Chaos to Order: A Variety of Shelves and Spaces

I teach Ethan that home is special and where we want to be. And the same principle hold true for his stuff. Everything has a home and get's sad when it's not back in its home when all is said and done. But more than that, the "house elf" will take what's left out and he cannot be sure when or if the elf will ever give it back...so he has to be responsible with his things. (randomly the elf make return things for good behavior)

I wanted to write down some shelves and spaces I have and their functions, to give an idea of how this helps keeps us organized.


Ethan's Book Shelves

• BedTime & Classics Books: bedtime books are specific stories I feel help remind Ethan he is loved or that provide security and calm before bed. We read these to him for now and there are about 6 of those. Plus we bought 16 kids classics from B&N that we will typically alternate with bedtime stories to do one a week or so, a few pages at a time (building his familiarity with Classics in a kid version).
• Sunday & Character Books: about the Gospel or Max Lucado books (which I love), or character qualities (Franklin Covey 7 Habits for Kids stories series, etc.). We also read these to him and there are about 10-15.
• Reading Time Books: this has about 10 books at a time that are simple for him to pick up reading on, should he choose, and we rotate through those as he gets bored, or as holidays/seasons change (or for age appropriateness). This helps him get familiar with certain books and words to build his sight-reading.
• Other: we also have a sprinkling of language-learning type fun storybooks (Slangman are good) or Paul's childhood books that we like to throw in for variety that we keep up with the Sunday books so Ethan doesn't see them, but we can pull them out at random times. He loves the element of surprise (especially when the House Elf has brought him a different book)
• Library Books: these always stay in the reading room up high so they don't get confused with his others or mangled by toddlers, but I try to limit it to 5 a week now, instead of 20. Which generally adds up to one new book each weekday during our noon storytime half-hour (which we read a new one, a familiar one and then
• Special Shelf:  This one isn't specifically for books, persay; but it's for things that Ethan feels are special and includes two books that are actually "his" and not the "family library" like the rest of the books. The two books are You Are Special (board board version) and The Book of Mormon. 

Having these shelves keeps my organized and provides a good framework and provides variety and also surprise potential. It's also fun to have different areas. The formal books and reading time/library books are in our formal reading room. His bedtime books are by his bed, but up high.

Side note about treatment: I use to give my kids all the books they had, regardless of location and age. Now, I've come to the perspective that if they can't treat the book nicely, they can't have it. (or if it gets damaged it goes away for awhile and is taped/fixed quickly). This builds respect for books (and it's use as a tool and "friend") and responsibility for taking care of things (stewardship). (granted...it's still hard with my two year old and her ABC book, with no biting on it...so we aren't by any means perfect at this...but we try).

Ethan's Spaces

I think I'd go crazy if I lived in a one-room house with all the family and tried homeschooling (at least in Winter or if we couldn't get out much). So we've made different areas of interest for Ethan (and my sanity).

• His Bedroom: has his special shelves right next to his bed for only his stuff (a few books a box of duplos and his lil' critters, and his special shelf)
• His Closet (Book Nook): has his memory board to hang things he wants to look at or remember, his car mat/blanket thing and a bucket of cars, and his mini-wagon parks there.
• The Reading Room: This is our classics room that has our nice books (Gospel shelf and Classics Shelf, etc.) a world Map, etc. It also has his learning shelves: one for reading time books/workbooks and his "project basket" (threading, paper stuff and "tools" we're focusing on that week). And the other for his learning tools (chalkboard box with crayons and such, abacus, letter and number magnets and puzzles and his backpack (holds his character book for the week, scriptures, his journals and basic coloring supplies)
• Secret Garden/Fort: we have a special sheet I grew up with that looks like grass and butterflies, etc. So we use that to cover a fort, where'er it may be in the house. This is his "secret garden" (named after the book--kid version we read to him). So he loves setting up camp anywhere...which provides a good deal of variety in his quiet times that have to be somewhere quiet and isolated (this is helpful when I need the reading room, or his sister is sleeping in his room and I'm not sure where else to put him.) And he just hinks it's cool to be somewhere different and under a blanket.
• Outside: His campus! Go explore...mommy needs a break.

