How to Raise a Changemaker

As parents, we all have a deep-seated desire to raise children who will make a positive impact on the world, whether it be in the playground, workplace or wider society. We want our children to grow up to be changemakers: individuals who dare to see and do things differently to make the world a better place. But how do we equip them with the skills and knowledge to do this? How do we build foundations that will:

1. enable them to identify issues
2. compel them to do something about it
3. equip them to create novel solutions, and
4. take action?

Ninety percent of our brains are developed in the first five years of life. What we parents and caregivers do during this time will set the groundwork for the adults we hope our children will become. To equip our children to take the steps that lead to change, we must nurture the following foundational skills: FOCUS, CURIOSITY, DRIVE 

and RESPECT.

Respect sets up your child to value their inner voice and care enough to protect the people and world around them. Curiosity enables them to ask the right questions, understand issues deeply, and come up with novel solutions. Internal drive is what enables a changemaker to persevere against the status quo, to do something about the issues they feel deeply about. The ability to focus dedicates them to action-taking and seeing their mission through to the end. 

These four skills lay the foundations for leadership, collaboration, resourcefulness and many other essential changemaker skills that come in to play as they get older. 

So how can we foster these changemaker skills from home?

We found our answer in the Montessori play space, a space that honours the connection between Adult, Child and Environment. 

As parents and caregivers, we determine the environment our children grow up in, and the environment they grow up in forms their understanding of how the world works.

We are our children's first teacher. If we create an environment where our children feel they have a voice and a part to play in making change happen, they will learn to honour their inner voice and start their changemaker journey from the safety of our home. On the other hand, if they are punished or discouraged from exploring and manipulating their surroundings, they become primed to accept the status quo. 

The play space is their second teacher. The physical environment surrounding your child is their second teacher. If we can provide a play space that nurtures focus, curiosity, drive and respect, the environment works hard on our behalf to develop these foundational skills in our children. 

How do we do this? Set up our play space to do more of what we want it to do and less of what we don't want it to do:

We must be intentional with everything that goes into the play space, a space that shapes your child's understanding of the world around them.   

For specific tips on how you can foster the foundational changemaker traits in your play space, click the blog links below: 

Raising a changemaker starts with building strong foundations in focus, curiosity, drive and respect. By creating physical and emotional environments where our children feel they have a voice and a part to play in making changes, we can give them the confidence and skills they need to identify issues, create solutions, and take action when it matters. By creating a Montessori play space that nurtures these four foundational skills, we set our children on the path to becoming the movers, makers and shakers of tomorrow.