Monday musings

It took an entire weekend, but I managed to re-set my attitude to "positive"! And in some serendipitous manner, the module I'm doing on my 'homeschooling' course, hammered home the important point that what makes homeschooling successful is:

...not your academic ability. It's not your children's academic ability. It's not the attitude of your children. It's actually your attitude... Stephanie Whalmsley

It seems pretty logical, and I apologise to seasoned home educators if my epiphanies seem infantile, but sometimes you gotta experience it to actually get it.

I think we're progressing towards unschooling (I'm currently engrossed in The Unschooling Handbook and  How Children Learn  (by John Holt), but it's going to take a while for me to get my confidence up. In the interim we're nibbling from the smorgasbord of homeschooling/education approaches. The journey sure is fun as we work it out!

So what we did we do all day?

Morning session started out with what we call 'circle time' - as much of a circle as you can make with 3 to 5 people! This morning there were songs about trees and autumn. The MOTH led an amazing session of Te Reo stories and songs that captivated the three children. The glint in his eye showed just how much he enjoyed himself too!

This is kind of the 'official' start session, but before breakfast the kids had been playing Kiwi, rockets and tracing writing lines and letters in a write and wipe book!

Pre-lunch Keilani and Akira got out the paints and painted up the salt dough creations of last week. Keilani finished up first and went to wash her crab she found on Sunday to start on her 'nature tray', collecting all sorts of materials from around the house. She may finish that tomorrow.

Lunch was soft boiled eggs. The shells were saved to grow watercress seeds we got at the Sustainable Home and Garden Show in the weekend. Lots of water, cotton wool and interest. Letters were written and flat travellers' documents, then off for a playdate where a sandpit became a volcano construction site!

I can see so much learning... can you?

Milestones and Miracles

Milestones

It's hard to imagine, but pretty much, what we did all day on Saturday related to teeth. After we go home form Saturday morning swimming, Keilani refused to go anywhere in case her very wiggly tooth fell out.

There were questions about what front teeth were for, and what back teeth were for. How many teeth will I lose? How long will this one take? I was instructed to URGENTLY make a special box for the tooth, because my 'tooth pillow' I wanted to work on would take too long. Akira decided to he'd had enough of the tooth talk and set about exercising his artistic talent.

Keilani was right in getting the box made. Halfway through cross-stitching words for the tooth pillow, the tooth fell out.What excitement! (The pillow pocket currently says 'Toot' - never mind, I'll finish it in time for the next tooth).  The tooth was carefully placed in her felt lined and covered matchbox and placed by the bed for the tooth fairy to visit.

In our house, each person has their own special tooth fairy who bestows a special gift. Keilani received a beautiful fairy charm to start a necklace that will grow with each tooth she loses. Just magic.

Miracles

Sunday and I've still not quite blown the grumpy cobwebs out. We head out to the Sustainable Home and Garden Show, then join another beautiful family who are starting out on the homeschool adventure like us, at the nearby rock pools. The local library had been showcasing some fantastic resources about rock pool critters (you can find these free on the NZ Marine Centre Website), so armed with these, we set off to investigate.



Keilani and Akira peering into the rock pools

Four big kids, a baby, a toddler and four happy grown-ups scouted around the pools for well over an hour. What a treat to see a crab shed it's shell and scuttle for safety beneath a rock. It's real miracle of nature to observe!

Investigating a second, but less fortunate crab we found in the pools

What a treat, to be invited back to a friend's house for dinner, to relax while the kids played (most of the time) contently together (learning the art of communication, turn taking, different temperaments...), that the Dads got on, and to have our decision to home educate reaffirmed by like minded people. It's a real miracle of life, that sometimes when you need some support, it's there.

That's what we did all weekend...loved it. Learnt HEAPS!

Where the Wild Things Are

Before anyone thinks that homeschooling looks easy and that I'm some kind of super mum, there are days when it's chaotic, messy and downright tiring. There are days when I think I'm sinking in household mess, work, noisy and erratic children and I wonder what the heck I am doing. This week has been rather full of them and I wondered if the 'honeymoon' is over.

