Truth of the matter is, we Americans have too much stuff. Look around at home and school—it’s hard to keep it all organized! There’s never enough storage space, and we’re not very good at giving or throwing away things we might just need some day. But summertime offers a great opportunity for tag sales—a terrific way to reduce the inventory of classrooms and bedrooms.

MAKING SPACE FOR LEARNING
The less visual clutter in classrooms, the more available aesthetic and cognitive space for learning. If you’ve never been in a Montessori classroom, a before-school visit would be a good way to experience the impact of more limited and intentional use of classroom space.

Classroom wall space is notorious for visual commercial cover that teachers post and tend to leave up all year and that children almost universally ignore. Moral clichés and rules, even content standards, unless regularly rotated and referred to in instructional practice, do not improve learning for children. Student work, selected for display with the children’s input and given prominent wall space in classrooms, tells children their work matters and the classroom is there for them.

CHANGING TOYS, ROOMS, AND SELVES
Giving increasing autonomy to children over their toys and the look and management of their own room (or corner of a room) can help them deepen and develop their sense of self.

Letting go of old toys. Tag sales are a good way for children to dispose of toys they’ve outgrown. They love having their own tag sale tables with control over some of their old toys.

It’s also wonderful to have children sort clothes and household items that can be donated to local charities.

Changing personal space. Over the summer, children often want to change their home environment. As they contemplate entering a new school environment in late August, this redecoration offers a way of trying on the “new” student they will become, along with trying on the new school clothes.

Like changes in toys, changes in bedrooms (even if those bedrooms are shared) can help our children’s development. In Yardsticks, I trace the progressive definition of my own daughter’s development through her room décor in her teenage years. Randy Pausch, the inspirational young professor who just recently passed away (known for his moving “Last Lecture,” viewed by over 5 million on YouTube), praised his parents for letting him draw and paint on his bedroom walls as he was growing up. He noted in his lecture that his illustrations and equations were still there on the wall of his old room in the family home.

Looking forward to the year ahead. As you watch the home transformations through toys given away and bedrooms changed, I bet you’ll see many opportunities for gently questioning your children’s thoughts about the school year ahead. Post a comment to share what you notice!

Would you like to ask Chip a question or share your own thoughts on this topic? Click Comments just below this entry.