"Took those sticks and stones, showed 'em I could build a house"

Daisies by Katy Perry

Hi Reader,

Last week I went to Craft + Commerce, the conference hosted by Kit (my newsletter software). There was a keynote that stopped me in my tracks from Nicole Burke (founder of Gardenary- omg I knoooow)

Her keynote was titled:

You Can Have It All...And You Can Have It All At Once

She talked about finding the ultimate balance between work, family, health, and friends. She rejected the "four burner theory" which says you can't have all your "stove burners" firing on at once: “in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners [family, friends, health, work]. In order to be really successful you have to cut off two.”

But Burke sees it differently...She envisions life as a house and a garden.

Inside your house is your health, your family, your friends.

Outside in the garden? Your work.

If you've ever spent time gardening, then you know that you don't have to spend all day in the garden. You go out and spend a little bit of time each day.

Planting, watering, weeding- then you enjoy the harvest.

When you're not gardening, you go back inside the house to your health, friends, and family. She says she's maintained 15-20 hour work weeks the entire time she's run her business by keeping this approach.

Sounds great... but what does this have to do with kids?

This approach made me think about maintaining learning in the summer.

I'm sure your child's teacher has begged you to read 20 minutes a day. She didn't ask you to set up a classroom at the kitchen table. Just spend a little time practicing to maintain their learning.

This is because kids brains are constantly pruning (yes! another gardening term to close this metaphor). Pruning is the process of cutting back growth to maintain a plant's size or make room for new growth.

Children's brains are learning constantly, so they must prune back information that's not being used. This is why you may encounter someone that claims they spoke a language as a kid, but can't anymore.

With kids' brains- It's use it or lose it!

But it doesn't take much to maintain their "garden." 20 minutes of reading and 10-15 minutes of review is enough to say to their brain "we still need this."

They don't need to give up the 90s kid summer, travel, family time, or day camp to stay smart. They just need some time in the garden every day.

Have you been able to find a balance between your house and your garden? Respond to this email to tell me about your approach.

What's New?

🍎 School Talk Workshop: Get the low down of major school changes coming to Charlotte schools, the difference between popular programs (like what's the deal with Montessori?), and learn a strategy to narrow down your list of schools. This workshop is virtual- so you can attend live or watch the replay for up to 30 days. Get your ticket now​

📚 Story Time This Week: See you at Betty's Bookworms Friday June 19 from 9:30-10am. Hope to see you there!

Things I Love

🐶 Never Lint Roll Again: I have the furriest cat and black couches....so I spend a lot of time lint rolling. But I think with this device I'll never lint roll again! In 30 seconds my couch was lint free. I'm going to be shouting from the rooftops for everyone to get one!

🐉 Harry Potter Good: Has your kiddo read the Wings of Fire series yet? These books dive into the lore of generations of dragons that have battled each other- but a secret movement wants to war to end. Think How to Train Your Dragon meets Harry Potter...but stays middle grades appropriate (3-6th grade). Best part? if your kiddo gets hooked, they have 16 books and counting.

💐 Water That Garden: BrainQuest is still the authority for fun learning for kids. They have great workbooks for review and kid coded brain teasers. Great way to provide built in review with a very low lift on your part.

Have a great week!