Ocean City, Maryland - July 2010

I have a thing for photographing houses, especially older houses or unique, interesting houses. Luckily, here in Ocean City, there is no lack of houses of all shapes and sizes. I have collected a fair number of photographs of Ocean City houses over the years, so I decided to start pulling them into their own collection and posting them here.

This house is one of my favorites and I was excited to finally be able to get a picture of it in all it’s summer glory. It makes me smile every time I drive by it.

The tricky thing about shooting houses in Ocean City is getting a clear shot of the house (without any cars parked in front). That and finding a place to park my car so I can get the shot. Having my bike down here has helped on that front. I have also done some shooting off season, but then you loose some of the “beach flavor.” Missing are the colorful drying towels and bathing suits hung over railings and the flying flags that are so prevalent during the summer. So I will include a mixture of both in season and off season shots.

I do know that there are some for whom Ocean City is a bit…for lack of a better word, tacky or touristy. But I find that after coming down here for over 10 years, that it has wonderful charm of its own. Tons to do. Tons to see. Tons to eat! A fantastic place to people watch. And I would not have it any other way.

I will be collecting these pictures in their own album over at my Smugmug account, so feel free to check it out. Hope you like them!

Then I noticed that she has decided to donate her proceeds for the entire month of August to CARE. How great is that? So if you were thinking about capturing this phase of your children’s lives in pictures, definitely check Lisa out. Oh and as an added benefit, Lisa is committed to keeping things as green as possible.

I highly recommend this form of professional photography…we had wonderful pictures taken 2 summers ago (not by Lisa who was still out in California back then…) and I can’t tell you how much I treasure them. Yes it is more pricey than going down to the mall, but what you wind up with is so much more special, it is more than worth it. A natural-life photographer can capture the true personality of your children in a location that means something to you and your family. Something that you will appreciate in the years to come.

So if you were ever considering getting pictures of your kids taken, now is a great time to do it!

When it comes to memorizing, the important thing to remember is that memorizing is not a right-brained strength. It is not a way that they learn naturally although they do tend to become better at it as they get older. The fact that a lot of early “school” focuses on memorization is what often makes it look like the right brained learner is a “struggling” learner.

When it comes to giving our right-brained kids what they need to learn, there are two parts. One is understanding how they learn.  Two is understanding when they are developmentally ready to learn. Without understanding these two aspects, you are going to find that you are hitting your head against a wall (especially when they are 8 or 9 years old!) For those who are new to right-brained learners, I highly recommend reading Cindy’s Collaborative Learning Process. I am finding that this is scarily dead on for my right brained son.

So for how they learn….right-brained kids are definitely not strong in memorization. But they are strong in learning through association and by seeing patterns. They are not detail oriented kids but they are global thinkers and can often see higher level connections. This also means that they learn best when the learning is holistic rather than broken down into separate pieces.

These are the kids who have to know why something is important to know. They need context and a real reason to know something. So they can learn how to spell easier by writing and using words rather than by doing “spelling lessons”. They learn math facts easier by using numbers to do math rather than by doing flashcards.

Right-brained kids also are creative kids…which means that if something is mind numbingly boring, they are less likely to actually retain it. Which is one reason why I try to keep the throwing marshmallows quote in mind whenever dealing with Jason. Resources for these kids should focus on big picture learning, using patterns or associations or bringing some sort of creative aspect into it that will engage the right brain and help turn on the left brain.

As far as when they learn…right-brained kids develop on a very different schedule than left-brained kids. Unfortunately, the left-brained timetable is what is considered “normal” (for my thoughts on this, see my Fixing Right-brained Learners? post). This means that our kids (especially in the early years) always appear to be “behind.”  But our kids are not behind, they just develop skills at different times. Right-brained kids develop their 3D visual processing skills first before their 2D sequential processing skills. Since reading and writing and doing much of arithmetic is very sequential, these skills are going to come later. Reading usually clicks between 8-10 years old. Writing tends to be a little bit later around 10-12.

Knowing all this has helped me greatly in shifting my understanding of Jason. I don’t see his poor memorization skills as a major issue or something to be “worked” on. It is just something that he is not great at (and as he gets older he is getting better). I am terrible with following picture directions (something he is really good at) and have a lousy sense of direction. I developed coping mechanisms. Just as he will.

So when we did long division and he just could not keep all the steps straight, I put it aside until later. We moved on to something else, coming back to it periodically. I let him use a multiplication chart to help with the higher math and the more he uses the numbers the more he is remembering them (and the chart helps with seeing patterns).

When he was 10, I did start working on spelling a little bit, choosing a program that uses patterns (Sequential Spelling) but found that since he was not writing much in general, it just seemed too removed/separate to really mean anything to him. So I backed off. Now at 13, we are starting to do some Brave Writer exercises and he is doing more writing for his online games and his spelling is improving naturally. I have now started pushing him a bit more to do more memorization for some things that he has not picked up naturally…and he is much more ready for it.

