Monday, February 5, 2018
Monday, January 29, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
National School Choice Open House
Today was our open house to kick off National School Choice Week. Now, I was thrilled to have an open house and get people here to paint and tour Rowanwood, but I have to say, School Choice is a thing that is near and dear to my heart.
Back in the mid 80's I heard about homeschooling for the first time. My school years were not a happy time for me. I was a bright kid, teachers liked me and I WANTED to learn! Every year I would start school all excited to get new books and hope that this was the year we would really start learning the interesting stuff. Uh no. In addition, I was bullied and harassed. By 10th grade I had had enough. I signed myself out of school (Mother was furious) and never went back. I took a 2 year break, went to 3 months of GED classes and graduated at the same time as my high school class. ( With high scores I might add)
So as a young mom in the 80's I heard about home schooling. I had 2 kids in school at that time. I attended a few meetings of local home school associations and decided I could do it. The first battle was with the school district. It wasn't as easy then as it is now to get textbooks and supplies and it was expensive! I maintained that I lived in the district and paid taxes, so my kids were entitled to the books they would have used at school that year. They did not agree. Finally, to shut me up, they let me have access to the discarded book room.
The next year we moved to a different state that had it on the ballot to make homeschooling illegal. That was voted down but public opinion was pretty negative toward homeschooling. And I get it. Some people are just too lazy to send kids to school and some are hiding abuse. I get how the system can be abused. And I am ashamed to admit that a few times I threw my hands up and put my kids in public school. It never worked for us so I would start homeschooling again. By the time my youngest two were in school, a great thing called the internet had been invented and a tiny town in Colorado had started an online program for their students that sometimes had to miss school for bad weather and the program was so successful that they opened it up for enrollment to kids outside their district. Online public school. For my family it was the best of both worlds.
Today there are choices. Public school, charter school, private school, online public school, home school and the GED is still a thing! Half of my grandkids go to public schools and half are in online public school. And that's ok. Because for me it's all about having the choice to do what is right for your family.
So, I liked being able to get Rowanwood involved in kicking off this week. I don't know if our event will impact that many people, but maybe it will. Maybe a few more people know they have choices. That's pretty cool.
Back in the mid 80's I heard about homeschooling for the first time. My school years were not a happy time for me. I was a bright kid, teachers liked me and I WANTED to learn! Every year I would start school all excited to get new books and hope that this was the year we would really start learning the interesting stuff. Uh no. In addition, I was bullied and harassed. By 10th grade I had had enough. I signed myself out of school (Mother was furious) and never went back. I took a 2 year break, went to 3 months of GED classes and graduated at the same time as my high school class. ( With high scores I might add)
So as a young mom in the 80's I heard about home schooling. I had 2 kids in school at that time. I attended a few meetings of local home school associations and decided I could do it. The first battle was with the school district. It wasn't as easy then as it is now to get textbooks and supplies and it was expensive! I maintained that I lived in the district and paid taxes, so my kids were entitled to the books they would have used at school that year. They did not agree. Finally, to shut me up, they let me have access to the discarded book room.
The next year we moved to a different state that had it on the ballot to make homeschooling illegal. That was voted down but public opinion was pretty negative toward homeschooling. And I get it. Some people are just too lazy to send kids to school and some are hiding abuse. I get how the system can be abused. And I am ashamed to admit that a few times I threw my hands up and put my kids in public school. It never worked for us so I would start homeschooling again. By the time my youngest two were in school, a great thing called the internet had been invented and a tiny town in Colorado had started an online program for their students that sometimes had to miss school for bad weather and the program was so successful that they opened it up for enrollment to kids outside their district. Online public school. For my family it was the best of both worlds.
Today there are choices. Public school, charter school, private school, online public school, home school and the GED is still a thing! Half of my grandkids go to public schools and half are in online public school. And that's ok. Because for me it's all about having the choice to do what is right for your family.
So, I liked being able to get Rowanwood involved in kicking off this week. I don't know if our event will impact that many people, but maybe it will. Maybe a few more people know they have choices. That's pretty cool.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Thursday Night Remodel Series
Starting tomorrow night we will be hosting our Thursday Night Remodel Series - Kitchens and Bathrooms for 4 consecutive Thursday nights. Cost is $10 per night or $35 for the whole series! That is the simple boring explanation.
