Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
My guest today is Meka Zieger, a homeschooling mom who chronicles the unfolding life of her family in pictures. Meka, in our last program, you talked about how art helps you to really see your children. How do you encourage your children to really see life around them? What do you do to cultivate artistic expression in your home?

Meka Zieger:
Cultivate is a good word. I think we try to nurture creativity naturally, rather than separating it out of life. We don’t carve out a time called “drawing” or “writing,” as much as we just draw and write! The kids see me, and like everything else growing up, they just want to do it, too. There’s a great quote from Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one when you grow up.” My kids are far more creative than I am—I get my inspiration from their imaginations.

But I do help a bit—we go to performances, we talk with real artists about their work. I point out things for them to ponder and make sure they have unscheduled time to dream and create. I leave out art materials and open library books. And if someone’s in the middle of math and wants to draw or let a story out, I’ll usually give them the go-ahead. If I make them wait, the creativity fizzles. It’s not something you can schedule. And I think, creative beings as we are, we’ve all got a real need to create, ourselves.

Mike:
Meka, thanks for sharing your creativity with our listeners this week! And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.