Be the Boss

Its been a tough week here in camp homeschool. We've returned from our week away feeling relaxed, and I must admit that I expected us to get back motivated and pleased to be home. And this may have been the case for all of us, but its felt like hard work. Perhaps its the retrograde Mercury that's been affecting us this week, tampering with our technology and upsetting our learning rituals. Perhaps we were really just tired and needed a week to 'get back into the swing of things'.

Either way, there have been a lot of tears, from both small girls.

And as the homeschooling Mum who has taken responsibility for their education as well as their general health and wellbeing (I separate these three terms for the sake of understanding, but I really believe their one and the same - we are a whole are we not?), I have been feeling several emotions that have pushed me to my limits - anger, disappointment, sadness, guilt and fear - the big 5 really.

At times I've been able to look these squarely in the eye and breathe deeply and let them go. At other times this week, as they've come back again, I've been less than admirable and have yelled and judged. Not my finest qualities, but ones we all have nonetheless.

Having said all this, the biggest challenge this week has been an amazing learning opportunity for both Rosie and I. She has been suffering from her perception that other people create the happiness in her life - and that its other people's problem if she's not happy/motivated/inspired. And as a parent who has struggled with this herself a lot, but also come a long way with it, personal responsibility that is, this has challenged my sense of self and lead me to look deep within again.

So this week has also been a week of soul-searching - how can I help Rosie? Should I be disciplining her? Why is this happening now? Again? Really? I thought we dealt with this the other day?

And as this challenge repeatedly came up, my understanding of both Rosie and I grew. This is her greatest learning opportunity at the moment. She needs to feel her boundaries here. She needs to gain control over herself and her thoughts and actions so that she can determine her learning needs and move forward.

And so I have been surprised to find that we have been working on the most important learning of all - learning to be responsible for our own thoughts, words and actions. For authentic change in the world really only comes about by each of us taking personal responsibility for what we do, what we choose, what we think.

And so we have been talking to Rosie (and really ourselves) about the importance of being our own boss - being the boss of our thoughts, being the boss of our words and being the boss of our actions. For it is through these that we create our experiences. It is through these that we perceive our environment and decide whether we want to see it positively and with optimism, or negatively and with pessimism.

It is our hope as parents that this challenge is something Rosie remembers for the rest of her life, that it stands her in good stead and enables her to be a force for good in this world. And its our hope that we keep working on ourselves as well - delving deeper, becoming more authentic in our own ability to be personally responsible and ultimately be living role models for our children and others.

Wishing you a lovely day. xx

A picture of our homeschool

Quite a few requests have come my way for a description of how our homeschooling looks. And I must admit that I'm curious to see our bigger picture too - for the day to day, moment to moment is where I've been for much of our first two weeks of this new learning adventure.

Of course, I have a plan - for the year, each term, and a rough plan for each season's focus and each week. And even if some of these are still in my head and some are down on paper, the intention is there for soul-filled learning.

But what it has actually looked like these last two weeks isn't quite the same as the plan (which was often the case when I was teaching in schools too).

This is a good sign, though. For the ability to adjust a learning program, to 'go with the flow' is an integral part of being a good teacher. And because so much of Rosie's (and Bethany's) formal learning is one-on-one now, a flexible approach that follows their leads and enthusiasm is both sensible and effective.

How can I tell?

Well I could set up elaborate assessment wheels, graphs of daily writing results, compare what we're doing with what school is doing right now....

But I'd only by trying to meet other's standards. And that's not what our homeschooling is about.

I can tell that things are going well in the way a regular Mama can tell if her child is healthy:

- I see smiles more often than before
- I see sisters building a more understanding relationship
- I see ease and grace in the way they play
- I see Rosie taking new risks - a sign of comfort and ease
- I hear her intelligent questions and see her enthusiasm for science and the natural world growing daily.

So I know.

I know with my heart, as well as my head, that its going okay. And that we're right where we need to be.

As for a picture of our homeschool....

We wake with the sun, and then doze some more

We breakfast on homemade goodies and the fruits of our garden

We use our heads in the mornings, but sometimes just get outside and pick berries

We use our hearts in the middle of the day, through art, or music, or helping others

Some days we go on an adventure somewhere - fossil-hunting, visiting a gallery, visiting a chocolate shop!

We lunch and rest and read books, and sometimes watch nature documentaries on iview

We use our hands in the afternoons - we play and cook and craft

Sometimes there is tennis, sometimes little aths, soon there will be horse riding

And as the sun goes down we share dinner, talk, play some more, read more books, clean up.

Another day is done, we wind down, time for rest.

 

Hope you enjoy the pictures. xx

This Summery day together

Its been a busy time for this mama lately - not the hectic, all-consuming busy-ness of business, but the ongoing, daily busy-ness in the life of a family of four with Mama and Papa working alternate days. Its nothing unique or unusual really, but I'm feeling most tired.
The reason this seems so obvious today is because today is a 'day off' - neither of us are working and there are no races or activities scheduled which would take one of us away while the other spends quality time with our two girls. And because today is the first real 'day off' for at least 3 weeks, it feels quite blissful and almost unusual. And I find myself wishing there were some more days like this.
So within this blissful bubble I've watered our newest little seedlings, made a fresh batch of laundry powder, read stories to Bethany and helped Rosie with some number work. And all the while Ian has mowed and worked on our soon-to-be-sold car.
There are background issues of course - will Ian get that job he's gone for? Should I continue taking antidepressants? What about another child?
But for now they are pushed aside (mostly) and we enjoy this Summery day together.

Learning together

Learning is such a collaborative process.

As a teacher this is something I saw all the time and I worked hard to encourage collaboration, discussion and joint learning. It was one of my main agendas then, and remains very high on my list of priorities now as a parent.

Life, to me, is about joyful learning and this happens so often with someone beside us to share that joy.

From playing games together to reading side-by-side and walking hand-in-hand, learning together is so beautiful to see in our children and it fills this Mama's heart with joy to see it on display so often around this home of ours.

Enjoy, dear readers....