the little travelers * travel blog

Lessons from 5th grade Botany

This morning while going over a botany lesson with my daughter I was struck by the bit about every flower needing its roots to be deep in the earth. The nutrients are derived from the dark, damp, minerals in the soil. The lesson went on to say that in order for a flower to bloom, the roots must be held by Mother Earth, called upwards by Father Sun and fed by water and air. All of those elements must be present in order for the flower to bloom.

So, it struck me that in our current culture we seem rather obsessed with the blooming flower! We seem to focus all of our attention of the beautiful blossom, forgetting that our roots must be buried deep in the darkness in order for that blossom to manifest. I've noticed of late, that particularly with the event of The Secret, more an more people seem afraid to embrace this 'dark side' aspect of ourselves. We seem to forget that going deep into ourselves and uncovering our demons/fears/doubts can actually become compost for that flower. Nowadays we can go to our local Home Depot and just buy a big sack of Miracle Grow 'for longer lasting blooms!' But what is now becoming painfully apparent, is that by artificially boosting the blooms, we are paying the price on a global level. Pouring a bunch of chemicals onto our soil does not feed or nurture our soil. So, yes we get brighter, longer lasting blooms and depleted soil for the next generation.

Wow! Think about this as mamas. If we don't take the time to 'compost' and break down those bits that we don't use or see as waste product- the peels, dead blossoms, and a good compost has um... crap in it! Bunny poop and chicken poop are excellent ingredients for compost. In our own lives, however, we seem to not want to deal with any crap anymore. Each time crap surfaces, everyone is rushing to 'get positive' or you'll attract more negative. Well, that is like saying we should leave the poop out of the compost when that is the most nutrient rich aspect of it! Just like our lives. When we are having 'crap' surface it gives us opportunity to go deep, dig deeper, find more compassion and love for ourselves and others and develop deep, healthy roots. A mother who can say to her child in an honest way, "I just feel like crap today so I'm going to be kind to myself and take some time for myself to see what's going on so I can get feeling better asap." is far more valuable to a child than one who says, "I'm feeling great!" with her words but is a mess internally and just can't wait until afternoon to get to that glass of wine while she's cooking dinner. That is absolutely feeding the blossom while depleting the soil. The point of the crap is to use it in a constructive manner. When we gather bunny or chicken poop for our compost we don't hang on to it and roll around in it. We add it to the compost! We use it. But yes, of course it stinks while we're collecting it. And there are usually little annoying flies involved and we may occasionally step in a pile of it or even slip and fall into it. But we wouldn't dream of staying there! We simply get up, wash off and put it into the compost anyway.

This constant 'feel good' obsession is like digging a hole next to a flower and shining light on the roots because everything should always be sunny! The plant will die and we will never see a blossom if we did that. So, are some of us trying to do that to ourselves? Are we shining a light on our roots in an attempt to be 'all light all the time?' It is the marriage of light and darkness, ying and yang, hot and cold- many plants will not bear fruit unless the winter is cold and long enough- that brings forth the blossom and then the fruit. Our society's current obsession with plastic surgery is very flower oriented. Look how beautiful I am! When the reality is that most of these women are feeling very depleted inside. Their roots are not fed. The soil has no minerals left in it so they try to fix the flower into an every-blooming blossom.

The botany lesson also mentioned that the earth is most active in winter. That also is opposite of what most of us see. It said the summer was when the earth was warm and lazy- all it has to do is bring water from the soil to the plant, but in winter it must hold the seed and imbue it with creation. Wow! When we are still and in our darker places, we may be 'busier' than ever in nurturing our creations. We've become such an action oriented society that unless we're out taking action we are thought to be lazy and not doing anything. This could actually be the opposite of the truth. We're just busy showing off our flowers. But in the stillness we may be imbuing our seeds with life force turning something from a dry little speck into the potential that will someday become a mighty oak, or a rose with an incredible scent or even a cactus full of thorns that can go months without a drop of water and only blooms for a single day every 7 years. We're all so different, yet society seems to judge everyone solely on the blooming power. hm... interesting, isn't it?

east vs. west

We just went to see Ponyo today and it was soo sweet.  It's Miyazaki's newest film, which is based on Hans Christian Anderson's, The Little Mermaid.   It couldn't have been farther from Disney's version, which pretty much sums up why I liked it.  It is really the reason I love to read Eastern fairy and folk tales to the girls and not just Western ones like Grimm's.  I think in most cases it comes down to a difference in world view, which basically boils down to religious differences.  In this case we're looking at the difference between a Christian version vs. a Buddhist version of this story, The Little Mermaid.  

