It seems to be time to start shopping and creating for Christmas. The wish lists have been compiled here and so the research and bargain-hunting begins. Some gifts I hope to delegate to the grandparents, so that they can purchase wished-for items rather than the latest plastic fad item from a department store. Other items we’ll buy for the children, and some wishes won’t be fulfilled or might be pushed forward to 2009’s birthday wish list…
Here’s a version of an article I wrote in 2005 for Education Choices magazine.
Nationally, the number of babies born to women aged to 24 years continues to decline1. Despite the recent media coverage of ‘irresponsible’ spending of the baby bonus money by teen parents, the reality is that there are no constraints on how the money is spent, and it is just public perception, not reality, that all teenage parents are irresponsible with money. This sensationalism is merely a result of changing trends and media bias toward a minority group2. Only 16 per 1000 babies are born to teenage women - that is about 11000 babies per year in Australia, a figure which is still decreasing annually - these young parents are certainly a minority1. And don’t they know it.
This article was initially written for Rhonda’s Blog last year.
I have six children. If I hadn’t used cloth nappies, our family could have put thousands of little bundles of paper, plastic, wee and poo into landfill. And we’d have paid around $20000 for the privilege. Yuck! Just thinking about that makes me guilty for the disposables we did use.
The Wonderful Chrissy has another treat for us!
For those of you who know and love Chrissy Butler’s work - remember My Brother Jimi Jazz? - her second picture book is on its way!
Again, I’ve been blessed to watch Chrissy grow this special project from the sidelines. What a lot of hours go into something so special…
The Wonderful Place is a picture book which celebrates the joys of toddler breastfeeding, seen through the eyes of 3 year old Jimi Jazz. The artwork is ink, water colour and collage on paper. Prints can be ordered of any of the artwork, please contact Chrissy for more information about prints or orginal artwork from the book.
Last year I wrote a couple of posts for Rhonda at Down To Earth. She invited me to write for her again recently. I have decided to write a series of posts about a simple, frugal, green lifestyle for young families. I’ll be posting every Tuesday in April. Enjoy!
As I’ve mentioned a few times, I started writing for Natural Child recently. If you go to http://www.naturalchildmagazine.com/ and click on the “Preview available now…” message with the butterfly and baby’s legs, you can then get to a page to download a 2MB PDF of the first issue of the magazine. Enjoy!
September 24—September 30, 2007
“Take A Child Outside Week is an international program designed to help break down obstacles that keep children from discovering the natural world. By arming parents, teachers and other caregivers with resources on outdoor activities, our goal is to help children across the country develop a better understanding and appreciation of the environment in which they live, and a burgeoning enthusiasm for its exploration.”
Noticing how bright the moon was last night with our clear skies and it being full moon today, I decided we’d go for a Moon Walk tonight. We’ve had a busy few days with sleepovers and visitors and tonight will be the first night with ‘just us eight’ home for awhile…
You can visit the Take a Child Outside site to pledge to take a child outside, get ideas for outdoor activities and find participating organisations in your area.
Nature — the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful — offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young with something so much greater than they are; it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity.
Richard Louv
“From the earliest times attempts have been made to classify individuals according to types, and so bring order to the chaos.” Carl Jung
Part Two – Left or Right Brained?
Continuing with my discussion on exploring labels in regard to learning, I will give a brief explanation of the left brained/right brained theory of neurological development. This concept was first popular in the 1970s when it was accepted that the left hemisphere of the brain controlled analysis and accuracy, while the right side was responsible for aesthetics and feeling. Of course, we use both hemispheres of our brains all the time. They interact with each other in complex ways and cooperate with other parts of the brain as well. The theory suggests though, that we all have a preference for one or the other hemisphere’s apparent functions.
I’m very excited about a new magazine being launched in Australia this year. Check out the website for Indigo, see their mission statement and have a sneak peak of the content and style!
Justine Caine, a mother of six from Scone, NSW has formed a political party called What Women Want.