Just as I don’t recommend “working” on reading with a right-brained 6 year old, I also don’t recommend working a lot on spelling with an 8 year old. They just are not developmentally ready for it. That does not mean do “nothing” though. Continue to play with words, have them make up stories, draw comics, play with clay etc. Create a relationship with writing in other ways. Focus on the creative aspect of writing/creating. The technical part (spelling) will come later and that “gap” can be filled in much easier.

I guess what it comes down to for me is that I want to teach Jason the way that he learns best. I want to work with his natural strengths, not against them. Especially when he was younger and developing a relationship with learning.

I remember when Jason was younger, he wanted me to put together one of his really big lego creations and while I could do it, it took a lot of really focused effort on my part. I got really frustrated and confused at points and I often ended up yelling at the boys for breaking my concentration. I can tell you that I get really cranky when asked to do this kind of thing.

I realized that must be exactly what it feels like to do something that goes against his natural learning style. Why would I want to make something that difficult for my son when there is an easier and just as valid way for him to learn? It just seems silly to make learning a “struggle” by trying to use a weak area (or focus so much attention on a weak area (to make it stronger)) while ignoring an existing strong area. And there are benefits to his learning style…he will not be one of those kids who just “memorizes the steps” without understanding what he is doing.

I want him to know how he learns best so that as he gets older he can find things that work for him. It does not mean that I ignore his weaker areas…just that I don’t focus too much on them when he is younger (and not as developmentally ready.) As he gets older I help him develop coping mechanisms (such as the fact that he still does not know his phone number so he carries it in his wallet) and we work more in his weaker areas.

Anyways, just wanted to throw some additional information about why certain approaches work better for our wonderful right-brained kids (and why others don’t).

Needless to say, we have been hanging around inside this weekend. Even the beach is not any fun at those temperatures. But it has given me some time to do some more organizing and try to get caught up on some things (with varying degrees of success).

I am working on getting into a new routine, thanks in a large part to my dog Jez. For some reason, she has been waking me up to go outside a little before 7am. At first I started grumbling, but then realized that this is exactly what I need…motivation. I had been wanting to start getting up earlier (I really am a morning person, yet I have the tendency to stay up late and get up late), but had not been able to really make myself do it. Now with Jez’s help, I have been up and out of bed around 7am for the past couple of days.

I am finding that I feel less rushed and have been doing my morning meditation out on the hammock swing which is nice. I feed the dogs and the cats and I then have a little time before the boys wake up to get a few things done (like writing this blog post!) I even made myself some tea this morning (Yogi Peach Detox, yum). I find I can think clearer when the house is quiet, so the trick for me is to steal the time early in the morning when I can think better, rather than late at night when I am brain dead. We’ll see how it goes.

So without further ado, here are some links for your weekend reading enjoyment:

Why the Next Big Pop Culture Wave after Cupcakes Might be Libraries - I have such a special place in my heart for libraries. I adored my library as a kid, worked in one while at Virginia Tech and still use them often as an adult.

Reusit Biodegradable Garbage Bags - My favorite place for green goods now has biodegradable garbage bags made from 100% recycled plastic (in 3 sizes). I have been thinking about ways to cut my use of plastic and while I have been using plastic bags made from recycled plastic, I had realized that they still hang our for years in landfills. Biodegradable makes a lot of sense. The “bags are infused with a natural additive that allows the plastic to biodegrade completely into natural elements. Plus, they’re not just made in the USA, they’re manufactured locally from recycled plastic waste collected in Chicago.”

Fun and Intrigue with the Periodic Table - Review of a new book, The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. The book covers the history of the elements of the periodic table, the people who discovered them and other interesting facts surrounding them. Sounds right up our alley.

Spoiled Rotten - A Timelss Complaint - Alfie Kohn makes some good points (as usual) in an article published in the Washington Post.

Good Times Made Simple: The Art of Having Fun -  From one of my favorite groups, Center for the New American Dream, this pdf This book offers alternatives to commercial TV, video games and trips to the mall. With suggestions for both indoor and outdoor activities and resources for learning more, it is worth taking a look at.

Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and stays cool!

* Links to material on Amazon.com contained within this post may be affiliate links for the Amazon Associates program, for which The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers may receive a referral fee.

Ocean City, Maryland - July 2010

…make a bigger effort to be outside when the sun sets.

It’s funny. This evening I was feeling a bit caught up in “stuff.” Nothing in particular, just been wondering why I seem to have such a hard time truly relaxing even down here at the beach. Not that I don’t have fun and enjoy myself, I do.