First, let's just compare the trailers:  You'll notice Disney bought this and put the voices on it as well as enhanced the colors to look more "American."  The Japanese version looks more like a watercolor painting.  However, Disney did not make the film.  Their choice of voice over and music differs considerably though from the original.  A real child sings the main song in a very authentic way and the voices are softer and simpler.

 

And The Little Mermaid:  This is a Disney production from start to finish.  Although this is when Disney began using mostly Japanese animators and took on more of a manga look to it that has lasted, the story and production are American Disney.

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Without giving too much away if you haven't seen Ponyo yet, here's the part I enjoy about Eastern tales.  In both stories the spell needed to be broken by the kiss of true love.  Yet in the Ponyo version it was a non-sexual love- an unconditional love in the friendship sense.  The characters were both 5 years old.  In the Disney version Ariel is highly sexualized and the love is turned into a romantic love.  So, what does this have to do with Buddhism and Christianity???   Well, not much.  I mean that part of the story, anyway.  But I find it irritating and inappropriate for young children.

But here's the part where I really appreciate the Eastern versions.  In Ponyo, both the mother (feminine) and her father (masculine) work together in supporting the boy to love Ponyo unconditionally.  It comes down to one simple decision.  That's it.  There is no drama, fight, killing another to overcome 'evil' and set things straight.  He just has to love unconditionally.

In stark contrast to Disney's version (really all Disney films and most Grimm's tales have this same theme), where 'good' conquers 'evil.'  Let's think about this.  Good must conquer evil for good to win.  Ariel's father had to kill the sea witch.  How many times have we seen this one go down in history in the name of Christianity.  Um, there were the witch trials, taking all power within the church away from women, turning the holy trinity, that many historians say were 3 Goddesses originally,  into The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.  Ok, a man, a man and an androgynous being.  The killing of the feminine of course represents killing off of intuition and connection with others and turning it into a roll of 'obeying the Father.'  Ariel disobeyed her father, then payed a price, repented and the Father conquered evil for her in the end sending the sea witch into eternal hell and damnation.  Fine, if that suits your world view.

Ponyo's version goes something like this:  Ponyo disobeys her father and sneaks up to the earth, he finds her and she tells him she wants to be human.  He goes to the Sea Queen and together the two confront the little boy and ask him if he can truly love her unconditionally for who she is- half human/ half fish and he says yes.  All who witness it are born a new and are healed of their ailments (old ladies no longer need wheel chairs, etc.)  

So, it really comes down to what your own world view is and then what you choose to expose your children to.  Now, I'm not saying that the true origins of Christianity are based in violence.  I don't think they were.  Nor do I think what most people consider to be Christianity today has much to do with the teachings of Christ.  But the Christianity that many currently subscribe to is filled with quite a bit of violent ideas and images that play out in many children's stories and I don't think many people give much thought to it at all.  

Another very good example is the difference between Grimm's, Mother Holle and the Indonesian folk tale called The Two Sisters, found in Balinese Children's Stories.  The stories are nearly identical except the 'old woman' in the Grimm's is a witch and in the Eastern version she's a 'wise old woman.'  In Grimm's it ends with one sister covered in black ash for the rest of her days (eternal damnation in hell).  In The Two Sisters, the one sister is loved back to wholeness and returns to the family (reincarnation, forgiveness and redemption).  

The thing I appreciate most about the Eastern tales is that it gives children guidance into the power of love and forgiveness- that love itself can heal all things.  It doesn't leave you at the mercy of some big all- powerful, judgmental MAN in the sky wondering if he's going to grant you forgiveness or not.  The responsibility lies in each individual and comes down to a simple choice:  Will I choose to love and heal the situation, or not?  As the father in Ponyo said, "All of humanity depends upon it."  I couldn't agree with him more.

change, change and more change...

So our house has been really full of change lately.  The girls decided they wanted to go back to school this year.  "We want to have friends and birthday parties and not travel."  This is how my life with my kids works.  My first child was a planned home birth that was born with a medical condition requiring surgery.  She was premie and I spent the first 3 weeks of her life leaning over a plastic bucket with her hooked up to wires. 

