How do you strew, research, learn and organize activities?
[email protected]
I found it difficult to find time to "strew" (I am still trying to understand it), research, learn and organize activities.
My DS4's awake time is about 13 hours a day while my DD1's awake time is about 11 hours a day. It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and organize activities. I do try to squeeze time out of my bathroom time, nursing time and my own sleep time. The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep time too much.
Any suggestions?
I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to gather those ideas and organize the logistics.
I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.
Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.
I would appreciate all input.
Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
My DS4's awake time is about 13 hours a day while my DD1's awake time is about 11 hours a day. It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and organize activities. I do try to squeeze time out of my bathroom time, nursing time and my own sleep time. The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep time too much.
Any suggestions?
I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to gather those ideas and organize the logistics.
I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.
Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.
I would appreciate all input.
Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
Shira Rocklin
I think I would be considered a 'creative' person, but I still struggle
with finding fun things to do. But there doesn't have to be so much
research and time involved in finding things to do! There is so much
to explore that is already in your home, at this age. My daughter is
3.5 and son is 1. So about the same ages. We just passed cards from a
deck of cards back and forth, me reading out the numbers on them and her
lining them up on top of the computer's printer. We played with dominos
earlier. We color all the time. Climb on things. Just look for things
around the house, with the potential for play in mind.
with finding fun things to do. But there doesn't have to be so much
research and time involved in finding things to do! There is so much
to explore that is already in your home, at this age. My daughter is
3.5 and son is 1. So about the same ages. We just passed cards from a
deck of cards back and forth, me reading out the numbers on them and her
lining them up on top of the computer's printer. We played with dominos
earlier. We color all the time. Climb on things. Just look for things
around the house, with the potential for play in mind.
Sandra Dodd
-=- It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and organize
activities.-=-
Don't "learn, research and organize activities." It's not the best
use of time. BE with your children, seeing what they're seeing. Go
for a walk, and while they're observing the world around them, you
observe them. Don't rush along. Wander.
-=-The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me
while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep
time too much.-=-
How can you "rob" your sleep time? It's not a think or a person. It's
you. Don't separate yourself from "your sleep time." Be as clear as
you can be.
Do your children sleep with you? If so, your sleep time is also their
mother-time.
-=-Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born,
creative and resourceful mothers-=-
Maybe it's because you're looking at it as a series of holiday crafts
projects.
-=I am picking up information here and there to add things to our
life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or
somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online
and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to
gather those ideas and organize the logistics. -=-
The logistics of being with your kids involves putting them before
other things, like organization and logistics. <g>
There are lots of ideas here:
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Some of the ideas ARE right there. Putting a sheet over a table to
make a tent doesn't take much organization or logistics. The sheet
doesn't even need to be clean. <g>
The question was this:
" How do you strew, research, learn and organize activities?"
Strewing becomes part of the day, and the other stuff does too, when
you live with your children directly. I learn things answering their
questions, or looking things up I'm curious about. That IS the
research. If other kids are coming over I might organize something
for them to do--meaning plan something and make sure there's space and
that the right toys or materials are available. (I said "are" though
my kids are grown now, but still, last night Holly was bringing a new
friend over and I cleared off a table and straightened up and had
snacks planned. They ended up doing something else; she called and
let me know.)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
activities.-=-
Don't "learn, research and organize activities." It's not the best
use of time. BE with your children, seeing what they're seeing. Go
for a walk, and while they're observing the world around them, you
observe them. Don't rush along. Wander.
-=-The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me
while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep
time too much.-=-
How can you "rob" your sleep time? It's not a think or a person. It's
you. Don't separate yourself from "your sleep time." Be as clear as
you can be.
Do your children sleep with you? If so, your sleep time is also their
mother-time.
-=-Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born,
creative and resourceful mothers-=-
Maybe it's because you're looking at it as a series of holiday crafts
projects.
-=I am picking up information here and there to add things to our
life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or
somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online
and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to
gather those ideas and organize the logistics. -=-
The logistics of being with your kids involves putting them before
other things, like organization and logistics. <g>
There are lots of ideas here:
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
http://sandradodd.com/strewing
Some of the ideas ARE right there. Putting a sheet over a table to
make a tent doesn't take much organization or logistics. The sheet
doesn't even need to be clean. <g>
The question was this:
" How do you strew, research, learn and organize activities?"
Strewing becomes part of the day, and the other stuff does too, when
you live with your children directly. I learn things answering their
questions, or looking things up I'm curious about. That IS the
research. If other kids are coming over I might organize something
for them to do--meaning plan something and make sure there's space and
that the right toys or materials are available. (I said "are" though
my kids are grown now, but still, last night Holly was bringing a new
friend over and I cleared off a table and straightened up and had
snacks planned. They ended up doing something else; she called and
let me know.)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joanna
Allow yourself time to ease into the idea of strewing. For your four year old, it might just mean thinking a little ahead to some fun stuff he'd like to do, or picking up something related to an interest while your out. Free your mind about things and give them a little twist--like butcher paper on the kitchen table for drawing instead of little pieces of paper, and then everyone can draw together. Or hanging big paper on the wall. Cut the butcher paper into strips, tape them together, and make a super long roadway through the whole house, if he likes cars. Or cut lengths and tape them into tubes big enough for them to crawl through and tape them together to make a tube maze, or just a tunnel.