Toy Shelves & Boxes (see post on simplifying toys)

• Great Room/Main Space: there are a few boxes in the main area where the kids and I spend a majority of our time. They are actually different themes:

1. Music & Movement Box: shakers, flutes, drum, scarves, etc.
2. Story-Time Box: puppets and little critters to tell stories with (or for an easier version of hide and seek I don't have to find awkward spots to hide in or search all over the house for a real person)
3. Building Blocks & also a Pattern Blocks Box: Endless creative building and helpful in conjunction with other toys
4. Wood Train Box
5. Nellie's Toddler Bin
6. Ethan's Tool Box

• Ethan's Room: 

1. Dress up Box
2. Closet Toys: a wagon and a box of cars
3. Stuffed animals
4. Sunday Box up on shelf (just pull down on sundays): sunday puzzles, books, Noah's ark toys, etc.

• Reading Room (already explained some of this above)

1. Project Basket (for threading or paper-folding things he's working on)
2. Learning Tools (magnet letter and numbers, tangrams and various puzzles, cards, games, etc.)

• Garage shelf: an easy place for him to park his bike/scooter and to put his bucket/wheel-barrow/shovels on the shelf above
• Basement Box: hidden away are some other toys he likes or other-age-appropriate toys he doesn't need at that time that we rotate through (like rotating through books, it keeps the element of variety/surprise alive)

Other Shelves

• 6 small Clothes drawers are low and in a logical order with a manageable amount of pieces(6 small drawers: pants, shorts, short-sleeve, long-sleeve, underwear, pj)
• Shoe shelf in front closet so he know where his shoes "rest" for the night
• Blanket and pillow shelf for his few extra blankets if he needs more fort material or if he peed the bed and needs to take care of it.

Focused on Virtue

Last summer I attended an Educational Conference for a teaching methodology called Waldorf. While there, I learned of "The Virtue Project." And I felt it needed to be a focus in my parenting and teaching. This is a great perspective to take in raising kids or in education and developing them into more well-rounded citizens and people of character.

The Virtues Project was founded in Canada in 1991 by Linda Kavelin-Popov, Dr. Dan Popov and John Kavelin. It was honored by the United Nations during the International Year of the Family as a "model global program for families of all cultures". They create cards, affirmations, guides, etc. to help in various areas of life in which we can focus on bringing these virtues into play.

These are the areas of life they list for focusing on the virtues

It started when they sat down and studied and noted all the virtues they found mentioned in various major religious texts. From all the characteristics noted they found they were able to whittle them down into 52 underlying virtues. Click here for the website's definitions of each virtue.

The 52 Virtues

There are five strategies the use for the process of bringing these virtues into play in the various areas of focus in life. These are details for the first two (where I've been spending my focus), but the photo below has the summary of all five.

1. Speak the Language of Virtue: I love that they focus on speaking virtues (instead of focusing on the counterpart (opposite, bad behavior). Instead of saying to your child "don't hit your sister, that's bad," say "was that being gentle to sister?" This helps the child realize where they fall short of goodness, without labeling them as being bad. And praise when you see good virtues practiced, so you don't have to wait until the bad virtues come out.
2. Recognize Teachable Moments: If you notice your child doing something that isn't upholding positive virtues, use that moment to stop and help them evaluate. Like the example just mentioned. It's about asking the right questions and taking time to show a better way (without over-talking), rather than shaming kids and making them feel guilty or bad. As you practice teaching moments you will learn how to clearly and simply emphasize good over bad. 

I love the beautiful card set they sell, though I don't own a set. They had one at the conference and we each picked one and discussed it with our "neighbor." Each virtue card has the definition, picture, quote, statement of belief and a bullet list of ways one would show living that virtue. It's a great format for understanding virtues, whether of not you focus on all 52 (which is a lot and maybe a little overwhelming).

So, I started taking this concept and thinking about President Hinckley's 9 Be's. These 9 attributes of focus were a good starting point to work from. And for Gospel study I focus on the 9 Christlike Attributes: faith, hope, Charity/love, virtue, knowledge, patience, diligence, obedience, humility (and I added gratitude).

I will post more later on these as I try to see how to make focusing on virtues a more integral and defined part of my life and parenting, so my children have a simplified and defined view of the most important values of "being."

