How can I deal with iresource/information overload? MEMBER QUESTION #14

Dear Kristie,

I get so much good information from this list and others too. I guess I just love lists! But after a few days of reading all the information and resources I just feel overwhelmed and often the e-mails get lost and I never do end up looking at these great links! How do you deal with this? - JK

Dear JK,

I also belong to many lists and have found hours of inspiration from them. However, it can quickly become overwhelming if you don't have a system to organize everything into! If you are part of the monthly lesson plans you received a lesson planner with those plans and that is what I use to organize all of this information. I plan themes for each day, each week, each month and for the year. Every month I include themes of many kinds including a handicraft theme and a science theme, etc...

Now, when I get an e-mail from a list that has a link I just can't resist I file it in my notebook under the theme where it belongs. If I get a post that does not "belong" anywhere (in any month, holiday or theme) I create a new category. However, I have not created any new categories for a while!

You can do this in a notebook and "write in" or "clip in" information when you receive it and over time this becomes like a big scrapbook of learning and an invaluable resource. You can also organize this online in your e-mail account by creating a MAIN FOLDER called Lesson Plans and then SUBFOLDERS called Math, Science, March, April, etc....

You can also file the e-mails in your computer in the same way.

If you would like a great starting point for organizing your year you can use the Waldorf Lesson Plan Guide for the Year with ANY lesson plans you are now using. They are not just for use with my lesson plans. So even if you are using other lesson plans you can also "plug them in" the system.

If you are not part of the program you can purchase just the lesson planning guide at:

A Year of Waldorf Lesson Planning Guide

I will also be giving a lecture on organization and lesson planning at the Eastern Iowa Homeschooling Conference in April.

Hope this helps!
Blessings & Health,
Kristie

Enrichment Classes Online?

Hi Kristie,

Thanks for the quick response. I am still a little confused.....are the lesson plans something I can download or do you mail them to me. I would like to be able to download. We are in Canada so the shipping adds a lot to the cost.

Blessings on your day,
S. in Ontario

Dear S.,

Yes, all the lesson plans and files are online for a few reasons:

1. The reason you gave is the first one. I used to live overseas and I am trying to provide a service that everyone can use even if they are not in the USA. It was near impossible or at least really annoying for me to have to order things by mail from the USA when I didn't live here :)

2. So I can update the files as needed. I have found that ALL books, despite their best efforts need updating every year - that is why you find books published in their 8th edition. It is not just because they "ran out" of copies!

3. So we can save paper by having everyone just download what they need.

4. So if you lose the files or are on vacation you can download them from ANYWHERE!

5. So members can share their favorite files for the months and I can add inspirations in the middle of the month if I need to.

Oh...that was a very long answer....anyway, they are downloadable - yes :)

I also have all the verses on MP3 now too which are available and you can download them to your computer instead of having to buy Cds to listen to.

Moving Meditation

Someone commented to me today, "I don't know how you do so many things!" I have two responses that I would really like to share with this friend and with anyone who feels overwhelmed in their life or anyone who would like just a little bit more joy and efficiency in their day:

1. Remember that what you see of anyone online has a bit of illusion in it. I don't want to create the false impression that I am a "super-mom". It may appear that people online accomplish a lot because they only post their accomplishments online. This is the nature of life online. I don't think you all want to see a video of me sleeping in until noon or hear about how I spent two hours petting my cat!

2. As a mother, teacher, healer, friend, cook, cleaner and much more we all have so many "jobs" that it seems to leave little time for getting our work done and even less time for meditation and reflection.

I was inspired years ago by the Turkish (Sufi) or Buddhist method of meditation which involves making every moment of your life an opportunity for reflection, joy, meditation and enrichment rather than specifying a certain time to "meditate". I learned this method by example, first when I met one of my mentors in 1994 and then, again, when I visited Turkey in 1998.

I was first interested in this way of life because I was very frustrated by some of the chores I was doing every day and I was impressed by other people I saw who seemed to find such joy in these chores - even washing dishes!

What surprised me was that the more I practiced this way of living, the more efficient I became and the more work I was able to do each day - as a mother, teacher, healer, and much more.

You can find some written inspiration for this method in the books, "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle and "Shelter for the Spirit" by Thomas Moore. Hmmm...if anyone knows of any females who have written on this topic please tell me so I can include them too!

My favorite quote from "Shelter for the Spirit" is:

"Sometimes I still whine about chores. Cleaning is boring, repetetive, mindless, unappreciated, physically demmanding, sexually sterotyped and socially undervalued. In this state of noredom, reception and mindlessness however, we can be receptive to the divinity within us. Similarly, being called to an activity that is demanding, sterotyping and undervalued, can be used as an opportunity to gain hummility. It can bring us face-to-face with the mytic’s paradox: We are dust and we are divine."

And remember what Shakespere said, "Action is eloquence".

By living fully in each moment and experiencing each moment as divine you will find more joy in your life and you will also find that you get more done without even trying!

I hope that someone else will be inspired by this thought as I was years ago...it changed my life.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Alternatives to OTC Cold Meds

This is now located at www.BEarthBLOG.com

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Are you an Indigo Adult?

Dear Parents,

We often spend so much time working on our children than we forget to look at ourselves and how we can understand and help ourselves more. I found the following article on the Indigo network and found it interesting. We often look for signs in our children of Indigo, Special, Gifted, etc...but what about YOU, the parent?

Are you an Indigo adult?
Are you gifted with a brilliant mind and special intuitive skills yet people tell you that you should not use it. Do you hate injustice? Do you find it difficult to handle authority? Do you feel you where misunderstood all your life?

Indigo children where born all through out times. Only recently, in the 1970’s, Indigos where born on a much lager scale all over the world. So by now most Indigo children are Indigo adults.

Indigo children are supposedly a set of people having certain special psychological and spiritual attributes. The indigo child concept was first popularized by the book, The Indigo Children, written by the husband and wife team of Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, with the contributions of medical doctors, psychologists, and parents whose essays are included in the text. The adjective "indigo" is used because it is claimed these children appear with an indigo-hued energy field (aura).

Indigos process their emotions differently than non Indigos because they have high self-esteem and strong integrity. They have inherently strong determination to work things through for themselves and only want outside guidance if it's presented to them with respect and within a format of true choice. They prefer to work situations out for themselves.

They can suck up knowledge like a sponge, especially if they like or are drawn to a subject, which makes them very advanced in their areas of interest. Experiencing life helps them learn best, so they create the experiences they need to help them with their current problem or area where they need to grow. They respond best when treated like a respected adult.

Indigos are born masters — each and every one! We have to understand that they fully expect every one of us to do what they are doing naturally, and if we don't, they keep pushing our buttons until we get it right — that is, until we become the masters of our own lives.

Safety is very important, because all children need to feel safe to fully explore their universe. For Indigos, safety means that it's okay to do things differently! Giving everyone this space is the best thing we can do for children and for ourselves.

One thesis of The Indigo Children seems to be that many children diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder (ADD) or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) represent "a new kind of evolution of humanity." These children don't need drugs like Ritalin, but special care and training.

One can understand why many parents would not want their child to be labeled as ADD or ADHD. The label implies imperfection. Some may even take it to mean the child is "damaged." Specifically, it means your child's behavior is due to a neuro-biological condition. To some, this is the same as having a malfunctioning brain or a mental disorder. Understandably, emotions run high here. The National Institute of Mental Health says that ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder.

Indigo’s: special people with a lot of gifts to bring in. Unfortunately these people where often misunderstood and therefore treated as if not normal. This is one of the reasons most Indigo’s are now damaged people having all kind of disorders or difficulties within the family or other relationships.