Sometimes it’s very hard to make a start. It can be overwhelming. Other times it’s hard to start because it feels like it has to be done perfectly. That’s overwhelming too.
I wanted to convert the garage under my house to be a rumpus room for the kids. Nothing too fancy, just somewhere for them to sit and play video games with there friends. There was a hundred things that needed changing. To do it perfectly with everything looking like a beautiful new magazine worthy Pintrest space would have cost way too much. Instead I cleared it all out, washed it down and painted it white. I could’ve rendered the walls with plaster board, but I just painted the brickwork instead. I threw in a sofa and a big TV someone was getting rid of and some games. The kids loved it and have been using it ever since. I count this as a success even though it isn’t perfect by a lot of other people’s standards. Now that’s not to say it shouldn’t be safe, I wouldn’t cut corners on safety. I wanted more lighting so I got a qualified electrician to install it. I also didn’t want it breaking down in five minutes so I did research and find out about how to paint the walls correctly. If I had worried about doing it picture postcard perfect then it would still be in the planning or early work stage and the kids would be grown up before they use the space. I’m always changing it and adding stuff to it of course, but that’s OK.
I’ve found my eldest feels the same way about writing. I asked him to write something as it’s an area we need to practice. I said he could write any subject, but suggested he write about an interesting topic we were talking about – superpowers and how they relate to the real world. I left him to it for a while and came back to find two sentences. Now that’s fine. Good work takes good thinking time, but I quickly realised that wasn’t what was holding him back. He was trying to write a perfect piece to start with.
Writing is a creative process. He’d done the thinking part in the conversation we had. The next thing we need to do is write some notes, maybe bullet points with some of those things we talked about. What were the discussion points? We then go back to them and elaborate, turning them into paragraphs. We then rearrange, take stuff out, add stuff in and spell check. I didn’t need him to write the perfect piece, I needed him to start the process.
In case it helps, here are some questions that can turn any topic into more of a project:
a) what is the history of the thing?
b) Is the thing sustainable? Does it have an environmental impact? Can it be made more sustainable?
c) Where is it located?
d) Who uses the thing? Who benefits from the thing? Who is affected by the thing?
e) Who are the key figures involved?
f) What about costings and financials?
The Messy Old Fashioned Home School Kitchen 