Not what I had planned.

I of course had many beautiful slings waiting to be used that waited and waited since she would lose her entire feeding if moved even slightly for 20 minutes following her feeding and her feeding schedule as a premie was every 20 minutes. 

Not what I planned.

I planned to unschool they choose Waldorf.  Then we would hit the road and they'd be out of school again.  The last few years they've been mostly out of school and decided this year that they wanted to go back and not travel.  I just think of the average public school kid that hates school choosing to go there rather than travel and not go to school!  But that's how my kids are.  It's like no matter how alternative, open-minded and cool I think my options are - they are still my options and not theirs.  So they are choosing otherwise.  Since they now spend so much time at school (yes, a Waldorf school) I decided I might as well too, so have taken up teaching Japanese to the high school students.  

It's a fun change and an adventure unto itself.  The last time I was teaching it was to the preschool lot so it's a fun change to be with kids that can use razor blades and don't bite or pull each others' hair.  

Today they each made their own hanko or 'name chop' out of an eraser.  It's a super easy method that produces nice results.  Here's  mine:  It's a hiragana 'a' - sounds like "ah)  for the first sound in my name.  kind of like an initial. 

Just draw whatever you're wanting on the stamp onto a piece of paper in ink or pencil and then quickly put the eraser onto it.  It will pick up a faint line and then carve it out with an exacto knife, or in this case the class all used straight razor blades because we didn't have exactos.  

Here's another student's:  This is a katakana "ke"

And if you're really inspired to do this you MUST first check out this tutorial at Wisdom of the Moon!!  She is such an insanely talented artist!  It is this same basic method but using a photo of her daughter that turned out amazing.  I'm sooo impressed and don't know if I dare to attempt a face so for now I'm sticking to letters.  I was thinking the supplies to make the more detailed one (it uses some sort of moldable carving medium) would make an excellent birthday gift for kids in the middle years and up.  Now that we're all back in school we're back into total birthday party mode.  It seems like every weekend we've got something...

waldorf in the home conference

The Waldorf in the Home Conference is coming soon!  It's April 25-26 in Sacramento, California.  I meant to post this a long time ago but forgot.  I cannot recommend this conference highly enough.  I've been quite a few times and each time have been more than delighted with the speakers and the information I gained.  If anyone out there homeschools with a bit of Waldorf and want a little more in depth info- these conferences will pay off many times over in the future years with your children.  I still dig out things from a file of mine from a conference I took over 3 years ago.  Whether it be learning how to do a wet on wet water color painting like this:

    

handwork, block crayon coloring, hands on math through the grades, pedagogy, or just meeting other great Waldorf homeschoolers- these are a treat.  You will find yourself renewed, refreshed TOTALLY inspired.  Really, I LOVE these!  Rahima Baldwin, who of course wrote the ol' tried and true standby, You Are Your Child's First Teacher puts on an excellent event. 

   

Not to mention that often vendors like Sarah's Silks are often there with highly discounted goods.  A few years ago I bought my entire gift stash for the year at less than 50% of retail.  

Also, this year Shea Darian will be at the conference.  If you've never had the opportunity to see Shea in person I really recommend it.  Sanctuaries of Childhood is the book I usually give as a shower gift to new moms.  In it is the nighttime verse and meal time verse that I used with my own children and found that book to make such a huge contribution to my parenting and to our family that have really impacted the way we interact with each other.  And Seven Times the Sun  was a very well-used book both with my own children and with my preschoolers. 

I had the great fortune to host Shea in our home a few years ago when she was in town for a conference and I will say she is one of the few authors I've met where I was not disappointed by them in person.  She's the real deal.  And she even had the flu while with us- and was still great!  How many of us can say that?  She is what she portrays herself to be.  I learn so much from this woman just by listening to her for a few short minutes.  When I think about all the people out there and all the books I've read she really stands our from the rest.  It is encounters with real people who speak from real experience with their own children that are the ones who have given me the most insight to this things called parenting.  Her own children are now grown and out of the house - so she speaks from actual experience- not just theory.  I love everything about her.

