Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Encourage Originality

Encourage Originality

So we all want to encourage originality and creativity in our children. Right? Right.

I would sum up my view of it all by saying this:

Give your kids lots of variation. Different places, different people, different languages. Read to them. Watch movies with them. Tell each other stories. Encourage them to fail. Praise their process more than their outcome. Teach them to question authority. Get them to enjoy asking why. And teach them how to think.

That’s a good start at least…

If we want to encourage originality, the best step we can take is to raise our children’s aspirations by introducing them to different kinds of role models.

-Adam Grant, Originals

Good Explanations

Good Explanations

Good explanations are the start of good parenting, I think.

This is valuing how to think over what to think.

Let’s just not be surprised that when we teach our children critical thinking, and the joy of bucking the status quo, that they don’t eventually cause a stir here and there.

They may even call us out for poor thinking now and again too.

And let’s hope that good explanations eventually internalize the good behavior we seek.

Reasoning does create a paradox: it leads both to more rule following and more rebelliousness. By explaining moral principles, parents encourage their children to comply voluntarily with rules that align with important values and to question rules that don’t. Good explanations enable children to develop a code of ethics that often coincides with societal expectations; when they don’t square up, children rely on the internal compass of values rather than the external compass of rules.

-Adam Grant, Originals

Sterling Terrell