Last Sunday we went to a Hare Krishna farm just under an hour away, to their Sunday night, free for all, vegetarian feast. We all enjoyed the exposure to a different culture and the kids enjoyed the food more than I thought they would. They all asked if we could go back next week! No one approached us to convert us but I kept asking questions with some of the ladies I met there and they were very nice, definitely not pushy.
Summer and AJ started swimming lessons this week. Summer just loved it...AJ was not impressed as they would not let him do handstands! But he will try it again. He likes the idea of getting stronger. Nicholas is not quite 3 but he's very solid and strong. When they're wrestling, Nicholas can hold his own quite well. AJ also had a gymnastics trial and loved it. We're trying to get in with a homeschooling gymnastics class. Summer and AJ are also starting a homeschoolers drama class and Summer is doing a singing class. They are both going to look at a kung-fu class too.
We've just found out about a homeschool group that sounds like it could be good for us too. It's a bit closer than the other group we've been going to, and will continue to go to.
So we're getting a lot more active here and it's good for now. We'll see how it all goes and if it's too much we'll back off in some areas.
The park is starting to fill up with snowbirds from the south. We're getting more retired folk in but more kids come in on the weekends with their families. I'm starting to think about where we'll go after here. With all of the new classes and groups, we'll be staying in the area for a while yet.
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Homeschooling Interview
This is part of an interview posted on one of the homeschooling groups I'm in. Andrew Denton is a comedian / talk show host on the abc (like the pbs). Michael Leunig is a political cartoonist / artist / author. His website is www.leunig.com.au. The full interview can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1632918.htm This is the part that is relevant to homeschooling...I love the way he explains that the horse is the teacher, or the paddock is the teacher (etc) and also the last paragraph by Michael as well...
ANDREW DENTON: Your children, Felix and Minna, who are, I think, 13 and 11, something like that?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Yep.
ANDREW DENTON: You mentioned that you're home schooling them, what do you teach them?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Well, they learn, you see, children want to learn. I think healthy children just, you can't stop them learning and so you've got to provide, it's a matter of provision. You create an environment where they are keen and eager to, and curious, and so, for instance, my daughter, Minna, loves her horses. She has a couple of horses and the horse is the teacher at that point. When they're walking across the paddock, paddock is the teacher, the snake that crawls in front of them is the teacher. When they're helping fix a fence or fix the pump, that is the teacher. Children's eyes go to things, they sparkle when they see something, so you say, "OK, we'll go there. We follow that". You follow things.
ANDREW DENTON: Do you worry that you won't be able to give them a broad enough education beyond your and Helga's view of the world?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Well, you couldn't control the situation to that extent. The world just comes in on top of you. It creeps under the door. It falls out of the sky. It's all around. I mean, if you love your children you're not wanting to see them become ignorant and narrow and if they want to go to school, fine, you know. I they want to, if there comes that time, they can go.
ANDREW DENTON: The other thing about school that is provided, of course, is community, that sense of learning to work with your peers, to build friendships, all of that.
MICHAEL LEUNIG: And to bully each other to death and to be sort of frog-marched around on the playground.
ANDREW DENTON: All those things, too, but...
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Yes, all those things. To submit and to be controlled.. . Bullying doesn't necessarily. .. And to be confused out of your head by all these mad things they teach them, crazy.
ANDREW DENTON: Aren't these things, though, that as your children move into a broader world as they get older, they're going to have to find a way to deal with them because they're, you can't close them off.
MICHAEL LEUNIG: No, you're opening them up. No, you can't close off these bad things. Absolutely, and that's why I'm home educating them so that at the centre they're strong because it's a big, wild world out there. See people would caricature this as a narrow, parochial view. I see it as the opposite. I think it's trusting that the child has a soul that wants to open up to all the world. Make it strong, let the child be strong at the beginning. Let the soul centre be happy and solid and strong and it can cope with whatever comes. Creativity is the way through and I think so much creativity is crushed in education.
ANDREW DENTON: Your children, Felix and Minna, who are, I think, 13 and 11, something like that?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Yep.
ANDREW DENTON: You mentioned that you're home schooling them, what do you teach them?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Well, they learn, you see, children want to learn. I think healthy children just, you can't stop them learning and so you've got to provide, it's a matter of provision. You create an environment where they are keen and eager to, and curious, and so, for instance, my daughter, Minna, loves her horses. She has a couple of horses and the horse is the teacher at that point. When they're walking across the paddock, paddock is the teacher, the snake that crawls in front of them is the teacher. When they're helping fix a fence or fix the pump, that is the teacher. Children's eyes go to things, they sparkle when they see something, so you say, "OK, we'll go there. We follow that". You follow things.
ANDREW DENTON: Do you worry that you won't be able to give them a broad enough education beyond your and Helga's view of the world?
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Well, you couldn't control the situation to that extent. The world just comes in on top of you. It creeps under the door. It falls out of the sky. It's all around. I mean, if you love your children you're not wanting to see them become ignorant and narrow and if they want to go to school, fine, you know. I they want to, if there comes that time, they can go.