When my daughter was that age, I'd bought a big tub at a feed store, and she'd bathe outside on the back deck. I'd fill it with warm water and she loved to spend hours out there having a bubble bath in the litttle bitty tub. And I raided the kitchen and her toys for fun stuff to play with. We also did cornstarch and water in a little tub in equal amounts, and then add some food coloring--good for hours of fun even as they are older now!
And of course there's homemade playdough, which doesn't take long to make, but is fun fun fun.
http://www.sandradodd.com/playdough
There are a gazillion ideas here, in one packed page:
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
We have a whole container of the little gems in a bunch of colors that you would put in a vase with flowers--cheap at the local craft store. They've used those over the years for countless things. One of the prettiest was when a friend was over, they built a block castle and lined every surface with them in patterns. It was magical.
Make flubber--it's glue and borax and so magical and easy to make.
Have more fun--'cause however fun way you tweak the world for your four year old, he'll be delighted!
Joanna
When my daughter was that age, I'd bought a big tub at a feed store, and she'd bathe outside on the back deck. I'd fill it with warm water and she loved to spend hours out there having a bubble bath in the litttle bitty tub. And I raided the kitchen and her toys for fun stuff to play with. We also did cornstarch and water in a little tub in equal amounts, and then add some food coloring--good for hours of fun even as they are older now!
And of course there's homemade playdough, which doesn't take long to make, but is fun fun fun.
http://www.sandradodd.com/playdough
There are a gazillion ideas here, in one packed page:
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
We have a whole container of the little gems in a bunch of colors that you would put in a vase with flowers--cheap at the local craft store. They've used those over the years for countless things. One of the prettiest was when a friend was over, they built a block castle and lined every surface with them in patterns. It was magical.
Make flubber--it's glue and borax and so magical and easy to make.
Have more fun--'cause however fun way you tweak the world for your four year old, he'll be delighted!
Joanna
--- In [email protected], "whatismyusername@..." <whatismyusername@...> wrote:
>
> I found it difficult to find time to "strew" (I am still trying to understand it), research, learn and organize activities.
>
> My DS4's awake time is about 13 hours a day while my DD1's awake time is about 11 hours a day. It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and organize activities. I do try to squeeze time out of my bathroom time, nursing time and my own sleep time. The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep time too much.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to gather those ideas and organize the logistics.
>
> I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.
>
> Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.
>
> I would appreciate all input.
>
> Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
>
Jenny Cyphers
***I found it difficult to find time to "strew" (I am still trying to understand it), research, learn and organize activities.***
***I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life***
***I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.***
***Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.***
When I was reading this, several things occurred to me. The first thing was thinking that maybe you are feeling overly ambitious, then falling short of self expectations. With really little kids, there isn't a whole lot of extra that needs doing to thrill and engage if they have toys at the ready and a parent willing to play with them.
Sometimes SEEing what they are doing and how they are learning and growing helps a parent know what to do next or what to add to the mix. If a kid is gravitating towards legos, get more legos or more building things of a different nature. If legos seem to be a tactile thing, get more things with interesting textures to work with.
Don't plan craft activities. Something that really helped at our house was to have all the craft supplies, that could be used independently, at an easy reach and at the ready for a kid to do it when they felt like it. As they got older, more things were added to that inventory. At the very basic there should be access to paper, tape, markers, crayons, pencils, and scissors (depending on the child), or if not scissors some cool paper punch things, and glue if you have a suitable place where a kid can use it with easy clean up.
Others we've known have had craft corners in their houses complete with a card table and chairs with craft items all right there, able to be left out and used later. What we do, is try to keep as many flat surfaces as clean as possible, and then stashed next to our shelves of crafty stuff, we have large pieces of cardboard that can be laid out on the floor. That is often where painting happened because our kids seemed not to care much about the picture, but more about painting with body parts such as feet.
Not every mom is crafty. Draw on your strengths and bring those things to your child's lives. Chances are, your children may be just the same way you are! When unschoolers say that unschooling looks different for everyone, this is big part of that! Some people just aren't crafty and that's OK! Maybe your game shelf will be much much larger than your craft shelf. If you are somewhat crafty and you just don't know how to help your kids with it, visit a craft store and just explore all the cool stuff and pick up something that your kids might enjoy, it could be as simple as huge bags of puff balls and pipe cleaners. That's VERY easy to set out and VERY easy to clean up after! Those are the things I call "cheap thrills", where $5 of fun can be had for literally weeks!
