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.

Woolly Wonder Washers

Fancy a little knitting project?

Well I have just the thing for you. Lately I've been knitting up some little dishcloths for the kitchen in between larger projects that take a little more commitment and concentration. A dishcloth is the perfect project for a week or a few days (or one day if you're sitting in the car on the way to somewhere). For this Mama, in between getting our big girl to school and getting our littlest girl to sleep, a week is the perfect amount of time to get one of these done.
I've made up a simple little pattern that suits my needs, but there are plenty of others to suit your needs on ravelry if this isn't your style.

Here's mine:

I use 100% wool in a DK (8 ply) and 4mm needles to get a tight weave (don't use acrylic yarn - it doesn't wash out well and leaves residue on the bench after wiping).

Cast on 40 stitches using your method of choice.
Row 1 and 2: Knit all stitches
Rows 3 to 38: *K2, P2 then repeat from * until 2 stitches remain on your needle. K2.
Row 39 and 40: Knit all stitches
Cast off all stitches.

Maintain your washer in good condition by washing in cold water and air drying - best not to hot wash or tumble dry unless you want to shrink it!)

This makes a square-ish cloth with ribbing in the centre (great for scouring sourdough stuck on the kitchen bench) and a border of garter stitch around the outside. Of course you could add a lovely crocheted border, change colours for a striped effect, or change stitches for a different pattern. But for the moment, for this Mama, this simple pattern is just what I need...

Winter Beauty

"O, wind, if Winter comes can Spring be far behind?"

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

 

There are many lovely, lovely things about Winter in Mount Beauty (many of which I've been delighted to write about before). Notwithstanding the close proximity of Falls Creek Ski Resort, there's the high, domed mound of Mount Bogong, Victoria's highest peak, below which Mount Beauty nestles. This peak, when covered in a blanket of Winter snow, feels like a loving protector to us as we go about our business on the cold days of this season.

Of course there are other little beauties also - the crispness of frost on the grass as we walk to school, the austere brightness of a Winter full moon at night and the daily lighting of the fire to keep us warm.

Lately we have celebrated Winter with a family night ski, a full-moon ski for Ian and plenty of snow play with friends, for soon the snow will leave us and Spring will be with us again. So for now we enjoy the shorter, colder days for what they are - a time for preparation in the garden, a time for fun in the snow and a time for those indoor crafts like knitting, baking and stitching.

 

This is the Winter beauty we love.

Friday book review: Simplicity Parenting

"If a child has been able in his play to give up his whole living being to the world around him, he will be able, in the serious tasks of later life, to devote himself with confidence to the service of the world"

- Rudolf Steiner

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kidsby Kim John Payne is one of my favourite go-to books as a Mama.
So many times I've found myself musing over the complexity that can creep into our lives when I reach for this book and find an answer in its pages.
Yes, I love books, I'll be up front here. And I do have a lot of them dear readers (see my little treasures post to read about the $1000 I spent on them just last year!). But that doesn't mean I have just any books, in fact the books that I have are thoughtfully chosen and very special to this Mama.
This is another one of those extra special ones because it says things that guide me as a mother:

"Too many scheduled activities may limit a child's ability to motivate and direct themselves" (p.138)

"Rhythm and ritual are what we aim for; predictability may be what we achieve" (p.98)

"Children need experience, not entertainment, in play" (p. 80)

Ahhh...there is such common sense and beauty in this book. Sometimes I snuggle up with it for some late night peace of mind and sometimes I keep it on my bookstand as I type and take a dip into its wisdom each time I sit down. Either way its staying on my shelves and in the life of our family.

Friday blog review: Ben Hewitt

I discovered this little blog through another - Soulemama (my favourite for a long time for instant inspiration). Its written by father of two Ben, who unschools his boys on their farm and I find myself laughing and nodding my head a lot when I have time to read one or two of his posts. He is funny in a way that I understand, likes to 'tell it how it is', which I appreciate, and is yet another blog that I follow where children are not formally schooled.
Now I'm not sure where this is heading for me, but I definitely seem to read a lot about others not schooling their children in the traditional way. More to come on this I think...
Anyway, what I do really love about Ben's blog is his passion for an authentic education for his boys. Unschooling is definitely not just a default option for him and his wife, this is what they believe to be the best education they can give their children and I find myself mesmerised by his description of their life together. They play on their farm, in nature, help with baling hay or feeding animals and play with handmade toys. It sounds like a eutopia of some sort and, like Soulemama, I am turning to this blog with joy and genuine interest almost daily now for some inspiration and new thoughts.

Enjoy

Nature girls

In the hub-bub of a busy school and work week its nice to take a break and spend some time playing in nature. Yesterday the girls and I took ourselves off to Mountain Creek for some painting, wandering and playing in nature in the sunshine. A lovely day for us all...

An Eastern Yellow Robin fluttered gracefully around for a while

In the 'cubby' we built

the girls in the cubby

On our nature walk - the river we followed flows off Mt Bogong and was bubbling along with snow melt

A cute hand-me-down skirt we got from a friend today - do you, like me, love little girls in skirts and dresses in the bush?