ANDREW DENTON: The other thing about school that is provided, of course, is community, that sense of learning to work with your peers, to build friendships, all of that.
MICHAEL LEUNIG: And to bully each other to death and to be sort of frog-marched around on the playground.
ANDREW DENTON: All those things, too, but...
MICHAEL LEUNIG: Yes, all those things. To submit and to be controlled.. . Bullying doesn't necessarily. .. And to be confused out of your head by all these mad things they teach them, crazy.
ANDREW DENTON: Aren't these things, though, that as your children move into a broader world as they get older, they're going to have to find a way to deal with them because they're, you can't close them off.
MICHAEL LEUNIG: No, you're opening them up. No, you can't close off these bad things. Absolutely, and that's why I'm home educating them so that at the centre they're strong because it's a big, wild world out there. See people would caricature this as a narrow, parochial view. I see it as the opposite. I think it's trusting that the child has a soul that wants to open up to all the world. Make it strong, let the child be strong at the beginning. Let the soul centre be happy and solid and strong and it can cope with whatever comes. Creativity is the way through and I think so much creativity is crushed in education.
Friday, February 01, 2008
moving decision & glow-worms
I've spent a lot of time recently looking in the papers or online for a rental house. Then driving around actually looking at them or just looking for a general area we'd like to be.
Being near the city, the prices are pretty high and the competition is fierce. Most places get at least a dozen families looking at them. At least half of those put in applications and of course the family where both parents are working get the place.
I've been considering all of that plus the fact that we would have to buy all the things you need for a house - lounge suite, dining table, beds, fridge, washing machine etc. Long-term, fully furnished places are very rare. I realised that I just did not want to do that. We looked at other caravan parks and realised that we were already staying in the nicest one. We then looked at one of short term furnished cabins here in the park. Very nice, expensive, but not out of the question. We walked in and saw the big fridge, nice furnishings, proper bathroom, and one big box that it was all in. Now the fridge was the best part as we recently discovered some fabulous markets just up the road from where we are. Oh my golly - fruit and veg that smell soooo good and taste wonderful. Back to the cabin. We looked at it when it was raining so it did look tempting at first to have some extra space. But we couldn't get past the boxed in feeling so we decided to pass. We surrendered to our nomadic life and the freedom it gives us. We decided to make this life a little bit nicer so we moved to a new site that has it's own private bathroom. No more emptying the porta-loo, no more walking 5 minutes to have a shower. It's amazing how much we appreciate these little niceties. Our own flushing toilet and hot shower! woo hoo!!
This new site looks out over a beautiful green grassy area and gets a beautiful breeze. At this stage, we plan on staying here for about 6 weeks. That gives us time to do a lot of the city things, get our new camper sorted out and try out some of the different homeschooling groups.
We met with one hs group yesterday - a 'natural learners' group. Big group, it had a lot of teenagers in it and not so many younger kids. The group has been going for 15 years - so I guess it started when the current teens were tots. We all met at some caves about an hour away where there is a glow-worm exhibition. We learned a lot about glow-worms, like the fact that the females shine the brightest. Nicholas wasn't so sure about being in the very dark cave so we pretended the lights were stars and it was night time. The thing my kids remember most about the day was this little poem:
Being near the city, the prices are pretty high and the competition is fierce. Most places get at least a dozen families looking at them. At least half of those put in applications and of course the family where both parents are working get the place.
I've been considering all of that plus the fact that we would have to buy all the things you need for a house - lounge suite, dining table, beds, fridge, washing machine etc. Long-term, fully furnished places are very rare. I realised that I just did not want to do that. We looked at other caravan parks and realised that we were already staying in the nicest one. We then looked at one of short term furnished cabins here in the park. Very nice, expensive, but not out of the question. We walked in and saw the big fridge, nice furnishings, proper bathroom, and one big box that it was all in. Now the fridge was the best part as we recently discovered some fabulous markets just up the road from where we are. Oh my golly - fruit and veg that smell soooo good and taste wonderful. Back to the cabin. We looked at it when it was raining so it did look tempting at first to have some extra space. But we couldn't get past the boxed in feeling so we decided to pass. We surrendered to our nomadic life and the freedom it gives us. We decided to make this life a little bit nicer so we moved to a new site that has it's own private bathroom. No more emptying the porta-loo, no more walking 5 minutes to have a shower. It's amazing how much we appreciate these little niceties. Our own flushing toilet and hot shower! woo hoo!!
This new site looks out over a beautiful green grassy area and gets a beautiful breeze. At this stage, we plan on staying here for about 6 weeks. That gives us time to do a lot of the city things, get our new camper sorted out and try out some of the different homeschooling groups.
