Family Arts Weekend

Last Thursday Nightowl and I headed out on a mother-daughter adventure. We had signed up for the Family Arts Weekend at Taproot Farm in rural Ohio. We learned of this event via the Barbara Dewey newsletter (Waldorf Without Walls).

We started our trip with a side visit to our wonderful friends in Columbus. Nightowl got to play with her same age pal, Francie, and I got a late, late, late night chat with kindred spirit Nikki. We took the girls to see a production of the musical Annie and spent the rest of our time chilling and visiting and recollecting how much we all adore one another. It was a true love fest.

We arrived at Taproot Farm on Friday evening, unpacked our bags in the farmhouse (we got to stay in the Cinderella Room) and headed off to meet the six other families and play theater games. Over the next 24-plus hours we created original characters, built relationships between said characters, came up with a plot, created costumes, and staged a play. During our "free" time we learned how to wet-on-wet paint, make origami, participated in KP duty and creating communal meals, played theater games and sat around chatting and enjoying each others' company.

It was an amazing experience. Aside from what we created (which was pretty cool) the organic nature of the event is what I found most inspiring. All participants from aged 4 to much older, were able to be involved in all activites. The kids, and the adults, were included in the creation of their characters, which led to the creation of relationships, which led to the creation of the story, which led to the creation of the play. It was empowering. Everyone felt heard, and everyone seemed invested in the story.

Nightowl had a great time. In our final play her character was Carlos, the flying fairy. Working communally was very, very good for her. My character was Ref, the bashful newt. Working communally was very, very good for me.

I also came away with lots of wonderful new ideas for incorporating more dramatics into our everyday lessons - drama queens rule! I even learned to do wet-on-wet painting - a true miracle. Overall: a wonderful time had by all. (I've lots of photos from the weekend and plan to publish them somehow, sometime - when it's not nearly midnight.)

Flush right photos:
1 - View of the pond at Taproot Farm.
2 - Barbara demonstrates wet-on-wet painting
3 - My miracle painting.

The Alien Under the Bed

The alien that lives under my bed can change shape.
Today he is an Eyeball.
And he is giving a talk about eyeballs and eyeball stuff.

- Nightowl, age 6

Making Granola

Back to School

It's been busy, this first week "back to school, back to violin, back to piano." Hmmm....let's see:

This was the first week of our Math Block. We did a lot of singing number patterns, rhythm games for number patterns, working on odd and even, counting by 2s, 3s, etc. We've been playing number games: mancala, dominoes and geometric games: tangrams, blockus. One afternoon Nightowl spied Barbara Dewey's Math for Waldorf Homeschoolers book. She was delighted by the illustration of gnomes on the cover and begged to begin learning about the gnomes. Thus we have entered the world of Math Gnomes. We're at the beginning but she is delighted with the tale of the four gnomes: Plus, Minus, Times and Divide and their adventures in the jewel mine digging up treasures. She requests more of this activity faster than I can provide it. I suspect that during the next few weeks we'll be doing even more. I'd better get ready.

One morning Nightowl and Bearcub got busy with measuring tapes. I looked up from my morning tea and noticed that they were both very intently measuring all the furniture in the living room. Ta da: impromptu math lesson. Nightowl measured many pieces of furniture then noted the measurements on paper. She next cut out each item and arranged them in order from smallest to largest. She had some confusion regarding the order of the higher numbers so we got out the Unix Cubes. These little cubes attach in columns and can be used for a variety of things. Nightowl used them to figure out the numerical order of the items she'd measured. As this progressed she figured out that it was much easier to count using columns of ten. This prompted a little lesson on counting by 10s to 100.



Nightowl was also busy building this week. She asked that I include the following images of her dollhouse world - a city of rainbow buildings and multi-cultural communal living. The entire world is presided over by two Grandmas and their children. The Grandmas have been together for many, many years and have many, many children and grandchildren.

After math, our next big project has been getting ready for the homeschool science fair. This year Nightowl has selected Shells as her topic. We discussed her project, came up with several questions that she'd like to find answers for and took a trip to the library for research materials. Nightowl has been diligently sorting through the family shell collection in search of beauties to display for her project.

