids can solve problems or figure things out or reason and think beyond basic level. The guys I watched build their treehouse are the exception, they are problems solvers, and they were planners. They started with a vision and figured out how to get along to get it done! They learned to collaborate, to compromise, to be a follower, and to lead. They used math, measuring and figuring, way beyond the memorization of math facts. They applied what they knew, and figured out what they did not! They had “OJT”, on the job training, skills learned because they needed to know them to do something meaningful to them. They were figuring how to estimate what length of boards will do, which nails are the right length without sticking out the other side, and how much rope they needed for a ladder. For them, their real-life building project had relevance, and meaning and purpose. I promise you that no plastic, premade, purchased playhouse, would ever, EVER compare with what they built, nor teach them any of the life lessons they learned while having the time of their lives. They were outside, working with their hands and with each other while building something of value and meaning for themselves.
There are major differences in just a few generations as to what kids are doing with their “free time”. Kids coming from the passive “sit and watch” world of televised trash and phone fascination and are having fewer real learning opportunities. The most critical factor in the mental development of our children is the number of experiences and opportunities for thinking and developing and building their mental capacity through hands on activities with real materials in real settings with real meaning. It is our job as parents and educators to provide them with what they need.
