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6 I The Best Online Education System in the world
SINGING DOLL
Ream Odetallah
Class of 2003, University of Jordan
MA English Language and Literature
The first five years of a child’s life are the most crucial years for two main reasons; the child’s personality and
his or her sub consciousness. What is being taught or taken in, whether voluntarily or not, will be stored in the
child’s cerebrum and that storage would shape up the child’s personality during the growing years. A wise
guardian or parent would try to invest in this child all what would be positive to motor the creative skills in him
or her.
My four year old daughter, Jana, sings anything, and in some cases, I am not sure if she is singing a known song
or nursery rhyme or just jamming in words to impress the listeners. However, I focus on her singing skills,
acknowledging the fact that she loves to be heard and that she can pitch high and low as if intensifying the
musical tones like a professional singer. So, for the time being, I am giving her a lot of attention by providing
her with simple musical instruments such as a guitar, a piano and drums and encouraging her to sing out loud
without commenting or criticizing her because she is too young to understand the cons and pros of singing.
With time, she has grown with more confidence such as singing in the school bus, in the playground and in
front of some grown ups. Some people are impressed from her way of singing and from her confidence. She is
now happy with herself and the new habit of singing she has adopted. Maybe in the near future she will be
able to participate in the school’s chorus or any other local competitions. As a matter of fact, I was quite
surprised when she stood up behind a microphone in a beach party where we were enjoying a karaoke night
and started singing her favorite nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. This incident shook me passionately
and made me cry.
Put fewer rules, give more spaces and figure what makes one creative. You may be a teacher, a parent, a friend
or a mate and bring that person’s creativity into light. Don’t you think motivating a naturally born singer, writer,
painter or artist would elevate your touches as you lead that person to the stage of performance? So, sharpen
your creative skills to glitter the lives of many others as well as yours.
Questions for discussion:
1. Define the word ‘creative’ from your perspective and/or experience.
2. Why the early years of a person are are considered important?
3. What do you think may happen to Jana in the future if she carries on singing?
4. Which part of the brain is responsible for the thinking skills?
5. Look deeper into yourself and discover your own creativity, what can you tell about a skill that you excel in?