I don’t have children, but I think Kristine Barnett has the
right idea – nurture a child’s excellence in any area they gravitate to.
A big part of nurturing is being aware of the talents a
child possesses and also keeping a conscientious eye out for talents because they
are not always prevalent and out in the open.
I know there are certain standards that the public education
system has to adhere to, and with not enough teachers and overcrowding in
classrooms – it’s hard for a teacher to have the capacity to really see each
student as an individual and to find that one thing about each child that makes
you think, “There it is!” and then to be able to nurture it. It’s even more
difficult when that child appears to be stuck in their own little world as
often seems the case with autism.
This is where we, as parents, friends, relatives, clergy,
and all other adults who work with and interact with children – even if it’s
not on a fairly regular basis have to take a stand. It’s our responsibility to
nurture children and to guide them, to help them build confidence instead of
pointing out what is wrong or lacking, or what a child cannot do or is
struggling with and to instead, help them grow and nurture areas where they
excel.
Midway through the chapter, A Chance to Play, there was a
story of one of the girls that Kristine had in her daycare and her Dad was
having a very hard time – Kristine’s solution was to tell him to take care of
his senses. She told him on his way home to buy a chicken, along with rosemary
and sage, wrap himself in a warm blanket, put on music he loves and look at a
family album – he needed to reconnect with his senses. It made me cry. It was also
funny at the time I was reading it because all I could smell was skunk…I
figured our neighborhood skunk gave a hearty spray recently.
I had just made chicken soup a few days ago and the warmth and
the comfort of sitting on my couch, wrapped in my blanket and reading this
incredible story by this caring and nurturing woman – these stories of the love
and giving of herself to her children and her community – just made me warm all
over and filled me up so much that it came out in tears because it had nowhere
else to go.
The overall values of the book are – play, be of service to
others, let children help and do simple chores even at a young age, be open to
see a child’s talents and nurture them!
Along with running a daycare, Kristine created an early
evening program for local kids with autism called Little Light. That led to the
creation of Youth Sports for Autism and eventually, Jacob’s Place.
One of the ways Jake is able to be social and at ease with
people despite his autism is by playing sports, by playing sports, these incredible
children worked at, “prioritizing friendship, social interaction, community,
teamwork, and self-esteem.”
This story is a family’s story – of the struggle of having
an autistic child…and in turn, a genius to boot!
But, it’s not just Jacob’s story, but the story of the
Barnett family as a unit, and a mother’s wish to be able to communicate with
her child. She adds a little salting of her family history and the grounding in
that family’s faith and charity that formed her and her husband into the
giving, loving, and selfless people who strive to help others and in the end,
help themselves and their family.
Because of this and taking some chances that would seem to
some unorthodox, Kristine and Mike Barnett made choices and followed the true path
of Jake’s potential in math and physics to go to college at Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis, at the age of eleven!
The intermingling of stories and examples throughout the
book added to its brilliancy. It is refreshing to find examples of not just the
author’s children and family, but of other families that helped keep the book
well-rounded and helped fully tell this triumphant story.
I highly recommend The Spark: A Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius by Kristine Barnett to all
adults who have children in their lives, their own or others – who will benefit
from this inspirational story of overcoming obstacles and discovering that
magic, even in adversity is possible.
Random House Publishing Group
Publication Date: Apr 9 2013
Disclaimer:
Pre-publication of the book was provided to reviewer from the publisher, Random
House Publishing Group, through NetGalley
for the sole purpose of reading and review.
