When was the last time you stopped being curious?
Do you remember to ask yourself, meditate and …?
Walt Disney quoted … when you are curious, you find many interesting things to do … we keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. !
Spring Cleaning … it’s time to dump things that haven’t been used or read in a while and put them in the garage, donate or sell them. We have all these Curious George books and memories began to flood us. There is no way these books are worth a penny at the garage sale. We save them for the next generation.
We have learned a lot from George. George was our friend when the kids were little. We had posters, lunch boxes, DVDs, books, and George toys. Through George, we learn:
1. Adventure. Life is an adventure. Everything is worth a try in our great world. George travels the world with his friend and is never ashamed to try new things. Everything fascinates the explorer in him, the familiar and the unknown. George even tried to get in the hot air balloon by himself. It is through trying that George learned his lessons.
2. Experiments and practical 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 reservations about wanting to do things. He visited a chocolate factory and tasted chocolate of all shapes, sizes, and flavors. When they offered him more, George had enough.
4. Helping hands. George is ready to rescue and help. Helped rescue a toy train for a boy on the train tracks. The child could have been killed and the trained toy destroyed had it not been for George’s help.
5. Friendly and non-judgmental. George is friendly with everyone. He seems to contribute trouble, but at the end of the day, he’s the one who saves the day!
George shares his life with The Man in the Yellow Hat. This man exemplifies a best friend, mentor, comforter, teacher, and provider. It is always there for him, during the bad times and the good times. He teaches George life lessons after every incident and never yells or judges. He is the father we can model.
Every kid needs a mentor like The Man in the Yellow Hat is George’s mentor. What do you think?
Along with his mentor, George has Hundley, the adventurous little dog, and his owner, the amiable porter who always has a suggestion for George. There’s Chef Pisghetti, the owner of an Italian restaurant where the Man in the Yellow Hat loves to dine. Professor Wiseman, a good friend of The Man in the Yellow Hat and who loves to hear about George’s adventure. She is another great encouragement to George.
Through George’s community of friends, we learn the importance of diversified friendship. George has friends who do not condemn his curiosity. He has friends who do not share his passion, but still enjoy each other’s company due to mutual respect. And your sons? Do they have friends who respect them and do they respect their friends?
In our traditional educational world, students of all personalities and learning habits are placed in the same class to learn and memorize facts and figures every day.
Do you think this form of learning has dampened the curiosity and creativity of our students over the years? By then, they graduated from high schools; most students lose their Curious George learning habits. Are they conditioned to memorize and regurgitate everything they have and not knowing exactly what they have learned?
Where are the learning practices and procedures? For example, how balancing your checkbook may be a skill, but not which of the following was the most industrialized country during the nineteenth century?
While the market is producing an infinite number of children’s books over the years, Margret and HA Rey’s Curious George books are still going strong after 70 years.
For fun, we are going to watch the toddler show tonight. We got a DVD from the library called Curious George goes on vacation and discovers new things. Sometimes we discover simple children’s stories that can teach us the basic lessons of life and a great reminder to live a curious, adventurous and risky lifestyle.