Finally, our biggest project was working on Rosetta. For Christmas, Nightowl received a doll making kit and this week we began the task of creating the doll. I purchased the kit on-line from Joy's Waldorf Dolls and, as it was our first doll, I took the easier route of getting several pieces created for us (the head, the wig). Our task was to take the head and attach the skin, create the nose, stuff the hands, feet, arms, legs and body; sew it all together; embroider the face and attach the hair. This was a really fun project. Nightowl helped as much as she could. She sewed the nose, did the stuffing, attached the head covering, and placed the eyes, mouth and hair.



After our first day working on the doll Nightowl had named her Rosetta. This inspired us to work even hard to get her finished - we just couldn't leave Rosetta in pieces! It was a really magical experience. Nightowl was so excited watching the creation of this doll. When we weren't working on her she would randomly pick up the pieces and hug them. I'd hear her whispering to Rosetta, telling her what her life would be like. She prepared her other dolls for an introduction to their new sister. And then she announced that, unlike her other dolls who sleep in doll beds, Rosetta would be sleeping with her. "She's not hard like my other dolls," Nightowl explained. "So she'll be more comfortable sleeping with me." Wow. Normally Nightowl doesn't sleep with dolls or stuffed animals. While she has quite a routine for putting her various doll and animal family to bed none of them get the invitation into the big bed. An interesting development.

By the end of the week Rosetta was finished!



And, true to her word, Nightowl has slept curled up with her every night since.

Rhythm...Again

Back when we started this little homeschooling adventure I posted a couple of times about schedules and rhythm. The months have passed and oh, how much I have learned.

I now know that:
1. Rhythm has little, if anything, to do with schedules.
2. Schedules, like all rules, are made to be broken.

So, on we go. We are completing the same activities - sort of - only now they happen a bit more naturally; more in rhythm and not so forced. It's good. A trifle frightening for a control freak like me...but I'm getting used to it. Sort of.

All About Bearcub

The youngest member of our little homeschool is rarely mentioned. However, her presence at home and in our lives demands that her exploits and activities get a little screen time too.

At 20-months, Bearcub can no-longer be considered the baby (though that's what we still call her). She is busy from the moment she wakes. In temperament she is easy going, good natured and friendly. She is strong willed, tenacious and stubborn. The decibles of her joy are matched only by the decibles of her tantrums. In the mornings she is the first to open her eyes and then wakes me with kisses. All friends receive hugs, strangers loud shouts of hello.

Whereas Nightowl's mantra might be "I think." the Bearcub's is surely: "I do." My little one is a master of dexterity, manipulation and physical activity. Few locks, doors, or latches confound her for long. If someone in the family is busy at a task or activity, then surely she should be able to as well - preferrably loudly and with gusto. Initially content to ride along in the wake of our activities, the Bearcub has emerged as a force to be reckonned with.

Case in point: the piano. Whereas Nightowl never noticed the piano until age five, Bearcub has been aching for a chance since she could crawl. She can now successfully open the instrument, select a music book, climb onto the bench, place her music, turn on the metronome, sit down and belt out a tune. No matter that she cannot read music, she turns the pages every few minutes just the same. And she plays, plays, plays as long as she can. The longing I see in her eyes now is for the violins - kept high out of reach. She hums along to every song that Nightowl and I play. Indeed, Bearcub knows the entire rep.

Similarly, Bearcub uses her own chalkboard for writing and drawing and her own materials for painting. Her exploits into the fiber arts are confounding explosions of knots and piles. Her love of books and being read to matches that of the rest of us. She loves puzzles and pieces and biking and swinging. She launches herself into every activity, shows little hesitancy in exploring new places and situations and displays a shocking lack of caution in most areas. If she falls or is somehow thwarted? No problem, she's up and mastering the feat - beit scaling the bookshelves, pushing the tire swing, or puzzling apart the newest toddler lock.

Aside from these many activities, what Bearcub likes most is to help. She enjoys helping to fold the laundry, empty the dishwasher, feed the cats, set the table and pick up the toys. Either from example or intrinsic nature, Bearcub is turning out to be pretty tidy. She sings the "toys away" song with joy.