With little ones, maybe, start with small steps. Bring in one new idea or thing each week. Perhaps one week, when you go for a walk the next time, take a magnifying glass and look at stuff and collect things. Maybe the next week, when you are at the a store grab new play dough or ingredients to make it. Maybe the next week, bring out sheets and blankets and build a huge fort that can be left up for a while.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
***I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life***
***I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.***
***Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.***
When I was reading this, several things occurred to me. The first thing was thinking that maybe you are feeling overly ambitious, then falling short of self expectations. With really little kids, there isn't a whole lot of extra that needs doing to thrill and engage if they have toys at the ready and a parent willing to play with them.
Sometimes SEEing what they are doing and how they are learning and growing helps a parent know what to do next or what to add to the mix. If a kid is gravitating towards legos, get more legos or more building things of a different nature. If legos seem to be a tactile thing, get more things with interesting textures to work with.
Don't plan craft activities. Something that really helped at our house was to have all the craft supplies, that could be used independently, at an easy reach and at the ready for a kid to do it when they felt like it. As they got older, more things were added to that inventory. At the very basic there should be access to paper, tape, markers, crayons, pencils, and scissors (depending on the child), or if not scissors some cool paper punch things, and glue if you have a suitable place where a kid can use it with easy clean up.
Others we've known have had craft corners in their houses complete with a card table and chairs with craft items all right there, able to be left out and used later. What we do, is try to keep as many flat surfaces as clean as possible, and then stashed next to our shelves of crafty stuff, we have large pieces of cardboard that can be laid out on the floor. That is often where painting happened because our kids seemed not to care much about the picture, but more about painting with body parts such as feet.
Not every mom is crafty. Draw on your strengths and bring those things to your child's lives. Chances are, your children may be just the same way you are! When unschoolers say that unschooling looks different for everyone, this is big part of that! Some people just aren't crafty and that's OK! Maybe your game shelf will be much much larger than your craft shelf. If you are somewhat crafty and you just don't know how to help your kids with it, visit a craft store and just explore all the cool stuff and pick up something that your kids might enjoy, it could be as simple as huge bags of puff balls and pipe cleaners. That's VERY easy to set out and VERY easy to clean up after! Those are the things I call "cheap thrills", where $5 of fun can be had for literally weeks!
With little ones, maybe, start with small steps. Bring in one new idea or thing each week. Perhaps one week, when you go for a walk the next time, take a magnifying glass and look at stuff and collect things. Maybe the next week, when you are at the a store grab new play dough or ingredients to make it. Maybe the next week, bring out sheets and blankets and build a huge fort that can be left up for a while.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jenny Cyphers
***Or hanging big paper on the wall. Cut the butcher paper into strips, tape them together, and make a super long roadway through the whole house,***
You just reminded me that we did that when Chamille was little! Only we didn't play with cars on them. I put huge sheets of paper on all the walls in our hallway, going from the floor to about 3 ft up and left a box of drawing utensils out. By the time we moved out of that house, all the papers were full! Sometimes I wished I'd kept them! We moved when Chamille was 4. I had initially put all that paper up because she wouldn't stop drawing on the walls!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
You just reminded me that we did that when Chamille was little! Only we didn't play with cars on them. I put huge sheets of paper on all the walls in our hallway, going from the floor to about 3 ft up and left a box of drawing utensils out. By the time we moved out of that house, all the papers were full! Sometimes I wished I'd kept them! We moved when Chamille was 4. I had initially put all that paper up because she wouldn't stop drawing on the walls!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-Not every mom is crafty. Draw on your strengths and bring those
things to your child's lives. -=-
Not every mom is crafty, and to some extent "crafts" can be seen as
something to justify school (or Vacation Bible School, or summer day-
camps) on the positive end, and on the negative end, as training for
factory work. No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
things to your child's lives. -=-
Not every mom is crafty, and to some extent "crafts" can be seen as
something to justify school (or Vacation Bible School, or summer day-
camps) on the positive end, and on the negative end, as training for
factory work. No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robyn Coburn
If you have to do a ton of research about a crafty style project to strew,
chances are it is too complex for your little kids.
One of Jayn's super favorite activities, starting when she was about 18
months and going for years, was standing at the sink on the step ladder,
playing with a sink full of lukewarm water and various plastic utensils and
cups (including old yogurt containers and also funnels were big) with or
without soap suds. She would do this for two hours at a time, with me
sitting in the adjacent room watching and commenting when asked.
Later she got very into vinegar and baking soda "potions" with food coloring
or assorted spices - which was a great way to get rid of older spices. I
would lay out some cloth towels on the counter surface to catch the spills
and they would go straight to the laundry so it was messy yet easy to clean
up.
There are crafty websites that will send projects to you via email. I get a
weekly craft newsletter from Better Homes and Gardens - for me it's research
and keeping abreast of what's popular for professional reasons.
http://www.bhg.com/crafts/
You could also read my green crafting column in Natural Life Magazine
www.naturallifemagazine.com which usually is free on the website.
