Serendipity

Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it. (wikipedia)

Homeschooling has somehow made me much more open to serendipitous events. Perhaps it's because I spend time looking for meaning and reassurances now, particularly when there are moments in the day where I start to question what I'm doing. In the midst of the struggle to juggle paid work and 'everything else', between yo-yoing from frenetic haus frau to bohemian-coolchick-homeschooling-mum (in my head), I do, like most homeschooling parents, have the occasional 'spaz out'.

We've had a bit of a 'feral' week. No goals, plans or predetermined outputs. It's ok for a bit, then I start to spaz out. I start to worry about all the things I think we (or I) should be doing, mentally going through the lists of learning outcomes and stuff we should have achieved and fretting that we haven't. And then serendipity finds me. Three times today.

Serendipity one

Eight month old Tama has suddenly become a cling-on. For every minute he spends commando crawling around, he spends at least two attached, or demanding to be attached, to me. Whilst cuddling him, I heard the two big kids counting to 150 together as they emptied the dishwasher. Numeracy and co-operation covered.

Serendipity two

Before we began homeschooling this year, Keilani could recognise the letters in her name. Other letters were a mystery. There's been very little direct teaching of letters (I tried and got as far as about 'c'), but resources have been laid about and made over the past few weeks (like the salt dough). I found this on her blackboard, completed sometime this week.  :-) Literacy ticked off.

Serendipity three

A lot of our days are spent reading - reading together, looking at books, me reading, Keilani spelling out words to read, Akira 'reading' his train books. I 'll blog about the books we're reading, but I'll focus on just two today, the serendipitous ones (both available in the Kapiti Library):

Why is the Sky Blue by Sally Grindley and illustrated by Susan Varley tells the tale of an old wise donkey 'teaching' a young bunny who is so excited to learn everything that he goes off on tangents. Old Donkey expects young bunny to sit still and listen. In the end, it's not just the bunny who learns!

The Wild Child by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Lorna Freytag. A beautiful book with a real hidden message for a homeschooling mum... 

Why am I hiding and why must I run?

The grown-ups will catch me and ruin my fun.

They caught the wild children and put them in zoos

They made them do sums and wear sensible shoes...

They took all their wisdom and wildness away

That's why there are none in the forests today.

My wild children can count to 150, do the alphabet and revel in the joy of magical stories. The wild Mama needs to learn to focus on what is being done, not what isn't. Homeschooling is as much attitude as aptitude!

May serendipity surround you today ;-)

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 ;-)