The two authors of Parenting with Spirit will also be there.  I just finished reading this book and truly loved it!  There were so many great things about it.  It is based on Waldorf methods and focuses primarily on discipline and the practical side or what to do and say.  It is simple and eloquent.  Spending much of my last few years as a Waldorf-inspired preschool teacher had me quite versed in the young years and I am a huge advocate of parenting in Waldorf methods.  But now my youngest is 7 so we are firmly  entrenched in the middle years, which run from 7 to 14.  We are out of the "hands" phase and into the "heart" phase of "Hands, Heart, Head" education.  I was not so clear on how to engage the 'feeling world' of the child when addressing them.  I was just kinda confused on the whole thing.  The teen years of addressing the intellect I get- finally when we can ask, "What do you think about that?"  I can't wait!  Oh, wait- yes, I can.  But these middle years were a bit of a mystery to me and this book really helped.    I should also mention that the book goes into quite a bit of detail on the parent's process in each of these stages.  It is not a parenting book on how to get your kid to do what you want, but rather how to become the person your child would want to be with and emulate.  Big difference!  If I were state-side on April 25-6 I would definitely be attending this conference and attending their session!  The book covers all three stages, early, middle and teen- so might as well buy it when they're young because it'll get lots of use.

The best part of attending sessions in person is asking questions!  Really specific questions.  I like to ask the seemingly most mundane questions to a master Waldorf teacher like, "Based on your experience what is the ideal breakfast?"  You wouldn't believe the answers that come out of these teacher's mouths!  It usually involves fermenting something, growing something and blessing something.  But in any case I have learned SOOO much at these things. 

Honestly though, when I went to my first one when the little sister was only months old and I was still newish to Waldorf- it kind of freaked me out.  I really didn't understand most of what was said to me but I kept coming back.  Eventually I learned what the heck a phlegmatic temperament was, what Anthroposophy meant and what Nourishing Traditions entailed.  I learned to needle felt- my first bear was a nightmare- not only was he lumpy and lame- I didn't get why anyone would want to make one of these things.  About 3 years later at a Waldorf school May festival I saw a needle felted angel and spring fairy and nearly fell over from its beauty.  I sat there with a friend trying to figure out what it was made out of when I suddenly declared, "Oh, I know how to make these."  She looked at me stunned, "You do?"  And I never stopped.  But that was a 3 year lag!  So I always try to remember to be patient with people as well as myself.  Some things just take longer to absorb.  If anyone is in that in between place of thinking about going but wondering if it'll be worth it- I can only say from my own experience that I have found the people presenting at these conferences to be my greatest teachers in parenting.  Go!  And if you don't, remember to check back to their website and go through the cds afterwards.  Get a couple of friends together and each order 1 or 2 and then rotate them.  I used to do this all the time with my friends.  Pool your resources and build your own local 'conference.'  When my kids were still little we'd have a park day where the kids would be happy to be off playing and the moms would have a topic or book to discuss and we'd spend our time growing and improving ourselves rather than sitting around gossiping or talking about where to buy cute clothes on sale.  It really made a difference in all of our lives that we're still very grateful for.

homeschooling in Germany

This is an easy post- there's no such thing!  Nope.  Not allowed.  Verboten.  We had the same response when traveling in Ireland last year during school times as we do here.  People are shocked that we're 'allowed' to take the kids out of school.  It is not allowed here, nor in Ireland.  Once I say, "Oh, they're homeschooled" they sort of relax and say, "Oh, so you've hired a private teacher that comes to your home, then."   Nope, I say. "They just learn in context to their lives."

It is truly one of the rare times I really feel boldly, proudly American as I say, "The states were founded upon the ideals of freedom.  Parents have more rights over their children than the government does."  Although those rights are constantly up for vote and it is a bit of a struggle to keep them- up until now we still have that right.  How certain states have managed to outlaw nursing in public is still too odd to fathom.  Homebirth is also technically illegal in some states but there are still ways of getting around it.  All that being said, we still tend to have more freedom in the States than many other people in other parts of the world do.

This has truly astounded most Europeans I've met.  It happened again today at the park.  A woman came over and said with a bewildered smile, "Your children tell me they don't go to school?  Is this correct?  They said, 'homeschool?'  Please tell me more."  Unfortunate woman for asking me.  It's like asking the Pope about Catholicism.  This woman was so thoroughly intrigued that I think she may end up moving to the states for this bit of freedom.  She said, "I've always considered my education a complete waste of time and really a hinderance for my interests.  I just never heard of such a thing as being able to school your children at home and not participate in the school system.  This is incredible!"  She's an Opera singer and said socially school was a nightmare for her.