We met with one hs group yesterday - a 'natural learners' group. Big group, it had a lot of teenagers in it and not so many younger kids. The group has been going for 15 years - so I guess it started when the current teens were tots. We all met at some caves about an hour away where there is a glow-worm exhibition. We learned a lot about glow-worms, like the fact that the females shine the brightest. Nicholas wasn't so sure about being in the very dark cave so we pretended the lights were stars and it was night time. The thing my kids remember most about the day was this little poem:
I wish I was a glow-worm
a glow-worm's never glum
'cos how can you be grumpy
when the sun shines out your bum!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Road trip to Grandmas
We just got back from a little trip to my Mums place. Before we left, I was a bit nervous about leaving. It was a security concern. We have insurance on it all, but it only covers things in the actual caravan, it won't cover anything left in the annexe. So I put a lot of our stuff in the caravan before we left. I was also concerned about rain & strong winds while we were away so I just tightened everything up and asked some friends here to keep an eye on the place while we were gone. Then I put a Reiki protection circle around the entire place before we left and let go of any concerns. I took with me the most valuable things we have - our children. Everything else can be replaced.
I was curious how it would be staying in a house again. It felt a bit strange at first but I did come to enjoy the convenience of having running water, a dishwasher, space to spread our stuff out, and a bath. I also felt a bit confined and really missed just living outdoors, feeling closer to nature and each other.
While we were there, we visited with my 91 yr old grandmother. She started telling me that the kids miss their school. I said "no they don't". I told her some of the ways that our children are getting a real life education and added in "they certainly aren't missing out on the social aspect". A lot of people seem concerned that homeschooled kids miss out on the social side of school. Ha! I love that my children have friends of all ages, instead of just that of their own age group. Living this way, they are meeting people from all over the world and playing with children who may not speak the same language they do. They get more time to play freely instead of a limited 30 minutes twice a day, 5 days a week. They learn from life. On the drive down to my Mums, Sami kept asking me "give me a sum". We did that for quite a while as the boys slept. I couldn't hold her back - she, as is the case with all children - has such a strong urge to learn and I love that we honour that urge when it is present. When she's begging to learn about math (or anything else) is when she's going to retain that knowledge. When she's being force-fed, it's just going to spew out again. Also on the way to Mums, Sami read lots of the road signs and billboards and we discussed what some of the advertising was about. She had a compass and kept an eye on the direction we were going and noticed how sometimes you have to go west (or east or even north) to get to your destination which was actually south. My Grandmother - who is very spirited and set in her opinions - was not convinced and ended with "I'm just concerned about their schooling". I replied with "thank you" and a smile and let it go.
AJ had been feeling a bit off for a few days with a bit of a cough. He rested most of the way, played his DS, helped Nicholas with snacks and water, did some finger-knitting of a black and orange garland for Halloween, played I-spy, looked at books, told us stories and pointed out the different farm animals to Nicholas.
Nicholas was a great traveller. He told me when he needed to go to the bathroom and happily got back into his seat each time. The trip took 4 hours there with having to stop 3 times and getting held up at roadworks. On the way back, it took 3 hours and a few minutes with only 2 stops and less roadworks.
I enjoyed the journey so much. I almost wanted to keep driving as it was such a great time of feeling and being close to my kids and enjoying the moment and not being concerned with the day to day details of life. Well, I kind of live life that way anyway. I must remember to appreciate it more.
I was curious how it would be staying in a house again. It felt a bit strange at first but I did come to enjoy the convenience of having running water, a dishwasher, space to spread our stuff out, and a bath. I also felt a bit confined and really missed just living outdoors, feeling closer to nature and each other.
While we were there, we visited with my 91 yr old grandmother. She started telling me that the kids miss their school. I said "no they don't". I told her some of the ways that our children are getting a real life education and added in "they certainly aren't missing out on the social aspect". A lot of people seem concerned that homeschooled kids miss out on the social side of school. Ha! I love that my children have friends of all ages, instead of just that of their own age group. Living this way, they are meeting people from all over the world and playing with children who may not speak the same language they do. They get more time to play freely instead of a limited 30 minutes twice a day, 5 days a week. They learn from life. On the drive down to my Mums, Sami kept asking me "give me a sum". We did that for quite a while as the boys slept. I couldn't hold her back - she, as is the case with all children - has such a strong urge to learn and I love that we honour that urge when it is present. When she's begging to learn about math (or anything else) is when she's going to retain that knowledge. When she's being force-fed, it's just going to spew out again. Also on the way to Mums, Sami read lots of the road signs and billboards and we discussed what some of the advertising was about. She had a compass and kept an eye on the direction we were going and noticed how sometimes you have to go west (or east or even north) to get to your destination which was actually south. My Grandmother - who is very spirited and set in her opinions - was not convinced and ended with "I'm just concerned about their schooling". I replied with "thank you" and a smile and let it go.
AJ had been feeling a bit off for a few days with a bit of a cough. He rested most of the way, played his DS, helped Nicholas with snacks and water, did some finger-knitting of a black and orange garland for Halloween, played I-spy, looked at books, told us stories and pointed out the different farm animals to Nicholas.
Nicholas was a great traveller. He told me when he needed to go to the bathroom and happily got back into his seat each time. The trip took 4 hours there with having to stop 3 times and getting held up at roadworks. On the way back, it took 3 hours and a few minutes with only 2 stops and less roadworks.
I enjoyed the journey so much. I almost wanted to keep driving as it was such a great time of feeling and being close to my kids and enjoying the moment and not being concerned with the day to day details of life. Well, I kind of live life that way anyway. I must remember to appreciate it more.
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