Being open to new Opportunities!

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be the mother of such creative and talented children.

I was never one of the arty kids at school, never one of the gifted intellectual kids or even one of the popular kids.

Always it seemed I was 'just outside' this elusive circle of creative talent and yet as a mother I have found myself interested in this in my day to day life and what is more very keen to do and share many art and craft projects. Not just for myself but to share doing them with and mostly for our children.

I am still surprised when people say to me  such things as 'you're are so clever' and 'I wish I could do that.' This always amazes me as I still do not think I am creative at all.

I know that I do love to be surrounded by beauty in our home and this usually means that I have made such things over the years as well as having picked up a few items to compliment them as well.

Most of what I have made has been self taught and I do think this has been an opportunity to grow. I encourage our children to be open to these new opportunities and I think having seem me work on new projects, that I did not know how to do before has helped them see that it is possible to learn new things if only each of us is willing to learn.

I also believe genuine encouragement is a part of this. I know for myself I like to be encouraged when I am attempting creative pursuits and obviously it makes sense that our children need this in our lives too One of the reasons I did not do anything creative for so many years after school is that I did not get any encouragement for my efforts or the results I produced as it clearly was not the 'top of the class' standard. Therefore I do encourage our children, perhaps in the view of others a little too gushy even, but who if not their parents can children expect to give them this level of encouragement  to help them on their way.

So the other night when our beautiful daughter Eden showed me her drawings that she had just done in the evening after dinner I was amazed and delighted with her skill. She has not had any lessons at all, well except those that we called our 'Art Lessons'.

These have been simply doing Nature Study as described by Charlotte Mason and then I have implemented over the years the 'Art Lessons' we continue to do with the younger children. Which is simply copying other artists work and then doing their own drawings from imaginations.
This has worked well for us and I can see a great potential from quite a few of our children although not all are as interested in pursuing this as some of the others.

So as I share this delight with our Eden I am again encouraged in the decision we have of involving our children not only in our work but also our play and choices of recreation and thus seeing them grow and using their own gifts and talents.

AND yes I do believe in Charlotte Mason's Motto "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a Life." I have seen it lived in our children every day in so many ways for so very many years!!

I do hope you enjoy these couple of Eden's lovely drawings from the many she has on her wall and in the folders she has filled over the years.

Blessings to you and your homes,