Page 2, June 3, 1979 - Sunday News

: é .
. .

speckulations

by Peter Speck

--Young children can wear out their parents
faster than the most physical of exercise. They are
constantly on the go, they can’t stay still longer
than 10 seconds, and they continually talk.

Next time your children
are in this ‘state’ take the
time to listen. Their talk it
almost always’a series of
questions. Questions that all
‘journalists are supposedly
asking: Who, what, where,
when, why and how.

To them, the world is a
fascinating place filled with
fascinating ‘people, places
and. things. They want to
. learn.

Yet, how often have you
.given ‘a brief, cursory,
unimaginative answer simply
to get them to give you a bit
of Peace. ~

Perhaps: we are all guilty,
in greater or lesser degrees,
of what Jim McDowell talks
about.

PERVERTING-
YOUR MINDS
By JIM McDOWELL -

Why is the sky blue? How
do airplanes fly? Where did

orricemews
(604) 980-0511

CLASSIFIED
986-6222

CIRCULATION
986-1337

Gou SN

Publisher
Peter Speck
Associate Publisher
Bob Graham

Editor-in-Chief
Noel Wright

Managing Editor
Andy Fraser
News Editor

Chris Loyd

Photos
Elsworth Dickson
Advertising Director

North Shore News, founded in
1960 as an independent
community newspaper and

tied under Schedule 111,

‘art 111. Paragraph 111 of the
Excise Tax Act, is publshed each
Wednesday end day by the
North Shore Free Preas Lid and
distributed to avery door on the
North Shore. Second Class Mail
Registration Number 3886

VERIFIED CIRCULATION

48,478

Entive contedts

1878'North Shore
Free Proes Led. All rig

inte reserved.

the sun come from? ‘Where
does it go at night? Why is
the moon round? Why is the
grass green? Where do I go
when I go to sleep? Will I
ever die? Why? What is
time? —

The most clumsy, foolish
mistake I make as a teacher
and parent is thinking I
“understand” children and
rushing to answer questions
like these. There's no way I
can know how any child I
meet feels or thinks or why
he acts thée-way he does.

When I look at my own
son, I know that his universe
is his secret; often a secret
he keeps entirely to himself.
Occasionally David gives me
a glimpse of his latest

JIM McDOWELL

discoveries, if I'm alert —
know how to listen with all
my senses. But I never know
what goes, on inside him,
how he looks at his: ex-
perience, what he sees and
how he puts it together, or
why he asks the questions he
does. I can only guess.

David knows how his own
secret universe looks and
feels. But he also approaches
fronticrs where he mects
new, unfamiliar, strange
experiences. He seems to see
these as new challenges, new
opportunities to grow. and
change.

Beyond each frontier is
the unknown. He seems to
welcome it. He waits ex-
pectantly for the future.
Sometimes he gets impatient
or afraid. He would forge
ahead and .make a new
discovery about himself and
his powers, but something
seems to hold him back. He
gets upset with his mistakes,
his false starts. The hurdie
that he’s trying to get over is
too high; it frightens him.

Maybe he needs a friend:
somcone he can trust -—- a
friend who's not a Mother,
Father, or Teacher but a
person who can return him
to himself, changed,

ickle’ question

try again in his own way and

in his own time. e

There are times when he

gets together with this kind

of friend, yet he still does not

“seem to learn. Why not?

Why is it sometimes so hard
for him to learn, even when
trust, love, and respect are
shared with a friendly guide?

- T've concluded that even
this kind of teacher seldom
has the interest or courage to
look at questions, as if for
the first time, in a fresh, new
way. Too often we adults
think we already know the
answers and miss the impact
of a new question.

Try it yourself. Take a

question that is commonly

asked by young children.
Resist focusing . all your
attention on the answer.
Stay with the question. Put
aside what you think you
know -- all the information
and conventional answers
you've accumulated from
your past experience. Just
look at the question with as
much innocence as you can
muster. Pick your
question or try this one: Why
can’t you tickle yourself?

Were you able to stay with
the question long enough to
take a fresh look at it? Were
you able to get in touch with
that natural way of knowing
that you practised.as a child?

One aspect of this innocence.

is not rushing to an answer,
but letting your imagination
play with the question. Did
that happen to you?