Just that I seem to be clinging to this idea that “I don’t have time.” I am realizing that this seems to be more of a construct of mine rather than reality. Sure, I have things I have to do and things I want to do. But nothing is earth shatteringly important and nothing has to be Done. Right. Now. Yet that is how I feel most of the time.

So I happened to head out to sit for a minute in my hammock swing before starting “the next thing.” And while I was sitting, I felt like I had breathing space for a moment. I realized that I don’t actually have to “do anything” to fix this feeling in me. I just need to make more space in my life. To sit. To observe. To breathe. The shift will happen on its own. I have seen this a lot lately, yet I keep falling back to feeling like I have to “fix things.” But the more I sit, the more “stuff” falls away.

So in addition to my meditation in the morning, I am going to make an effort to be outside in my hammock at sunset as often as possible. You can’t beat the view and it will be a good reminder to breathe. After all, I always have time for the moment I am in.

Of course it does not help that I am having weird problems with the cursor on my Macbook. It seems to have a life of its own, jumping around and highlighting text. Which makes typing fairly difficult at times (it will highlight a paragraph out of the blue which then gets erased with the next keystroke. Thank goodness for ctrl-Z, whoops cmd-Z in mac-speak). I may have to track down an Apple store to see if they can figure out what is going on.

So on with the links:

The first two are for Kyle, my resident dog and bird lover:

Draw The Dog - Animator Jim George collects real-life funny dog stories and pictures from readers and uses them as inspiration for his cartoons. Really funny and beautifully done. I am scouring my brain for funny stories of Jez and Ellie…

Bird Sounds From the Lyre Bird - David Attenborough - Video of the Lyre bird who has an amazing ability to mimic bird songs and other sounds around him. Be sure to watch to the very end.

These are just miscellaneous links that caught my attention this week:

The Tiny Ant that is Taking on the Big City - NPR piece on how the Tapinoma sessile (odorous house ant) has been migrating from the country into cities and changing its behavior to establish super colonies. I am currently trying to fight these little buggers here without resorting to poisons so I found it especially interesting.

Fermented Tea Kombucha Vanishes on Alcohol Worries - I was bummed to read this as I really love my kombucha. A bit of an acquired taste, but a real treat for me. Luckily I have my own source, so don’t have to worry about getting it in the stores (I actually don’t really like the flavored ones), but I do hope that there is not a major crackdown. I could brew my own, but would prefer not to!

Sheldon Webcomic Takes on Knitting - Sheldon is one of our favorite comics and recently did a series on knitting that was really funny. Sheldon is great for the whole family - it is like Peanuts for our generation, funny and thoughtful for kids and adults. Start with this strip and continue forward. And then buy the books!

3.6 Earthquake in DC Area - Look what we missed. Many of my friends were woken by it though.

That is it for now. Hope you found something of interest. Have a great weekend!

Ocean City - July 4, 2010

Well, we made it to the beach. A bit later than usual as due to everything else that was going on. But we are here! Just in time for some absolutely gorgeous weather over the 4th and now an unusual heat wave. But we are at the beach!

It is weird getting down so close to the 4th as I feel as if we have not had much time to settle in. I am still unpacking and have found myself on a pretty big organizational kick. I am finding that corraling my stuff seems to make a big difference, so I have been hitting Bed, Bath and Beyond for bins and other organizational stuff. I only hope that it lasts (and that I can get everything back into its place!)

We have been having some problems with the internet connection (not sure if it is the internet or the wireless) but it has been driving me crazy. And my macbook has started acting a bit wonky with periods of my cursor jumping around all over the place. I never realized how much for granted I took my online stuff working without a problem (you don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone…)

I have also been working on getting the ants back under control. The non-toxic Terro ant baits work to keep them sort of manageable, but there are so many under the house, that it is like fighting a loosing battle. I need to find another option for around the house. And I need to figure out what to do about the HUGE weed that seems to want to take over the air conditioner…we have tried for years to get rid of it (completely dug deep down to the roots and I even let my father-in-law try some sort of weed killer while I was not looking) and it still keeps coming back. And now it has migrated over to the other side of the yard.

But hey, we are at the beach! Just did not want you to think that my life was all peaches and cream. Still need to deal with stuff, but being at the beach does seem to make it a little bit better, so I am not complaining. I do love it down here.

One of these days I will get back into a regular blogging schedule. I will! Until then…

I always forget how busy we get in June…I feel as if we are finally getting to where summer can begin. Kyle finished up his soccer for the season earlier this month and his gymnastics classes have ended as well. He was taking a claymation class through the local rec center which he really enjoyed…he is very interested in doing some more this summer, so we have stocked up on clay and now I just need to figure out what software he needs.

We had our annual Watergun and Potluck party to enjoy a summer get together with our friends before we head off to Ocean City. Always a lot of fun. And to cap things off, we just spent the weekend on the hottest camping trip we have taken so far (ok, so this was only our 3rd tent camping experience…but it was still really, really hot!) Luckily we were camping with friends at Breezy Point beach…as long as we stayed in the water, it was comfortable. The evenings were gorgeous (had a red, full moon) and the company was fantastic.

