Nurturing Kids' Hearts and Souls - Launched February 2006 by Maggie Dent
Nurturing Kids' Hearts and Souls - Launched February 2006 by Maggie Dent
Nurturing Kids' Hearts and Souls - Launched February 2006 (Book)
Maggie Dent It was 2001 and a beautiful little five-year-old girl was brought to see me. She was very sad. Her mother told me how the little girl did not play with the other children at pre-school. The doctor wanted to put her on antidepressant medication but her parents were hoping I might be able to help so that they could avoid medication. This little one, who I will call Cindy, began to draw me an intensely black picture, even though I had given her a collection of brightly coloured textas with which to draw. As she drew she asked, "Maggie, how can you die if you want to?" I asked Cindy what she meant. She responded that sometimes when she woke up in the mornings she closed her eyes and tried to die. Her eyes were sad; there was no sparkle or light in them. My heart tugged deeply within me. I explored in my mind where this deep despair could be coming from - both her parents were concerned and loving. What had gone so wrong?
Cindy's parents were professional people. They had decided to give Cindy the 'best opportunity to be successful in life' by promoting the development of her intelligence. Fantasy and the imaginary world were considered to be a distraction to her development. So Cindy had grown up with no tooth fairies, no Father Christmas, no Grimm Brothers fairy tales and certainly no opportunities for imaginary play or dress ups. Unknowingly, these caring parents had starved Cindy's emerging imagination and sucked the life out of her young spirit. They were not aware of the protective role the imagination can play in a young child's life.
Recognising this, we were able to immediately bring wonder and creativity back into Cindy's life. Fortunately, Cindy had a Montessori-trained pre-school teacher who was willing to support us and Cindy wore fairy wings every day for a month. When I saw her next her eyes were shining, she had a beautiful smile and was accompanied by two very happy parents. Cindy is now full of life and energy with her mind, body, and heart and soul all well.
Interestingly, only the week after I first saw Cindy I met another pre-schooler who had a similar story. She too responded quickly to opportunities to play, experience imaginary games and stories and have fun time with her parents. These two little girls came into my office and helped me explore the positive influences that play and imagination have in young people's lives. I am deeply grateful to them for showing me this and the impact a deficit has on healthy mental and physical development. I liken these children to the canaries that were kept in the bottom of the mines in days gone by as a way of alerting the miners to the presence of toxic gases. The girls alerted me to a modern danger for children, and to our future adults, one that can be averted with commonsense rather than medication.
- from Nurturing Kids' Hearts and Souls- Building Emotional, Social Spiritual and Competency By Maggie Dent