The government is so strict on children attending school that my cousin tells me there's been a recent crackdown on parents who try to sneak away a day early before vacation and police are actually stationed at the airports disallowing parents to get on planes a day early.  Clearly, that would not work for me!  

Now of course the downside to all of this alleged freedom is that parents are also still able to hit their children in our country.  Women finally made it from 'property' status to 'human,' and hitting a wife became illegal but children are still not quite 'human' in our country.  The following little film is a nice reminder of where we in the States fall in regards to human rights.  We're a young country and still have quite a bit to learn from our elders.  Even though our constitution is a beautiful thing and reading it makes me cry every time- we still have a bit of a challenge figure out what a human is.  If that human is young, they don't quite count, if they have a particular sexual orientation that lessens their rights.  Even the authors of that beautiful document had slaves.  It's so weird how certain blind spots can be so BIG!  I'm wondering as always, where are mine?

Since this video was made, 5 more countries have made corporal punishment of children illegal, they are: Spain, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Uruguay and Nepal. Meanwhile, 25 more countries are getting ready to prohibit corporal punishment, and this will soon bring the total to 50 - around a quarter of the world's nations.  When will the US follow suit?  How many years will we be behind?  For a country that prides itself in freedom of religion I'm always amazed at how much old (misguided) Christian beliefs still dominate our country's policies.  That one single passage from the Bible about sparing the rod and spoiling the child is what the US clings to for the justification of hitting children.  One line that has so oft been debated and questioned.  One that even Bible scholars have reasoned means that 'gentle guidance' is what was meant since the word for 'rod' was translated from 'staff,' which is what sheep herders used to guide their sheep.  They did not strike their sheep with this staff but placed it down as a way of guidance.

And one for the humor files...sort of.

spring is in the air!

Just not around these parts.  My mom says the AC needed to come on in Arizona this week as they're into the 90's already. If you mix those together I'm sure you could come up with Spring, right?

This roof looks just like a gingerbread house with powdered sugar on it!

The big girls and I had plans for an art gallery today but I chickened out when the snow/sleet started dumping since the trip there included a 10 minute walk, 10 minute bus ride and 15 minute walk.  We stayed in and did form drawing and took baths instead.  Maybe tomorrow...

A 3rd grade form drawing.

If you've never tried form drawing I highly recommend it!  They are quite challenging and really good for the brain.   In third grade form drawings begin using both curves and straight lines in the same form.   Below is a choleric (Tigger) child's attempt at it, declaring, "This is easy!" and whipping them up in no time.

And a melancholic's (Eyore) attempt at it whining the whole time, "This is too hard."

These two third grade cousins are obviously quite different and I'm really loving the contrast they provide for each other.

I learn so much about myself each time I do a form drawing and where my own challenges lie and find I also learn a great deal about each child as they attempt these forms as well.  I can see where there is challenge in the ability to change perspective and where they are not able to change direction very easily.  It really helps me when it comes to conflict with the girls and seeing things from their perspective.  As my old yoga teacher always says, "the body never lies" and I find that particularly true with form drawing.  What the body is not able to do,  the child's (or adults!) emotional or social life is not able to do also.  It's not used to judge them, but rather to better understand where they are coming from.

super cool giveaway!

It is not a secret that I am a HUGE fan and proponent of cooperative games (blogged here).  We  have this fantastic giveaway brought to us by Ken Kolsbun at Cooperative Games. 

Save the Whales is one of their most popular games with good reason.  

The board is beautiful and we learned a ton about whales while playing this.

The game pieces are a good solid quality metal and there are no plastic pieces in this game.  

That's all great.  I'm all for all of that but the thing about this game that really rocks my world is the cooperative aspect.  Cooperative games, for those new to the concept are games that require all players to play towards a common goal to win the game rather than competing against each other for an individual winner.  Last time I wrote on this subject I received this comment on my post: 

I like the idea of incorporating a few cooperative games, however, to limit all games to this type of "no one ever gets their feelings hurt" games would only do our children an injustice. Life isn't competitive, but it isn't alway fair. I think that more importantly, kids need to lean how to handle life's curve balls and unfairness. Why not teach your children to be good sports about winning and losing games? Such is life. Children don't need to deal with life's hardships, I agree. But to protect against any such ill-feelings, game playing included, might create an unrealistic expectation of always getting your way. I don't mean any disrespect...but what is so wrong with competition anyway? See, this is what drives people...not to be greedy, but to provide more....more jobs, more lots of things. In theory it sounds great, but in reality it won't work...this isn't candyland.

