Wonder Women

Organizing with Kids - Toys and Craft Storage

 
Have I ever mentioned that I homeschool six kids? As a result, I have stuff. A lot of stuff. Not only do we have a lot of toys and games (multiply just six gifts a year times six and you'll see my problem. Of course, they get more than six gifts each!).

I have spent years coming up with systems for keeping toys, games, and puzzles organized. I have definitely found some approaches that work. For example, storing games vertically works better than horizontally or in bins. What also works is using our old ping pong table to provide storage for suitcases and bins underneath. What isn't working is the putting away part.

 Not only do I have six kids full-time, but I have had 11 more joining us for homeschool activities on Fridays. Our super fun co-op activities require lots and lots of art supplies. Using them is fun. Putting them away isn't.

As you can see, I've tried clever strategies for storing paints and underneath the bench are more art supplies. 

Yet another problem with our storage area is that it isn't just for kids. We keep our gifts, gift wrapping supplies, electronic accessories, party supplies, and seasonal decorations here, too. 

In our playroom is a second closet we use for costume storage. This is another area where I need A LOT because of our co-op activities. This year we had to dress for the Revolutionary War and for Africa. 

I was determined to get control of these areas while participating in my simplify101 class and to be ready for next school year. The good news is I no longer have toddlers or preschoolers. In theory, the kids should be of help. :-) I did enlist everyone's help in decluttering. The approach that works best for me is to lay out a blanket on the playroom floor. Any of the kids may take items that they wish to donate to the blanket. Anything not worthy of donating goes directly to trash bags. This system works beautifully because everyone can see what is ostensibly being donated. Otherwise the older child gleefully puts all the younger's favorite toys out for donation. Likewise any educational items would go bye-bye without my watchful eye. My husband played a crucial role in boxing up all the donated items and drove them to the charity the same day. 

I haven't shown you every part of the storage room (there are other shelves that were organized and hidden bins that were emptied), but these are the results!

The red bucket on the right is my solution for keeping this room organized. Anything that needs to be put away goes in the bucket, NOT on the table. When it's full, it will be emptied.

My other idea was to put plastic tablecloths I already owned on the ping pong table. The paint is chipping off of it anyway and it creates a don't-mess-me-up atmosphere that partners well with the red tub.

The biggest job with the craft and seasonal storage areas was to throw things out. 

 I was able to get rid of enough stuff that I could keep a bin of other costume basics that was being stored with the toys and games. As you can see, I am continuing to store outsized shoes here. 

Hope I've inspired you to unload toys, crafts, or costumes that you don't use, need, or love!

 

 

Got a Reluctant Reader?

 

There are any number of reasons why your child may not be wild about reading: 

1) Books he's given are too challenging for him

2) The material doesn't interest him

3) She might have a learning disability like dyslexia

4) Not enough reading role models

5) She's an auditory learner

6) Other options for entertainment are too easily accessible (e.g., video games)

7) He is anxious about it, possibly because Mom or Dad is, too

Whatever the reason for his reluctance, it's a good idea to take a relaxed approach to trying several different approaches to encouraging reading. I have two websites for you and your child to check out. The first is a great one for kids at the very beginning of their reading journey: Starfall. Your child can brush up on phonics and take the focus off her performance by rating the stories she reads. It's completely free!

The second website is from Disney. It offers 600 titles from picture to chapter books. Books can be read to your child or unknown words can be touched and read to them. A dictionary can quickly be accessed, too. Kids love the realistic turning pages. The most innovative part of the program is the intermittent (and unexpected) quizzes that test comprehension and award points. Get a free week trial here without giving your credit card! If you love it, up to three children can read as many books as they'd like for $8.95/month. Very reasonable in my opinion! And nope, I don't get anything for sending you there. 

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The Gift of Unapologetic Faith

It seems Christmas has become more and more controversial. It's as if Christians have to apologize for their beliefs. Have you noticed that? Christ did come to bring peace on earth, but not quite yet. For now, the controversy will remain and will heat up. These events are clearly foretold in the Bible.

In So You're Not Wonder Woman?, I share about my experience with an Answers in Genesis video that changed the way I saw the Bible. I attended public schools throughout my education with the exception of three years at a private Christian college. During the course of my school years (even in the Christian college), the idea that evolution (and not God's Word) was fact was reinforced or at least never refuted.

