Annie Leonard.
Seriously at our Luminous Learning Academy we LOVE Annie! She is fantastic at putting big information into easily understandable mini movies.
Today was the release of The Story of Electronics...
I want to encourage everyone to watch all of the videos on the website. Not only are they great from an educational stand point, they are short and packed with lots of information. The Story of Stuff website has videos on "The Story of Stuff", "The Story of Cosmetics", " The Story of Bottled Water", and "The Story of Cap & Trade". We have watched each of these videos and they are fantastic. Annie doesn't mix words about how bad for us so much of this stuff in our daily lives is. She does put everything in a very clear down to earth terms so that even the youngest person can understand. My 6 & 7 year olds watch these videos with us and we are all becoming more aware of the things that we buy, use and how we use them.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Craft purchasing etiquette
If you are someone who loves to purchase hand made crafts because you yourself are not crafty but can appreciate someone who is you should know a few things.
1. A crafters time is worth the money they charge for their items.
2. Just because you can find similar items cheaper at a box store does not mean they are worth less money.
3. Placing an "order" with someone you know who crafts, be it knit, crochet, sew, beading etc is not a polite way of asking if the person would be willing to make something for you.
4. Gushing profusely is completely appropriate.
5. Yes a handmade blanket REALLY costs THAT much! (see rule 1 for proof)
6. Unless a crafter has a booth, an online store, or other venue do not assume that they are willing to make and sell their crafted items.
7. Do not assume that a crafter is willing to create special items with your favorite color choices.
8. Compliment the crafter on their hard work, abilities, and color schemes.
9. Always tell people who the crafter is that created the item you love so much, when possible hand out extra business cards. If rule number 6 applies!
10. Share these rules with everyone you know so that we can all support one another.
* yes I am a crafter! I love to crochet, make jewelery, and sew. I however have gotten away from selling my items OR making them for people who do not appreciate them. To many people seem to think since they can buy a knit cap from a box store that my lovely crocheted items should be less expensive. The yarn alone costs between $5-10.00 and the hours it takes me to sit and make an item are still worth being paid a wage per hour. I am an expert in my field of crochet, which means I do very advanced patterns and my items are sturdy. They last a long time and are well put together. Yes you could probably find an item that would "work" just as well as my lovely handmade items, however they will be just like everyone else's. They also are machine made and took a fraction of the time to complete.
1. A crafters time is worth the money they charge for their items.
2. Just because you can find similar items cheaper at a box store does not mean they are worth less money.
3. Placing an "order" with someone you know who crafts, be it knit, crochet, sew, beading etc is not a polite way of asking if the person would be willing to make something for you.
4. Gushing profusely is completely appropriate.
5. Yes a handmade blanket REALLY costs THAT much! (see rule 1 for proof)
6. Unless a crafter has a booth, an online store, or other venue do not assume that they are willing to make and sell their crafted items.
7. Do not assume that a crafter is willing to create special items with your favorite color choices.
8. Compliment the crafter on their hard work, abilities, and color schemes.
9. Always tell people who the crafter is that created the item you love so much, when possible hand out extra business cards. If rule number 6 applies!
10. Share these rules with everyone you know so that we can all support one another.
* yes I am a crafter! I love to crochet, make jewelery, and sew. I however have gotten away from selling my items OR making them for people who do not appreciate them. To many people seem to think since they can buy a knit cap from a box store that my lovely crocheted items should be less expensive. The yarn alone costs between $5-10.00 and the hours it takes me to sit and make an item are still worth being paid a wage per hour. I am an expert in my field of crochet, which means I do very advanced patterns and my items are sturdy. They last a long time and are well put together. Yes you could probably find an item that would "work" just as well as my lovely handmade items, however they will be just like everyone else's. They also are machine made and took a fraction of the time to complete.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Time Change?
Experts claim that day light savings time changes actually save us electricity. I personally do not believe this.
My kids still wake up every morning at the same time and they go to bed at the same time so for me changing times does nothing but mess up my sleep patterns. So instead of the kids getting up between 7-8 am when we fall back they are getting up between 6-7am and they still go to bed between 8-9pm. Falling back actually causes more disruption then anything.
So I started looking up information on why they think it saves energy. This is illogical to me. We use the same amount of energy it just varies. Do we use it in the morning? Or do we use it at night? Either way you are still using electricity and therefor it negates any "savings" we could possibly be getting from changing our time every few months. I believe personally that this is more detrimental to our sleep patterns and causes more problems for our bodies then it could possibly be for our electric pocket books.
You can find a link to some daylight savings for energy savings info here. It is on the California government pages, there is also a link to a study on how daylight savings time actually increases the demand for electricity not the other way around done in 2008 in Indiana. Indiana research article is actually done in a college format paper. It is easy to read.
To back my claim that daylight savings time actually can be more harmful to the body then it could be to save any amount of money on energy here is a website that answers questions about how it medically effects your body. medical questions answered
So what do you guys think?
My kids still wake up every morning at the same time and they go to bed at the same time so for me changing times does nothing but mess up my sleep patterns. So instead of the kids getting up between 7-8 am when we fall back they are getting up between 6-7am and they still go to bed between 8-9pm. Falling back actually causes more disruption then anything.
So I started looking up information on why they think it saves energy. This is illogical to me. We use the same amount of energy it just varies. Do we use it in the morning? Or do we use it at night? Either way you are still using electricity and therefor it negates any "savings" we could possibly be getting from changing our time every few months. I believe personally that this is more detrimental to our sleep patterns and causes more problems for our bodies then it could possibly be for our electric pocket books.
You can find a link to some daylight savings for energy savings info here. It is on the California government pages, there is also a link to a study on how daylight savings time actually increases the demand for electricity not the other way around done in 2008 in Indiana. Indiana research article is actually done in a college format paper. It is easy to read.
To back my claim that daylight savings time actually can be more harmful to the body then it could be to save any amount of money on energy here is a website that answers questions about how it medically effects your body. medical questions answered
So what do you guys think?
Friday, November 5, 2010
Trying to find balance
In my life I try really hard to have a balance in all the things I do. Since starting school that has been really difficult for me to achieve. I want to do well in school. I have never gone to college before and honestly I hated school when I was a kid. That was one of my many deciding factors in my drive to homeschool my kids. It feels like I do not have enough time to do the things I want to do, let alone all the things I need to do. I am only taking 2 courses online at the college. The online factor has been great. I love that I can either watch classes on the tv or online after the class has been on. I however have a major project that I am supposed to do in one of those classes and I have not even come close to finishing it. I have to interview someone for this and I have not been able to find anyone to interview. Of course this is mostly do to the fact that I am home so much and none of the people I know fall into the category that I need for the interviewee. I find that at the times that I am trying to work with the kids for their school I am thinking about all the things I still have to do for mine. Or when I should be relaxing I am worrying that I am not teaching the kids enough and their schooling is so important. I do not feel like I have enough time in the day and a lot of things are falling by the wayside. The laundry is piling up, the floors need a good cleaning, the dogs all need baths (again!) and well I am certain that my kids are missing far to much of me.
How do you balance homeschooling, going to college, taking care of a house & family, and play time? I have not found this balance yet. Something may have to give.... I just don't know what!
How do you balance homeschooling, going to college, taking care of a house & family, and play time? I have not found this balance yet. Something may have to give.... I just don't know what!
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