The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids
The Missing Alphabet Book Cover
The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids
Creative thinking is what is necessary in the adult world. It is a generative process. It honors intuition without leaving out analysis. It uses data but also looks for larger patterns. It is flexible yet fluent. Unfortunately it is something which is not taught in school.
Learners construct their own knowledge in their heads. Children must literally create (and re-create) their knowledge.
The authors introduce us to the nine elements of the Sensory Alphabet-line, rhythm, space, movement, texture, color, shape and light. Everything can be described using these terms. It is this Alphabet that is not taught to children which makes them unable to develop their creative thinking skills.
The Sensory Alphabet makes up patterns with links to our senses which our brain assigns meaning and values. Interesting isn’t it. The usage of the Sensory Alphabet is not limited to just the ARTS but can be incorporated into our daily lives.
Sensory vocabulary that is picked up by a child expands their capability to see patterns- between disparate objects, cultures and values. It opens up their perception and gives them a multi faceted view of the world around them.
Creativity and imagination are the crucial pats of what children need to think critically, solve problems and make their own decisions. They need these skills to be able to function well in society.
The importance of play is stressed upon to develop a child’s creativity. The authors quote from Herbert 2009 that play can
- develop empathy and appreciation of diverse viewpoints.
- is the beginning of abstract thinking.
- improves problem solving and comprehension.
- is essential for young children and becomes creative fluency in older children and adults
- is a rich context for developing metacognitive skills.
There is a wide selection of suggested activities which parents can carry out with their kids to strengthen their grasp of the nine elements of the Sensory Alphabet. Some of this activities can be carried out during the course of daily activities and do not need to be specially created.
My thoughts
I didn’t know that such a thing as a Sensory Alphabet existed before reading this book. I found the information that the authors presented extremely useful and intend to teach the Sensory Alphabet to my kids to improve their creative thinking.
Get your copy of The Missing Alphabet: A Parents’ Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own. This post has a compensation level of 3. Please visit Dominique’s Disclosure page for more information.
February 9, 2013 @ 10:03 pm
Ahh yes I have learned that about play and insist that my kids get out and do it as often as they wish! Especially how play seems to cease as one becomes an adult.
Sounds like a very interesting book!
February 9, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
Sounds like an interesting read. Creative play is what got me to my children’s grade school. Oh by the way, their school is using Singapore Math and I can’t believe how fast the kids solve math problems! See, for us (Filipinos) we have been taught to do math mechanically we never understood the concepts.
February 10, 2013 @ 2:23 am
very interesting book. thank you for sharing.
February 10, 2013 @ 7:36 am
Thanks for the review, we are glad you found the message inspiring! For you and others who might want to read more, check out the ongoing blog on the website! http://themissingalphabet.com/blog/
February 11, 2013 @ 1:10 am
Never knew that there is such thing as sensory alphabet. Thanks for your article, now I know a thing about it.
February 11, 2013 @ 1:21 am
I must read this book. I’m sure it will offer a lot of things for me to learn about my children’s learning abilties. 🙂
February 11, 2013 @ 10:58 am
Ooh, this is interesting. I will keep this in mind when Y grows a bit older. Thank you!
February 11, 2013 @ 11:30 am
Oh, this sounds like an interesting book! 😀 Does it have exercises, too? Will check this one out. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
February 11, 2013 @ 1:49 pm
I didnt know about this before.. Very interesting! I shall get a copy of this book in the future
February 11, 2013 @ 8:47 pm
This is a good read! Thanks for posting. Every parent should read this.