Teaching Your Children Values, by the Eyres has been a good place to start for ideas on how to teach some of the values. Then I will just need to keep practicing communicating positive virtues (so getting familiar with what they are and what they mean). And focusing on a few has been the greatest help, instead of trying to memorize and teach all of them (esp. when my child is only 4). The ones I focus on now are gentleness, responsibility, happiness, gratitude, thoughtfulness, etc.

This Week's Goal:

Why not pick one to focus on this week and try saying to your children, "you showed gentleness when you _____" so you acknowledge the child's postitive behavior, instead of labeling them as a person.

Why I Want to Homeschool

I never in my life wanted to home-school. I grew up in the school system. I liked school. I was teachers' pet, brown-noser, class clown at times, etc. Loved the attention I guess. :)  (though not always straight-A student) 

So why would I home-school?

Well, that thought didn't cross my mind until the last few years. I would say a few events slowly started preparing my mind for the idea..... (in no particular order)

• I had a baby and wondered what was best for him and started getting into healthier foods and lifestyle. And I felt that Christlike principles were the foundation.
• I read Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne and thought about how to simplify for my children and create security
• I had a home-birth with my second child and then started to question all sorts of society conformed ways of doing things that we just do for the sake of tradition
• I wanted to learn patience and how to love my children fully. I grew up as the youngest and didn't do a lot with younger kids. Always to busy to babysit and wasn't use to babies. I felt I needed to formally ask God's help to get where I wanted (and so I did that many years ago)
• I started trying to do a little "school" with my son, that turned into something slightly more formal with two other boys. It has given me practice and helped me form in my mind better ways to approach learning through play and less on academics.
• I questioned the school system. I had nothing against it. I just merely wanted to put it in my mind and make a list of pros and cons. I like to have a purpose behind the things I do, whether it be if I should eat out, or if I should go through the school system. I am not going to do things just because it's typical. So, I put it out there last year. And since doing that...honestly, I feel pieces of information and people have just come into my life without my actively seeking to "go against any system."
• I won a ticket to a Waldorf Education Conference. I love learning...gobble it up (if I'm interested in it). :) And I love free. I know God put this little gift in my path because he knew I would get something out of it and use it. And I left that conference feeling there was something missing in an academic-focused atmosphere (of any kind, not just the public school system). I wanted my child to get deeply rooted in virtues and to explore the world and naturally let things unfold as he discovers himself--all things he was interested in at his pace.
• I realized all truths are eternal. So learning should be placed in context of God's plan. And history as we fragmentally learned it in school, should be placed in His-story...with Christ as the centerpiece. This is the whole picture, and this is how I know I would've learned history best. 
• ...and still, I keep stumbling upon things that take me this direction I'm heading

So, back to the question: Why Homeschool? 

It totally differs for everyone. But here are my followup questions to that question:

• What are your greatest desires in life?
• What do you think is the purpose of education--for you, for your kids, etc.?
• Do these two fit together?

Mine did. So I'm pursuing it. Not everyone's will. But I feel that I had those questions in me and that I was led step by step until I now feel that for me and my mission, there is a strong connection and link between the two.

my notes from Michelle Stone's Celestial Education talk

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So...now I feel I can best establish a foundation on which to home-school, without feeling I have to teach my kids every fact and detail and that they have to excel at everything that's standardized to a specific age and area of knowledge. The key is creating an atmosphere. I want to home-school so I can create an atmosphere of love and truth in which each child can learn and grow in peace and at their own pace to discover their identity and what their individual role is in God's beautiful plan. Placing all things they learn into the context of His-story--an eternal mind-frame. I want learning to be fun and a family event and priority.

I'm not saying you can't do that by supplementing your teachings alongside a school system. But, for me...I feel I can personally best accomplish this if I home-school. Plus, I can gain the lessons I desire to learn. So, I feel God has created this opportunity for me to reach my potential, while helping my children do the same.

So again, ask yourself questions. Turn your deepest desires over to the Lord and see where he leads you. It may not be homeschooling. Who knows...maybe it will be to Utah, or out of Utah. :) I sure wasn't planning on staying here, but I feel it is where I need to be at this time. So I am content. 

Where do you need to be? Or what do you need to be doing? Are there things He can teach you about yourself, and so you feel you are accomplishing your mission and discovering your greatest potential? Instead of just living life as it seems typical. 

