The joy of finding community

Over the last couple of months we have enjoyed the company of a handful of other homeschool families.  Though we may vary in our personal philosophies and backgrounds it is the desire to teach our children sustainable life skills that brings us together each week.  We have taken turns hosting work projects and crafts and built comfortable friendships along the way.  I am especially grateful for the shared wisdom and collaboration that is so generously passed around the adult circle.

Here is a report of what has kept us busy:

Potato digging.  I was told this was more fun than an Easter egg hunt.     

Fire roasting tomatoes.  The kids collected wood for the fire and assisted in washing and sorting the tomatoes.  

Dried apples.  We experimented with hanging them in the sun, by the fire and in a dehydrator.  

Compost building.  The kids helped with the garden clean up and learned about layering browns and greens.  The best part was dancing on it! 

 Seed paper.  The kids spent a couple weeks collecting seeds from their gardens and added it to a paper pulp mix.  After the pulp dried they buried them in flower beds and also gave some away as gifts.

Halloween play.  This was my favorite activity because it was completely inspired and directed by the children.  It was the vision and writing of an eleven year old girl and the enthusiasm of the other children that made this event happen.  The script, costumes, and stage were all assembled without the help of any adult.  They performed it in the tube of our barn on Halloween night and are already working on a spring sequel.

Meanwhile the older crowd spent most of the evening pressing apple cider.  With a nourishing pot luck and so much activity no one missed the candy and we all agreed it was one of our favorite Halloweens ever! 

Harvest lanterns.  Throughout the fall the kids have been collecting and pressing flowers and leaves.  We also gathered feathers and used beeswax and modge podge to stick them to the glass jars.

In celebration of Martinmas we had a warm potluck at the park and listened to the story of St. Martin.  When the sun had set we walked through the woods guided by our lanterns and quietly singing songs along the way.  Little George all stuffed in his snow suit insisted that we sing "lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way".  In contrast Maryanna was running yards ahead belting out the song "This little light of mine".  This was another evening to remember and hopefully repeat.     

  Everyone brings something unique to this group and what a blessing this has been to all involved.  I hope to report of many more great activities throughout this next season.

Homeschool moments

We have experimented with many different flavors of homeschool.   I have also struggled with maintaining an exact schedule.  The demands of spring time farming with all the baby animals and baby plants has kept me totally occupied.  So school time has happened right by my side as I work.  

I am still growing into my confidence in this method.

On a day when I edged near feelings of neglect and failure I simply asked each child individually what they had learned that day.  

The younger kids sung out their joy of dirt and the difference between sand, clay, aged manure and city compost.  We had experienced another chicken loss that day and after helping dig a small grave 2 feet deep they explained to me the different layers of earth they had observed.

The kids are now experts, they have been playing in piles of dirt for weeks.  They dug a giant hole that when filled with rain became irresistible.  My sister Mary who is a speech therapist calls this "engaging in primary experiences".    

Maryanna was quick in inventing "mud yoga" and Clara followed with "mud ballet".  Henry decided a mud ball fight would be fun.  When I explained that is was time smooth out the pile they cried and wondered if they could request a dump load for Christmas or their birthdays, just theirs, for playing and making mud.  They think it would make for a great birthday party.

    

Peter has taken on the role of watering.  He was thrilled when I brought home a soaker hose and was helpful in establishing a watering system for the gardens.  We are considering ways to collect rain water and even setting up olla irrigation. He is constantly asking me questions about the plants that I wish I could answer, I simply say "I don't know, we'll have to just wait and see for ourselves".  Besides caring for the garden Peter has been most occupied with knitting farm animals.   

Past summers these two older boys kept their faces buried in books but now it seems they are more occupied with projects.  They took to this chicken tractor that Paul built just like the boys in Tom Sawyer. 

In addition to painting James has been focused on authoring an original fantasy series.  So far he is 95 pages into it and any moment I accuse him of being idle he says, "I know it looks like I'm being lazy right now but I'm pondering the developments of the plot". 

Meanwhile William has kept his hands busy with whittling.  This he does as he sits quietly with the animals, always returning in to report some very subtle observation.  He has also taken to observing the sky and while I was tucking in the younger ones one evening I heard a frantic call out for me, "mom, come quick".  I ran expecting an emergency but instead shared the wonder of May 2013's full moon lunar eclipse.  Already they are gearing up for the super moon expected this weekend.