As for the idea of creativity - well maybe you will feel called to buy my
book when it is finished and read not only my story (so part memoir), but
those of a bunch of other parents and families who are unschooling and
making creative and artistic activities one of the foundations of their
lives. It will be called "Making, Mending and Mothering" - and folks, your
survey answers are due! You know who your are. ;)
All of the crafty stuff, but also pretty much all the other stuff I strew,
just arises from our daily life, and my intimate and comprehensive knowledge
of the kinds of things Jayn loves. I learn of things that might be
interesting from tv, from other people's posts here, from walking around the
neighborhood, from the internet, from my dh who continually forages for
information and cool stuff. He is a mercurial man of expansive interests.
I save my intentional researching for my writing activities - and this I do
when Jayn is busy with other people, or sleeping. Right now she is out at a
birthday party - she chose Daddy to go with her instead of me. So I'm about
to sign off and get back to work on my next screenplay and the novelization
which for some reason are coming about concurrently.
It sounds like a lot of neediness right now, but as your kids grow there
will be a time when they are off doing other stuff. They will not
independent as young as conventional parenting theories would have you
believe "should" be the case. But it will happen over time. Successful
unschooling demands more of us as parents - more time, more attention, more
focus, more careful thinking.
But the rewards are wonderful. Jayn is 10. Last night, springing from a
crafty endeavour of mine, we have decided to create a paper doll/mixed media
art calendar for 2011, that we will printing and distributing to our friends
as next year's holiday gift. It was Jayn's idea and she really is
spearheading the planning. It is going to be very cool.
<<<< No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.>>>>
OMG no - I hate that. Just put out lots of good materials and maybe (MAYBE)
have an end in mind, and go at it. All of you, not just the kids.
Robyn L. Coburn
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
chances are it is too complex for your little kids.
One of Jayn's super favorite activities, starting when she was about 18
months and going for years, was standing at the sink on the step ladder,
playing with a sink full of lukewarm water and various plastic utensils and
cups (including old yogurt containers and also funnels were big) with or
without soap suds. She would do this for two hours at a time, with me
sitting in the adjacent room watching and commenting when asked.
Later she got very into vinegar and baking soda "potions" with food coloring
or assorted spices - which was a great way to get rid of older spices. I
would lay out some cloth towels on the counter surface to catch the spills
and they would go straight to the laundry so it was messy yet easy to clean
up.
There are crafty websites that will send projects to you via email. I get a
weekly craft newsletter from Better Homes and Gardens - for me it's research
and keeping abreast of what's popular for professional reasons.
http://www.bhg.com/crafts/
You could also read my green crafting column in Natural Life Magazine
www.naturallifemagazine.com which usually is free on the website.
As for the idea of creativity - well maybe you will feel called to buy my
book when it is finished and read not only my story (so part memoir), but
those of a bunch of other parents and families who are unschooling and
making creative and artistic activities one of the foundations of their
lives. It will be called "Making, Mending and Mothering" - and folks, your
survey answers are due! You know who your are. ;)
All of the crafty stuff, but also pretty much all the other stuff I strew,
just arises from our daily life, and my intimate and comprehensive knowledge
of the kinds of things Jayn loves. I learn of things that might be
interesting from tv, from other people's posts here, from walking around the
neighborhood, from the internet, from my dh who continually forages for
information and cool stuff. He is a mercurial man of expansive interests.
I save my intentional researching for my writing activities - and this I do
when Jayn is busy with other people, or sleeping. Right now she is out at a
birthday party - she chose Daddy to go with her instead of me. So I'm about
to sign off and get back to work on my next screenplay and the novelization
which for some reason are coming about concurrently.
It sounds like a lot of neediness right now, but as your kids grow there
will be a time when they are off doing other stuff. They will not
independent as young as conventional parenting theories would have you
believe "should" be the case. But it will happen over time. Successful
unschooling demands more of us as parents - more time, more attention, more
focus, more careful thinking.
But the rewards are wonderful. Jayn is 10. Last night, springing from a
crafty endeavour of mine, we have decided to create a paper doll/mixed media
art calendar for 2011, that we will printing and distributing to our friends
as next year's holiday gift. It was Jayn's idea and she really is
spearheading the planning. It is going to be very cool.
<<<< No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.>>>>
OMG no - I hate that. Just put out lots of good materials and maybe (MAYBE)
have an end in mind, and go at it. All of you, not just the kids.
Robyn L. Coburn
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
k
It might not be for you but perhaps try the concepts (which aren't at all
deep) in Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. I have struggled to be better at
organizing and planning and the actual doing of my plans. A couple of the
ideas just aren't me, and don't fit, but Sher's suggestions are working for
me. I've always been the kind of person that things happen to without much
planning and just the idea of how to do it has been pretty foreign in the
past. But I'm taking to the ideas in Sher's book like a duck to water. Not
hard for me. It might be something to check out of the library tho I got my
copy cheap from Amazon.
~Katherine
On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 4:46 AM, whatismyusername@... <
whatismyusername@...> wrote:
deep) in Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. I have struggled to be better at
organizing and planning and the actual doing of my plans. A couple of the
ideas just aren't me, and don't fit, but Sher's suggestions are working for
me. I've always been the kind of person that things happen to without much
planning and just the idea of how to do it has been pretty foreign in the
past. But I'm taking to the ideas in Sher's book like a duck to water. Not
hard for me. It might be something to check out of the library tho I got my
copy cheap from Amazon.