You can read more about it at the website (click the link above) and in this article which appeared in the Courier Mail.
“From the earliest times attempts have been made to classify individuals according to types, and so bring order to the chaos.” Carl Jung
Part One – The Four Temperaments
For awhile I’ve been interested in labels. I have enjoyed reading about classifications since doing those “What sort of girl are you?” quizzes in Dolly as a teen. I have also read about astrology, completed personality tests such as Type A/Type B and many others that I used to do as a student of Psychology and Education for extra credit points. But I’ve never taken any of it too seriously until lately. I’ve realised that “temperaments”, “learning styles” and similar labels can actually be useful tools for understanding myself, being an effective parent for each of our children, and providing an appropriate home based learning journey. This is the first in a series of articles covering explanations and resources for some philosophies of classification.
Gardening with Children
SAFETY
- Choose appropriate size and type of tools for each age group and supply small garden gloves.
- Know which are noxious plants and remove them from your garden or explain to your children that they’re poisonous. You can obtain booklets about poisonous plants from the library or Poisons Information Centre. Also avoid spiky, prickly and itchy plants in a young child’s garden.
- Chemicals are best avoided in your garden. Even concentrated ‘natural’ garden treatments should be locked away.
- Spiders and snakes can by dangerous. Be aware of the species you may encounter in your locale.
- Explain to your children about things that sting. Have your preferred remedy on hand should a sting be likely.
- Water brings life to your garden but it can be hazardous too. Never leave your little ones alone with water.
- Avoid harsh sun on delicate skin. Cover up and avoid gardening in the middle of the day.
SEEDS –
Cheap, magical, fun. Collect your own from kitchen scraps or dried beans in the pantry. Buy old-traditional varieties from seed suppliers. Catalogues offer an exciting array of varieties so the children can plan their next gardens.
VS SEEDLINGS -
Quicker, already established for more success, available from hardware stores, markets or nurseries.
Easy snack plants: snow peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, mild radish, French beans
Simple flowers: sunflowers, marigolds, bulbs, nasturtiums, sweet peas
Exciting plants: pumpkins, gourds (for craft), luffa sponge, passionfruit, everlasting daisies, purple beans and corn
Perfect in pots: strawberries, a capsicum plant, a tomato bush, baby carrots, all herbs and flowers such as cosmos, pansies and petunias
Other gardens: mushroom kits, sprouting jars, terrarium, tray of cacti in pebbles, native plants.
Related activities: worm farms, compost making, hens, pets, nature crafts, ant colonies, observing bugs, scarecrows and other garden art.
(more…)
I looked up this article I wrote ages ago after conversations with friends and my own recent lack of energy. Maybe others will find it useful? A timely reminder for me, too…
I am mama to six wonderful people aged two to twelve. Due to my husband’s work commitments; a lot of the parenting, home education and household chores fall to me, which brings me to what this article is about… Burnout!
As the children have grown and more have been born, I have had to reassess my commitments and the energy I have available, as well as finding methods to cope with increases in my workload. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned… (more…)
Childcare is headlining across the nation during this election year. It is a matter that greatly affects parents and employers – the main cogs in our societal moneymaking machine. The federal government wishes to increase the birth rate and each year they’re offering more dollars to parents for populating the nation. Childcare benefits and tax deductions are offered as enticements but rarely are the needs of children considered. A focus on numbers, timeframes and dollars motivate the debate. Childcare is big business and is currently influencing around two-thirds of all childhoods in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that 66 percent of children under five in 1999 used some form of childcare. And 19 600 children were in formal childcare for more than 45 hours a week in that same year.Natural parenting is an ideology, not a dogma. It is about instinctively raising our young, and making informed decisions. Does childcare compromise or compliment our conscious parenting ideals? Are those who perceive theirs to be a natural parenting style more protective than most other parents? In compiling this article I sought the opinions of around twenty mothers of babies and young children.
