30 November 2010

spring clean

spring clean

The last day of spring. The last day of a super busy and exciting season in the owlet nest. The last day of Huz's leave and the last day of our babymoon... so naturally we decided to do a complete declutter and spring clean of all things belonging to the owlets! They seem to have accumulated a vast array of stuff... spilling over from their bedrooms and into the rest of the house on a daily basis. Too many boxes of random...Huz and I were feeling a little overrun. The mess of a day's play and learning was becoming a little too much. Then there was the thought that Christmas is on the way and there might be more stuff to cram into those rooms. Impossible!! So we tipped out all the boxes of random, found homes for everything, threw out the homeless bits, the broken bits, the things we didn't love. The owlets rummaged in their rooms for things they had finished playing with so they could donate them to charity in time for Christmas. Next we moved some furniture around and set up the little kitchen in the lounge room again, complete with a reading nook. Then I tackled the craft cupboard... It took all day. Now I'm exhausted. But its clean and we can think clearly again. And the owlets have rediscovered so many things. A perfect way to end our little time of renewal. Bring on summer!!

29 November 2010

unschool monday :: freestyle craft

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Well our babymoon is drawing to a close... tomorrow actually. Its been very much holiday mode as we've all drifted gently through the days. Huz has had a chance to really reconnect with the owlets and spend time doing things with them. Origami continues to be a huge hit. The rest of the time has seen the owlets becoming relatively self sufficient.

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They fling open the craft cupboard doors and help themselves to whatever is in there...

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This week has seen them crafting fleece butterflies, collage, junk castles, experiments with paper, and numerous spirograph pictures.

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Big owlet seems to have overcome her block with hand writing and is now annotating all her work... even her own body as on more than one occasion she and little owlet have taken to drawing on themselves with a black pen. Big owlet proudly presented her foot one morning, which was covered in a picture of her and her friend dressed as fairies with the words "best friends forever" and my first reaction was "yay! she's writing!!", before realising that much of her skin was covered in biro tattoos... little owlet was very proud of her "cartoons" too and annotated her designs with loads of tiny markings representing letters from her name.

Tomorrow we look at getting ready for our days without Huz around, getting organised and cleaning up the craft cupboard *sigh*. Freestyle craft is fantastic, but gee it leaves a trail of chaos sometimes...

Feel free to join in with our unschool mondays by adding your link below. Even if you don't unschool full time... perhaps you notice unschooling happening during the school week or you take a more traditional approach to home education and have a day off from time to time... Learning happens all the time and it'd be great to see what it looks like at your place!

26 November 2010

{this moment}

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Playing along with Soulemama

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

22 November 2010

unschool monday :: life lessons

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Well never let it be said that I'm not completely committed to my children's education. If I do say so myself, this spring unit study on birth and reproduction has been positively inspired! We've all learned so much!! Seriously though, there has been a great deal of learning going on around here despite a rather cruisy, mesmerised, baby gazing kind of week... Tiny owlet has mastered breastfeeding, sleeping and pooing with great aplomb. Her eyes are beginning to focus on us and interesting shadows and patches of light on the walls. Little owlet is coming to terms with being a big sister and finding a new level of independence. Her interests are mostly physical this week, asking to go to the playground daily. Big owlet is focussing on the academic, looking at measurement, currency and figuring out counting to 100 in tens, fives, twos and threes. Oh and the origami love continues. She made a paper cup smaller than tiny owlet's pinkie fingernail.

Its been lovely to watch them all at their varying stages and know that one day soon little owlet will begin reading and writing, big owlet will be moving onto more complex things as she masters the basics and tiny owlet will be walking, talking and doing all of the above... but all in good time and not too soon I hope!

Here's a little snippet of our day today. Tiny owlet's first foray into the big wide world...


If you are playing along with unschool monday this week, add your link below. xx

18 November 2010

her creative space...

origami cups

I've been preoccupied with other creative pursuits this week, so big owlet has taken over the creative reins today. I've been waiting for her to show an interest in origami. I had the paper, the how to books, suggested it from time to time, but no go. We watched the fantastic documentary Between The Folds on iView a few nights ago and her interest was finally sparked. So in true big owlet style, she completed most of the book...

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And made a bowl full of little cups which we'll use for our activity advent calendar this year.

Visit some lovely creative peeps via Kirsty.

16 November 2010

born yesterday...

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I'd like to introduce you to Tiny Owlet... she is here at long last!! Tiny was born at 4.35am yesterday, in our lounge room and into my own hands. Her first moments were spent looking around and cooing rather than crying. She's 4.5kg of cute and perhaps not so tiny after all... in fact the largest of our owlet babies! She's incredibly peaceful and chose a lovely day to be born. The 15th of November marks 15yrs since Huz and I first met and 10yrs since he proposed :) Cute, huh? We're soaking her up and taking the days very quietly. xx

14 November 2010

unschool monday :: look at them learning

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Slow, lazy days here and the owlets have been entertaining themselves in the garden, playing with chalk on the concrete and learning all the time. What are they learning? If I put it into curriculum terms and edu-speak, they are learning about space, shape, time, literacy, colour theory... probably much more that I don't see too. Those times where they get totally absorbed in something they've chosen to do and Huz and I turn around and say "look at them learning!" Often tongue in cheek if there's an enormous mess accompanying the aforementioned activity... Its busy and exciting times like we are having right now that make me grateful that learning happens around the clock, in the quiet and free moments as well as the more structured activities we undertake.