As someone who believed that God created us, I had a dilemma. Was God really the creator? Or did we change from single-celled organisms over the course of millions of years? I decided that somehow BOTH were true and I just couldn't explain it. That was when I discovered Answers in Genesis and the wonderful truth that I could actually believe God's account of our beginnings in Genesis. I learned that it is logically impossible to believe in both God and evolution. To believe in evolution AND God is to believe that death happened before Adam and Eve sinned. To believe in evolution is to believe that God's creation from the very beginning wasn't good. Instead, it was kill or be killed. Of course, one could argue that they believe in God, but not a literal Genesis; that they believe in a creator God who used evolution to create. At what point in the Bible then does God start telling the truth? Why believe any of it? I could discuss this at length, but suffice to say that when I learned God's Word could be trusted, I was very relieved. (At this point, please allow me to point out that I am discussing evolution between species, not within. Species adapt and change over time. You won't get any argument from any thinking person on that).

Despite being a Ph.D., however, there were many, many questions I didn't have answers to. I didn't have the questions; others did. What about the fossil record that "proves" evolution, for example? Since meeting Dr. Carl Werner, however, I am thrilled that I now have more answers! Carl is a prodigy who graduated from medical school at the age of 23. Wow! He is an ER physician who has devoted the last 11 years of his life with his photographer/videographer wife traversing the planet investigating evolution. Like me, Carl believed that evolution was fact. He set about to find the evidence to prove it. He has interviewed leading scientists, has studied thousands of museum fossils and has visited dinosaur dig sites. The amount of data he has accumulated is mind boggling.

Over the course of his long search for proof of evolution, Carl discovered there isn't any. What a bold statement that is, I know! But so profound was the lack of evidence that Carl came to believe that God's Word was truth. This book is a summary of some of his findings. A second volume in the series is coming out this spring. Carl is praying that a documentary series he has planned using his many hours of video & photographic evidence will be aired. My family and I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Carl and were honestly blown away. I really didn't think he could tell me anything I didn't already know. I was so wrong! My 12yo seemed most affected by what he heard. He had often asked questions about evolution with what appeared to be some skepticism about a creationist view. After our meeting with Carl, I think I saw his faith grow before my eyes.

I believe everyone ought to read this book. It is designed for a 6th grade reading level and above. It is chock full of beautiful photographs and doesn't take long to read. You'll discover that fossils of animals that were supposed to have evolved much later than dinosaurs (like mammals!) have actually been found with dinosaur fossils over and over again. If you haven't heard that, it's because it doesn't support the theory of evolution so isn't discussed. The other main reason you don't hear about these finds is because animals that are 99% if not 100% identical to modern species are renamed as though they are a new prehistoric species, sometimes being put into a completely different genus (classification group). On what basis you ask? Simply at the whim of the one who discovers the fossil. He or she chooses the name and decides where it fits in the classification system. Colleagues in the field see that Dr. Joe named a fossil that looks JUST like our modern possum a neverseenbeforewhatchamacallit and the colleagues don't point out that it's a POSSUM because it doesn't fit the theory and because they don't want Dr. Joe interfering with their right to attention and money for renaming a dog fossil a nothersupernewcreaturite.

Until I spoke with Carl, I've always felt too stupid to understand how animal and plant species are classified. I understood mammals, reptiles, fish, etc., but that's about it! Now I know that it's not stupid to think that the Emperor is wearing no clothes! A possum fossil found with dinosaurs is in fact a possum! Carl's research and interviews also demonstrate that the fossils that supposedly show us the "missing links" between one kind of animal and another have also been subject to the same kind of subjective speculation. I've always assumed that there is a way of determining in a way that can be replicated by others what an animal must have looked like simply from its skeleton/fossil. Of course, there is in large part. But Carl interviewed the man who discovered evolution's best evidence (a hyena-like creature evolving into a whale). The fossil was supposed to be half-whale, half land mammal, but had no tail bones. The scientist admitted that he just "decided" that it had a tail and drew one in. More recently, however, he's changed his mind.

Of course, I am just scratching the surface of what you can learn from Carl's books. I believe there is no one in the world more knowledgeable about evolution and its evidence than Carl Werner. If he can't prove its validity, who can? If you have ever felt apologetic about your faith's view on the origins of life or if you can't imagine that evolution isn't well established fact, please order a copy of Carl's book today. Better yet, order one as a gift for those on both sides of the issue. You may be giving someone the gift of unapologetic faith.

Pumping Up Your Productivity

If you've been reading this blog a while, you know how enamored I am with David Allen's Getting Things Done.

I love having this workflow diagram to help me quickly deal with the many things in my "IN" box. Follow this link to print off your own copy that fits neatly in a standard 5.5 x 8.5 planner. http://www.douglasjohnston.net/weblog/archives/2005/06/19/gtd-covey-diagrams/

Using www.diyplanner.com allows you to create your own planner pages using your printer, a paper cutter and hole punch. If you're a homeschooler, you'll appreciate the flexibility of creating planning and record-keeping pages that fit with how YOU do school. Using this sytem, you can also create inexpensive planners for your kids!

In my next posts, I'll give you more detailed information about how a paper planner can pump up your productivity (and your students', too!). 