Her newest and most favorite helping activity is vaccuming. Previously, Bearcub has eyed the vaccum with trepidation and fear: It's loud, it's clunky, it's takes Mom's focus. But over the past few months she's been taking cautious steps: a willingness to be in the same room with the ghastly thing, tip-toeing past it, sneaking over to push the power button. And then today, the unthinkable: a request to do it herself. So, I lowered the handle and passed it over. Oh joy! Oh rapture! Forty minutes later she was still involved: Vaccum. Turn off the power. Turn on the power. Vaccum. Turn off the power....



When lunch was on the table I had to step in and bring the activity to an end. "No, Mama," she cried. "More vaccum!" she signed. But I insisted. Oh, the wailing that ensued - complete with a full body drop to the floor, and the beating of fists and feet. Call CPS because I won't let the child vaccum any longer - it's time for lunch and a nap.

True to her nature the hysterics passed quickly. Now it's lunch time. Time to scale the chair, wash the hands, insist on an open cup. Time to eat heartily and messily and after, exhausted from the effort, enter sleep quickly and deeply and then wake, refreshed, for more.

A Prince of a Tale and Then Some

It might seem like with travel, work and holidays that "school" has gone by the wayside. Actually, we have been working on the more traditional stuff too - well traditional for us.

Our most recently completed "school" block was language arts. I had originally planned four weeks for a Waldorf type block but we got so involved and took so many exits into the land of unschooling that four weeks morphed into ten.

What have we done? In nutshell: We completed the first two language arts blocks as presented in the Christopherus Grade One Curriculum - with a little tweaking of our own in some places. These two blocks consist of creating a pictoral letter alphabet based on a continuing story infused with Grimm's Fairy Tales (re: a big story with little ones nestled inside). Our story went something like this:

There was Kind King and a Quiet Queen. They were parents to a Proud Prince. Because he was so proud he was not ready to lead the Kingdom. So, their cousin, the Wise Woman, took him on a journey. During this journey he learned many things and returned home much wiser and ready to lead the Kingdom.

Every week I told Nightowl a segment or two of the Prince's story - oftimes this segment included a tale from Grimm's. The story segment would emphasize a particular set of letters (ie: Proud Prince = P). She would illustrate the story segment including the actual letters within her drawings, on other days she would practice the letters she learned. By the end we have a complete alphabet and a completely illustrated tale. At the end of the tale she moved onto writing simple allitrative word phrases. We also brought this story into our craft time, creating hand puppets (pictured above) of the Prince and the Wise Woman. We have re-enacted the entire thing with said puppets.

This activity worked extremely well for Nightowl. We did a similar type of illustrated alphabet last year for Kindergarten - as per Oak Meadow instruction. It was good introduction for her but not nearly as cohesive. My decision to engage in a similar activity for First Grade came about primarily because she seemed ready for the archetypal stories in Grimm's (she loves them). I also sensed that a letter review would be well received. True on both accounts - this activity was a hit. Nearly every day she asked for a new episode of the Prince. I put pictures up on my larger chalkboard. She then copied the pictures and letters first on her own chalkboard then in her main lesson book.

Included here are a few of the drawings from the Prince's Tale that Nightowl wished to showcase on the blog.






Images: 1-Kind King, Quiet Queen, Proud Prince, Wise Woman; 2 - Lovely Lady, Holle House,;
3 - Ooohhh!; 4 - New Needle, Curled Cat;
5 - Rapunzel; 6 - Letter practice

So that was our Waldorf. Our other adventures in reading during this past ten weeks include: working through McGuffy's Eclectic Primer, Nightowl reading aloud chapters of Frog and Toad, delving into classic children's books (see our Grade One Reading List), and creating original books.

That last part is pure Nightowl. For fun during her free time, Nightowl has been book making. She has written and illustrated several small books (I am usually called upon to dictate spelling). But the main project has been the creation of her own Magic Schoolbus adventure. Entitled "The Magic Schoolbus Goes to the IU String Academy" this work has taken a life of its own.

I gave Nightowl a blank main lesson book and she started by laying out the story via pen and ink illustrations, coloring them in later with colored pencil. This is a work in progress and not yet finished (so no photos at this time), but progress is being made. She is writing many of the words herself and she knows the storyline. I suspect that I will be called in once again to dictate spelling and help her locate music and string facts - but then that's my role in this: purely support staff. This is her project, fueled by her own desire, her love of playing the violin, love of the program she is in and her love of the Magic Schoolbus books.

