Monica_in_Switzerland Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Just wondering if anyone has read it and their thought and whether or not it had an impact on their schooling. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I bought that book five years ago and still haven't read it. If I'm honest, I'm probably more of a book hoarder than reader. Will stay tuned to the discussion though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 I bought that book five years ago and still haven't read it. If I'm honest, I'm probably more of a book hoarder than reader. Will stay tuned to the discussion though! I remember reading a quote somewhere that goes something like this: When we buy books, we mistakenly believe we are buying the time to read those books. It's certainly a trueism for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snow Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Oh wow, yes! That's it! Too funny. Was it worth the read? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The homeschool dad who wrote Skylark Sings With Me enthusiastically recommends Flow, so I bought it. It seemed to make its point quite clearly in the first chapter, and I kind of bailed on the rest. Csikszentmihalyi has an intriguing premise, but I have to wonder if it would have made a better article than book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The homeschool dad who wrote Skylark Sings With Me enthusiastically recommends Flow, so I bought it. It seemed to make its point quite clearly in the first chapter, and I kind of bailed on the rest. Csikszentmihalyi has an intriguing premise, but I have to wonder if it would have made a better article than book. :iagree: I skimmed it a few years ago and found it very repetitive — it just seemed like a long catalog of anecdotes, interspersed with platitudes and statements of the obvious. Also, many of the references he made to the ideas and beliefs of other cultures were ridiculously over-simplified, and far too many of the quotes & references seemed stuck in there just to pad the book and make the bibliography look more academic than the book really is. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I read this book in 1995. So it's, uh, been awhile. Two of my high school teachers team taught a class which had readings from it. I ended up reading the whole book. I agree that it is a bit long for the content. But the main concept is a powerful one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I have the book. I tried reading it like 100 times. And I don't know, after a few pages I just got bored. So...nope. LOL My experience exactly. Thanks for reminding me that I have this book. I was looking for something to read, so I'll give this one another try. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The book Flow influenced how I've approached my kids' activities and school subjects. (I'm not a homeschooler, btw.) I've encouraged them to try new pursuits and reject what they don't like. They naturally spend more time doing what they like most. It is incredibly important to me that they find what they truly enjoy doing. Not all activities cause flow, though. I agree that the book is boring and verbose, but Csikszentmihalyi's ideas are an important part of psychology today. You can probably get the main idea by reading articles. Here is one short explanation: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/creativity/flow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Here is one short explanation: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/creativity/flow Great article. Thank you for passing it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I've read it. It has not affected my homeschooling to date in any straightforward way though I've internalized the ideas so it prob. affects my general approach somewhat. I did think it was hilariously dense RE "Flow" and motherhood. I don't know about all y'all, but if I slipped into a flow state and got caught up in whatever I was doing with my children to the point that lunchtime slipped by unnoticed, it would NOT be a life-enhancing or constructive experience. ;) Or waking-up time, or bedtime, or the critical 45 minutes before aikido when we need to have something to eat or the 15" before piano when I have to leave the tot with my MIL and start hiking to the teacher's house ... OTOH when I was researching & building stuff & coding it was very rewarding to be flow-y. What did you think, Monica? ETA: some of the folks who are examples of Flow are really awful people, if stellar in their fields. I think S. Tonegawa was in that book (maybe another book of C.'s) and he is really Not Good People. So I think it is very very important to dissociate (as C does) between flow, which is one enjoyable psychological state also associated with high productivity, and the optimal psychological state for an actual person in a particular situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripley Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I haven't read the book but I'm familar with the man and his concept of flow. It has had zero impact on my homeschooling, but it's been eye-opening in terms of (how I view and accommodate) my kids' hobbies and other interests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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