To make things even more hectic, Kyle has been having a lot of work done on his mouth within the past month. When he was born, he was tongue-tied. At the time, our pediatrician recommended that we not do anything about it since it was not interfering with his nursing. Turns out that your tongue has a big impact on the proper development of your teeth, mouth and sinuses. Basically, since his tongue has been trapped and not able to move or rest towards the top of his mouth, his mouth is very small and tight. This has led to a major over bite, incorrect swallowing as well as sinus issues.

He had a frenectomy (on his tongue and upper lip) about 3 weeks ago and just had an ALF appliance put in. We are also going to be doing osteopathy and some oral myotherepy to help with the realignment of his jaw/teeth and the retraining of his tongue. My osteopath had recommended the orthodontist we are seeing because he looks at the whole cranial structure, rather than just focusing on the alignment of the teeth. During the initial consult, I was amazed at what he was telling me because it seemed to pull a whole lot of miscellaneous issues that Kyle has had together (he is a very heavy mouth breather at night, has always had sinus issues etc). I think that this will make a big difference for him. I have been telling him that his 30 year old self will be very grateful to his 10 year old self.

He has been a real trouper…the frenectomy went really well, and while not enjoyable, was not too bad. They used a laser with a local pain killer and it was pretty sensitive for a couple of days (although he could eat that evening). He has a lot more mobility with his tongue now. He has had the ALF for about a week now and has been able to adjust to it (it is changing the way that his jaw is aligned and he has had to learn how to chew again). The first full day was the worst as his teeth were aching. But he is back to eating solid foods again and it does not seem to be bothering him much lately.

So now all that is left is for me to pack and we will hopefully be heading out to Ocean City on Thursday. Hope to pick up the pace of blogging once we get settled in. Wish me luck!

Virginia Tech has such a rich history, dating back to 1872 and encompassing many, many changes. This is really, really well done. If you are curious about any aspect of Virginia Tech, this is the place for you.

The photo galleries are definitely my favorite. My only complaint is that the photos are often missing information about the time period they were taken.

Enjoy!

I came across this article, Pilers, Filiers or Messies: Home Organization Ideas…I am definitely a piler. So this is giving me a better focus…you don’t have to get rid of the piles, just find a better way to contain them. Which explains why one of the best tips I got at some point was to look at where your stuff winds up naturally and then organize around that. So instead of trying to get myself to hang my pajamas in the closet or put them in a drawer, I have a basket for them in my bathroom (they usually wound up on the floor when I got in the shower, much nicer in the basket). Same thing works for the kids…they usually throw their shoes in this little area behind the couch when they come home. I now have a basket there to catch them. I actually also have a very nice little cubby there too which they don’t use, but it does come in handy for soccer uniforms etc.

I also recently came across two blogs that have really given me the bug to de-clutter, iHeart Organizing and Nesting Place. Both are real moms who just happen to love organizing and decorating. I find that I really am drawn to people who love what they do and do what they love. I used to read a few professional organizing blogs that I had found but they were just too, well, professional and never really seemed to have many practical suggestions. I love the genuine enthusiasm of these two ladies, not to mention their creative and practical ideas. And the fact that they have families. Each one organizes/decorates on a budget and it has been inspiring me to possibly even want to take one some more crafty projects. I used to do more of that (painting furniture etc) but seemed to have lost the desire over the years. Now I feel it starting to poke its little head back out again.

So far, I have started gathering all my empty baskets and other things that I can use to organize in one place so I know what I already have (they are currently scattered all over the house). I have found a home for an old painted window frame that has been sitting around for years. I finally took this photo from our photography session (almost 2 years ago!) in to be framed and am thinking about what I want to do with our mantle. I bought two bins to help corral the items in the cleaning supply closet. I have gotten a start on cleaning out Jason’s room (no easy feat, but looks better already) and I have at least two boxes of stuff ready to donate. I also now have a box to collect old CDs that need recycling (like the one to the old PC game I found that said it needed a computer with a 486 processor…) I have started gathering my old frames together and really want to go through my photos and frame some of my favorite ones (a project I have had on the back burner for awhile now).

My biggest problem with starting to organize is that the house usually starts looking worse before it looks better. But we have our annual watergun/potluck party this week, so I will need to get things more or less put away. Or just keep everyone in the backyard.

I am taking before and after pictures, so hopefully I can share some of that with everyone. Or maybe I should just post the before pictures to shame myself into staying motivated…

I am also amused by the fact that I am starting to get really motivated about organizing now…when we have 2 weeks or so to go until we head to Ocean City for the summer. Hopefully it will carry over to our place there too.