This type of free learning makes me giddy with delight. It's what I hoped for when we began this adventure. On many occassions the entire day has been spent at work on this project. It's incredible to watch and has proven what almost all of the homeschoolers I know have told me: Let them go and they will learn. Fabulous.

Solstice

Our Solstice celebration was really fun this year. We continued our usual tradition of reading the Solstice stories from Circle Round. Then we added the new ritual of baking Sunflower Millet bread (We've added baking to our list of weekly activities. We bake now. We're bakers.)
Sunflower Millet Bread





Nightowl was very pleased by our craft for gifting: beeswax candles. She was able to make many of these for friends and family. On the 21st we had a fun time at a Solstice celebration with other homeschooling families - many treats, candles, kids and laughs.
Beeswax Candles





Finally, in culmination we woke early (for us) on the 22nd to wait for and welcome the sun. It was kind of a downer as our Indiana gray skies showed only brightening cloud cover, but we sang songs and ate our bread.
Mother Sky cradeling the newborn sun, by Nightowl





Then later, in the afternoon, when the sun finally burst through Nightowl cheered: "I knew you could do it!"
Sundancers, by Nightowl

Reading, Reading, Reading

That's what we're doing these days. Just a quick update (see our Grade One Book List). We are currently into a number of books (including books about Mammoths). These days you'll find the following on Nightowl's reading table:
Mary Poppins
Don Quixote
McGuffey's Eclectic Primer
Peter Pan
Frog and Toad All Year (she's reading this aloud to me)
Fira and the Full Moon
Meet Kaya

We've recently finished The Moffat Museum and Ginger Pye, which nearly completes our foray into the works of Eleanor Estes (I think all we have left is Pinky Pye).

Nightowl also listened to the complete Addy Story Collection from American Girl on CD. This was pretty intense as Addy is the American Girl who escapes from slavery and creates a new life in the North with her parents. Thematicaly, this set of books is a bit too old for Nightowl, we happened upon it while looking for something to listen to during our Thanksgiving drive to see the relatives. The first book was so realistic and sad that we very nearly abandonded it. I'm glad Nightowl listened through to the end as doing so helped to resolve some of her worries. However, these books have inspired endless discussions of human rights issues, racism and bigotry. Big topics for my little one.

- Addy in the fields collecting worms, by Nightowl

LA Story #5: The Best Time Ever

On our final evening in Los Angeles we headed to the famous La Brea Tar Pits. We waited until after naps and for a respite from the 90 degree sun(!) to head downtown.

Going late in the day was great. It was near twilight. The Page Museum was closing soon so we got in at half price. There were no crowds. We had the run of the place - great!

Nightowl describes this part of the trip as "The best thing I've ever done! The best time I've ever had!" She's been dinosaur obsessed since she was three, and a museum of ice age skeletons and facts thrilled her beyond measure.

We literally ran through the museum (the clock was ticking) which wasn't really hard because it's a very, very, very small museum. But it was thrilling. We dicovered a mammoth statue and real mammoth skeleton.

Nightowl loved the saber tooths, the wolf skulls and the timeline of ice-age man. She was really intrigued by the female skeleton that was found in the tar.

After going through the entire museum, twice, we ventured outside for a twilight stroll near the tar. Also thrilling. Seriously, Nightowl could not get enough of this. We followed the pathways imagining the mammoths, the cats, the hunters. Her excitement did not end with the end of our trip. At home we now have several books about the Great Ice Age Mammoths. Plus she's added Archeologist to her growing list of future careers: Paleontologist, Violinist, Ice Skater... Archaeologist.

LA Story #4: The Seaside

Our main goal during vacation was to be out in nature - the weather was great and it was a good counter to the seemingly endless hours spent driving.

So, our next adventure took us to Santa Monica for a day at the beach and the Santa Monica pier. This was the Bearcub's first experience with an ocean. She was not daunted and ran merrily into the waves, headfirst. The water was chilly so we remained clothed, barefoot and near the edge. Quite fun and quite the challenge with the cub as she continued to head in (literally) again and again and again.