Our Tiny Tot (TT about to turn 8 months) has taken to 3am grizzles and comfort feeding for HOURS. This seems to have coincided with a flurry of work on a short term contract, higher stress levels and Mummy absentee-ism for a few hours here and there over the past two weeks. Our regular rhythm as been completely thwarted. Until today I thought the kids were turning into 'Wild Things'. Major rumpuses have suddenly become the norm...and then I realise, it's me. I'm snappy, sound sensitive and intolerant. I'm tired.

Homeschooling is teaching me about the rhythms of life. I'm reminded that I need to look after me, get some time out and get to bed early so I can help 'hold' the days better with the kids. As I look over our weekly journal, I see that the days that flow better are the ones where there is a sense structure, 'outputs' (be that  a page in a work book, a letter for a friend or a painting) and connectedness. For now, this is what the children need. It's a juggle with work and baby, but with a few minor adjustments, reflection on the fun stuff, it is doable...

Reflecting on the fun stuff... yes, we are learning!

Flats on tour

We have been focusing on remembering to include and record things for our flat travellers from Paris. We haven't had any of our flats come home yet from overseas, but this week we received an email from Paris with photos of Akiras 'wekas' and Keilani's 'hairy caterpillar'. I'm also doing an exchange with the Mum of the family. One of the flats came to gym with Akira and they helped with the salt dough creations we made on Wednesday.

Salt Dough

Salt dough items have been created for the shop. We learnt about mixing and measuring, ,ratio (one cup salt to two cups of flour), changes when mixing things, and mass and volume (big fat things take longer to cook through), not to mention creativity and fine motor skills! Next step painting!

I also made a few alphabet letters. When they dried, Keilani began to manipulate and put them into alphabetical order. She then asked me to make the whole alphabet. Jennifer Hallissy talks about this in her book The Write Start (both her book and her blog are inspirational). 3D interaction with letters (and numbers) are a great way of reinforcing and engaging children on their literacy journey.

Mail Bag

Our children LOVE getting mail. They love checking the mail box, so if you are in the mood for exchanging letters, we have willing recipients. Akira has been particularly busy this year, sending pictures to unsuspecting friends here and in Australia and receiving lots of exciting mail. Today he recieved a three page letter from Aunty Jo sent (which is now carefully pasted in his scrap book). Yesterday, creative Aunty Jo's postcard jigsaw puzzle from Oz arrived for Keilani (Akira's arrived last week. They were sent the same day. We put the week long delay down to the Aussie post :-)) There is something magical about getting a tactile item in the letter box and it helps reinforce writing skills and appreciation for the time and energy it takes to write and post something.

Memories are made of this

Tuesday's rain fall resulted in buckets of water on our deck. Keilani and Akira went panning for gold on their summer holiday down to the Westcoast (South Island). It's obvious they enjoyed the experience as they spontaneously renacted panning for gold for a long time in our buckets of water on Wednesday.

And you know, living with the Wild Things isn't too bad... if  I don't roar my terrible roar too much ;-)

Not a Manic Monday

While I'm writing a post on Monday, we don't really have 'schooling' and 'non-schooling' days. Everyday is a learning day. It might not look like school learning (in fact it mostly doesn't), but there's always learning. It's probably helpful here to recap our weekend as well as an example...

Workbooks

Funnily enough, workbooks, that look like school, are quite a regular feature of the weekends, or when the kids are at a loose end.  Bearing in mind Keilani (age 6) had never written before now, I've been amazed at her enthusiasm for working her way through these. Our shelf includes some of the Scholastic Books, All I Know It books, and books from the New Zealand curriculum (Start Right), as well as fun 'activity' books.

Akira (age 4) is obsessed with dot-to-dots at the moment and his numeracy is growing everyday. So is his hand-eye co-ordination. Keilani loves the Start Right Homework books and the Social Studies books. She enjoys working on her numeracy when she feels like it.

There is no coercion or set time to work on any of these books (although I might suggest it when I'm trying to make lunch) I bought them in a fit of panic a few weeks into the homeschool journey, when I felt like I needed 'curriculum' and books to 'teach' the children from. I don't follow them in anyway, although they may coincide with a particular 'focus' of the week. I'm consistently in awe of how long the children like to work on them and the amount of interaction that takes place amongst us as they do. There are no ticks or crosses; they're seen as learning tools, not tests or measures, and as long as they're enjoying them, I'm happy for them to use them.