I love this comment for so many reasons!  First of all, I didn't say that we only play cooperative games in our home, but that we definitely incorporate some into our mix.  I feel very strongly that if every home in America had at least one of theses games our world would shift dramatically- I really do!  

But my next point here is really my favorite.  I love the ideas that some people have about our house and family- that we all sit around being so wonderfully cooperative with each other, squirrels pop out of the forest and greet us in the morning and birds bring us our morning buttercup nectar.  We've always  had cooperative games in our home and competition does not play a dominant role in our lives, true.  However, the reality of the situation is that it is often actually harder, or well, more complex, let's say- to work cooperatively than independently 'beating' your opponent.  

This game challenges kids in a way that win/loose does not at all.  Here's an example:  The little sister is rather phlegmatic in temperament (that is the Pooh character) so she loves nothing more than to collect things and hang on to things!  In this game all players are working together to save the whales so that they do not go into extinction.  Well, at one point we were wanting to pool our money to save one whale and she happened to have the most money- which she really wanted to keep!  She was pushed by her big sister to the near point of tears to giving up her lovely stash of money.  I in no way shape or form see my job as a parent as sheltering my children from things that  are difficult for them.  I see these as enormous growth and learning experiences for them.  I do not offer cooperative games to them to protect them from having 'hurt feelings.'  My criteria is that the lesson learned be of one of value.  The whale in question here that was being saved was not hers, but her sisters, but it was requiring her money to help save it.  Remember, this is a game of working together to save all the whales.  When we accomplish that we've all won the game together.  Even though we've played these types of games before it is not easy for her!  I would vouch to say far more difficult.  She really wanted to save her money to save her own whale.  And again, this is a child that has quite a bit of experience with these kinds of games.  We also played it with friends who are very competitive and 'proud of it.'  You want to watch the @#$% hit the fan- try this game!  Full blown tantrums from 9 year olds about how it isn't 'fair' that they should use their money to save some whale that isn't even theirs!  It's really intense.   But oh, so valuable!!

The biggest misconception about working cooperatively is that 'everyone gets their way."  It is quite the contrary.  No one is 'getting their way.'  Making each person's individual needs and desires equally important takes a lot of maturity, patience and willingness to compromise.  It changes the way one thinks, which is never an 'easy' task.  As the Rev recently said at a church service I attended,  "We are shifting from a getting economy to a giving economy."  The only thing that will 'save' this world is moving from a place of selfishly acquiring, which competitive games enforce (think Monopoly), to selflessly giving.  It is indeed the thing our current prez is asking us all to do.  We are discovering that in life, the one who has the most stuff at the end is not really the 'winner.'  Those who die fulfilled are the winners, and that always includes connecting with and supporting others.  Always.

And of course her last point being that it is not 'realistic.'  My favorite of all!  I offered my (rather long-winded) response to her as follows:

"I agree that a balance is what is desired. We do not only play cooperative games and shun all competitive games. However, I do think games that are entirely random like candyland and chutes and ladders do not serve anyone. Games like memory or card games that involve a certain level of skill are great. When a child loses there is incentive to want to do better next time. There is strategy involved and (gasp) thinking! With a random game it is simply dumb luck and I think dealing with the 'bad luck' that comes with a bad spin is not something that a preschool aged child benefits from 'dealing with.' Let them lose at tic tac toe so they can at least see where their error was in choosing where to place their X or O. The idea is to have at least one cooperative game in the mix of games so kids have a concept of working together for a greater good rather than looking at other people as opponents all the time. And I will respectfully disagree with you that working cooperatively 'just doesn't work' because this is 'real life.' Some of the most successful corporations are now incorporating a lot of cooperative tactics into their businesses. Have you seen the business deal that just went down with Danone and Muhammad Yunus- the Nobel Peace Prize winner? Check out what Grameen Bank is up to these days and tell me it's 'unrealistic.' And working cooperatively is not 'getting your way.' It is finding what works for EVERYONE and making your 'opponent's' desires/wants/needs as important as your own. I agree competition is what drives most of us in the west, but i don't think it needs to be that way. If you study other cultures you will see it does not drive all human beings, meaning it is a learned behavior, not innate. We can unlearn destructive behavior and replace it with something that works for everyone. Yes, it's an ideal, but one I certainly support and am working towards by the choices I make raising my own children. We are now reaping the benefits of a competitive model and all of the destruction that comes with it. There are other models. We just need to be open minded enough to choose them."

