It has been quiet around the office for the last three days... unusual because we seldom take a day off. But the staff encouraged us to spend valuable time with friends and family, so we all took a much needed vacation over this Memorial Day Weekend. I have had a chance to work in the garden and to take some long walks... quiet peaceful time... time to reflect... time to refuel... and time to create. I once had a professor who told me to slow down, that if I didn’t rest, I wouldn’t be able to create. As the years pass, I treasure his words more and more... as I have found them to be true. Whether working in the garden or watching others as I pass by on my walks, quite without thinking, my mind is putting things in place for the time when I do sit back down to write or work.

All intellectual improvement arises from leisure...

Samuel Johnson, April 13, 1773 (per James Boswell)

Thinking and being aware of our own thoughts are skills that make us human. Thinking is an active process. It encompasses events that range from daydreaming to problem solving. It is a kind of ongoing, internal dialogue that accompanies actions such as performing a task, observing a scene or expressing an opinion.

As a parent, you can...

• Encourage your children to ask questions about the world around them.
  
• When reading to or with young children, ask them to imagine what will happen next in the story.
  
• Actively listen to your children’s conversation, responding seriously and nonjudgmentally to the questions they raise.
  
• When your children express feelings, ask why they feel that way.
  
• Suggest that your children find facts to support their opinions, and then encourage them to locate information relevant to their opinions.
  
• Use entertainment, a TV program or a movie, as a starting point for family discussions.
  
• Use daily activities as occasions for learning. For example, instead of sending a child to the store with a simple list of items to purchase, talk with the child first about how much each item might cost, how much all the items might add up to and estimate how much change s/he should receive.
  
• Reward your children for inquisitive and/or creative activity that is productive.
  
• Ask your children what questions their teachers are raising in class. For example, a history class might be "asking" how American westward expansion began.

Remember, if your children are active participants in a home where there is talk about the why and the how of things, they are more likely to be active thinkers both in and out of school.