Thursday, July 17, 2008

A Kitchen For The MindTM

One of my work seminars that I vividly remember was done by Mike Vance, who gave us the the terms Think Out Of The Box and Kitchen For The MindTM .

I particularly liked the idea of a Kitchen For The MindTM, which was about creating a smorgasbord for the mind. As I remember, the concept was a room with the tools necessary to help the mind to expand and grow. This room would be analogous to a kitchen, with all its tools and appliances for creating meals, i.e a refrigerator, stove, oven, food, pots, pans and utensils. Similarly, a Kitchen For The MindTM would be a dedicated room with tools and appliances such as computers, video editing, microscopes, books, telescopes and musical instruments, providing opportunities to use and experience various elements to expand the mind and discover new interests.

While we have not created a room in the house for this purpose yet, we are trying to give our daughter opportunities to experience many different elements. In addition to pre-school, we have enrolled her in swim, art, nature and dance lessons. Also, we have been taking her to zoo, museum, theater and music activities for children. Hopefully, this exposure will start providing us leads as to what may be her future interests and passions.

When creating a Kitchen For The MindTM room, I plan to start with a number of things she already has: art supplies, games/toys, and musical instruments. To that, I plan to add items saved from my childhood, e.g. microscope, electronics lab, puzzles and science books. In addition, we'll need to increase the diversity in the above areas, e.g. new musical instruments. Finally, I expect we'll need to provide parental coaching and inspiration, or have instructors where we are not experienced.

A Kitchen For The MindTM room will hopefully be lots of fun for everybody.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or educational advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2008 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

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