Outsmart a Shark

My proficiency in typing earned me some very good jobs before I was married and has come in quite handy over the years. But until today, it didn't make me feel like  Wonder Woman.

My kids have discovered Typer Shark, a free game you can play here: www.popcap.com/games/typershark  While there is nothing wrong with encouraging good typing skills, beware of the addictive nature of this game!

My five-year-old wanted me to play the game during our special time together today. I give each of my children (besides the youngest) a half-hour of my time each week to do anything they'd like within reason. My son insisted that I choose the Easy level so he could enjoy watching me progress through more and more difficult levels. He was elated while I played and kept pointing out when I earned a "new life." I really became entranced with the game and before I knew it, all of the kids were around me, marveling at my ability to beat the sharks. At one point, my 5yo who is Mr. Vocabulary almost made me mess up when he said, "Mom, you really have EXCELLENT typing skills."

Today I think I accomplished more than any typing program could have. I inspired my children to achieve. In the process, I enjoyed their admiration. Why don't you give the easy level a try and let me know your scores. I died at Level 22, with the rank Aqua Blaster. I had 1307725 points; an average wpm of 72 and an accuray of 96%. Try to beat me or "die" trying and I bet your kids will make you feel like Wonder Woman, too. If you don't have kids, have fun acting like one and play the game!

A Thomas Jefferson Education

This summer I attended our local homeschoolers' conference and found out about Institute for Excellence in Writing. I'll be posting about this excellent curriculum in the future. For now, I mention it because the IEW catalog is how I learned of the book, A Thomas Jefferson Education. I ordered it and was so impressed with it that I have completely reorganized my approach to home education.

However, even if you are not a homeschooler or not a parent at all, this book is worth a read! The exciting concept espoused in this book is:

All education is self-education. If we want to teach our children, we have to inspire them to learn rather than require them to learn. What would you have studied if you had the time? When I was a kid, I was crazy about medical books. I read the medical encyclopedia we had at home for fun! It's entirely possible that had I been given more time to pursue my fascination with medicine, I would have become a doctor. Unfortunately, we treat learning as if it were such drudgery that we have to bribe students (or ourselves!) to do it. Learning is the most fun and exciting thing we can do! Sadly, Oliver DeMille points out that we tell students to learn what they want to learn "on their own time." As you know, few students have time to call their own between school and extracurricular activities. As a result, we miss out on the natural momentum that each child has.

Even if you have students in public or private school, you can greatly increase your child's love of learning. You can also advocate that teachers and principals use the Thomas Jefferson education principles at school. If you have no children, you should also read this book and be inspired to begin the process of re-educating yourself. I have been thrilled as I've picked up classic books and begun to read. Mr. DeMille contends that the reading of such books not only entertains and teaches, but literally changes us. I couldn't agree more! If you're a Wonder Woman wannabe, you owe it to yourself to read this excellent book.

If you are a homeschooler wanting to learn how to implement these teaching principles, I highly recommend you purchase the George Wythe College Packages A & B here: www.writing-edu.com/order.

I'd like to briefly summarize how this approach has changed our schooling. First, it's given me permission to continue to learn. In this philosophy, your own continuing education is equally as important as your children's BECAUSE you are the one who will inspire your children to learn. For example, if you read a classic book that you love, you will rave about it and your children are more likely to want to read and discuss it with you.

Second, TJEd has given me permission to teach what I am interested in teaching. I no longer have to conform to the "conveyor belt" form of education. If I want to teach my children how to do photo editing because I love it, I can! If I want to take time to teach them how to make breakfast, I can do that, too! Rather than have my children spend an hour on workbooks, I now take that hour to teach what I want to teach.

Third, TJEd has given me permission to assist my children in learning what they want to learn. I talked with both of my older boys (in what TJEd calls the Love of Learning phase) about what they are interested in learning. My oldest was interested in learning about inventors and in music history. Who'da thunk? So I obtained books and curriculum on these subjects. He devoured the inventor books and the music history curriculum is so good the whole family is enjoying it (It's called Listen to Learn by the way. I will do a separate post on this in the future). My oldest says that this year of school is "the best ever." He has spontaneously written two reports, complete with pictures, one of which he delivered as a speech because he wanted to! My second son has asked for permission to do MORE writing!

Fourth, TJEd has given me a completely different perspective on math. I browsed through the discussion boards at www.tjed.org and found the inspiring website www.livingmath.net. The resources I ordered via this website have turned math from something to be endured to something to be enjoyed. The kids are happy not doing pages of boring, repetitive problems and I'm happy because math is really, really fun! I now think of it as solving puzzles. We all think of it as a means of gaining respect and even money! I'll post more about the resources I've found in the future.

For now, happy learning to you and yours!