This is the way creative
thinking works. New ideas
come from questions, not
from answers. And each
child has the know-how to
look at questions in new
ways if parents and teachers
would let him. This freshness
is part of my son’s secret self,
but I steal it from him in so
many ways.

I tell myself these are just
“small mistakes”, that they
are insignificant, unin-
tentional efforts to be
helpful. But they're excuses.
I know that when I stick
answers between my son and
his question, I usually steal

an experience that belongs |

to him.

Most of us see all the fresh
energy children have; that's
why we enjoy them so much.
But kids use so much energy
to investigate one thing after
another, and they ask so
many questions that we
often feel we have a
responsibility to be “in-
structors”. And, if you're
like me, you probably feel
your “job” is to put all their
energy to work -— to make
them do something, stick
with it, and show that they
learned something from it.

What I find myself doing is
relating to David almost as I
would operate a machine.
He may get the job done,
finish the “task” I assigned to
him, but he seldom learns
anything new.

- fortunately,

own

Or his energy may simply
get eone 4 on the job I give
him, and he wants to stop.
Do I let him? All too often I
try to keep him going “until
the job is done”. Un-
it's usually
David who is “done”™-and not

the work; sometimes to the.

extent that he “never wants
to do that again!” .

It seems that we parents
and teachers can’t help being
perverters of children —
~ unwitting,' well-intentioned,
even loving | perverters. And
"that is even more awful to
admit. We cripple a child

when we continually repress |

his spontaneity, his natural
knowing, his ‘joy
discovery, his wonder about
‘the unfolding of his world.
We lead him away from his -
own sense of truth.

‘2 days here in Vancouver.

in self

et er

at City Holl as

West Vancouver artist
Judy Bagshaw is emphasizing
the Year of the Child in her
June show at the North
Vancouver City Hall. Scenes
of children at play have been
captured by the artist who

.has translated them into
ink -

watercolour and
paintings called ‘Sports Day’,

! ‘Sack Race’ and ‘“Three-
Legged Race’.

The show and sale which
starts June 7 and runs to the
end of the month is spon-
sored by the North Van-

PERSIAN RUGS

After the revolution in iran our manager was successful to bring in the first series of shipments into
. Canada. Worid’s famous H.A.M. of Iran and a group of Persian rug wholesale dealers of Tehran's
Bazaar present one of the targest collections over 1000 pieces of NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
high standard and MUSEUM quality Persian and Oriental rugs which will be on display and sale for

* SALE: Sunday & Monday June 3 & 4

From 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

For the past decade our company is offering top quality rugs to Canadians across Canada. With .
Situations improving in (ran, the Persian rugs will become one of the highest investments in the ©

near future. We are proud to present a unique collection to which we devoted most of our time
and effort to select for this special sale. All items to be cleared in our

SPRING END CLEARANCE SALE

This collection inclkides many pieces of Naiens part silk up to room size, 100% of world finest
pure silks from Turkey, Qum silks, Isfahan, large selection of pure silks from the state of Kashmir,
Taba, Tabriz,» Royal Kerman, Kashan, Ferdoos, Blouch, Kazak, Bakhara, Birjand, Kashmar, &
runners, plus a selection of Kalim and semi-antiques and many oriental rugs from different parts of
world. Our comments are: “It must be seen to be believed.” The above section will appeal to the
discriminating and budget conscious home decorator and art lovers offered to you at low prices.

We invite you to come and enjoy the persian arts and seek an investment that Safeguards your
money and provides you with luxury as it appreciates.

‘Hotel Vancouver Columbia Room

couver Community “Arts

. Council and ‘is hung in the

Lobby of the Nofth Van-

: couver City: Hall. -

Bagshaw’ :
painting West.Coast scenes
and children: at play with
what she describes as “a light

and whimsical touch:” The . -

area around . the fishing
village of Lund with the
tumbling, cottages of nearby
Finn Bay and. Savary Island
where she. spends ~ the
summer provide the subject
matter for a lot of her West:

Coast. scenes.

a

:

Lic. #52388.

specializes - in

Pea es ey FPR AGT Ne RE

Ens,

PE:

annarte aes

SEE

PIS GES ERS