Knowing our interest in the sky, our neighbors arranged for us to visit with their son in law who is a professor of physics and astronomy.  During his visit to Michigan he treated us to a peak at the sun through a special telescope.  George said "it looks like a ping pong ball".  

Our field trips have been fewer than they use to be.  But when another neighbor told us about the bird sales hosted by Michigan Bird and Game Breeders Association we could not resist.  William is still begging for peacocks and Peter was disappointed not to find a runner duck drake but we were all happy about the new baby guineas.  We also saw an assortment of doves, pigeons, emus, geese, turkeys and ducks.  When we came to a table of peacock feather hair pieces and earrings I almost (like for two seconds) got tempted to bring home a peacock, good thing I didn't. 

We are also really enjoying the company of other homeschool families.  I am amused by their "hanging out", here I put them to work preparing a pot roast to feed 13 children.  What we learned from this experience was when you double the amount of food in the dutch oven you should almost double the time for cooking.  Their back up dinner was watermelon, popcorn, bacon and as many eggs as they could find.

They are also practicing a play that was written by one of the 11 year old girls.  I am pleased by the way they have invited the 3 year olds to participate.

No day is without entertainment.  Maryanna and Clara have formed what they call "the farm circus".  They do all sorts of tricks, including a few that involve "Tainta" the chicken.

  

And there are certainly times where I demand normal school work.  In an old picnic basket I have arranged a mobile classroom and bring it where ever we may just be sitting.  Most recently it has accompanied us to the dentist and horseback riding lessons.  In it there is a pack of addition and subtraction flash cards, first 100 word flash cards, draw and write journals, large print scriptures, recent copy of the Friend magazine, a few small dry erase boards and a teaching time clock.

So grateful for the experiences I am sharing with my children, I too am learning so much!

Making Cob with Kids

Over the last several weeks we have enjoyed getting to know some other homeschool families in the area.  We try to meet once a week rotating homes with the intention of offering project based learning based on sustainable farming methods. 

This morning we were invited to participate in building an earthen oven. The oven is really big, at least 3 feet in diameter and will be large enough for at least 8 loaves of bread.  I'm already dreaming one up for our family to build!
  

I don't know enough about cob building to offer much technical detail so I will simply share what we did.  Buckets of sand and clay where collected from around the property and dumped on a large tarps.  A pile of straw was chopped and sprinkled on top as was a few splashes of water.  

The volume was turned up on some good dancing music and the mixing and stomping began.

Once the right consistency was achieved bricks where kneaded and patted by hand then added to the base of the oven.

I am grateful for a little hands on (or foots on) experience and hope that we will be able to participate in further stages.  For those who are local the family is offering workshops for the next three Fridays and you may contact me for details.  And for those who interested but too far away this book was recommended as a must read on the subject. 

Homeschool News

What I love most about homeschool is the opportunity for spontaneous learning.  Paul was recently sent a rack of Dreamland ribs packed in dry ice.  Before we could even enjoy the ribs the kids begged to experiment with the dry ice, so we did.  James is the science guy around here so I let him lead the demonstration and discussion on frozen carbon dioxide, I even let him clean up the mess.  It is always fun to have an activity that engages everyone. 

On another afternoon I took a few kids to a gem show and they enjoyed soap stone carving demonstrations, talking to vendors about how stones are polished, painting their own fossil like creation a piece of slate and cracking open a geo.  They came home with their very own rock collection.

We also recently discovered diy.org and have been hooked to making all sorts of creative (and messy) projects.  I love the way it integrates right into our homeschool process, this site has supported my trust in child lead learning.  The children select a project, I provide the materials and they are responsible for both the completion and recording of it.  In the end they are rewarded with a virtual badge and are able to share and connect with other children working on similar projects.  

And the reality of our homeschool is we are still struggling in many areas.  The younger half are on the opposite extreme as the older boys, they are still struggling with basics.  I've tried drilling them but honestly that is no fun for any of us.  Instead I've created a visual reminder, just like our alphabet board, the number banner is in constant view and if they flip one or get one mixed up I simply tell them to check the banner and see if they are able to correct the mistake on their own.