Once we were completely chilled and sandy we headed to the outdoor showers near the pier. On the way we found ourselves walking, quite unexpectedly, through a graveyard. Or rather, the image of a graveyard.

We were in the middle of Arlingon West a temporary memorial erected in the sand by the local chapter of Veterans for Peace. This graveyard gave us a chilling picture of war and it's consequences. Nightowl had some questions and we all discussed war, our nation and the world. Quite the unexpected Social Studies lesson. Despite the gravity of the memorial I was happy that Nightowl got to experience it. She has heard of the war from radio, our parental talks and from sermons at church. This particular memorial fell right in line with our pacifist, UU tendencies.

After lunch we visited Pacific Park - a small amusement park on the Santa Monica pier. It's just a few rides but enough to have a little carnival like amusement. Nightowl really enjoyed the bungee jump, entertaining us with back flips at forty feet. Wee!!


We ended our coastal adventures with a side trip to Venice Beach in search of a little yarn shop recommended by a California friend and fellow knitter. There we purchased our only bag of LA goodies: yarn and lots of it. The owner was very friendly and helped Nightowl find several types of yarn that she could use to make things for her dolls. She also got her first pair of circular needles. If you're ever in Venice check out A Mano Yarn Center - very wonderful.

LA Story #3: The Huntington Botanical Gardens

Saturday in Los Angeles was cool, sunny and wonderful. We chose to spend the day at the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botantical Gardens.

For Nightowl (and the rest of us) the botanical garden was the only option. And it really was amazing. Bearcub and I spent the morning at the Garden. Then we headed back to the hotel for afternoon nap. We picked up Chillymama and Nightowl when the gardens closed. They'd spent six hours in the gardens and we're still not really ready to go.

First we explored the Children's Garden - a very hands-on, experiential type of garden with lots of topiary, water, sand and fog. The actual Fog Garden was a favorite (first photo). Every five minutes chimes would toll and clouds of fog would billow. Bearcub enjoyed the topiary animals (second photo). There were rabbits, deer, dinosaurs. We also splashed in a number of fountains, enjoyed a "plant house," the prisim rainbow bridge and a number of topiary tunnels (third photo).











After the Children's Garden we went to explore the science lab and other nature exhibits - all very hands on and exceptional. One favorite was the tropical seeds exhibit. Nightowl saw a variety of spices and learned to connect them to the actual plant (vanilla pods - vanilla plants, cocoa - cocoa plant, etc.). Nightowl spent a long time here. In the first image she's checking out the view through a bee's eye. The second is a coconut exhibit. The third is an identify the plant game:





















There was still more to see: Chinese Gardnes, Desert Gardens, Wildflower Gardens, Rose Gardens, Japanese Water Gardens and on and on. We could have spent days there. Days.

LA Story #2: Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

During our trip Nightowl was continually fascinated by the change in plantlife. Everything seemed to be blooming in LA and she took every opportunity to enjoy it. We spent one afternoon at a lovely park in South Pasadena. This particular park had a rose garden and Nightowl had a camera.

Sad to say that the camera she used was a disposable that we picked up during the wedding reception. The actual photos did not turn out so well. But a good time was had by all. And the observation of roses added well to our work on reverence for nature.

LA Story #1: The Incredible Glass Eating Baby

During the first week of November the entire family packed up and headed to the West Coast. Our main reason for traveling was to attend the wedding of a close college friend. But, as it had been so long since we'd travelled, we extended the trip into a week long vacation in Southern California. Fun!

The first item on our itinerary was the wedding. It was a lovely evening event. We dressed up - something we never do - but of course forgot to get a photo. Their ceremony was short and sincere. My dear friend was beautiful and so happy - her husband seems so perfect for her. There was a lovely meal, a kid's room with crafts, dancing, fabulous cake, visits with old friends and lovely chocolate. All in all a good time.

One noteworthy item from the evening: During dinner I held Bearcub on my lap. I gave her a drink of water from my glass while I chatted with an old friend. Then, from across the table I hear: "Oh my god! Your baby!" I look down and Bearcub has taken a large bite out of the piece of stemwear from which she was drinking. Gads!

