;)

Update: About 3 times a week we do practice Luke 2:1-20, and we have done our special activities, but we have not done math and we have only read The Jesse Tree twice. But we have been working steadily at cleaning up as we go along and having our afternoon clean-up time.

I am not as ready for Christmas this year as I typically am by this time. Sigh.

:)

Just kidding. But they really do cut their friends’ hair if you don’t watch them closely.

With that said, I have been pondering your response for a number of days now. I find myself asking one question over and over, without a sufficient answer: Does working with crafts at a young age have inherent value for our children? I mean, if it does, then we should all figure out how to include it. And if it doesn’t, then some of us will do none and some will do a lot and it will all be based on Mother’s personality and tastes.

I suspect that it has value–and I mean real value, beyond the idea that it makes most children happy–but I cannot come up with a sufficient rationale or support…

So I will keep thinking…

Now, perhaps that explains it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I need to change anything. Does it matter they don’t have ideas for what to do with craft stuff? Does it matter that they aren’t skilled cutters? How much time and effort should I really focus on that, especially when they have other creative pursuits like drawing, coloring, and hours of outdoor imaginative play. I remember getting kids’ craft books at the library or from our own shelves as a 8 or 10 year old and making something on my own time in the afternoon, completely independently, just me and the book (with permission, of course, but not direction). Do I really need to be sitting down with a 4-yr-old to teach those skills or should I just wait until they are old enough to figure it out and do it all on their own? There’s nothing wrong, of course, with doing crafts and teaching that stuff if it’s what you enjoy, but I’m not convinced I should feel obligated to be crafty. Kendra at preschoolersandpeace.com, for example, claims to be a not-fun mom, but she still procures craft kits and such for her kids to do, whereas I am more likely to say “I’m not a craft mom; I am a “I don’t care about dirt” mom, so go play outside.” :)

Just watch, I’ll probably end up with a super-crafty child and have to adapt. :)

One of my children, though, was destructive with scissors until we went through the “I Can Cut Paper” Kumon workbook. Turns out she just didn’t quite know what to do with them. Once she developed the control, it made a huge difference. Of course, that might be peculiar to her situation.

Okay, I had to check the box to see what was in it. Right now, there are at least two different sizes of construction paper, markers, colored pencils, scotch tape, pipe cleaners, various stickers including but not limited to foamy stickers in various shapes, colored folders scissors, and feathers. Almost all of these things were given to us by someone. I think I bought a couple things during a back-to-school sale. But generally things arrive in the mail from great grandparents, and it is so nice to have the box because now I know where to put them!

I have to admit that my additional student this year, Neighbor M., really helped in this area. She knew how to be creative with craft supplies. She is a NATURAL, very creative. Thankfully, instead of my children dragging her down, she taught them a thing or two, and they matured in their use of things.

What sort of supplies are even in the box, though? That’s what stumps me. My boys do love to draw, and then at the end they have something interesting. But when they add scissors and glue and construction paper, then all we have is a glue-covered table and paper in shreds and tatters and not even an end-product they are excited about. And the process can quickly become delighting in mere destruction. Perhaps it’s the two-boy dynamic. They’ve never had an end-product creation except absolute mess and disaster from being let loose with bits and scissors and glue. They do do alright when I direct them toward a specific end, as with their current Thanksgiving Tree, but this sort of thing I can only handle a handful of times a year, and at that I feel like I’m doing pretty good. Yet, if I just say, “Today, you can have *markers* when you draw” they get all excited and drawing a picture with paint is the most thrilling thing ever (I try to aim for paint once-a-term, preferably during the break week). And, I admit, I do like the excitement their low expectations facilitate. :)