Roots & Shoots® engages and inspires youth through community service and service learning. Founded by Dr. Jane Goodall, this global program emphasizes the principle that knowledge leads to compassion, which inspires action. All Roots & Shoots groups show care and concern in three areas: the human community, animals, and the environment.
Through that group, the kids have been able to do some interesting things and have had great opportunities to serve the community. Last night, they were able to serve again.
Georgia, the group leader, called us this week letting us know that she'd received a call from the local Humane Society, which is fairly new and still trying to raise money for a building. The Humane Society is having a yard sale at the fairgrounds today and they needed help setting up their things. Edison was able to do a lot of heavy lifting and general gophering. Bard was able to do organizing and pricing. I was able to do general organizing. I think it was an excellent opportunity to see what people get rid of, as well as see how many great clothes are available for a very inexpensive price! All of the clothing was priced at a quarter a piece. I was able to pick up some dresses for Sweetheart, as well as some Cat's Meow houses for above my kitchen doors. It was also a great opportunity to get to know some other people from the community.
Speaking of which, I was able to get a contact for one of the local 4H groups, which is made up entirely of homeschoolers. I asked Bard if she'd like to participate, and she seemed hopeful. Also, Georgia let me know that a local man is working on starting a theatre group here in our town! I'm excited about that, and I'm sure the kids will be, too. I hope to contact this man today, as well as the 4H lady.
I've been reading How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk and have been getting a lot out of it. I've been using some of the skills I'm learning, and they seem to work. I'm about 1/4 of the way through the book and hope to get Bohemian to read it, too. I may even have Bard read it. It's a helpful way to communicate, though some of it feels forced. We'll see how it works.
Monet is in the kitchen making smoothies. We didn't have the standard frozen blueberries, but we did have frozen grapes, so he decided to try that instead. They turned out really well! I'm enjoying a tasty frozen beverage right now. :-)