Pray about it. He will show you little by little, even if you aren't aware. Have faith to step in the dark. Don't delay desires or promptings to learn or try new things (unless you aren't keeping family as your priority.) If it's where you need to be he will shine more light on your path with each step and you will grow personally and as a family as you do these things and stay close to your family.

Life is a journey. Don't just live "it." 

Embrace your potential and make the world a better place as you go.

Alternative Education: Intro to Waldorf Education

Ever heard of Waldorf Education? 

I'm very interested in Waldorf Education and after reading a great book written by a teacher and social worker, Simplicity Parenting. This is an alternative school to public schools, but I just use some of the philosophy in combination with my other thoughts and ideas.

So this post is about my thoughts about this Waldorf Education approach. But first I thought I'd start with this funny list...

You Might Be a Waldorf Mama/Papa If You... (I'm going to keep adding to this, btw)

• think there is no such thing as boredom
• have an insatiable appetite for learning and growth
• love rocks, trees, dirt, etc. more than something you can buy in a store
• gardening is essential for your children to learn
• love simple experiments using what you can find in nature
• don't own a tv
• think learning is a holistic endeavor (with their head, heart, hands, etc.)
• find you eat, dress, do...according to the seasons
• the "calendar in your head" comes to mind from one holiday to the next
• think play time may have an inverse relationship to toy quantity (deep play with one)
• your toy shelf does not look like toy store's shelves at Christmas time, but rather has a few simple favorites: something homemade, wood blocks, etc.
• think teaching your 7 year old child to knit is as important as teaching him or her to read
• think imagination is the fuel of greatness and are ok with gnomes and fairies

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So, What is Waldorf Education?

Wiki-pedia says... (click link to read more details, and I've added a few of my notes below too)

Waldorf (Steiner) education is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Waldorf education is the largest independent alternative education movement in the world.^[6] In central Europe, where most of the schools are located,^[1] the Waldorf approach has achieved general acceptance as a model of alternative education.^[7][8] Waldorf education has influenced mainstream education in Europe^[9] and Waldorf schools and teacher training programs are funded through the state in many European countries. 

Public funding of Waldorf schools in some English speaking countries has been controversial, with questions being raised about the role of religious and spiritual content in or underlying the curriculum, and whether the science curriculum, which has achieved notable results, also includes pseudoscience and/or promotes homeopathy.  

The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. At present there are 1,026 independent Waldorf schools,^[1] 2,000 kindergartens^[2] and 646 centers for special education,^[3] located in 60 countries. There are also Waldorf-based state schools,^[4] charter schools and academies, and homeschooling^[5]environments.

The educational philosophy's overarching goal is to develop free, morally responsible, and integrated individuals equipped with a high degree of social competence. Teachers generally use formative (qualitative) rather than summative (quantitative) assessment methods (which means no letter grades), particularly in the pre-adolescent years. The schools have a high degree of autonomy to decide how best to construct their curricula and govern themselves. The approach stresses the role of the imagination in learning and places a strong value on integrating academic, practical and artistic pursuits.

The developmental approach used in the Waldorf schools is designed to awaken – and ideally balance – the "physical, behavioral, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual" aspects of the developing person,^[28] developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component.^[28]:28 A 2005 overview of research studies suggested that Waldorf schools successfully develop "creative, social and other capabilities important in the holistic growth of the person," but that more research is needed to confirm the generally small scale studies conducted to date.^[28]:39

Three broad stages in child development: (though there are sub-stages too)

1. The early years (0-7) children primarily learn through empathy, imitating their environment, and Waldorf pre-schools and kindergartens therefore stimulate pupils' desire to engage with the world by offering a range of practical activities.^[33] The educator's task is to present worthwhile models of action.^[11]:389 Children are also given daily opportunities for creative, imaginative play.^[34] The early years education seeks to imbue the child with a sense that the world is good.^[35]
2. Second Stage (7-14) children primarily learn through presentations and activities appealing to their feelings and imagination. Story-telling and artistic work are used to convey and depict academic content so students can connect more deeply with the subject matter. The educator's task is to present a role model children will naturally want to follow, gaining authority through fostering rapport. The elementary years education seeks to imbue children with a sense that the world is beautiful.^[35]
3. Third Stage (14+) children primarily learn through their own thinking and judgment.^[36] They are asked to understand abstract material and are expected to have sufficient foundation and maturity to form conclusions using their own judgment.^[11]:391 The secondary years education seeks to imbue children with a sense that the world is true.^[35]

