When was the last time you stop being curious?
Do you remember wondering, pondering and...?
Walt Disney quoted...when you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do...we keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths!
Spring cleaning...time to empty out things that have not been used or read for a while and either put it away in the garage, donate or sell. We have all these Curious George books and memories began to flood in. There is no way these books are going for a dime in the garage sale. We are keeping them for the next generation.
We have learned so much from George. George was our buddy when the kids were little. We had George's posters, lunch boxes, DVD, books and toys. Through George, we learn:
1. Adventure. Life is an adventure. Everything is worth a try in our big world. George travels the world with his friend and he is never shy about trying new things. Everything fascinates the explorer in him, the familiar and the unfamiliar. George even tried going on the Hot Air Balloon by himself. It is through trying that George learned his lessons.
2. Hands-on experiment and discoveries. George takes things apart; he studies them and tries to put them back together. George understands how things work after taking them apart.
3. Fun and enjoyment of learning. George knows where to look for fun. He has no reservation in wanting to do things. He went on a visit to a Chocolate Factory and tried chocolate of all shapes, sizes and flavors. When offered more, George had enough.
4. Helping hands. George is ready to rescue and help. He helped rescue a toy train for a young boy at the train tracks. The boy could have been killed and the toy trained destroyed had it not been for George's help.
5. Kind and non-judgmental. George is friendly to everyone. He seems to contribute trouble but at the end of the day, he is the one who save the day!
George shares his life with The Man with the yellow hat. This man exemplifies a best friend, mentor, comforter, teacher and provider. He is always there for him, during bad times and good times. He teaches George life lessons after every incident and never yells or judges. He is the parent that we can model.
Every child needs a mentor like The Man with the yellow hat is George's mentor. What do you think?
Along with his mentor, George has Hundley the unadventurous dog and it's owner, the friendly doorman who always has a suggestion for George. There is Chef Pisghetti, the owner of an Italian Restaurant that the Man in the yellow hat loves to dine in. Professor Wiseman, a good friend of The Man in the yellow hat and one who loves to hear about George's adventure. She is another great encourager to George.
Through George's community of friends we learn the importance of diversified friendship. George has friends that do not condemn his curiosity. He has friends that do not share his passion but they still enjoy each others company because of mutual respect. How about your children? Do they have friends that respect them and do they respect their friends?
In our world of traditional schooling, students of all personalities and learning habits are put in the same class to learn and memorize facts and figures each and every day.
Do you think this form of learning has dampened the curiosity and creativity of our students as years passed them by? By the time, they graduated from high schools; most students lose their Curious George learning habits. They are conditioned to memorize and regurgitate whatever they have and not knowing exactly what they learned?
Where are the hands-on and how-to of learning? For example, how to balance your check book can be a skill but not which of the following was the most industrialized country during the nineteen century?
While the marketplace is producing endless amount of children's books through the years, Margret and H.A. Rey's Curious George books are still holding strong after 70 years.
For the fun of it we are going to watch little kids show tonight. We got a DVD from the library called Curious George takes a vacation and discovers new things. We discover sometimes simple children stories are able to teach us the basic life lessons and a great reminder to live a curious, adventurous, risky lifestyle.
Claudia Looi is a freelance writer, copywriter and a work at home mom. She left her travel consultancy work to raise two children who are today alive, relevant and uncompromising teens. It wasn't always that easy but through many painful failures and coaching with great mentors she has learned the art of living a life by design for herself and her family. She helps unload the burden that small and home based business owners carry with their blog contents, sales copy and email marketing campaigns. Her work in travels with thousands of clients from all over the world and her extensive travel experience has allow her to understand businesses of diverse backgrounds and recognize the need to tailor make her writing for each of her clients.
She has a blog and you can find her at http://www.uncommongeneration.com/
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