Most of Saturday was workbooking...

Creative Play

Then we built a shop together. This is something Akira saw in a 'making book' and we've been saving our weekly vegetable boxes to be able to put it together. This has provided ongoing fun for the children, from making their own money, working out prices and today announcing that "Monday is quiet day for making things to sell'! (Keilani)

Would you like to buy my blue painting? It's $4.00

Life's Lessons

Sunday we learnt about generosity, compassion and reaching for the stars. My hero MOTH (Man of the House) helped a very sick five year old girl realise a dream. Her dad, a friend of the MOTH's from school asked to see if the flying Kiwi could make her wish to fly like a fairy come true. Pulling a few strings from some generous people, who freely gave their time, equipment and space, our entire family went to watch the magic happen.

Watching a fairy fly... wishes can come true.

Since we had travelled down the coast to Wellington, the MOTH thought a visit to the Carter's Observatory would be worthwhile, with the added bonus of a guide and friend exploring the universe with us. Reach for the stars guys!

And Monday...

We were pretty tired out from Sunday, so it was a quiet morning, finishing off a set of flat travellers bound for Texas. Flat travellers are paper visitors sent to us from other homeschooling families in NZ and worldwide.They stay with us anywhere from a week to a few months and we journal about what we/they do. We hosted two from a Texas and NZ family in February. This month we have a family of 'flats' from France. With all the rain (hey the rain dancing paid off!) we decided it would be a good idea to start working on their journals.

Working on Flat Traveller Journals - that's my one you can see at the front. Lead by example right?

Keilani had a Kiwi themed playdate this afternoon, and before dinner the Kiwis were running about in the 'rockets and space ships' collecting things from the shop!

Days or moments?

It's not my aim to document every minute of every day of our homeschooling journey, perhaps one or two days a week, or maybe a few gem moments that happen. I'd love to learn what you'd like to know more about: days, moments or mad-mama thoughts? Comments always welcome!

Finding us on Friday

Fridays are our official 'outing day'. I say 'official' because we seem to be out and about most days, but Fridays, we have a wee excursion. Last week it was to the local 'dump shop' to find treasures (for the sand pit).

No two days ever really look the same in our house. Activity is determined by what time we went to bed, how people slept (or didn't sleep), the weather, the general temperament of the family, the activities of the day before...that's not to say that there isn't some rhythm to our days and week, but we are a bit of an eclectic mix of homeschooling styles and approaches, as we find our way and try out different things. Fridays are sort of 'unschooling' in nature...

This Friday we began with Akira's swim class and a lovely, long, library visit (where Akria enquired why it was called a library and the very helpful librarians talked about Latin words, Maori words and even sign language!) The library is viewed as a treasure trove of magic. Post lunch activities mostly focus on reading and looking through the 30+ books we've all managed to take out!

The library was followed by a perusal of the Kapiti Arts and Crafts Gallery. The Gallery is full of a huge variety of art and crafts in different mediums, from dolls beds to crochet knee blankets, oil painting to pottery. On Friday there were two lovely elderly women who engaged the children wonderfully. One let them paint a few strokes of paint on her canvas, the other explained what she was sketching and why, and let us take away her gum nuts she had collected so we can make gum nut dolls in the future. Just so charming. Add to that a playground for physical activity after and a glorious set of tall trees shedding leaves to collect for autumn collages, and it was a homeschooler's dream outing!

from: http://www.new-zealand-nz.net/new_zealand_kiwi_bird.html

We're usually home around 1pm, so that Tama can get a proper rest and I can have a cup of tea and a sit down for half an hour (okay, sometimes it's just 10 minutes). Keilani and Akira were engaged in a magnificent game of 'Kiwis', with Keilani explaining the need for more trees and the eradication of stoats and possums so that Kiwis will survive. Sometimes they include baby Tama in this, as a baby kiwi in the family burrow needing protecting. The Kiwi is 'topic of the moment' in our household, with everybook in the library on Kiwi being borrowed.They were so engrossed in the game, I managed the half hour sit down and got in some crocheting!

