Resources – Master Inspire Plan Part 4

by Mary Ann on July 13, 2010

The yard post-Jodie

Yard post-Jodie

When my oldest daughter Jodie was in college she wanted to give me a wonderful gift. She wanted to landscape our yard. Can you imagine that. Her finances were tight making it a more difficult task. Well, she thought about what could be done and how it could be done. She realized that just turning the straight garden edges into more graceful curves, adding some small hills and extra garden beds would go a long way to improving the look of a yard that for twenty years had hosted seven children and all their friends. She took stock and realized that she needed a significant amount of large round rocks. All the other things that she needed were her two hands, a strong back and a willing heart.  Once she knew what she needed she was able to pull those resources together. She couldn’t buy rock and  so she went to the river and gathered rocks  into the bed of a truck with the help of a friend or two.

The yard pre-Jodie

I was amazed at the transformation in our yard. It had been nice before but very utilitarian for the sake of all the children. Now it looked like something out of a magazine and warmed my heart. Once Jodie had a plan and decided what resources she would need she was able to accomplish a feat that I would not have thought possible.

Today we are going to talk about RESOURCES. What is going to be required to accomplish what you want to have happen in your family. This will be a specific list of things that you would like to use in teaching and inspiring your children. Make a careful investigation of what is available by asking friends, reading reviews and articles, looking through catalogs and on websites, visiting retailers, and attending educational conventions and seminars.

Be wise with your money. Make sure an item is really going to help you fulfill your desire to inspire before you purchase it. Don’t be taken in by bells and whistles. I have a friend who spent many hundreds of dollars on items she thought would help her children to love learning and to engage in areas she thought were important, only to find that they didn’t inspire and weren’t helpful. Take your time. Use your plan to help you decide what resources are really going to fit the bill.

If you don’t have a lot of available funds then remember that I have said before that if you choose to inspire and help your children love learning then you have to budget for it. Set aside a bit every month till you can purchase something on your list. As a family, be creative in ways to earn extra funds for educational and inspiring resources that your family wants to own. When you need something that you don’t have the money for be creative like Jodie was.

Lets take a look at the list of resources I have on my one year plan.

Drums of all kinds

Other small musical instruments

CD’s of rhythm music

Music book and bag for the autoharp

Cultural Literacy for Adults E.D. Hirsch

Books- 100 Dresses, Atlas Shrugged, survey books on the founders, math classics, Cultural Literacy for Adults E.D. Hirsch

Music book for the recorders

Begin a fund for the Hawaii trip

Embroidery patterns, floss, hoops

When I did the section on Cultural Literacy I wrote down my “best family culture”. It included music as a family. My husband plays the saxophone and other instruments. A few of our children learned to play instruments in school. I sing.  However, I have always wanted music to be a part of our family get togethers. Because we didn’t have a written plan that desire just stayed in the back of our minds as a wish and was never fulfilled. I believe that it is NEVER too late to do any good thing. So I made that part of my “best family culture”.

I have owned an auto harp since our oldest was five but no one has ever played it. So I need a book and a bag to protect it. I own five wonderful recorders because I always thought we would learn to play them. Now I need some books. Drums and children’s instruments are a must to help me introduce music to my very young grandchildren. I need the CD’s so we can use our instruments to play along.

My classics list included some books that I will need to purchase in order to implement that part of my plan.

The last two items come from areas we haven’t covered yet and so I will mention them later.

As you can see, this is a simple list but will really facilitate some of the things that I want to inspire my grandchildren and even my adult children with. Take a look at your list of classics. Are there any that you need to purchase? Read over your “best family culture” and see if you need resources there. Consider the whole concept of cultural literacy and see what you need to add to your resource list to facilitate that in your family. As we cover each of the nine areas you will be able to add to this list.

Begin some type of saving plan for your resources whether it is a savings account or a change jar that the whole family contributes to. Just start. You can do this!

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Cultural Literacy – Master Inspire Plan Part 3

by Mary Ann on July 12, 2010

I am sure that you can think of times when you have been reading a book and it mentioned a word or event and you had the feeling that the author just assumed that the reader would know what he was talking about, but you didn’t. That happened to me recently. I was reading a book about the wives of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, specifically Mrs. Robert Morris.

Mrs. Robert Morris

Mr. Robert Morris The Financier of the Revolution

The book mentioned the land speculations of her husband and signer Robert Morris. Here is the quote I am referring to, “The history of the unfortunate wild land speculation of Morris….is too well known to need retelling here.” I had never heard of that and had no idea what the author was talking about so I had to do some research to find out.

