“Creativity is the key to a brighter future,” say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.
If Dick had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Dick worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Dick improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.
Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.
Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situation. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to Work out practical problems.
It is important to give children choices. From the earlier age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.
1．What did the company where Dick once worked learn from its mistake?
A．They encouraged people to work a longer time.
B．They discouraged people to think freely.
C．They asked people to spend all their work time developing new ideas.
D．They encouraged people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas.
2．Creativity is something __
A．that people are born with
B．that depends on intelligence
C．that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems
D．that is not important at all
3．Why don’t schools try to encourage creativity?
A．They don’t understand the importance of education.
B．They don’t want their students to make mistakes.
C．They pay too much attention to exam marks, language and mathematical skills.
D．They think it more important to remember some information.
4．What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?
A．Try to help them as much as possible.
B．Take no notice of whatever they do.
C．Leave them as they are.
D．Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much.