anitabringeworth-August Blog-Routines That Support Creativity

Hello and Welcome to August 2026! If you have been enjoying the outdoors (the month of July) it's been a hot one for sure in most of the USA. Pool days, beach trips and finding other ways to stay cool while getting a daily dose of nature and filling your mind, body and spirit with wellness is important when the heat is on! August is National Wellness Month and part of sharing how to stay on track for an overall healthy body, is to share ways to feel the wellness in other places, as in our daily habits and routines.

This month, I will be sharing the importance of creating and sticking to creative routines that encourage consistency and balance to reduce stress and build a calm environment in your writing, education and parenting life styles. Let's jump in!

I-Writing- Creating a Writing Habit Without [homework] stress.

Ever since I can remember, I heard it say that if you set daily goals, even little ones, you can reduce the stress of any assignment and stay on track. Specifically for students who face the challenges of distractions due to the time spent away from the "assigned" assignment on social media, socializing or doing other activities, it's important to start a habit everyday of setting the same time aside to complete a goal. Writing assignments for school or even personal writing; letters, emails, even to-do lists, are better tackled when doing them on a schedule to achieve the desired result. Try using a timer set for five minutes so you write something down. Introduce your habit by enjoying a cup of tea or coffee to accompany your routine.

When I journal, I usually have a cup of coffee, tea or small plate of something to nibble; cheese and crackers, nuts, berries and such to help fuel my brain and give me some healthy foods that help me concentrate better. I don't write well on an empty stomach and neither should YOU! Keep in mind, what you're writing might need clarity so if you are journaling or doing a school assignment, your daily habit should be that of enjoyment, not something forced. Whatever the subject matter, it's important to anchor your work with a set amount of time and how often you work on it. Your brain will expect it everyday at the same time you set that goal and it will become easy to fall into.

The important part is to focus on the habit verses on how much you are writing. Using a writing planner often helps too! You can buy one cheap at a dollar store or look for a template like the one below to get you started on your habit!

II- Education - How Routine Helps Learning Stick

Balancing Routine and Flexibility

Thinking back to my early days in school, I remember how my first grade teacher would use "flash cards" with vocabulary words on them and line us all up in class in two rows to do drills once a week. The benenfit of this, back in 1966 was that we got out of our seats for a half hour and started a routine of memory work which reinforced new words and conquered old ones, helping us to build repetition and use new facts to transfer them into long term memory. This weekly exercise actually stimulated my strong desire to become a "word" person and I loved it each week. Using this method to develop a habit of learning material helps the brain reduce wasted energy and it builds on automatic effort.

The reason teachers use a daily schedule in class, whether it's elementary or higher education, is to prepare students for building routine and not waste time figuring out what comes next. Students and teachers both need a routine for building a successful habit to set goals for learning. A benefit of this routine building is that we are able to move about from one activity to another without the stress of any awkward moments trying to figure out what comes next. The schedule is clearly written and often in colorful patterns so the students can be independent when doing their work.

These habits and goals that are developed in a solid routine also makes differentiating to many students' needs a blessing for the teacher. Some students are strong visual learners while others are more auditory, but as in his book, "The Theory of Mulitiple Intelligences," by Howard Gardener, Psychologist, he talks about how "intelligence" is not a fixed, one-dimentional element that can be tangibly measured." This theory has nine distinct modalities, and gives hope to many teachers and students who struggle with learning, offering an opportunity to understand that it is possible to learn differently and still have success, by tapping into the ways in which a person understands material and processes the intellectual capacity of given subject matter.

The subject of Howard Gardener's theory, developed in 1983, touches on the ways the different abilities we have can help us achieve similar results without the fear of labels that often go with an "outside the box" philosophy.

When developing a routine that sticks, being flexible is part of the process. Imagine being told you only have one way of doing something, say folding laundry, but maybe that folding is different for people who are left-handed not right-handed. Will the outcome be different because of what side gets folded first? The Laundry will still get done being folded but the way it was done was slightly varied due to a person's preferred handedness. A person drawing a shape such as a square but who starts right to left, not left to right, will still draw a square.

