Friday, October 31, 2008

Environment and Mentoring

I'm a little behind on what I'm doing here. There has been a lot going on, so I thought I would try to catch up on two subjects at the same time.

Reading:
Mom: Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. I think we have made every possible financial mistake one could make. Now to take the challenge to get out of debt.
So Sexy So Soon. Very interesting and shocking. It is about the sexualization of our children and how to prevent it, work around it, and explain things to our children that are happening long before they are ready for it.
(I started writing two children's books yesterday. I have one other I will work on through the winter for the boys (about a dragon).)

Dad: The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Isaac: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jesse: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Hannah: Rocks
Simeon: Do I need to repeat it? Thomas the Tank Engine

Environment and mentoring. Many, many times I will be looking up something, browsing through news articles, laying awake at 4 a.m. thinking about ancient Egypt or somewhere and do research on my own. Since we have computers all over the house, the boys usually get involved in what I'm looking at or learning about and it spills over to them. Their environment around me is usually full of little tidbit things here and there of stuff I have learned and passed on. Jesse (age 8) is now getting to the point that he will read up on stuff by himself. When we go to the library every other week they are usually required to check out a fun book and a book to learn about. Bugs, aliens, rocks, weather and natural disasters, dinosaurs and dogs have been the norm lately. I get specific movies from Netflix on subjects we are learning about. Anytime my kids ask me about a subject I don't hesitate to help them research it, talk about it, find some activity that supports it, or make a way for them to pretend play about it.

As I've stated before we are learning about Colonial times this year and I have to say I think I'm learning more about it than my kids. I hope that with me being excited about learning these things they are becoming excited about the projects and learning. This week we have been learning about Colonial homes. What has my attention the most is Milk Paint. It's natural, and more colorfast than modern paints. I'm excited to try making our own and trying it out. Figuring out stuff like this leads us to learn about oiled paper, homemade candles and soap, cooking from scratch and home remedies. I love the Love of Learners. Isaac is a little more into this stage than his younger brother and it's been fun to teach Isaac, discuss stuff with him and it is simply amazing to me some of the things he remembers or figures out. Before learning about TJ Education, I think I dragged my kids along with me anyway. Homeopathic medicine, animal care, house building, arts and crafts, sewing, canning, gardening, Feng Shui, automotive care, baby care and cooking. I guess I never thought about this much before but they are always underfoot, underarm, or sitting on my desk, counter or chair with me while I work on these projects and naturally it carries over to letting them work with me. We made bread last week and I have made the recipe a couple times before, but them doing it last week, whatever they did with it, found it to be the best bread we have ever made.

The tales they'll be able to tell when they are older. Hopefully they will be good ones.

2 comments:

Pirate Princess said...

Oh Dawn - they'll be GREAT stories!!!

I think the writing bug is out. I had a dream a few weeks ago and when I got up I started writing - the next thing I know, I have the beginning of a story for the "preteens" - the girl is 11. I told my sister though, as I keep going (and I pray every day before I write) I get the feeling this is not only for the girls, but for mothers too. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Good luck with those stories! I look forward to reading them when they're published!

:)

Marie said...

Good luck with Dave Ramsey. I think his book is awesome, and know you can do it! I also like his book on tape, hearing him read it is motivating to me. Don't get discouraged, we all start somewhere. You will be stronger, and proud of yourself as you accomplish.