~Katherine
On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 4:46 AM, whatismyusername@... <
whatismyusername@...> wrote:
> I found it difficult to find time to "strew" (I am still trying to[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> understand it), research, learn and organize activities.
>
> My DS4's awake time is about 13 hours a day while my DD1's awake time is
> about 11 hours a day. It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and
> organize activities. I do try to squeeze time out of my bathroom time,
> nursing time and my own sleep time. The downsides are I am less present when
> I have my iphone with me while I am with my children or I am really
> exhausted if I rob my sleep time too much.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life. For
> example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or somewhere linked
> me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online and we had a good time
> playing with it. But it takes time for me to gather those ideas and organize
> the logistics.
>
> I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't
> find time to get it ready.
>
> Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative
> and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time
> goes by.
>
> I would appreciate all input.
>
> Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
k
I would just like to add that Karl is 6 now, so none of what I wrote was
needed when Karl was a baby, toddler and a bit older. Once he became more
interested in social things outside the house, then the need to plan and do
became more important, sometimes for me, sometimes for Karl, and especially
for all three of us when his dad has time off from work, which is precious
little so I want to have ideas for when those times arrive. But when Karl
was little, just doing whatever worked just fine. I call it our baby cocoon
years.
~Katherine
needed when Karl was a baby, toddler and a bit older. Once he became more
interested in social things outside the house, then the need to plan and do
became more important, sometimes for me, sometimes for Karl, and especially
for all three of us when his dad has time off from work, which is precious
little so I want to have ideas for when those times arrive. But when Karl
was little, just doing whatever worked just fine. I call it our baby cocoon
years.
~Katherine
On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 12:32 AM, k <katherand@...> wrote:
> It might not be for you but perhaps try the concepts (which aren't at all
> deep) in Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher. I have struggled to be better at
> organizing and planning and the actual doing of my plans. A couple of the
> ideas just aren't me, and don't fit, but Sher's suggestions are working for
> me. I've always been the kind of person that things happen to without much
> planning and just the idea of how to do it has been pretty foreign in the
> past. But I'm taking to the ideas in Sher's book like a duck to water. Not
> hard for me. It might be something to check out of the library tho I got my
> copy cheap from Amazon.
>
> ~Katherine
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
k
>>>Just put out lots of good materials and maybe (MAYBE)have an end in mind, and go at it. All of you, not just the kids.<<<
At first it bothered me that Karl really didn't want to what he would bring
up to do, and he was (still is) the kind of kid who dreams up neat stuff to
do. Over time, I realized that he loves to watch me do stuff and since he's
very musical he often provides the sound effects, songs to sing with it and
so on. He will bring me something he wants to play with, open it up as
though to use it and tell me his idea, waving the materials around as he
describes the thing, and I know at this point that he likes immersing
himself in observation while toodling around.
Just throwing that in there as Robyn's story reminded me how Karl and I
began to and continue to express this part of our lives.
This is relationship building stuff.
~Katherine
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
almadoing
I wonder if you are comparing your children to those in childcare who come home laden with cardboard castles, painted animal masks or whatever. I used to and it made me feel so inadequate. One day I talked to one of these mums and she explained how everything was pre cut, the kids were told exactly how to put things together and only the paint colours they wanted the kids to use were available. It was a real aha moment for me. My children, at those ages really had nothing to show for all their "work". It was then I realised the massive difference between process and product. While these children were being sent home with a finished product, they had nowhere near the rich experience with paint, glue or whatever that mine did simply because mine weren't expected to follow my ideas about what to do. I put things out and they sploshed and cut and balled paper etc. Once I realised that for my children process was more important than product I started taking pictures sometimes so I could reassure myself they were doing stuff even if the house was not festooned with finished crafts.
Now they are 7 and almost 5. The 7 year old is now more interested in the finished product, but of course totally on his terms. Neither of my children has ever been interested in the "today we are going to do x craft for valentines day" etc.
As regards strewing my older DS barely notices strewn things unless it directly relates to his passions of the moment (currently wildlife). I can strew Chinese new year or valentines stuff all I like and it will be ignored. But show him some youtube footage of lions and he's hooked.
My younger DS does respond to strewing, but mostly I strew from things that are already in the house eg I'll leave a couple of books from our own bookshelves on the sofa and he'll coming running to ask me to read them, or I'll put playdough and a couple of bits eg a stick or plastic bottle caps or something on the kitchen table and he can be up at the table within seconds of spotting them.
I have also found that watching what my children respond too when we are out and about in the world helps me think of things to strew. I watched my older son always gravitate to construction toys when we were out so I invested in lego and kapla. My younger son loves destroying things so if I have a cardboard box to break up I'll ask him to do it.
All the best,
Alison
Now they are 7 and almost 5. The 7 year old is now more interested in the finished product, but of course totally on his terms. Neither of my children has ever been interested in the "today we are going to do x craft for valentines day" etc.