That can and will happen to your children. There are all kinds of information that they should have at least a bit of knowledge about to make getting along in life easier and more enjoyable. Here are some examples, idioms such as “when it rains it pours”, “bite the dust” and “can’t hold a candle to”. Proverbs like “April showers bring May flowers” and “beauty is only skin deep”; parts of the English language, for example what is an exclamation or what is a bibliography. It includes literature which is common to the culture you live in such as Brer Rabbit, Superman and The Brothers Grimm in the USA. Think about music, art and architecture for examples of cultural literacy such as Big Ben, Beethoven or the Mona Lisa. Knowing and understanding things that I have mentioned and others is called cultural literacy.

Let’s consider the second area you might want to include in your Master Inspire Plan – CULTURAL LITERACY, breadth and depth. Here is a further definition.

Cultural Literacy is a common core of knowledge that we share with others in our nation. According to E. D. Hirsch “about eighty percent of the knowledge commonly shared by literate Americans has not changed for more than a hundred years and is not likely to be quickly outmoded.” I suspect that this would be true for whatever nation one lives in.

Take some time to think about cultural literacy. What facts and events do you think your child should know about? There are some great resources to get you thinking about this.

Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know

A First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need to Know

What Your Kindergartner Needs To Know (There is a book for grades K-6)

These books are all by all by E. D. Hirsch.

You will find many other excellent sources to get you thinking.

Create a list of the areas you would like to inspire your children with from both a survey standpoint as well as depth. You will provide the resources and the mentoring.

Why not start with your family culture. Do you have volumes of family history that you can read with your family or tell stories from? Make a plan for collecting family genealogy and stories of your ancestors. It would be very helpful to write out your best family culture, and how you can provide opportunities for your family to gain from their rich heritage. This is core to your family’s cultural literacy. Your plans can include journal keeping and scrapbooking special mementos, so that there is a means to pass your family culture onto the next generation.

Next, make a list of the resources you would like to use to cover the fields of knowledge that constitute literacy. What books, trips, pictures and activities will you need to provide?

The last part of this element is a list of the fields of knowledge that may constitute parts of your older children’s scholar study program. What do you want to inspire in the future. It is vital to look ahead even if your children are small. Here is an example of what might be found on your list, what you hope to inspire your young scholar to engage in:

Scholar Study Program

• Architecture

• Art

• Poetry

• Technology

• Wars

• Presidents

• Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other founding

documents

• Geography

• Science (major fields)

• Government forms and which forms are specific to which countries

• Philosophy

• People of Influence throughout history

• Music Periods

• Eras in history

• Foreign languages

• Current events

• Future trends

• Foreign affairs

• Law and major Supreme Court decisions

Does this seem a bit overwhelming? Let’s take a look at my one year plan for myself and my grandchildren who range in age from 6 months to fourteen years.

Ancient World History

Jewish History and Culture

Greek Mythology

Family History

Founding Fathers and Mothers

Albert Schweitzer and other great men and women in Math, Science and Medicine

The first two fields are where I want to be studying this year. As I read about interesting people and events I will relay that information to my grandchildren, geared for their ages, through my Spark Station letters. This is a way for me, as a grandmother, to share my love of learning with my grandchildren. Parents can do the same for their children. Remember it is always “you not them”. You have to model what you want your children to do and be.

I plan to tell my grandchildren stories from Greek Mythology as well as write about them in the Spark Station letters.

Each year at our family reunion we have a special genealogy event for the children. I use that to help fulfill part of our family heritage. I also relate stories from our family books through telling stories in person as well as in Spark Station letters. Having this on my plan helps keep it in the front of my mind so that I actually follow through.

I keep items in my Spark Station about people and places in America’s history and other great people so when my grandchildren are here they can choose to engage with that information. I also relate stories and use the Spark Station letters. When they are coming to visit my Master Inspire Plan helps me choose activities and field trip I want to do with them.

So you see, despite how challenging it sounds, you just pick things that you want to use to inspire your children and then you think about ways to incorporate that in your family reading, family travels, yourSpak Station and field trips, etc.

So begin making your long term list and then break it down into your list for the next twelve months. Take some time and write out your own “best family culture”.

Let’s begin by reiterating some of the key points about a Master Inspire Plan. It is a guide to help you become a master at inspiring and responding to your children. It is not designed to insure that your children must or will do and learn everything in it. It is a guide to help you consider areas you would like to focus on in inspiring and responding to your children. Remember that some of the greatest educational experiences you will have with your children will be unplanned.

