Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Musing on the Magic of Middle-Graders

Having three young boys, I am often reminded of the magic that exists at that age; how their minds process the world. It is a unique blend of awe and curiosity, coupled with slow-drying beliefs based on experience and exposure (like a blob of Elmer's glue drying on the page, it can still be smeared if pressed upon before drying). It is an age where innocence balances on the border of maturity and imagination still has a healthy part in looking at the world and then looking beyond it, to places that exist in story or dreams; to see things busy adults, or practical minds are either incapable of seeing or simply dismiss. Middle-grade is that wonderful age where children begin to develop independence, while craving adventure; they don't need the constant security and protection that a younger child requires, and they have not fallen into that hormonal whirlwind of adolescence.

If this age were an era, it might be termed the Age of Discovery.  

Summer is almost upon us and middle-graders far and wide will be home, removed from the classroom and homework, lessons and teachers. There will be baseball games, and fireflies, trees to climb, dares, and tag, and hide and go seek, and forts, and bicycles, skateboards, ramps, and races. There might be clubs, and codes, and rock collections. 

As I write this, there is a fort in my living room, made out of blankets and dining room chairs. There is a jar of tadpoles that the boys came home with yesterday. They (the boys, not the tadpoles) have magic wands they carved themselves out of sticks they found in the woods. They've turned the old swing set into a fort and perch in it, hatching plans, while our one-eyed puppy sits up there with them, watching for eavesdroppers. The other night we toasted marshmallows and made S'mores and as the night crept in, the boys danced around in the dark, finding wood for the fire and challenging each other as to who could make the "perfect" S'more. And in the dark, there might be monsters, or fairies and the flames might belch forth jets of dragonfire. 

As a father, I encourage these moments of inventiveness and exploration. As an adult, I secretly revel in them, drinking them in like an elixir of youthfulness. As a children's writer, I record them, adding to the vault of story material and middle-aged relevance. 

So take this as a reminder, whether you have children of your own or not, to be mindful of the magic that middle-graders will create, experience, discover, and revel in. Be mindful of it. Let it fuel your inner child. Let it fuel your stories. 

And maybe...maybe build a fort of your own. Really, who says that we have to grow up?




15 comments:

  1. It's a wonderful time of childhood -- and why I have always loved teaching fourth and fifth grade. I feel lucky that I got to spend my last year of teaching with a group of kids reveling in the magic of this age -- and share my debut MG book with them. Their enthusiasm sustained me through the trials of this teaching year: Common Core, over-testing, ridiculous mandated programs ... We let the magic of story-telling carry us through.

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    1. Love that, Dianne! "We let the magic of storytelling carry us through." Beautiful!

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  2. It's a fun age. They have a thirst for understanding the reality around them and suck it up, but still, let fantasy weave it's way through. For them, everything is possible :)

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    1. That's right! Everything is possible...and people like Jim Henson and Walt Disney refuse to let that belief go. I want to be like them.

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  3. Important question: does your s'more recipe call for golden brown marshmallows, slowly toasted over the lowest coals at the edge of the fire, or burnt black crispy critters, that have been lit aflame and then blown back out?

    This is a philosophical metaphor.

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    1. It's equivalent of Jedi vs. Sith, I believe....it's a a balance that dances between the two.

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  4. Love this! I am laughing because right now my three boys have a fort in the living room and homemade wands they are working on. ;) So fun.

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    1. That's great, Marissa! Love hearing of creative households out there. :)

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  5. We call our forts Soft Houses -- because of the Jane Yolen book. :)

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  6. Fires and s'mores are big at my house too. It makes me think I need to have a fire-and-s'mores scene in my ms.!

    Great post--as always. I will be on the look out for more magic this summer.

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    1. It'll be there, M-G-G...waiting for you to recognize it. :)

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  7. I too write down everything I observe with middle age kids. My favorite fort was a few years ago when three boys and three large boxes became known as Condo Fort.

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!