As regards strewing my older DS barely notices strewn things unless it directly relates to his passions of the moment (currently wildlife). I can strew Chinese new year or valentines stuff all I like and it will be ignored. But show him some youtube footage of lions and he's hooked.
My younger DS does respond to strewing, but mostly I strew from things that are already in the house eg I'll leave a couple of books from our own bookshelves on the sofa and he'll coming running to ask me to read them, or I'll put playdough and a couple of bits eg a stick or plastic bottle caps or something on the kitchen table and he can be up at the table within seconds of spotting them.
I have also found that watching what my children respond too when we are out and about in the world helps me think of things to strew. I watched my older son always gravitate to construction toys when we were out so I invested in lego and kapla. My younger son loves destroying things so if I have a cardboard box to break up I'll ask him to do it.
All the best,
Alison
--- In [email protected], "whatismyusername@..." <whatismyusername@...> wrote:
>
> I found it difficult to find time to "strew" (I am still trying to understand it), research, learn and organize activities.
>
> My DS4's awake time is about 13 hours a day while my DD1's awake time is about 11 hours a day. It doesn't leave me much time to learn, research and organize activities. I do try to squeeze time out of my bathroom time, nursing time and my own sleep time. The downsides are I am less present when I have my iphone with me while I am with my children or I am really exhausted if I rob my sleep time too much.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> I am picking up information here and there to add things to our life. For example, I found "glow stick" idea on Sandra's website or somewhere linked me back to Sandra's site. I ordered glow stick online and we had a good time playing with it. But it takes time for me to gather those ideas and organize the logistics.
>
> I planned to do some Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year craft but didn't find time to get it ready.
>
> Things don't come naturally to me like some other natural born, creative and resourceful mothers. I am hoping I will get better and better as time goes by.
>
> I would appreciate all input.
>
> Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
>
Dellos Family
I struggle with this too! I have way more ideas and resources than time. My kids are 8, 10, 12. Here is one thing that has helped me. I keep a Word document on my desktop that is named "fun stuff". Every time I see a field trip, craft idea, or the kids say "hey we should try . . . ", then I add it to this list. Then about once a month, I go to this list and put a few on my calendar. Sometimes this planning part will mean I stay up one or two nights (very late) to get prepared for them, but it's worth it to me and I work best late at night. We also try to do daily, spontaneous fun - but I do believe in "planning" some of these things you're talking about.
If the kids say "we should go find ladybugs" than we go do it right away. If they say, "we should build an Egyptian shaduf", then I add it to my list and add the supplies needed. My dh has helped me to not "over-do" my research and activity planning. "Keep it simple" he keeps saying and it is helping.
Diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
If the kids say "we should go find ladybugs" than we go do it right away. If they say, "we should build an Egyptian shaduf", then I add it to my list and add the supplies needed. My dh has helped me to not "over-do" my research and activity planning. "Keep it simple" he keeps saying and it is helping.
Diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Lyla Wolfenstein
i do similarly - just for my own memory retention purposes. and i write anything my kids mention an interest in on our dry erase board too - it doubles as a "what to do when you're bored" idea list. i have a column for "places to go" and a column for "things to do at home".
and then i keep the same list on my palm pilot/phone.
lyla
and then i keep the same list on my palm pilot/phone.
lyla
----- Original Message -----
From: Dellos Family
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 9:22 AM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: How do you strew, research, learn and organize activities?
I struggle with this too! I have way more ideas and resources than time. My kids are 8, 10, 12. Here is one thing that has helped me. I keep a Word document on my desktop that is named "fun stuff". Every time I see a field trip, craft idea, or the kids say "hey we should try . . . ", then I add it to this list. Then about once a month, I go to this list and put a few on my calendar. Sometimes this planning part will mean I stay up one or two nights (very late) to get prepared for them, but it's worth it to me and I work best late at night. We also try to do daily, spontaneous fun - but I do believe in "planning" some of these things you're talking about.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Julie van der Wekken
What a great idea! I've had a similar idea for our walls because we have limited floor space. I'm going to go do this right now:) I know my 4 year old will be ecstatic.
Julie van der Wekken
Julie van der Wekken
--- In [email protected], Jenny Cyphers <jenstarc4@...> wrote:
>
> ***Or hanging big paper on the wall. Cut the butcher paper into strips, tape them together, and make a super long roadway through the whole house,***
>
> You just reminded me that we did that when Chamille was little! Only we didn't play with cars on them. I put huge sheets of paper on all the walls in our hallway, going from the floor to about 3 ft up and left a box of drawing utensils out. By the time we moved out of that house, all the papers were full! Sometimes I wished I'd kept them! We moved when Chamille was 4. I had initially put all that paper up because she wouldn't stop drawing on the walls!
