Annette Naake

Parenting author John Rosemond suggests that no kid should have more toys
than he or she can put away and take care of. It's unfair to expect a kid to
clean up a room covered wall-to-wall with toys, games, pieces of toys, etc.
He says the right number of toys is probably about 10. That's right, 10
toys!

For toddlers, he suggests a toy library concept. The child can play with one
toy at a time. When he wants another toy, he brings you what he has. You
trade it for a new one. Nothing gets left out.

I have to agree that one big factor in the clutter at our house is just..
too much stuff. I regularly box up toys and put them in the basement. For
the most part, no one ever asks for them, and eventually the boxes get moved
to the parking lot of the local Goodwill. Another problem is books. I think
you *can* have too many books. Oour house is groaning under avalanches of
books. Taking a very critical look at our collection is my next project!

Annette




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metta

on 7/7/00 11:38 PM, "Annette Naake" <naake1999@...> wrote:

> For toddlers, he suggests a toy library concept. The child can play with one
> toy at a time. When he wants another toy, he brings you what he has. You
> trade it for a new one. Nothing gets left out.

I really disagree with this approach. Clutter or no, mixing toys leads to
many imaginative games. Letting children play with their toys in their own
ways *is* unschooling, no? John Rosemond is the antithesis of unschooling,
IMO.

Anyway, soon enough they'll be grown and gone and I am going to miss the
toys strewn about.

> Another problem is books. I think
> you *can* have too many books.

No, say it isn't so!
--
Thea
metta@...

Tracy Oldfield

That makes sense to me. I know my eldest is very uncomfortable
with the amount of stuff we have. This is one big problem with
tidying up in our house, I can't threaten to take stuff away, cos
that's what she wants me to do. But there again I like to give
them the option of getting stuff out for themselves. Tonight we
had to tidy the living room, cos my mum was babysitting (we went
to see Chicken Run, very enjoyable <g>) and she's fat and can't
walk so well, so the floor had to be clear. It got done, though dh
started on it before we'd eaten tea, so the kids weren't really in
the mood for work...

This does seem a bit 'anti-Montessori' if the child can't access
their own stuff without coming to someone else, though it might be
an opportunity for 'manners-training...'

Tracy

On 8 Jul 2000, at 0:16, Annette Naake wrote:




Parenting author John Rosemond suggests that no kid
should have more toys 
than he or she can put away and take care of. It's
unfair to expect a kid to 
clean up a room covered wall-to-wall with toys, games,
pieces of toys, etc. 
He says the right number of toys is probably about 10.
That's right, 10 
toys!

For toddlers, he suggests a toy library concept. The
child can play with one 
toy at a time. When he wants another toy, he brings you
what he has. You 
trade it for a new one. Nothing gets left out.