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Here is another lady's list she compiled that I took note of from a lecture I heard:

Top 10 Benefits of Waldorf Education

1. Nurtures Whole Child
2. Multi-cultural, World
3. Learn through arts: stories, songs, nature, etc.
4. Curriculum follows child's development (7 year cycle)
5. Gives rhythm and rituals
6. Prepares child for Life and life-skills (not just career/job-specific areas)
7. Fosters individuality, independence and problem-solving
8. Creates a sense of personal and social responsibility
9. Elevates confidence and self-esteem
10. Creates love for learning
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Here is a video introduction about it.

Things I've noticed they do:

• celebrate other cultures, holidays and festivals as a major part of their curriculum
• value nature: eat whole foods, use raw materials to make crafts and for their environment, even gardening as class "work"/play and using outdoor classroom time regularly
• feel rhythm is important in how they celebrate seasons and in daily routines so there is flow
• emphasize virtues and positive character attributes
• value community and sharing
• use story and song in everything to bring life and animation to what could be mundane in public school
• teachers continue with their students through the grades 1-8 to grow together
• don't teach letters and math the same way: letters come later and more as an art, while math is taught as whole-to-part (frequently with division and multiplication right along with addition and subtraction--seems more holistic and totally makes sense--from an intuitive math-lover like me!)
• encourage imagination and rarely have exact crafts to imitate
• there are no textbooks. Students create their own Main Lesson Books of learning to summarize concepts for themselves.



example of main lesson book page: Student summarizes and artistically represents lesson  from wiws.org

I found this great curriculum chart if you want to get a feel for how they break down learning by stage...


Other Posts about Waldorf:
Why Waldorf Works: from a Neuroscientific Perspective
14 Ways to Incorporate Waldorf into you Home
Waldorf Fosters Multiple Intelligences

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If you think you're interested, there is a Utah Waldorf facebook group where like minded people can learn from each other. And a Waldorf Utah Homeschoolers, if you are in Utah. People post helpful information, waldorf blogs, etc. or you can ask questions there. They also share and create local events for homeschoolers or community members varying from festivals, to story-telling conferences, to farm tours, to basket weaving classes, etc. It is not just for those that attend Waldorf groups/schools. And they are currently getting a charter to open an official school in Utah in 2016 for those that don't homeschool. Help join the effort, or at least find out more. 

Alternative Educational Approach: Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed)

I’ve read a few great books about alternative educational philosophies. I’ve compiled some of my thoughts from this last book I read. (I will then post thoughts on the Waldorf Philosophy and another separate post of a comparison/summary of the two.) So, beware, my notes are choppy. The comparison post will be more polished.

Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching A Generation of Leaders…

by Oliver DeMille

KEY:

Excerpts from the book

Other peoples' quotes from book

My Thoughts

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The Essential Question in my mind:

Is the education we are receiving on par with our potential?

Every person you have ever met is a genius.

And greatness is the purpose of each of us.

Two types of teachers: mentors (present) and classic (past)
- Teacher get students attention and starts them on the way and involves them Deeply. Students puts in the work to educate themselves.

Three major types of schooling
1. Conveyor belt education
2. professional education
3. leadership education: inspires self-education and ability to think for themselves, based on character

Thomas Jefferson Education Model is Leadership Education

And I would add that so is the Waldorf Method, from a more creative/intuitive approach, but that is another post...

“Teaching, like farming and healing, is a cooperative art. Understanding this, Comenius in The Great Didactic again and again compares the cultivation of the mind with the cultivation of the field; so, too, Plato compares the teacher’s art with the physician’s.”

“…only when teachers realize that the principal cause of learning that occurs in a student is the activity of the student’s own mind do they assume the role of the cooperative artists. While the activity of the learner’s mind is the principal cause of all learning, it is not the sole cause. Here the teacher steps in as a secondary and cooperative cause.”