Inevitably, there was a squabble of some sort and the game ended... the remainder of the afternoon was a mixture of helping with chores (like the dishwasher and folding the laundry) so Mummy is free to read, read, read. We throw on one of the CDs: "Look at Me I'm Moving" and we wiggle and bop away - another hour gone...then it's off to dinner at Kiki's (the Man of the House's mother - the Maori word for grandmother is 'Kuia', but this has some how become 'Kiki', long before I joined the whanau (family)!).

So, that's what we did all day on Friday... But I kind of left out all the 'learning' stuff that happens inbetween as well -for example the discussions in the car with Keilani about drought and the need for rain. About a fortnight ago we finished reading 'Narni of the Desert' and last year, we came across a fantastic collection of Margaret Mahy stories in the local op shop that included one entitled 'Jabberwocky Rain', where a young boy recites this phrase and does a rain dance. Keilani made a connection between all these (unintentionally) related stories and the dying plants needing rain she's observed around her. She began her rain dancing on Thursday and uped the ante today!

There's a saying that for 'unschoolers, learning is as natural as breathing' (Mary Griffith) and a day like today makes it feel like it is so.

The journey begins

Before we began the homeschooling journey at the end of January 2013 (yes, it's only been a few months), I had no real concept of homeschool. I imagined  children seated neatly around a table, grappling studiously with a curriculum as Mum juggled baby, baking and education. Maybe some homeschooling families look like that. Ours certainly doesn't!

No homeschooling family and their activities look the same. They're all individual, different and unique, which is part of the attraction. It's as much a lifestyle, as it is an 'education choice'.

This blog is about our homeschool family. It's intended for family, friends and those in the global community who may glean something of interest, or wish to contribute, or who just want to know "what do you do all day?".

I'm kicking off with condensed responses to three FAQs... to be followed with the FAQ everyone's really thinking: 'what do you do all day?' soon. Enjoy.

WHY? WHY? WHY?

I'm always a little bit hesitant in responding to the question: "Why are you homeschooling". Not because I don't know, but because I'm worried I'll offend someone. In addition, at the moment I am completely enamoured with this way of life that I'm almost evangelical about it, which is probably also slightly annoying! I also don't want to offend anyone. Some other time I'll get into the nitty-gritties of the thought processes that contributed to our decision, but for now, it's really important to indicate that it's a choice that works for us. It's not that there's anything wrong with other systems available here in Aotearoa (NZ). It's that they weren't right for us. We are blessed enough to make a choice about learning for our children, and I'm blessed enough to be supported by a man who thinks I make sense! He's my hero!

The MOTH (Man of the House) and I were both publically educated in New Zealand, and I guess, by most standards, we've both turned out all right. He's a creative dance/theatre genius and I've an academic geek with a PhD. BUT we thought long and hard, and really believe that homeschool is the right choice for our family.

Aren't the  kids going to miss out on... (fill in a subject here)?

Anyone who knows me, anyone who knows the MOTH, knows we love our children and want what's best for them. There is no way we'd be homeschooling if we thought we were depriving them, or dumbing them down, or that their development was somehow going to be fundamentally thwarted by abstaining from school. Like all parents we want what's best for our kids, and for our family... and this, we're pretty certain, is it. By nature, I'm a researcher. I read, and continue to read loads. I've had to un-think some of my ways of thinking about education and school.

If you're following this blog, I hope that it will become apparent just how much our kids are not missing out on. Bear with us, this is a LONG journey. There will probably be some gaps, but hey, who doesn't have gaps in their supposed 'all round' education? And who decided what that 'all round education' would be anyway? (Just putting that out there!)

And what about SOCIALISATION?

I am grateful that every single homeschool book I've read talks about socialisation. If socialisation is learning how to socialise, integrate and communicate with others from all walks of life and age in our community, in a variety of social settings, then our children get plenty of socialisation. From visits to the library, going to the nature reserve, shopping, group gatherings, playdates, festival, dropping the car to the garage...our kids are socialising every day in varied and exciting ways!

MOTH and I are very social beings. It's hard to imagine us having 'unsocial' children!

The homeschool books also talk about the problematic notion that school is 'normal' socialisation (but that's another post).

So... what do you do all day?

I'll tell you tomorrow!