Keep the Door Open...

The door to learning that is. That has always been my philosophy with children. Given the opportunity, IE: The Door Always Open, they will do the rest. Give them the avenues to pursue and a rainbow to get there and they will blossom! Iris loves art....she is terribly creative. We endeavor to provide her with the materials to facilitate that creativity and imagination and she does the rest. She discovers things I had forgotten and perhaps never knew experimenting with techniques and colors with no labels or names...yet. As a Mom of five and grandmother of four I have always endeavored to hold the door to learning open through preschool years and those years I homeschooled and those years I did not. Give them the opportunity...go with the flow....keep the rainbow of learning running to where they want to go and they will do the rest. I remember being told along the way to "quit teaching my kids at home" by professional teachers who could not teach them in school. I had one son, labeled gifted by the system, who literally colored his way through second grade and ended up very stressed because the teacher did nothing with him. And; when she did it was age inappropriate. Anyhow; that is a story for another day...thanks Mrs. Jabbs NOT! You see; I don't think I "teach". I don't think of it that way. Children are born as blank empty plates pretty much. They are a gift and it is our job to fill their plates with all the good things we can. I endeavor to do that.

Now back to the peace and quiet of the home place... A certain little girl is in the living room watching Bolt with her favorite CD of the week (Alvin & the Chipmunks) playing on the stereo in the same room.... Newspapers spread on the coffeetable, six bottles of paint and myriad brushes, and a stack of paper ....while she dances and creates. That is what it is all about. If we could only keep it that way.

Mel