The Wondershop: My not-so-Dirty Little Secret

I'm in the midst of a semi-busy week. Of course, I'm supporting Zeal as he has all sorts of projects he's involved in - among other things, he's getting some special birthday projects ready, working on a project for his book club about the legend of Hanuman, and is in the final weeks of his preparation for the 2nd Annual Eugene Kids Marathon (6 miles to go!)

Amongst all this fun stuff, a few great blog stops are happening (all giving away copies of Child of Wonder), here, here, and here.

I've started getting emotionally ready for my trip to Los Angeles in a few days. I'll be signing books at the LA Times Festival of Books. With over 140,000 people attending and 450+ authors, they are calling it a weekend of bookspotting . I'll be signing books in booth #620 on Sunday from 11am-1PM.

And here's where my secret comes in. I'm excited about going and being able to sign books, believe me, I am. But my real excitement comes from the fact that I will able to get these people's autographs on my favorites of theirs: Maxine Hong Kingston, Cornelia Funke, David Weisner, José-Luis Orozco, and Mo Willems. All in one place!

There it is, cat's out of the bag, I'm a book author-autograph-groupie, and I love getting autographs on my thousands of books gracing our shelves. If it's any consolation, I always have them sign them to Zeal. Someday he might just love them as much as I do.

Is your home creative?

We know that assessment (especially self-assessment) is a particularly powerful way for people to understand their own processes and make change. Of course, anytime is a wonderful time to assess how your own home and learning environments are serving the creative individuals who dwell in them. Below you will find 28 very short questions to ponder about your own living and learning environment. When answering these questions, think about how often each takes place. Everyday? Weekly? Occasionally? Seldom? Never?

Do the people (children and adults) living in your home have the opportunity to...

1. Dream?

2. Reflect?

3. Monitor their own progress?

4. Make choices?

5. Write?

6. Go outside?

7. Leave a project and come back to it hours, days, or even weeks later?

8. Play in a totally unstructured way? For great lengths of time?

9. Be alone?

10. Wonder without being told an answer?

11. Get messy?

12. Dress up?

13. See inspiring works of art?

14. Use different types of art supplies?

15. Use different types of math tools?

16. Use different types of building materials?

17. Use different types of science tools?

18. Question you?

19. Negotiate the rules?

20. Sing?

21. Listen to music?

22. Block out the music?

23. See themselves represented (gender, race, family structure, etc.) in works of art, the literature and/or media?

24. Hear language that is above their own writing and speaking level?

25. Remove themselves from any given situation?

26. Play cooperatively with other children and adults?

27. Solve their own problems?

28. See their work and projects displayed?

Once you have taken time to think about these creative activities and how often they show up in your home and learning environments, use your answers as an opportunity to make a few new goals for your creative home.

About Ginger

Ginger Carlson is the author of Child of Wonder: Nurturing Creative and Naturally Curious Children (Common Ground Press, 2008). Ginger Carlson has nearly twenty years experience working with families of young children. As author of The Wonder Collection, she shares her expertise and enthusiasm! Ginger has served as adjunct faculty at the University of Oregon, College of Education, and taught in public and private schools in the United States as well as in International and Embassy schools abroad. She leads workshops in creativity building for parents and educators throughout the country. Ms. Carlson holds a Masters of Arts in Education and Instructional Technology from Pepperdine University and is credentialed in Pre-K through adult education in the state of California. As an educational consultant, Ms. Carlson has provided families curricular planning and creative ideas to set up home environments and regularly leads Wonder Workshops for parents, educators, and organizations. Ms. Carlson has been published in many national family, parenting, and food magazines. She is a regular columnist and features The Wondershop in regional parenting magazines.

The Wondershop

My not-so-Dirty Little Secret

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