It was a clean break. No shards in the mouth. No cuts. Just a big bite out of the glass and a good story for the baby book. And perhaps a career in the circus sideshow for Bearcub - possibly.

Spirits and Lights

Time to catch-up. I believe I left this blog right before Halloween. So....

We had a lovely Halloween.Time was spent getting ready by decorating with a number of rainbow skeletons. We also created the list of our beloved dead whom we honor during the day of the dead.

Although trick-or-treating might seem like the pinnacle of Halloween, our big event is the annual Halloween concert with the String Academy. Imagine more than a hundred young violinists aged 5-18 on stage playing together and listening to each other. Each violinist in an imaginative costume. The teachers wear costumes too. As this is an annual concert with all the students we do tend to hear a repetition of the songs every year. But it doesn't matter because each year Nightowl is at a new level, playing new songs and getting more and more confident. Plus, it's so darn cute.

Our final early-fall celebration was the lantern festival on November 11, Martinmas-- bringing light into the darkness. Nightowl made a simple folded paper lantern in her Oak Meadow class. It was decorated with cutouts and watercolor paints and contained a small candle.

That evening we all gathered for a lantern walk in the woods. There were songs and treats and a bonfire. The lantern processional always feels a little scary to me as we actually give children, little children, open flame lanterns to carry through the woods - yikes! (I keep looking around thinking: "There a lot of dry tinder on the ground..."). But I got over it as the feeling of reverence took over.

It's amazing how serious and careful the children were. And the trail of lantern lights twinkling in the woods is really beautiful. I, of course, forgot the camera but we took pictures once we returned home. Very lovely.

Rage

We've been having a hard time here lately - there's been no time to post. We're still schooling and muddling through but it's been stressful and difficult. My job has kept me working long, long hours so my sleep is short - I'm quite lucky to get 3-4 hours per night. Chillymama's office gig is also extrememly demanding right now. There's lots of tension.

Our trip to LA came amidst lots of work chaos and wasnt' really very relaxing. It was fun. But it was work. Truthfully, it was a bad time for a trip. This month (and much of October) has been filled to capacity. I simply have no time for anything beyond working and doing the bare minimum to get by.

When I am exhausted beyond measure feelings turn to rage. My coping strategy is to hold it in, not let it errupt. But more than a month of repression takes it's toll. I'm edgy and often near panic. This leaks out in the household and I can feel my kids shrinking away. It's horrible. I even imagine giving up - on homeschooling, work, relationships - life. Not really an option.

I had a wonderful talk with a friend today. I called her after she sent an email asking: "Where are you? I haven't seen you since September." It was wonderful to talk to her. We discussed the stress and the rage and the joy. My spirit feels much, much lighter.

It all makes me wonder why I don't reach out or call out more often. Why hold it in? Why the need to sort it out all by myself? I'm not sure. But I'm glad for the connection I made today. It's why I'm including this in a post. I need to talk about it more.

The best part of everyday is the time I spend unschooling with my kids. But this gift has a cost. We are not wealthy. We choose to give up income and follow this path. For that reason I work in the evenings. And Chillymama remains working in a stable job with wonderful benefits for us all. Sacrifices all around - by choice.

This life we've created is not all chalk pictures and hand crafts. At times it feels effortless but at others it feels brutal and suffocating. There is a light at the end of the tunnel - at least for me. My deadlines are nearing and my 40-60 hours per week job should ease up to it's normal 10 hours by early to mid-December. Then we can find our rhythm again.

I'm looking forward to that.

What type of homeschooling do you practice?

I get this quesiton a lot. Mostly in conversation with friends, relatives or others who are out there, silently reading the blog. It's good to know you're there. :-)

So, here's the answer: We do what we need to do, as it works for us. How's that for elusive?

If I have to give a more defined answer I'd say that we defy categorization. I've never been one for following rules. Although we honor the schedule, understand the need for structure, and have a few tried and true beliefs, rigidity in any form is not our way.

That said, for those who'd like to know here are three areas we fit into:

#1
Unschooling. Unschooling is a term coined by educator John Holt. He wrote many works about revamping public schools and how kids learn. Unschooling is kind of a hot topic these days. We are not radical unschoolers or parents who use the label and then ignore what happens. Rather, we try to follow our kids' lead; their natural curiosity generates their will to learn. We simply help them find the means. For more info check out this article: What is Unschooling? or The Sudbury Valley School.