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Ana Maria Bruce
Life with babies and little children is busy! Bathing, dressing, feeding, etc., Watching for the learning experiences that are going on in the midst of your daily life is fun and filled with creativity! It is within each child to learn. That is why they take so long to do things...because they are fasinated with the simple things in life. Asking them questions helps you see they are learning. For me it was my training ground in unschooling. I always gave them raw materials to stay busy....and I still stressed out thinking to myself that I wasn't teaching them. One day in particular my 3 boys were sitting in a pile of pages from motorcycle magazines cutting and cutting, trading with each other and pasting and pasting. They were 3, 5 and 7. They looked so precious and so intent in what they were doing and I am talking spent hours working. But of course I thought to myself. "Are they really doing anything significant except
making a big mess." After they were done for the day I sat down asking them to show me their booklets. The oldest had pasted all his pictures based on the rider, who he rode with if he had won that year or not and written if he was single or married. The 2nd oldest had pasted his by teams, the riders for kawasaki, honda, etc and written the make above each motorcycle....The youngest had pasted by color. All the yellow motorcycles were together, all the red ones were to together, etc......hmmmmm.. I was fasinated!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
making a big mess." After they were done for the day I sat down asking them to show me their booklets. The oldest had pasted all his pictures based on the rider, who he rode with if he had won that year or not and written if he was single or married. The 2nd oldest had pasted his by teams, the riders for kawasaki, honda, etc and written the make above each motorcycle....The youngest had pasted by color. All the yellow motorcycles were together, all the red ones were to together, etc......hmmmmm.. I was fasinated!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Marina DeLuca-Howard
Some things my kids liked...baking soda and vinegar, drawing in the snow
with old spices(turmeric, cinnamon, oregano), painting with beet juice,
cookie decorating, cake decorating, cutting bread with cookie cutters into
fun shapes(hearts, stars, moons), cutting up cheese into fun shapes(extra
goes into casseroles, or sauces), making edible broccoli forests(stick in
peanut butter/almond butter, or hummus, or cream cheese) on a plate with
plastic dinos and making fun that was edible means less clean up. We
decorated cookies with shredded coconut died with fruit juices/beet juice.
They stain...so you can make your own fun t-shirts, too. Taking things
apart was fun as well.
Marina
--
Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
with old spices(turmeric, cinnamon, oregano), painting with beet juice,
cookie decorating, cake decorating, cutting bread with cookie cutters into
fun shapes(hearts, stars, moons), cutting up cheese into fun shapes(extra
goes into casseroles, or sauces), making edible broccoli forests(stick in
peanut butter/almond butter, or hummus, or cream cheese) on a plate with
plastic dinos and making fun that was edible means less clean up. We
decorated cookies with shredded coconut died with fruit juices/beet juice.
They stain...so you can make your own fun t-shirts, too. Taking things
apart was fun as well.
Marina
--
Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
Hi, All;
Thank you very much for all the responses. I am very grateful and I have learned so much.
1. I learned to be spontaneous. All of a sudden, I look around and I see many things we can do. But in the past, my mind was fixed on "projects". The other day, my DS4 was inside a playpen throwing out all the old balloons and I threw them back in. We had lots of fun and I had some workout!
2. I was so worried about not doing enough and I was so tense. Now I am more relaxed and try to BE with the children. Lots of time, they just want me to BE there, watching TV, doing things or doing nothing! I have more success following their leads and not imposing the "projects" I had in mind.
3. Yes, I still need to do "research". My son and I got into a game called "fireboy and watergirl". He was fascinated by the pulleys. So I went online and bought pulleys to install on his playhouse. Maybe I can give him a lecture on "physics". LOL (I think we will play with the pulleys and see what they can do).
4. Yes, I still need to find time to read more about unschooling and this list. But when I am confused or consumed, I could hear Sandra's voice,"hey, go to be with you kids". I try to remind myself that I could overdo the research part and not do enough being with them (with all my attention and passion).
5. I love all the ideas in everyone's response.
I am still learning to create a rich environment for them and still haven't had full grasp of it yet. So I figure my current goals are:
Be with them
Have fun
Learn as we go
Trial and error
It is interesting to watch how I approach a new subject. I need to read books on the subject, make a plan and do it. I cannot just do it and learn from doing it. That was a typical schoolish way. It is not necessary bad, but I need to learn to "learn by doing".
Thanks for all
Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
Thank you very much for all the responses. I am very grateful and I have learned so much.
1. I learned to be spontaneous. All of a sudden, I look around and I see many things we can do. But in the past, my mind was fixed on "projects". The other day, my DS4 was inside a playpen throwing out all the old balloons and I threw them back in. We had lots of fun and I had some workout!
2. I was so worried about not doing enough and I was so tense. Now I am more relaxed and try to BE with the children. Lots of time, they just want me to BE there, watching TV, doing things or doing nothing! I have more success following their leads and not imposing the "projects" I had in mind.
3. Yes, I still need to do "research". My son and I got into a game called "fireboy and watergirl". He was fascinated by the pulleys. So I went online and bought pulleys to install on his playhouse. Maybe I can give him a lecture on "physics". LOL (I think we will play with the pulleys and see what they can do).