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Classics – Master Inspire Plan Part 2

by Mary Ann on July 12, 2010

My dad the reader!

My father was a scholar of business. He was an entrepreneur from an early age and was always trying to earn money for his familywho lived in hard times in Star Valley, Wyoming. He started his first business at age nineteen. So in our home we had many classic books related to business and personal success.

By the time I left home I was very familiar with Og Mandino’s The Richest Man In Babylon and The Greatest Salesman In The World. I had read some of the works of W. Clement Stone, The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol, Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I had been taught the principles in David J. Schwartz book The Magic of Thinking Big and Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. These are still in my own personal library. They were my fathers classics. These are the books that he read and reread. I wasn’t taught the principles in these books as much as I learned them by hearing my father talk about them and live them. I felt inspired that I too could do anything that I set my mind to. I could be great. That inner belief has made a great difference in my life.

During my workshops and webinars I talk about a Master Inspire Plan. I do that because the purpose of the Spark Station is to INSPIRE learning. We can’t mandate that anyone learn. That technique is tried all the time in many venues for both children and adults but it never works. We can force someone to memorize information or pass a test or please an instructor but it isn’t learning. So the challenge for most parents is how I can inspire my children. That is where the Master Inspire Plan comes in.

When I work one on one with a family I have the opportunity to see their Master Inspire Plan. So I have seen a good number. Here is what I have noticed. They are usually really long and complicated. Most are stored in a notebook or on the computer and once written are rarely referred to again. That isn’t really helpful when it comes to inspiring your children or yourself.

So as I go through this I am going to refer to my own plan. Yes I have one. I don’t have any children living in my home but as a grandparent I need to have a plan concerning what I would like to inspire them with. We all need a plan if we want to inspire children. I also have it for my husband Don and myself. Frankly we need a bit of inspiration as we go along!

If you recall I mentioned that we would cover nine items that you may want to consider in your plan. You may not use all of the nine and you may add others. That is good because this is your plan and has to fit what you need and what your family needs. Also, please remember that this isn’t a plan set in stone. It will change as you go through the years. Something that you may have considered important may become unimportant and something that you didn’t think about at first may be added later. Also, your children will come up with things that you didn’t even think of. Remember Jenna and her pigeons. Those are the things that ultimately must take top priority in your plan. Those are the things that already inspire your children.

Here is another thing about my plan, it is a one year plan. When you are raising your children it is good to create a plan that covers a child from birth to when they leave home but to make it workable you have to break it into bite size pieces. What is it you want to cover in each area this year? This keeps your plan from ending up in a file or notebook and never being used again.

Ok, here is item one: CLASSICS. The hallmark of any home ought to be our reading materials. You can tell a lot about a family by the reading materials that they have available. It has been my experience that if we don’t plan ahead we have wonderful books in our minds that we want to read to our children or that we hope they will read but we may not ever get them into our home or make time to include them in our schedules.

One warning here, do not cut and paste someone else’s list into your plan!! Don’t search the internet for what someone else considers a classic. What do you consider a classic? Only put down the books that you truly are inspired by and want to use to inspire your children with. My dad had his classics. They aren’t the ones that I chose and read to my own children but I grateful he shared his classics with me because what they taught impacted my life in some very meaningful ways.

I have some books on my list that would never be found on most lists. In fact, I have a few books that I have heard other people say they took out of their own libraries. Oh well. I like them, they moved me in some way and I want to share them with my grandchildren. I am not swayed from their value to me just because they hold no value for another person. After all, I am the expert in my home, right!

So here is my classics list for this next year, from June 2010 to June 2011.

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis

The 100 Dresses

Carol Bird’s Christmas

The Katie John Books

The first two books are the ones I am committed to reading this year. I picked Atlas Shrugged because my daughter recommended it to me for a specific thing I am learning and I trust her judgment. The Weight of Glory is a book that I have wanted to read for quite awhile but have just never committed to. Remember “you not them”. You have to inspire and educate you and then you can inspire and model learning to them.

The last three are what I want to read to my grandchildren when they come to visit. I will be starting this weekend at our family reunion. I will have them for three days and it is going to be fun as we end very busy and hectic days. These are books that I picked out and paid for in grade school. I still have those old and original copies. They are classics to me because I LOVED them as a girl and I think my grandchildren will love them too.

Here is where my plan has really come in handy. If I hadn’t made a Master Inspire Plan I wouldn’t have thought about having a reading time at the family reunion. I would have let that opportunity slip by and regretted how little time I see them and how I just don’t get to share my love of reading with them enough.