“Like the farmer and the physician, the teacher must be sensitive to the natural process that his art should help bring to its fullest fruition – the natural process of learning. It is the nature of human learning that determines the strategy and the tactics of teaching.” 

– Mortimer J. Adler -

Individualized Education Phases

1. Core phase (0-8 years of age): Happy, interactive, confident child naturally playing and working in family setting. The meaning of tasks gains context through experiences with a rich learning environment.
2. Love of learning phase (8-12ish):  Play at projects and skills which build understanding. Involvement is exploratory and interest driven With time to allow personal expression without negative feedback.
3. Scholar phase (puberty/12-16): Readiness to apply greater level of effort to personal and academic achievement through a process of commitment and accountability.  Defined responsibilities that are agreed upon. Exposure to variety of materials and ideas in the spirit of passion and excitement for learning. A time to work hard at learning because you love it and to ponder, think, read, write,  listen, debate, analyze and learn. It is the time to lose yourself in study.
4. Depths phase (16-22): Profound hunger to prepare for on-coming responsibilities and future contributions in society. To acknowledge limitations both personal and in current mentoring arrangement, and to submit to expectations of a mentor at a new and higher level. To network with those who are mission-oriented and involves the challenge of having your grand ideas revealed to be limited or ineffectual with the opportunity for exposure to peers with new and thought-provoking solutions to age-old problems. it is the ideal combination for the years of earlier training and must be individualized.

"Since learning is essentially a process of discovery the teachers Art consists largely in devices whereby one individual can help another to lift himself up from a state of knowing and understanding less to knowing and understanding more. left to his own devices the learner would not get very far unless he asked himself questions, perceived problems to be solved, suffered puzzlement over dilemmas, put himself under the necessity of following out the implications of this Hypothesis or that, made observations and weighted the evidence for alternative hypotheses."

- Mortimer j Adler -

Thomas Jefferson Education Basic Tenets:

1. classics and mentors
2. depth and breadth
3. quality and application

No education is complete or even particularly valuable unless the student uses what he or she has learned to serve the community, family, society, and God.

A good mentor is someone of high moral character who is more advanced than the student and can guide his or her learning

Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.

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Seven keys of great teaching or mentoring

1. Classics not textbooks: Bible, Shakespeare, etc.
2. Mentors not professors
3. Inspire, not require: Force in learning dampens the passion, kills the spirit and destroys the zest and life of learning. Force trains followers not leaders. Inspiring is finding out what the students need and then creatively encouraging them to engage it on their own with excitement and interest
4. Structure time, not content
5. Quality, not conformity
6. Simplicity, not complexity (Read, write, Do projects, discuss--not quick to point out answers or personal feelings....explore)
7. You, not them (Mentors set the example and are continually learning and pushing themselves. They commit to study and ponder think about it and pay their own price in studying along with.

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Teaching Parable: Baby Learning to Walk

1. Observe
2. Walk and smile: Try and have mini successes
3. Totter and look alarmed: run into difficulties and get worried
4. Fall and cry:  Fail and feel bad
5. Start over again

Mentors' roles

1. Smile throughout
2. Shower advice
3. Warn
4. Encourage
5. Praise
6. Most importantly...set the example

The Mentor who shares her love for learning and willingness to submit to the labor that is the process of acquiring mastery will communicate the value of persevering through difficulties and trusting that ignorance and confusion must ultimately give way to knowledge and understanding.

You were born with potential.

you were born with goodness and trust.

you were born with ideals and dream.

you were born with greatness.

you were born with wings.

you are not meant for crawling, so don't.

you have wings.

Learn to use them and fly.

-Rumi-

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In Summary:

“A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them. The simpleton never looks and suffers the consequences.” 

- Proverbs 27:12 -

Our Educational system has a problem...is the problem. Too many cooks in the kitchen trying to decide what our children need to learn and how to do that. There are tons of alternative educations out there that are worth exploring.

After reading much, I have come to view my children’s’ education as needing at least these three things:

•  Inspires students to think for themselves
• Based on good and true principles/values
• Encourages their individual greatness (aka God-given potential/talents)

All types of education will change if parents lead the charge. 

What can you do as a parent to help truly educate your children? (regardless of whether or not you homeschool, charter school, public education, etc.)