This thinking was not developed when I was young in school. We were only "allowed" to draw the square from one perspective because, in part, it was the way the teacher taught us whether we had the same side handwriting or not. We have come a long way in how education has played a role in students, teachers and mostly in learning and the degree of knowledge gained through the ages.

I am glad I got to see those changes and was part of the progressive learning movement when I raised by children and especially when I became a teacher in the early 2,000's.

I will leave you with this thought on the section of education: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences can be a valuable tool for anyone seeking understanding in this subject matter. It can help develop a new routine based on the needs of whoever is adhering to them. Here are the Nine Intelligences Howard Gardener lists in his book:

1) Linguistic Intelligence - Use of word, language, speech to express complex meaning.

2) Logical- Mathematical- Capacity to handle numbers, analyze problems logically and do abstract reasoning.

3) Visual-Spatial- Ability to perceive and visualize 3D and orient oneself in spatial areas.

4) Bodily Kinesthetic- Use of physical control, coordination and body movement to manipulate objects, or solve problems.

5) Musical Intelligence- Skill to perform, compose, appreciate and hear pitch, rhythm and tone patterns.

6) Interpersonal Intelligence- Capacity to connect with and sense moods and intentions of others.

7) Intrapersonal Intelligence- Ability to understand one's own inner feelings, fears, and personal motivations.

8) Naturalist Intelligence- Skill to recognize, group and understand plants, animals and features of nature.

9) Existential Intelligence- The capacity to ponder deep questions about human existence, life and death.

III- Parenting- Building Calm Creative Routines; Practical Guidance for busy households.

In this age of screens everywhere you go, and often mutiple ones as in some restaurants and even malls, one of the best things parents, grands and other care takers can do to foster a calm and creative routine at home is to adhere to a steady habit that enhances building tasks, step by step, as in journaling, sketching, or a chore that allows a five minute reset on the day. Doing something personal makes that habit become routine and can likely steer kids away from starring at a screen too long.

Something like an area in the kitchen or place where everyone gathers to do family stuff; i.e. dinner prep, is a good place to keep a small container of art supplies, notebook, sketchbook, crayons, markers, pens, pencils, even silly dollar store items for doodling, etc and at the same time each day your child can locate those items they will get to spend five to ten minutes on making something or being creative while dinner is being prepped and you can talk to your child about it over dinner.

Creating this kind of routine helps children look forward to doing something they have control over for the ten minutes they work on it. If they need more time, they can work on it after dinner chores or start earlier the next day. They can even make their own schedule for setting this time aside for this habit and possibly create a theme-for-the-week project, which will encourage them to spend more time being in a good habit of routine.

The important part of building this routine at home is to focus on the process, not the outcome. When my children were growing up, before the school bus came, we often sat at the breakfast table and took a few blank index cards and markers and they made a note to gie a friend at school. They had a little drawing on it and used a lot of colors to make a cheerful message. The ten minutes over cereal in the morning gave me the chance to open their creative outlets for the day and send them to school with a positive attitude and a feeling of accomplishment.

On the flipside, when they arrive home from school it can be very chaotic and overwhelming for everyone, parents too. The routine of finding the place to hang coat, backpacks, lunch bags and shoes is also necessary in establishing routines. A quick ten minute healthy snack and drink, then starting homework or going through papers is essential to clear that clutter away.

For those students who do not get assigned homework either on a regular basis or in reduced quantities, parents should have reading and writing time established for no less than twenty minutes.

As a family activity this month, setting up a shared creative corner for exchanging ideas on projects, artwork, writing, or other crafty ideas can be a fun way to fill those days and some nights with interesting material and teaming up to display the work on a weekly basis. Have fun and good luck!

Next month-September is all about Listening and Storytelling

and back to school!

Have a great August...See you in September!!!