The Warren and the World

Every Friday we recap a little from the Warren and venture out into the world for more stories you might have missed.

“What a child does not receive, he can seldom later give.”

-P. D. James

Dude, you should totally read this:

Slips of Paper, Bits of Creativity – Art House America

Lindsay Crandall captures one of my biggest fears and joys as a parent — watching a child embrace the written word:

The written word is a bit more subtle. It tends to be more personal, which is why it’s easier to place a camera in my daughter’s hands and make her into a photographer than a pencil and paper to make her into a writer. I can teach her the alphabet song, how to recognize letters and their sounds, and what it means to put those letters together in a meaningful way, but that won’t necessarily give her a love for words. She has to find that herself, and it’s too early in her life to know if she will.

Kids are overstimulated, but maybe more imaginative too?

This was encouraging to me. I worry that all this tv watching, video game playing, music be-boping-to is harmful, but this study suggests that kids are actually becoming more imaginative. Particularly interesting to think about:

He recalls his own “stupidity” when his son showed a keen – and independent – interest in chess at the tender age of six. Prof. Walters ran out and bought him a manual. “He was reading by then, so I gave it to him. That just killed it. It turned it into schoolwork. There’s a difference between intrinsic and extrinsic interest: the kinds of things you’d do on your own because they’re self-rewarding, as opposed to somebody on the outside telling you, ‘Okay, this is how you should do it.’”

Huh.

Mark Dever talked to pastors about how to cultivate a love of reading in churches. (Video) I think there’s an application here for us who love imaginative literature too. He says you’ll give away a lot of D.A. Carson books. I want to do that, and give away a lot of Tolkein, too.

Dustin Neely at the Gospel Coalition talks about the parenting challenges pastors face. Protip: You probably face them too. This wrecked me:

I was lying on the floor pushing Thomas the Tank Engine around his wooden track when I realized my young son had been speaking to me for the past 30 seconds, but I hadn’t listened to a word he had said. Instead, I was too preoccupied…

Our friends at The Rabbit Room Press are launching a new edition of Real Love for Real Life. Russ Ramsey wrote:

 In her book Real Love for Real Life, Andi contends that caregiving is more than a second-tier Christian duty. It is a “grand invitation to serve others with beauty, imagination, and love to which God calls us.”

And according to the Bible, she is so right.

They’re taking orders now.

Honey, get me the screwdriver: Lifehacker points to instructions for removing the beeping part of just about any appliance, toy, or other annoying thing. This may be more of a long-weekend project.

Inside the Warren:

Sam shared the vision behind Story Warren. • Clay Clarkson (the author of Educating the WholeHearted Child) explained the connection of improving vocabulary with fostering imagination. Don’t read my summary, go read his post. • Alyssa Ramsey helped me to realize that my children’s attentiveness really is a great thing. You know, when it’s not embarrassing. • Randall Goodgame introduced the cute factor with a brilliant rendition of God Makes Messy Things Beautiful, a Mackay-household favorite. •  Oh, we retired the Green Monster. Gone, but never forgotten. You can see some of the evolution of it at Zach’s blog. Thanks Zach!

Explore the great outdoors. Better yet, send your kids:

A raised garden as an object lesson in Christian character. My garden feels more like an object lesson in futility, but we’re going through Ecclesiastes at church…  so our garden IS a scriptural lesson after all.

This video is so… so… Story Warren:

Thanks for making this week so much fun. Our sandbox is your sandbox.

We’re on your side,

Andrew