My craft and sewing projects are limited to what is needed most and happy that I was able to squeeze the time in to cut out the freezer paper stencils for this project.  It is proving to be very helpful.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend my days surrounded by my children.  It is not easy, I'm not sure the responsibility of it meets my capacity, it stretches me, and perhaps that is the most valuable lesson for my children to learn, how to grow into their fullest selves.  The truth is, they will pick up on the things they see me holding, it doesn't require too much planning, it just happens.

Homeschool these days

It seems at the beginning of each new school year I tell myself, "I'm going to do it right this year", I order all the necessary supplies, create spread sheets to dictate our time and tasks and even create a complex system of rewards.  I am usually pleased how it works for the first week but have found that the rigidity of a schedule often compresses me, it creates more work than what is needed and has led to more frustration than discovery.

My vision of homeschool is one where we can inspire our children with the joy of life long learning, to take that joy and apply it in practical ways.  Specific mechanics (reading, writing, math) are introduced along side projects (and sometimes even distractions).  There is so much to do and so much already happening here on the farm that there is no shortage of opportunities to learn.  

After morning chores the younger children gather for what we call "fun school".  Basically it is an activity they can do on their own while I nurse the baby, check email, make phone calls or whatever else calls my attention.  Usually Peter directs this and being 8 years old he has the gift and ability of keeping things fresh for the younger crowd.  He has organized a stuffed animal zoo with tickets, animal plaques, a real kettle corn stand and even set up a gift shop with stickers.  In addition, they set up a dinosaur park in the sandbox, made maps to hidden pirate treasures, had bike races and played kick ball and hide and seek in the garden.  Here they are building lego castles on the front porch.  Some mornings are smoother than others and there is always a need for constant cleaning up with this age group.  

Meanwhile the time has come to outsource some schooling for the older boys.  I am not in a position to challenge them in the ways they are now ready to be challenged.  Last year James took a few online courses through Williamsburg academy and we were very pleased.  This year he begged to take almost a full load, he is taking biology, personal leadership, writing and Euclidean geometry, and it is challenging him.  Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it is not, but if all was well all the time we would be robbed of some of the most important lessons life has to offer.  

James is a natural scholar, his online classes are his "fun" and is more quick to do his chores when there is "more important" stuff like studying to do.  That said James does get tired of the screen and relishes the time where he can balance it out playing with his brothers outside.  

William is participating in the first year of Williamsburg intermediate academy.  This has been a good fit for him because it is project based.  The lectures are not nearly as long as the high school courses James is taking and there is much more flexibility with the assignments. He enjoys connecting with new friends online and has integrated much of our farm work into the weekly leadership projects.  When he's had too much time in front of the screen I'll find him laying under the beech tree or spending time with the animals.

We all have need to recuperate in nature.  Just last week I set the laundry, dishes and cooking aside and we dragged Paul away from his desk to play football in the hay field and hunt for firewood in the woods.  It was a perfect autumn day.

 

Our property stretches an acre into these woods but we rarely go back there.  It was a treat to be together in such a quiet secluded place.

Maryanna gasped when she discovered how black the soil was, she said it smelled so sweet and wished we could bring some to our garden.

She played in the stream and said being in nature makes her so happy that she can't help but sing, she wonders about living in nature, if it's magic, and if we'd be more loving to each other if we were always  surrounded by nature.



Maryanna took her shoes off because........"I like to feel the living dirt, it is so soft and I feel it go up my legs and into my heart".  It was in that moment that she became my teacher.  And becoming a student myself is a gift of homeschool.





 

The younger ones carried home a collection of treasures, in Clara's purse I found moss, sticks, feathers and a milkweed pod.  Henry brought his scissors to help Daddy cut some more hay.

The children do their best to keep a record of our homeschool days.



And in case you can't read it on my face, I am exhausted.  My life is overflowing, sometimes I wonder if I am the luckiest woman in the world and sometimes I wonder if I am completely out of my mind.  Day by day I'm taking it, homeschool, farming and the great responsibility I have in raising our family.  I am grateful for the opportunity to record a small portion of our days here because children grow as quickly as seasons change.