I'd like to see how learning happens at your house too. I've read so many inspiring posts over the years on blogs as people observe and participate in their children's learning journey. It would be great to see that regularly... Perhaps you are home educators taking a more structured approach, but notice unschooling happening at other times of the day... Or maybe your children go to school and you take an unschooling approach after hours... Or perhaps your children aren't school age yet, but you are noticing how they learn every minute of the day... I'd love to see your experiences of how your children learn if you are willing to share. I've added a linky at the bottom of this post. If you feel like playing along each monday and seeing how learning happens at other people's houses, blog it, add your link and have a wander around. :)

Feel free to copy the unschool monday button in the sidebar and create a link back to this post if you'd like to join in each week too.

lingering...

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I'm still here... just taking some time. No sign of our little one yet... well sort of. We had a practice run the other night with what started out as labour and ended with a kidney stone... So this week has been about recovering from that. And waiting...

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While we wait, we've been looking at these beautiful little person things made and hand delivered by my lovely mum. Such beautiful fabrics. I love handmade...

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And these beautiful things my sister sent. A luscious heat pack she made with gorgeous fabrics and beautiful smelly stuff, a tiny bear called frosty and made by Jess, and a perfect little onesie that made Huz so clucky he put it on his shoulder and patted its bottom :) *sigh* Not long now. But while we wait to baby gaze, its lovely to gaze at these little thoughtful bits and pieces and linger a while...

8 November 2010

unschool monday :: watching

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Standing nearby... trying not to worry or wince as those little fingers hold the knife and slip over the fruit. Trying to let go of the fact that half the fruit is not making it to the plate... Its the process that matters. She cuts the fruit just the same way she has seen me do almost every day for her... And it tastes so good because she did it herself. Well the first two pieces do anyway. The rest go straight into the chook bucket.

Its so hard to let go and watch them follow that process sometimes, when all we want to do is jump in and help them. Show them how to do it properly. It doesn't matter though. Its their journey and they will get there so much faster and with joy if we just step back and watch them do it for themselves.

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‎"Every time you teach a child something, you keep him from inventing it himself. On the other hand, that which he discovers for himself will remain with him, visible, for the rest of his life." - Jean Piaget

6 November 2010

sunny saturday

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Its just so beautiful in my part of the world today! The sun is shining, just a light breeze... I can hear parrots chattering nearby and the odd lawnmower. Spring is fast becoming my favourite season. The roses that Mum pruned a little while ago were ready for Cup Day and are now putting on a rude display of colour. They are beautiful, like jewels lining the front of our 1950's front porch, but they do look a little odd among all the natives... I think there might be some time spent in the garden for the rest of the weekend. Hope your day is lovely too. x

5 November 2010

{this moment}

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Playing along with Soulemama

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

4 November 2010

I'll call you...

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Well its true. I've been very reclusive throughout this pregnancy. I'm reclusive at the best of times, but like with most things, pregnancy seems to amplify it. I started off not wanting to share the news of our precious little owlet to be for a looong time. Then when the cat was out of the bag, I started to draw within... Staying in the moment. Its been necessary this time.

But as my own mother said to me the other day "You never call... ever." Well I do sometimes, but its largely true. I'm so busy living in this particular moment that when I get to the end of the day and I have some moments to myself, I remember the outside world and its too late to call... I'm also one of those people who finds it hard to say much unless I have something to say. Not easy when your days involve waddling around the backyard. This little blog has been a saviour of sorts, communicating that there is something going on. Both for me and for friends and family... But therein lies another problem. Lately I suck at replying to comments. So many of you have said such lovely things and I haven't responded much. Sometimes its because an email address isn't linked and late night laziness gets the better of me. But I do read them all, love to receive them and reply when I can... I also suck at returning text messages and emails too. Its not always this way... Please don't be offended if I'm a little on the quiet side. Its nothing personal. I'm so looking forward to emerging from this little time of self-imposed exile, my little holiday, introducing our third owlet to the world slowly. But for now, this is where I need to be. xxxx

2 November 2010

lullaby...



Rather chuffed that I've mede it beyond blogtober and haven't missed a post. I even managed an extra one the other day! Perhaps its a reflection of my reclusive ways of late, not running out of things to talk about... Anyway, here's a little lullaby to help you (and me) sleep. We discovered Essie Jain a couple of years ago and were delighted to see that her latest project is a collection of soothing sounds designed for tired parents and their little ones. Big owlet always fell asleep to a certain CD each night and still does on occasion. I'm hoping we can get our hands on a copy of this and give it a whirl when owlet-to-be is here. But for now, its late and I'm off to bed. Night! x

1 November 2010

unschool monday :: living

I've slowed right down, for obvious reasons, and I seem to be working on a different time scale to the owlets right now... Their learning is very self directed these days. Their days often move at a very fast pace as they make their way around our home and garden. They help themselves to the craft cupboard and come up with brilliant things. They explore the garden, read, spend time on the computer, play for hours... We talk about things that interest them and I read to them each day, but for the most part they are driving their days at the moment. Just living and learning. Its not always this way. There are times where I'm more involved and suggest things we can do together, but it ebbs and flows as family life does. I'm fortunate too that Huz is always involved in their learning as it happens round the clock...



Here's Huz and the owlets cooking up a storm in the kitchen yesterday while we loosely celebrated Beltane. He's started a vlog just for a little bit of fun. You may see him guest blogging here occasionally over the coming weeks. We'll see how we go with the ebbs and flows...

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unschool monday homework:

The Six Lesson Schoolteacher - John Taylor Gatto
Natural Learning Australia