It is probably apparent that I can’t really read five or six books to them this year if I only see them twice, for a few days. Well, because I have this plan I began thinking about how I could inspire them with a love of reading and I came up with the idea of making a digital recording of me reading a book, chapter by chapter. If I hadn’t had a plan I wouldn’t have thought about the issue and resolved it. I would have done what most wonderful grandparents do. I would have lamented all that I can’t share with them because I don’t see them enough. As you can see a Master Inspire Plan is great for getting you to think about how you CAN inspire your children.

So your first assignment is to think about the years of your child’s life. Over those years what classics would you like to have in your home, in your Spark Station, to give as gifts? What do you want to inspire your children and yourself with? Write them down.

Now carefully think about your children at the ages they are right now. What do you want to read to them? If they can read what would you like to make available to them. Do you need to create a fund in order to buy them? Do you have them and are they out where they can be used? Do you have a scheduled reading time for your family? Do you need one? Think through what you need to do to be able to get these classics in front of your children this year. Add these details to your plan.

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Rule Four – Keep it Simple

by Mary Ann on July 9, 2010

After my daughters wedding and the changes that that brought I found myself in an odd place. I moved through my days the same as before but I wasn’t the same, Don wasn’t the same and life wasn’t the same. It was definitely time for a purge.So I put everything on hold for just a few days and I went to work. A family we know was trying to raise money for a child with a life threatening illness who needed to get to a special medical camp in Maine. I donated all of the furniture from Kate’s old room except the beds. It was really fine furniture and I might need it in the future but I don’t need it right now.

I turned her old room into a dormitory of sorts, lots of beds; so that when family comes fewer need to sleep on the floor. I love going into the emptiness and uncluttered space of that room and visualizing it filled with squealing grandchildren of all ages and sizes.

I moved all of the book cases and all of the books. That was a daunting task to be sure. I lovingly reconnected with all the books I have saved from my own childhood and youth, the books that have moved me the most and those few that I really must read soon. I found many duplicates which I gladly donated so that someone else could have the joy of reading and owning them.

The living room is new; everyone that comes comments on the energy in the room, its spaciousness and order. It feels really good!

The bedroom is new. Every drawer is cleaned and orderly and many things have found their way into other people’s homes. Some furniture is gone, the rest rearranged. I feel rejuvenated.

The office is brighter. Bags of paper have met the garbage can. Files are cleaned out and only what we need to save remains. Old printers and other equipment have gone to new homes.

I believe that everything has an energy, people, furniture, possessions. I believe that the more we posses the more energy it takes to manage those possessions. I feel as if I have freed up a great deal of energy which I can use for many things that interest me.

I am not done with my purge. The kitchen is still as it was and all the contents of one closet are now on a bed waiting to be sorted. The basement is full and calling to me. However, I am content for now. I have many new spaces in my new life and it feels good. I feel lighter.

In the book Leadership Education: The Phase of Learning by the DeMille’s there are fifty five ingredients for educational and family success. Ingredient 6 is “The Six Month Purge”. This is the suggestion which is given: “Every six months purge your house. Throw away or donate anything you do not need. Then, donate what you think you might need but are not sure, and store whatever you really need but have not used lately and will not be using this month.”

I have never been fond of the six month purge. It isn’t the giving and throwing away that is hard, it is the work. So I attempt to live my life purging as I go. I am pretty good at it.

It is important to make time in our lives for the few things that will really make a difference in our ability to manage and thrive. I have taken a few days and done some of the things that have made a difference to me. It is important to know, really know, that time never opens up of its own accord. We have to make time, we have to take time or the unimportant and the immediate will absorb all of our time.

As you look at your life make a decision to unclutter it and your space; stop holding onto things that you may need but haven’t used for a while. The world is an abundant place and if you truly need it later it will be provided again.

If you are having a hard time keeping your home clean, have a family purge. If you feel strapped for time and never have time for family and self it is time for a calendar purge. If your Spark Station isn’t working review the Five Rules of Engagement and do a purge.

InLeadership Education: the Phasesof Learning you will get help with these house cleaning items by reading ingredient seven and eight; the six month “no” and the six month inventory. Make space in your life for what really matters, what is really important. Free up your energy and your time for your self and your family. Let go of so many possessions and things, and activities.

I know that those who have been waiting for the Master Inspire Plan information will forgive me for holding them off a few days as I regrouped, reevaluated and readjusted to the new place in my life. Thank you!!

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