4. Yes, I still need to find time to read more about unschooling and this list. But when I am confused or consumed, I could hear Sandra's voice,"hey, go to be with you kids". I try to remind myself that I could overdo the research part and not do enough being with them (with all my attention and passion).
5. I love all the ideas in everyone's response.
I am still learning to create a rich environment for them and still haven't had full grasp of it yet. So I figure my current goals are:
Be with them
Have fun
Learn as we go
Trial and error
It is interesting to watch how I approach a new subject. I need to read books on the subject, make a plan and do it. I cannot just do it and learn from doing it. That was a typical schoolish way. It is not necessary bad, but I need to learn to "learn by doing".
Thanks for all
Joy (DS4.25, DD1.25)
Julie van der Wekken
<Not every mom is crafty, and to some extent "crafts" can be seen as
something to justify school (or Vacation Bible School, or summer day-
camps) on the positive end, and on the negative end, as training for
factory work. No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.>
Sitting down and doing a particular craft, with rules & expectations is so not fun. At one point a couple years back I would occasionally present a craft to my kids and then would get upset (mostly internally) if they weren't interested in doing it. I decided to seek out projects that I myself was interested in and if they wanted to participate fine, if not, no strings attached (on my part). My 7 year old is highly creative and imaginative and when he does happen to be interested in participating in a project that I've got going, he takes one look at the materials and immediately has an original idea for how he would like to use them:)
Two examples.
#1-In december I gathered all of our craft items as well as items that I had collected from nature and set them all out on the floor with the intent to make 'Winter Scenes'. One of the items was styrofoam balls (I was thinking "great to use to make snowmen"). My 7 year old took one look at the piles of stuff, noticed the styrofoam balls and immediately saw "planets". He proceeded to make 5 different galaxies by painting the styrofoam balls different colors and glueing them to different pieces of cardboard.
#2-Over the weekend I came across some fun projects in a book titled 'Big Ideas For Small Mathematicians'. We checked this book out because my 7 year old is fascinated with fractals right now and this book had 1 activity to do with fractals. Anyway I came across a project to make in the book called 'Divisional Circles'. You cut 8" circles out of cardboard, and then proceed to make 12 notches evenly spaced around the outside, attached a long piece of yarn or string in the middle and then you can wrap the string around the circle by way of the notches to make different designs & shapes. Well once again my 7 year old took one look at it and wanted a circle with many pieces of yarn attached to use as a frisbee. Later he and his little brother were pretending they were 'Puffles' from Club Penguin and they were playing with them and taking them for walks by using the yarn as leashes:) I had fun making geometric shapes with the yarn and seeing what other designs I could make as well, and the kids had fun in a whole other way and I was more than o.k. with it. They've been having fun for 3 days with them, and even brought them over to my moms house last night and showed them to my great aunt who is 85 and she even played some frisbee with them while sitting in her chair:)
Julie van der Wekken
something to justify school (or Vacation Bible School, or summer day-
camps) on the positive end, and on the negative end, as training for
factory work. No, don't make the kind of turkey you want to make.
Do exactly as we say. Trace your hand with pencil. Go over that
pencil line with brown. BROWN, not green. ...and so forth.
Don't try this at home.>
Sitting down and doing a particular craft, with rules & expectations is so not fun. At one point a couple years back I would occasionally present a craft to my kids and then would get upset (mostly internally) if they weren't interested in doing it. I decided to seek out projects that I myself was interested in and if they wanted to participate fine, if not, no strings attached (on my part). My 7 year old is highly creative and imaginative and when he does happen to be interested in participating in a project that I've got going, he takes one look at the materials and immediately has an original idea for how he would like to use them:)
Two examples.
#1-In december I gathered all of our craft items as well as items that I had collected from nature and set them all out on the floor with the intent to make 'Winter Scenes'. One of the items was styrofoam balls (I was thinking "great to use to make snowmen"). My 7 year old took one look at the piles of stuff, noticed the styrofoam balls and immediately saw "planets". He proceeded to make 5 different galaxies by painting the styrofoam balls different colors and glueing them to different pieces of cardboard.
#2-Over the weekend I came across some fun projects in a book titled 'Big Ideas For Small Mathematicians'. We checked this book out because my 7 year old is fascinated with fractals right now and this book had 1 activity to do with fractals. Anyway I came across a project to make in the book called 'Divisional Circles'. You cut 8" circles out of cardboard, and then proceed to make 12 notches evenly spaced around the outside, attached a long piece of yarn or string in the middle and then you can wrap the string around the circle by way of the notches to make different designs & shapes. Well once again my 7 year old took one look at it and wanted a circle with many pieces of yarn attached to use as a frisbee. Later he and his little brother were pretending they were 'Puffles' from Club Penguin and they were playing with them and taking them for walks by using the yarn as leashes:) I had fun making geometric shapes with the yarn and seeing what other designs I could make as well, and the kids had fun in a whole other way and I was more than o.k. with it. They've been having fun for 3 days with them, and even brought them over to my moms house last night and showed them to my great aunt who is 85 and she even played some frisbee with them while sitting in her chair:)
Julie van der Wekken