Create

I had more photos I wanted to share in my Spring is For Science post. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough space. (I try to limit myself to 8 photos per post for upload-ability and such, what a bother.)

These photos then, go along with that post. Part two if you will. In addition, I wanted to point you to a science report on Laurent's blog. Pond study has always been a big hit in our house around this time of year. 

That post of Laurent's is one example of the type of writing we do together. The kids are keen about a topic and naturally have something they want to share. We sit down together over several days (or just one short session) to get out the thoughts, edit and then publish. Most times "publishing" is simply me handwriting or typing what they want to say.

Sometimes publishing is a letter sent to grandma, or a poster put up in the house, an e-mail sent to a friend, a report in their own writing, etc. I have learned the shorter the writing session is the better. My kids have things they want to say, but when I drag it out it's no longer fun and they lose their natural interest in writing. 

They also do a lot of writing completely independent of me, except for occasional spelling requests. I don't require my children to spell correctly for independent writing. That would just totally discourage their efforts. It's much more important to me that they enjoy the process and purpose of writing, than get it perfect.

Ah, but here I am talking about writing in a science post! Some day I will publish, in depth, our elementary writing philosophy and "curriculum". It's a post that's been a long time coming and I've got a lot to share. My own ideas are much along the lines of The Writer's Jungle if you want to do some research on your own. 

I will be posting a complete run down of our homeschool curriculum for the past school year at Simple Homeschool next week. So stay tuned. I'll link up from here. 

Today I have a video to share with you. Taking you "behind the scenes" to show you how we store craft supplies in our small chalet. I'll jump right into that and then share some notes and photos after.

As you saw in the video, we have three craft storage areas, using plastic bins and pieces of furniture.

Plastic Bins

Plastic bins are not as aesthetically pleasing as I like but they are very practical for our purposes.

• In clear plastic bins the kids can see the contents.
• They transport well. This is especially useful since, with our move next month, we will have moved three times in twelve months. Living in 4 different homes. The bins handle all of this beautifully. Me? I'm learning to handle this with grace also (smile).
• Bins are easy to stack. Even if you don't have a shelf most bin systems are made to self stack. This is a handy feature.
• Plastic bins are affordable and relatively accessible, even if you don't live near an IKEA. Just a word on that - I have not lived near an IKEA for over twelve years. I haven't visited one in nearly as long. You don't need an IKEA to be organized.

Having said all this my dream would be to have a dedicated wooden shelf with rattan or willow baskets that were designed to fit inside. Something exactly like this (that link even includes the plans for how to make one, cool).

One of these lovely pieces is not in my immediate future so bins it will have to be. Maybe in our yurt?

Cabinets and Dresser Drawers

Who needs storage for clothes anyway? Clothes are so overrated (smile).

This is my preferred method for stashing stuff. We've used a dresser drawer for years for craft supplies. When we outgrew that, we started the bins also.

A dresser is great because you can close the drawers and everything could be hairy scary inside but you'd never know on the outside. Not so with clear plastic bins.

There are seasons when our craft drawers are a total mess but since we've moved around so much this past year we've kept them pretty tidy. This is one of the advantages to moving - you are regularly sorting, decluttering and purging.

I've included this photo of what the bead drawer (it's tidy in the video) used to look like before we started using little jars for storage. As you can see, plastic baggies galore. Ick.

The Mess

What you don't see in the video is what a (small space) crafty house looks like, in action. This is why I've included the pictures. The only time the craft stuff is nicely stacked in bins and put away is first thing in the morning and then again at the end of the day.

Craft supplies are for crafting and a house is for living. You can't create (with children) without a mess.

The photos you see in this post are what my house looks like on any given day. Of course I'd go crazy if it was always like this so we have a regular clean up time at the end of every day. The kids are old enough to do this by themselves. They're the ones making the mess after all! This includes daily vacuuming or sweeping the floors.

For the evening the house is mostly clean (inevitably some craft or art project comes out during the evening hours but these are small and contained) and it stays this way till the next morning. This is one reason I do love getting up early - it's my time to appreciate a clean dining room table - just to look at.

I forgot to show you where our sewing machine is kept - right next to our bed. Our bedroom has been a bit squishy for the past five months. The chalet came with a king sized bed (bed overkill) and then we've got Damien's treadmill desk in there also. It's not ideal but it works in the short term. 

The video gives an overview of what supplies we stock. Next month I plan to write about those supplies in detail, sharing what I think are the most important ones to stock, if you are just starting out or aren't very crafty yourself but want to give your children some supplies to work with. The follow up to this paper craft supply post from last year.

You know proud mama's - they love to share the amazing things their children are up to. I'm certainly no different.

A few months ago Laurent was given a commission by one of our blogging friends Brian Green. Laurent was thrilled with the project and I was so proud of how diligently he worked on it. 

Practice sketches and color blending. Internet research to try and figure out exactly how to give black marker a "gloss". I helped with some of the research but in no way could assist with the artwork - that was all Laurent's doing. 

This weekend Brian revealed the commission on his blog. That's Laurent's artwork as the new header for Brian's blog. 

Having an artist in residence has many advantages but I still do pay Laurent a small commission for the artwork he does for my blog (my subscribe and follow buttons at the top were done by Laurent).

I can't write about Laurent's art without a little homeschooling speak.

One of my favorite homeschooling books is not about homeschooling at all but a book about success. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell deconstructs why and how people become successful. One of the things that really grabbed me in this book is the amount of time successful people put into their "craft", whatever that may be. 

Now, I'll tell you that "worldly" success (ie: fame & fortune) is not one of our homeschool goals. But we do want our children to be successful at what they love to do. In Laurent's case that is drawing (and some other stuff but drawing is a dominant theme in his life).

Gladwell's book encouraged me that as a homeschooler I can give my children those 10,000 hours to become really good at something, if they so choose. I love this freedom in our lives. And I love that Laurent can grow his skill for hours every day at such a young age. 

This reminds me also of the podcast I listened to recently with Jamie & Tsh at Simple Mom podcasts. I feel very much the same as Jamie does, that we give our children as much time as possible to develop their stengths because that is where they are really going to shine. Their true talents are not going to grow while spending an inordinate effort to bring their weaknesses up to the mediocre level. Rather, our children will really bloom when we encourage and allow time for them to develop their strengths.

This is one of the major reasons we homeschool. To give our children time. To grow into who they want to be. 

Laurent (with Damien's help) wrote up this bio to accompany his artwork.

Laurent is an 11 year old homeschooled artist, and wishes to remain one (an artist that is) for many years to come. His favorite things to draw are wildlife and nature subjects, and his favorite medium is pen and markers. Laurent loves the outdoors, nature, and animals. He is a hiker, a lightweight backpacker, and a backcountry skier. His dream is to find a career that incorporates being both a naturalist and an artist. For now, he earns some pocket money by selling cards on his blog, and doing the odd commission as opportunities arise.