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Speaking of Imagination

June 19, 2012 by Clay Clarkson 13 Comments

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau

There is a language of imagination. Let’s call it imaginationish.

It’s not actually a language, but more of a universal dialect. It is using words to describe things that the eye does not see, the ear does not hear, the senses do not sense.

We always knew when our children were speaking imaginationish. They would hear a symphony and begin to describe a forest teeming with life and mystery. They would look at a painting and walk into its colors and lines as they narrated a story of their journey. They would watch a movie and begin to think out loud about the deeper spiritual meanings of scenes and symbols.

We never sat down and created a plan to make our children imaginative and creative. We did, though, deliberately create an atmosphere in our home that was rich in spoken and printed words—reading lots of books, discussing lots of topics, experiencing many forms of art and creativity. It was the air they breathed in our home—they inhaled it to fill their curious lungs, it oxygenated the verbal blood that fed their creative brains, and they exhaled it as the language of imagination. Call it immersion learning, I guess.

If there is such a thing as imaginationish, it isn’t learned from a workbook. It is grown and cultivated at home in a print-rich environment and verbally-enriched atmosphere, and it is fed with abundant and nutritious words. God—who is the Word, and created us to be people of his Word and of words—has given parents the privilege to create that creative ecosystem. It all starts with words.

Vocabulary is critical to an active imagination. A child’s ability to imagine things beyond their own senses is directly related to the depth and breadth of their vocabulary. It takes little imagination to realize the limitations of limited vocabulary on creativity, or on believing spiritual truths for that matter. However, the more words your child has with which to express himself, the greater will be the scope and intensity of what he can imagine. The stronger your child’s grasp of language, the richer will be her own creativity and ability to wonder about things beyond her five senses.

To paraphrase Thoreau, your children naturally know how to look at things, but you can give them the supernatural ability to truly see beyond the material world. You can give them the language of imaginationish. But you’ve got to be speaking it first. Filling the air of your home with words, reading books that take the power of language seriously, and feasting on all the arts—paintings, music, poetry, and more. If you do, then you can sit back and watch the seeds of imagination that you plant and cultivate in your children blossom into fruitful vines of creativity. Your imaginative children will help the world not just look at, but see the God who created us all.

—————-

Illustration by Zach Franzen

 

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Clay Clarkson
Clay Clarkson
Clay Clarkson is sometimes tired, but never retired. He thrives on words, music, and ideas, both the enjoying and the making of them. As to books, he is the author of Educating the WholeHearted Child, Our 24 Family Ways, Heartfelt Discipline, and The Lifegiving Parent. And he’s still writing.

His senior project is some long-delayed children’s illustrated storybooks, and he’s still writing songs and even singing them at times.

His wife and children keep him humble, but never humilified (as long as he can neologize about it). You might find more about him on WholeHeart.org, his real job, or on ClayClarkson.com, his wannabe creativator website.
Clay Clarkson
Latest posts by Clay Clarkson (see all)
  • Disruptive Imaginology - February 11, 2019
  • Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin - March 7, 2018
  • Use Their Imagination - October 2, 2017

Filed Under: Fostering Imagination, Parenting

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Comments

  1. Andrew Mackay says

    June 19, 2012 at 7:09 am

    This was really helpful for me. I’m starting to see the power of language for my kids, and it drives me to want to, as you put it, “[Fill] the air of your home with words, reading books that take the power of language seriously, and feasting on all the arts—paintings, music, poetry, and more.” So helpful!

    Reply
  2. Loren Eaton says

    June 19, 2012 at 3:34 pm

    You had me at imaginationish.

    Reply
  3. S.D. Smith says

    June 19, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    I want to jump in as well and say that we loved this and it has so much value for us in our life right now, raising young children. Clay, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. Love it.

    Reply
  4. heather r says

    June 20, 2012 at 8:08 am

    “Immersion learning” is the perfect phrase.

    Reply
  5. Susan Clark says

    June 21, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    I set the stage for our kids to be creative and they have expounded on it beyond anything I could have imagined. It is so good to see creativity in action.

    Reply
  6. Melissa Cutrera says

    June 3, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    I just read this for the first time, and what a great insight! I’ve often thought that vocabulary is the key to all knowledge. The more objects, emotions, ideas, formulas, etc., you can name and understand, the broader your knowledge in any subject. I hadn’t thought about how that applied to imagination until today. Thank you.

    Reply
  7. Carla Kessler says

    October 24, 2016 at 12:24 am

    Hello Clay – I was searching the internet for more support for my blog site. I am new at blogging and am building a community of educators to support more efficient and effective word learning in schools. I very much appreciated your perspective here and I quoted you in my blog: The 90 Minute Challenge…I Dare You! http://wordlabweb.com/blog/the-90-minute-challenge-i-dare-you/.

    Thank you for your inspiration. I hope you will visit my blog site and feel free to leave a comment or some advice!

    Carla Kessler

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Vocabulary of Imagination | S.D. Smith says:
    June 19, 2012 at 9:23 am

    […] Clarkson, from his post at Story Warren today, Speaking of Imagination. This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 at 8:00 am and is filed under Allies in […]

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  2. Visual Bits #223> Story Time Illustrations says:
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  5. The Warren and the World ‹ Story Warren says:
    March 20, 2013 at 4:51 pm

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  6. Does Expanding Your Child’s Vocabulary Matter? ‹ Story Warren says:
    August 9, 2013 at 8:10 am

    […] of course jives with something Clay Clarkson wrote about here at Story Warren a year ago with Speaking of Imagination. But Clay sees more in a growing vocabulary than upward mobility or education […]

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