But that doesn't begin to describe it! We are going to be learning skills, in a hands-on workshop, that will allow our students to confidently remodel their own kitchens and bathrooms or even go out and start their own small business, doing that for others. (I know I said WE will learning. I never quit learning or honing my skills so I'm it to learn, too) Now, I'm not talking about tearing out tile and counter tops and dragging in heavy materials to rebuild an entire kitchen. I'm not talking about spending thousands of dollars. I'm talking about showing our students how to use a relatively inexpensive product to refresh and and renew existing fixtures to give them a new life!
I mean, have you seen this? My kitchen sink:
Now I hear someone say, "But I've used paint before, I know what it can do." Yeah. I said that, too. You just have to see what I'm talking about! That's why we are offering this class at such a low rate for the first series. This is the only time we will ever be offering this series for that price!
Come and join us for the Thursday night Series. If Thursdays don't work for you, let me know and we will try to schedule something that does!
But that doesn't begin to describe it! We are going to be learning skills, in a hands-on workshop, that will allow our students to confidently remodel their own kitchens and bathrooms or even go out and start their own small business, doing that for others. (I know I said WE will learning. I never quit learning or honing my skills so I'm it to learn, too) Now, I'm not talking about tearing out tile and counter tops and dragging in heavy materials to rebuild an entire kitchen. I'm not talking about spending thousands of dollars. I'm talking about showing our students how to use a relatively inexpensive product to refresh and and renew existing fixtures to give them a new life!
I mean, have you seen this? My kitchen sink:
Come and join us for the Thursday night Series. If Thursdays don't work for you, let me know and we will try to schedule something that does!
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Our first class was.....AWESOME!
We had our very first class at Rowanwood Plaster Paint Academy yesterday ! It was just SO SO SO GREAT! We had five students join us at the Academy plus a BUNCH more through the magic of Facebook LIVE! We worked on a kitchen vanity that will go in to Harveson House here at Rowanwood and the transformation was amazing!
From this
From this
To this
in under 3 hours! With our Thursday Night Remodel Series starting this week, we will be giving students hands on experience! The 4- part Kitchen and Bathroom series is just $35 for the whole series or $10 per night if you want to go a la carte . That fee will cover the cost of materials, we just want to share this with everyone who wants to learn!
I have so much to get done before Thursday but I will try to check in here soon!
Bye for now!
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Christmas, Academy, Plaster Paint and more...
The Academy building arrived as promised and we went to work!
The building looked a little great! Well built and just what we wanted. But once it was leveled it was up to us to make it part of the castle! We have been working on insulating and wiring and plumbing, oh my! By the time we hold our first class on January 6th, it will be ready to go!
One the same day that the building arrived a friend called for us to come get something he wanted us to have:
This cool old tool box is just the thing we need in the Academy to store supplies! It needs a bit of cleaning but I think it will look awesome!
Christmas time is upon us as well. Christmas has always been the holiday I look forward to the most. To me, it's not about a specific religion, it's about remembering that we are the family of man, and taking time to show that appreciation for others. Of course, we at Rowanwood don't go in for the commercial shopping aspect of it. The kids will get a few surprises from Santa, but for all of us this is the time of year that we scurry off to our private work areas to make surprises for each other. And then we all come together to work on whatever project we are making for family and friends this year. In years past we have done kitchen gift baskets, coconut oil cosmetics, Rowanwood ugli dolls, and Journal sets. This year is still a surprise!
Our Plaster Paint is now available here at Rowanwood and on our website and at two locations in Lincoln and Prairie Grove! I want to thank our friends at Vintage on the Square and High on the Hog for carrying our paint in their stores!
So it is busy around here, but it's a good problem to have!
Happy Holidays y'all!
c
Friday, December 1, 2017
Well, now it's December again! New Building, new ventures...
TODAY we are awaiting the arrival of our NEW BUILDING! We have a 12x30 building on the road right now, headed our way! It will be the beginning of the Rowanwood Plaster Paint Academy! We will be getting moved in and set up and by January first, we plan to be holding regular classes and workshops! Many of those classes will be based around Plaster Paint, to show the many, many ways it can be used, but also we are asking some other local instructors and artisans to come teach us new skills.
I will post some pictures of the Rowanwood Plaster Paint Academy as soon as I have some.
WE ARE SO EXCITED!!
I will post some pictures of the Rowanwood Plaster Paint Academy as soon as I have some.
WE ARE SO EXCITED!!
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