So, ya- HUGE fan of this game! I'll have this contest up for a week- ending Feb 14, love day. but here's what you have to do to enter. I always love finding out what works for other moms and that's where my best learning has come from, so tell me one thing that you do in your own home to promote cooperation or connection between family members. And please remember this lovely company next time you're needing to purchase a gift or looking for something to really add value to your family's life! Oh, and this particular game is for ages about 8 and up, but there are plenty in the preschool age as well.

ps- thanks for all the comments after my begging for them! haha. I really didn't mean for anyone to feel obligated to! I really do feel that getting an email of a personal story or someone telling me a post made them rethink something is far more valuable to me than 10 'how cute!' comments on a craft item. So, for all of you wanting to slink back into anonymity please feel free to do so! And thank you.

to school, or not to school...

that is the question.  And usually the answer is - um, not to school.  I really am an unschooler at heart and even co-founded a Sudbury Valley style school years ago- but then decided to homeschool, or uh, unschool- or both and neither.  When we travel I really try to just be present with wherever we are at the time and don't push an overt agenda having to do with school. 

But there are seasons to my attitude and often when January rolls around and I'm so full of initiative with new year's resolutions and whatnot that I get caught up in beautiful curricula and desire more form to our learning than 100% organic.  I used to fight these urges and try to talk myself out of it telling myself I really don't believe in out of context learning and get quite irritated with myself, but in recent years I just let it flow.  I know it will be rather short lived and we all really get into it.  

So, currently we are wrapped up in a math phase.  The big sister is focusing primarily on multiplication/division and the little one on addition/subtraction.  First things first.  We had some sewing to do for our math jewels.  Since in Waldorf ed the four math processes are taught using the four temperaments and through story (addition is phlegmatic, subtraction is melancholic, choleric is division and sanguine is multiplication) and each character is given a sack of jewels that are then used as manipulatives.

And the left over sack.

I must have made one of these charts at some point in my life but remember nothing interesting about it. I like doing it with folded lines rather than drawn lines so you can fold it to get your answers more easily.  And I never knew until taking a class on teaching math as an adult that all the squares go right down the middle diagonally.

The big sister calls this her calculator.  love that.  I've also seen these done with fabric and bees wax crayons.  The fabric is ironed until its hot and then the crayon melts onto the fabric.  Stick crayons work better than block.

(for language arts I love old texts from the 1800's like the one in the background, purchased on ebay.  they are so simple and yet far more complex than most texts these days.  And the girls use them for 'playing school' as Laura and Mary-)

She writes out the tables for each number in the way that the pattern presents itself.  Some take a lot of numbers across and others only a few.  I love doing it this way because it is not arbitrary.  Looking for the patterns in mathematics is how all problems are solved.  Really solved, not just answered.

Then she works out problems all from that table.  It's also fascinating to see which answers also fall into the table and which do not.  She circles the ones that are in the table.

Instead of flash cards she loves these down below from a toy maker.  

We also jump rope the tables and do clapping games to each table.  Just basic patty cake in rhythm going from the whole to the sum:  "two is two times one, four is two times two, six is three times two"  both hands clap straight out at the sum and then cross during problem.  The easier tables like 2, 5 and 10 and 11- it becomes a race to see how fast the hands can move.

The next picture below is a tool used in Waldorf classrooms and is usually made out of wood with nails at the numbers and string that goes around from number to number.  But here is a lazy man's version using paper and pencil.  It is so fascinating to see what pattern each number makes.  If it's confusing look at the 3 tables in red pencil.  It starts at zero and goes 3, 6, 9, then to 2 for 12, 5 for 15, 8 for 18 and then to 1 for 21.  Keep going until pattern begins to repeat itself.

And a little beginning fractions here with the making of a game board.