#2
Waldorf Inspired. Waldorf is a method developed by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian Philosopher in the early 1900s. This method emphasized child development and art. We say Waldorf Inspired because we don't follow Waldorf exclusively. There is a lot I like about the Waldorf method, especially for the younger ages, in fact Waldorf inspired pedagogy is what we are mainly following these days (within our schedule and lesson blocks). However, some of the philosophy simply does not work for our family in this modern age. There is an intersting article entitled Oak Meadow and Waldorf that talks about this very topic. Oak Meadow is a Waldorf inspired homeschooling curriculum used by many. We use it and really like it. For more information check out this site: Waldorf Homeschoolers. Plus there are some Waldorf Resources within the links to the right.

#3 Core Knowledge. Core Knowledge Foundation is a non-profit that conducts research on curricula and developes materials. It was founded in the late 80s by Edward Hirsh and offers a variety of books on what the foundation deems: core knowledge. The Core books were created to be used by teachers in the classroom and as supplements by parents of publically schooled children. We like the series "What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know." These are pretty rigid books, but they are well written, easy to follow and provide a good map of what a child might be ready for. Lots of homeschoolers use this series as the basis of their schooling. We like them and use them mostly as reference points and to see what public schooled kids of the same age might be up to. I also get some good ideas for answering questions that Nightowl frequently poses.

So there you go, that's how we homeschool - most of the time. While we draw from these sources we don't use them exclusively and sometimes we use them not at all. Sometimes we look at work by Charlotte Mason, Suzuki, various library materials, UU materials or we draw from our own experience. We also get a lot of information and ideas from other homeschoolers. We are finding that there is no single, correct map for learning. Our kids don't fit conveniently into any mold - and we like them that way.

Making Lasagna

At the end of our Natural Science block we decided to make lasagna. Actually, we've been planning this for some time but last week the weather and timing came together. Lasagna time!

In the cool autumn chill of mid-October the kids and I took ourselves out-of-doors and began work on our lasagna garden. No, not a garden where we grow the fixings for the cheesy pasta dish of the same name. In this case Lasagna refers to the layering technique for building soil.

We first heard of this method when we stopped to chat with Rhea, a lovely older woman who lives, and gardens, near one of our downtown parks. Rhea's lawn has no grass. It is completely planted with every imaginable native plant. We admired her lawn and stopped to tell her so. She recommended that we try it using the Lasagna method to kill our sod and begin planting. I did a little research and found The Lasagna Garden by Patricia Lanza.

In a nutshell: mark off a space, build layers of organic material, plant. In our case we're opting to build our garden space in the fall and then plant in the spring. But the layering is the same.

So....

First, we marked our space. Then we added the first layer: wet newspaper.


Then the second layer: peat moss. Then the third layer: straw.


Then the fourth layer: leaves.

That's all we've done for now. Our plan is to add at least 8 more layers before it snows. The entire process took a couple of hours. The most suprising thing is how much we all enjoyed the endeavor. I am not a gardner. Despite growing up and spending most of my life in a farming state I do not garden, never have. And my eldest - she hates to get dirty. This is the child who as a baby rarely needed a bib, who at three finished painting in pre-school with a completely clean smock, who at six took a bucket of soapy water and scrub brush to the new tire swing before she would use it. We're talking neat and tidy.

Once I persuaded her to wear the old sweat pants ("They are comfy," she admitted) and told her that finally I was willing to try a garden ("I've been wanting flowers for years, Mommy.") she was game. She had a great time. During our peat mossing she kicked off her shoes and rolled in the dirt shouting: "I want to stay here like a pig forever!" During the whole session she kept exclaiming about how much fun it was. She even enjoyed raking the yard (a bonus chore off the to-do list).

I enjoyed it too - the work, the outdoors seeing my two kids so happy (Bearcub drank the newspaper water, poured peat moss in her hair, rolled in the hay and threw leaves.) And I'm so glad to have given Nightowl the opportunity to get down in the muck and love it. We're already looking forward to adding more layers! And who knows, perhaps in the spring we'll have a bed ready for planting. Here's hoping.