Mudspark Life Learning

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...

You know how you thought that you would raise your kids, but in many ways they are raising you? Yes, you are the parent - but they are the teachers, pushing you to be more than you thought you could ever be. Becoming a mother was like a shamanic death, releasing the old self and struggling to figure out what being a mother actually means. Homeschooling is like that, too. Here I thought I'd get to use my stellar teaching skills to be at the helm of my children's education. That we would fall into this comfy rhythm of my teaching and their loving to learn. Crafts, science experiments, writing projects, math problems - all would flow joyfully along here at the old kitchen table. These days, my kitchen table isn't even the same as it was. Literally - we bought a new one to fit better into our house. I keep rearranging rooms, trying to make a family of four who spends a lot of time at home, and all our stuff, fit into our smallish house. The dining nook we bought almost fi...

I've figured out the goal of life. And therefore, the goal of education. Bold words, and I offer them as something to mull over and agree with as you will, or shrug off as you choose. The goal of life is to live a life that instills a sense of satisfaction in oneself. This means one has to know what it feels like to be satisfied and fulfilled. And that one has to have a set of tools that can get him or her to that fulfillment, whatever it may be. That's why play is so important, especially for young people. It's why establishing an early sense of morality without guilt is important, for it forms the foundation for being satisfied and fulfilled. The Thomas Jefferson Education folks call this early phase the Core Phase. Only then can a child have a sense of justice and right selfhood. Only by wasting time, for instance, can she learn what about that feels nourishing, and what feels empty. Only by trying on other selves and playing in all sorts of environments and learn...

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.

Every day of homeschooling is hard. Every day of homeschooling is brilliant and a blessing. A lot like parenting, or living life. It's a great lesson in spiritual awareness and committing to flow. I read something recently about how we moms today feel guilt no matter what we do. No matter which way I choose, there is always someone there to tell me it is grossly insufficient. If I homeschool I'm selfish and don't trust anyone and have a self-righteous complex. If I send my kids to school I am failing them and letting my family be run by the government and giving my power away to a teacher. What if it's not so cut-and-dried? What if we flux and flow - school for the purpose of being part of community (or whatever one's reasons), homeschool to center in family, half time school for both, adjusting to the emotional needs of everyone in the family as we go? Isn't that, after all, why most of us chose to homeschool - to respond to the varied needs of eve...

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.