Family at home

This week we took Rosie out of school for a day to spend with family at home. In our life at the moment there aren't many days when all four of us have a whole day together. Either Ian is working, or I'm working, or there is a race or some training session that is important for Ian to participate in. Thursday happened to be a day when neither of us was required at work and training was short and early - a perfect day for Rosie to spend with us.
We also believe that a day spend in nature, with family, leads to greater holistic learning than a day spent as school. That's not to say that we don't want her at school at all. There are definite positives for her being there too. Its just that our balance lies in a bit of both.
So we began our day with a trip to the mountain bike park across the road where we set up our play tepee (sown by yours truly), listened to the Kookaburras laughing at us, watched kangaroos and Crimson Rosellas through our binoculars and did some painting. It was overcast and cool, but the girls enjoyed exploring the grass, hills, forest and mud. One great thing about living in Mount Beauty is the proximity of bushland to our home - with only a 5 minute walk we were in the bush, with lovely views, wild native animals and flora.
After a play back at home, we had lunch, Rosie practiced her violin and the words she's working on at school at the moment, then we spent the afternoon in the garden pruning and fertilising fruit trees and veggies and improving the chicken pen (for our adventurous chooks). Sometimes the girls helped, sometimes they played in the sandpit or in Rosie's 'outdoor circus' that she's constructed, or in the fairy garden. It was free, unstructured time in the garden - so worthwhile to the development of creativity and identity.

Our fantastic, portable paint set

Painting in nature - such a great way to develop observation skills and an appreciation of nature

Bethany joined in too

Watching a flock of Crimson Rosellas - Rosie's skill with the binoculars is improving

Bethany loves to hug trees at the moment

Heath (Epacris) growing in the Mountain Bike Park

A flock of Sulphur crested Cockatoos feeding in the leaves

Blog review: Little Eco Footprints

I have discovered a delightful little blog called Little Eco Footprints. I love that its Australian, that its written by a Mama of two girls and most of all that this family is working towards a sustainable life full of learning and growing together.

After a read of several posts I've picked one that hits the spot for me at the moment - Learning to be a slow spender. As I've written in several posts recently (Little Treasures, Our $21 Challenge, part 1 and part 2), we are on a mission to reduce our spending and really bring more awareness to what we do with our money and what we bring into our home. Tricia writes in this post about the 'old-fashioned' concepts of saving for things first (rather than spending on credit), using lay-by to save up for purchases (rather than buying it now, probably on credit) and resisting the urge to buy what you see and to wait for something cheaper or free to turn up that will do the same job. Really its about patience and trust.

Now this Mama hasn't been known for her patience in the past (although in my defence I have improved a lot) and trust is something that I'm learning to focus on more and more. But despite this I like the ideas in Tricia's post and feel like its adding another piece to our budget puzzle.

Homemade

Homemade has been on the agenda in an increasing way lately for us. Our sourdough loaves continue (and continue to improve methinks), the homemade butter still delights us and our visitors and now we've added homemade pasta to our repertoire.

Ian's spaghetti creations

My oh my, I had never really eaten pasta before Ian's homemade spaghetti noodles. I mean, I'd eaten that stuff that comes in packets, dried from the supermarket of course. But fresh, soft, long pasta made from flour and Henny Penny's eggs. *Mmmmm*.

The colour, texture and taste was truly wonderful - and the girls had seconds. Best of all though? Ian put his love and effort proudly into their creation. Seriously. Awesome. Any man who makes me pasta from scratch gets big ticks in my book.

Ian hard at work

So all this homemade, real food has got this mama thinking - what's so special about homemade? I mean, its trendy (think recycling, upcycling, repurposing etc...) and all that, but that's never been something to drive this mama.

What is it that's driving me and us on this homemade journey?

Firstly its all about connectedness and being more down to earth. My post-natal depression came as a surprise, but looking back I can see the lesson in the challenge - I've been too far from the ground for too long. I've been unanchored and floating. I thought that was the freedom I wanted (and perhaps for a while it was). From trying to be too much to trying to be like others to trying to do everything, I was exhausted even before we brought Rosie into the world. Handmaking things for us brings me closer to who I am and what I have right now.

Homemade is also about valuing the traditions of old, about connecting (again) with our family's past - Nan and Mum both knit, sew and fix cloth. They cook from scratch. They grow fruit and veggies. Pa, who is no longer with us in person, was the first one to be in the garden, growing and sowing, weeding and feeding. This is our heritage and its one that I want to carry on for myself and our little family.

Homemade is also about valuing our individuality. With homemade food, clothes, toys etc... we move away from consumerism, mass marketing and the treadmill urging us to have the same as everyone else. We are all individuals and our homemade approach helps to value and develop our uniqueness.

Focussing on a handmade home also brings balance to this world of technological wizardry and ever-increasing computing speed. Yes, this mama has an iphone, an ipad and blog that she loves, but she doesn't like the feeling of trying to keep up with something new everyday (every hour?). That speed leaves me feeling even more unanchored and increases my anxiety. Our girls deserve a chance to choose what works for them too. In our house we remain relatively unplugged from this world. Making things by hand, knowing where they came from and how they were put together balances the great unknowns of our technology and the system we live in.

This is why I value homemade for our little family of four learners. Most of the time though I don't think about these reasons. I just know that it feels good. That I feel calm and in control when I use my hands as much as my head to make something for us.

Wishing you, dear readers, a lovely, lovely day.