Kids Workshops, Pilot Run

I started off being very excited to do a pilot run of the Wonderful, Powerful ME! kids workshops. The Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank sponsored ten children ages 7 to 14. This is how it went.

Week 1 of 6

Six children attended. The two 7 year olds were very active. Crawling across the table kind of active. The 4 siblings were very talkative in a disruptive way. The 14 year old was unimpressed about spending his time with younger kids.

Lesson learned: Group kids better by age. 9-13 and 14-17 would probably work better. No 7 and 8 year olds!

Week 2 of 6

The 14 year old would not be returning. One of the siblings was sick so none of them attended. Only two boys ages 7 and 8 attended and they were distracted by the toys stored at the front of the room. Four of the ten registered kids hadn't shown up yet at all.

The one boy who was so active during Week 1 actually remembered a lot of what was taught the week before. That was a pleasant surprise.

Lesson learned: When the parents aren't paying themselves, they aren't committed to bringing their kids.

Week 3 of 6

The original 4 siblings returned along with another brother. They thanked me for a fun time. They enjoyed the spiritual kind of CD I played and were singing it on their way out. The one 7 year old attended but was bored because I had switched to a room without toys.

The helium filled foil balloon I paid $5 for got punctured.

Cutting out magazine pictures for vision boards was completed in this one class. I had planned to carry that activity over 3 weeks. I told my contact at the Food Bank that we would end the pilot run after 4 weeks instead of 6.

Lesson learned: Plan more activities or reduce the length of the program.

Week 4 of 6 (4)

The 5 siblings returned, singing the same song on their way in. I had lost the electrical cable for my CD player and the batteries had died so I couldn't play the CD for them again. They said they really liked the classes and were disappointed that this would be the last one. The 7 year old was bored again.

All the kids finished their vision boards. They liked their name tags enough to want to keep them.

Lesson learned: Adorable as the little guy was, definitely no 7 year olds :) unless we develop activities more specific to the age and energy level.

Overall, it was good to run the pilot because I really learned a lot. I'm sure between my sister and I we can work out some details and run it again sometime - because we have a vision.

If you build it they will come.

On Friday I went to the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank to meet with my contact there and see the location for the Wonderful, Powerful ME! kids workshops we have planned. Tonight the information is being given to the grandparents of the children that the Food Bank will sponsor to attend. Now we just have to wait to hear if enough children are able to attend.

It has been said that "if you build, it they will come". We have built a workshop plan that can have a positive impact on these kids. I hope they come.

Wonderful, Powerful ME!

I am very excited to have a logo ready and a flyer published to advertise my very first workshops for kids!

Getting Ready

Today my sister Loretta started blogging about her 50th year. Although we live over 3,000 km apart we talk on the phone very frequently and are pretty close. We share our ideas and often do things in tandem. In our discussion today about her blog the idea came that I would maybe do the same thing after I turn 49 in October. But it sounds like fun so why wait? Loretta's first blog is called "Ready, Fire, Aim". This is me getting ready.

I had to decide what specifically to blog about while I'm waiting to blog about my 50th year. I considered what is significant for me at this time in my life and decided to blog about Living On Purpose. Have you ever thought about what might be your purpose in life? I've always believed that my purpose is to have a positive impact on the lives of children. In 2010 I happen to be doing a lot of things in my life that specifically relate to my purpose and I call that "Living On Purpose".

One of the things I'm doing is volunteering with Family and Children's Services, as I have been for over five years, and I really love the children I have been involved with. I have had several one on one matches which involves taking a child out approximately once a week, like a Big Brother/Big Sister. I have also helped with a woodworking club and a scrapbooking club for foster children. Occasionally I get out the old clown costume and help with their fundraising events. My current match is a 7 year old girl who makes a wonderful assistant clown.

Foster Parenting was modelled for me by my grandparents and aunts on my dad's side and I have always known it to be something I would do. My son has been on his own for a few years and there's a long waiting period for grandchildren. Meanwhile, I have an empty house and an open heart and there are so many children in need. So I have taken my volunteering with Family and Children's Services to the next level and applied to be a Foster Parent. I don't know how it will all work out yet, as a single woman whose job includes a lot of business travel lately, but it feels right so Ready, Fire!

Another thing I'm doing (with Loretta) is Wonderful, Powerful ME! Workshops for Kids - Empowering children to live an authentic life through the law of attraction. It is a way of applying my purpose to more children at the same time. Ultimately, I would like to expand this effort to include public speaking. Impacting large groups of parents/adult influences would indirectly impact even more children.

After watching Oprah one day, I embraced the whole concept of impacting more children in the world by impacting women. Women have a tremendous impact on their families and communities so when you help a girl or woman....oh just watch Oprah's video on "The Girl Effect". My point is that I decided to sponsor a woman in a country affected by war through Women For Women. I have been matched with a woman in Sudan, referred to as my sister, named Monica. She and her husband care for 5 children. I'd say she is a very good match considering my purpose.

I didn't initially relate it to my purpose, but I have been micro-lending through Kiva since July 2008. Whenever the entrepreneurs make payments, I recirculate the original money into new loans. I have made a total of 14 loans so far. The minimum loan is $25 so I'm not talking about a fortune here. I seem to have consistently chosen entrepreneurs who have children and a large number of the loans were for women or groups of women. So even though it wasn't consciously on purpose, my lending practices have actually demonstrated me Living On Purpose.

So there you go. Five things I'll be blogging about:
Family and Children's Services,
Foster Parenting,
Kiva microloans,
Women for Women,
Wonderful Powerful ME,
....and whatever else comes up that's On Purpose.