Mudspark Life Learning

Today we made lavender wands . We picked lavender from the front yard, peeled off the leaves and wove them with purple thread. My daughter struggles some with fine motor skills, and is a perfectionist, so this resulted in a huge blow up (on her part - I've been able to grow a lot of patience by identifying that a lot of her traits are very Aspie). After she calmed down, I sat with her on the couch and we wove hers together. I talked out loud about the tricky parts: "Ooh, here's the part we keep getting confused on because the flowers poke through." I wanted to model that it is hard while also helping her through it. Success! We got a wand and we moved through the "I'm bad at everything!" bit. Then she asked me what a lavender wand is used for. A friend of hers is getting interested in magic. I had explained that I would teach them magic if they are interested, but that magic and energy work are real and not something to just stumble around in, conjurin...

You have no doubt read that kids these days spend too much time on screens, and too little time outdoors. Articles and books arguing the evils of screen time quote studies linking screen time to obesity and diabetes as well as depression and lack of vitamin D (which can lead to cancer). Then there are the equally compelling articles and blogs that posit that playing computer games is actually really good for our children. They learn hand-eye coordination, three-dimensional design, problem solving, and even social skills. They are exposed to math concepts, story arcs, and consequences.  Which perspective is to be believed? I think it's both. Kids benefit greatly from screen time, and they need to also spend lots of quality time in nature.  I suspect that the problems of screen time arise not from the computer or TV itself, but from circumstances outside the screen bubble, like poor nutrition and lack of attention from caregivers. I also sens...

One thing I love about living in Colorado is that while "real" spring is far from here, we can go play outside on the scattered nice, warm days in February and March. On a whim the kids and I went to Bluff Lake Nature Center. I planned to collect some water if there was any in the wetland, and to start a project of taking a picture in one spot over time to see the changes. Here are some photos from our trip. Our chosen spot to document over the seasons Take a picture of me! We found a tuft of bunny fur and an owl pellet (at least I *think* that's what it is!) We collected a vial of water to look at under the microscope. Tons of raccoon prints down by the water! We watched a DVD yesterday about water ecosystems, so some microscope viewing of our local winter water is in order.

What a gorgeous, simple, and life-affirming book! Highly recommended. A Gardener's Alphabet by Mary Azarian (Houghton Mifflin, 2000) This would be a great companion to any gardening unit, or an inspiration for wood block printing and learning the read or learning letters.

In my search for balance and inspiration in my homeschooling life, as well as my own personal journey that blends mystical Christianity, Paganism, and sustainable living, I have begun to identify what I think children need to learn today. While certainly schools and other formal learning communities could take this curriculum on, it may be more suited to homeschool families because it's about understanding the insufficiencies of our modern relationship with spirit and the heart, and about changing those to create a vibrant and healthy world inside and out. It's about being flexible, individually designed, and responsive to the world. Traditional learning skills, such as reading, writing, and math are learned through the following five areas, rather than as separate "subjects." As our society grows ever more diverse and we tap into a global force through the internet, environmental stewardship, and the global market, children and adults need to know how to think in an ...

We participated in the Denver Botanic Gardens homeschool day last week, themed "nature and art." The stations were fun, including playing with clay after comparing clay soil to sand, dying yarn and squishing plant matter to "paint" paper, looking for patterns in plants and fruits, building Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculptures, and planting seeds. But I think some of the biggest learning happened just by observing. There were so many bees, and the kids (ages 2-8) were fascinated with the different kinds we saw (we learned later that there are 946 documented bee species in Colorado). We noticed what flowers they were drawn to, and which ones didn't have any bees on them. We watched water skippers, saw huge cabbages that had been chomped by something, smelled roses, and wandered through the tropical green house. One of the volunteers commented on how he wished he'd had activities like this when he was a kid, and implied that he wished more kids could do stuf...

For me, the heart of homeschooling is being out in nature with a group of friends, letting things happen. Today three of my friends and their kids joined us on an outdoor excursion to a wetland area I hadn't yet visited. It's in the middle of a trendy housing development, and is restored wetland taken over from an airport. I could tell from looking at the satellite pictures on google maps that it had two little ponds, a few creeks, and some trails. But I wasn't sure if it would just be a lot of yellow grass and garbage, or full of fun nooks to explore and things to discover. March in Colorado is spring trying its hardest to wake up, so most of the land is still brown. Not a lot of bugs to find. Patches of snow and mud surrounded by dry and brown. But we had such a fabulous time and made many discoveries. It was a perfect example of just letting learning happen. We had fun and got muddy trying to get down to the water. Ann Patchet writes, "Water will always seek out i...

Eleven activities for outdoor education for elementary grade students: http://www.plt.org/environmental-education-for-early-childhood . Scroll down to "Student Activities." A homeschool family could easily incorporate one a month to expand your outdoor /environmental education activities. Looking for PK or secondary? Try these links here: http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/project-learning-tree.html#activity-guides The easiest way to learn about the natural world is just to get out in it. Find a local trail, park, beach, or other habitat to explore, question, and fall in love with.

We are using the book The Private Eye , a system of using a jeweler's loupe to examine natural objects close up, come up with analogies about what you see, draw the object, and use the analogies to write poetry and stories, and then to learn about it's scientific properties, again through the lens of analogies. My seven-year-old created the following poem and drawing. This is the first time we have done the analogies part, rather than just looking at things through the loupe. We will revisit the same coral in a few days to come up with more analogies, explore it's properties ("why is it like a whirlpool/rose/seaweed? What does that tell us about it?") and write a story.

Kids for Saving the Earth has a free education packet , along with a "Conserving Classroom Calendar ." The calendar has links on it that bring you to printable lesson ideas. Another fabulous free resource for learning about the earth and our relationship with it are the classroom resources at Heifer International . They also offer a program called Read to Feed , where kids take pledges, raise money, and help other kids and families in struggling countries. Meanwhile, they learn about giving and service and about other countries. Compassion and education are important traits to teach in order to raise eco-loving kids. The Rainforest Action network also has curriculum available, including reading lists, films, and a save-an-acre program. 

Even in winter - no matter the weather - you and the children can connect with and learn about nature. In parts of the country right now, it's pouring so hard it's flooding. Obviously keeping safe takes priority over study.  Weather preparedness and care teaches our kids a lot about how to be in the world. Making sure our homes and our neighbors and animals are all ready and safe, as best we can, teaches kids about community, self-care, and respect for Mother Nature. But given that you and the family are safe, you can study weather maps and learn where your weather comes from. What is "upstream" and how do meteorologists forecast the weather? Then make a weather station, putting out rain gauges, barometer, and digital or old-fashioned thermometers. For ideas and tips, see Franklin's Forecast. This can be as simple as a clear plastic container to collect rain and snow. Look at the collected rain under the microscope. Anything living in it? Each raindrop - an...

After a friend of mine went to Yellowstone this past fall and her daughter collected jr ranger badges, I got me a homeschooling idea. I discovered that on ebay one can purchase girl scout badges for about $1 a piece. Some of them say something, like "gardening" while some of the older ones are just images - a bird, a butterfly, a horse. So we're doing some nature study these days with that same friend, and I've purchased badges for our girls to earn. We're pretty unschoolish, so while my background in outdoor education peeps its head out of the backpack now and then, mostly we just explore and play. We might develop a website someday based on this idea - homeschool badges - where homeschool families can gather online, earn both literal and virtual badges, and get ideas to connect with nature (and other badge-earning projects). But for now we're just keeping it small. Thought I'd pass along the idea!