Back to life + rose petals

Suffice it to say we've been extraordinarily busy for the past year. The last six months were particularly intense and when the flu arrived at our home in September, followed by a hospital run, our manuscript deadline,  photoshoot, the Spiral Garden end of year rush, and a house full of family visiting for Christmas, we abandoned more structured home educating days and embraced our unschooling ways again. Long days (and nights!) of work sat alongside owlets undertaking their own exploration and projects, meeting with us to discuss and reflect and assist as we were able, and peppered with the odd trip to the beach or play at the playground, while I frantically responded to emails on my phone. It wasn't what any of us felt was ideal. It was a slog. But we got all the jobs done and survived it in relatively good spirits. And now we're slowly creeping back to life as we knew it before. Slowly remembering there's a garden to feed us. Remembering the mending pile, the preserving season, the books to read, the wardrobes to reorganise, the tax to do, pictures we've forgotten to hang in their proper places as we've moved through a year doing only the basics.

This week the owlets requested a return to the more formal elements of their learning-filled days, that they've come to love. Workbooks and reading and discussion, art activities and exploration are where it's at for them. And the focussed time we spend together is dear to all of our hearts. It's still another couple of weeks before the Tasmanian school year begins, but we have the freedom to take holidays and end the year as we please, so we follow the enthusiasm when it arrives. On Monday at about 9.15am, we decided it was time.

We began with the regular milestone photo by the front door and a sprinkling of rose petals and cheers as owlets wandered back inside, filled with excitement and renewed energy. I gave myself a sprinkling of petals and owlets cheered loudly for me too, because we're all in this together. Then we gathered at our little round table, which was set with a jar full of flowers, a candle, and some new writing materials for the year. We've decided to use folders this year, because paper isn't wasted like it  often is in the unused pages of exercise, scrap, or main lesson books. The owlets chose their favourite Lyra pencils to write and draw with, and we took a little tour through the books and subjects they've asked to work with this year. I'm a fairly relaxed planner, but I've been gathering interesting resources and making plans for the owlets for the past few months, checking in on their own plans and wishes.

Big Owlet has asked to spend time delving into science, art history and witchy things. She also wants to improve her understanding of mathematical concepts, learn to write academically, gently explore literature, and poetry. Little Owlet is so inspired by storytelling right now, so Ancient History is where we'll begin with her, alongside the shelf full of books she's likely to devour this year. She's keen for some scientific learnings too, with a Harry Potter inspired slant of potions, astronomy and herbology. Tiny is desperate to read, keen on maths, and into whatever her sisters are doing, with a practical focus, and lots of play.

This far along in our home educating lives, we know with some confidence, what works for us and what doesn't. We also know to be flexible, and that you often can't plan the greatest opportunities to learn, and that the most valuable lessons usually come from life. Tangents are meant to be followed. So we began with the plan of science and craft on Monday. Astronomy for Big Owlet, biology for Little, chemistry for Tiny. Then Little and Tiny set about painting some small cardboard tubes to create families of people, before looking through my grandmother's button collection to find her old earrings. Tiny learnt to crochet, and Big began making prototypes for her small business. Before long, the owlets were catching up with their friends via Skype, while I snuck in a couple of hours work, emailing customers and fulfilling orders, as dinner bubbled away on the stove. Tuesday was much the same, with english, herbology, and the hours of gardening and cooking that seemed to happen as part of that, including spontaneous ANZACs and jam making for Little Owlet, who made what is probably the greatest backyard apricot and vanilla bean jam of all time! 

Life is full, messy, busy and ridiculously lovely right now, and I'm so glad we're finding more time again to notice it. So glad to spend my days with these owlets. So glad they're choosing to spend their days here together. And I'm aware of how soon these precious days will be behind us. A beautiful blur of questions, cups of tea, conversation, love, pikelets, creativity, and rose petals.

A new rhythm: Finding the beat x 3

Over the years, I've talked about rhythm so much, I know. Even in unschooling days, I think there's rhythm. We wake with the sun, eat when we feel hungry, sleep when we're tired… mostly. There are also rhythms to the seasons and by looking back at posts I've made over the years, I can see very clearly how rhythms affect our family and our days.

This year saw us implement a totally different approach to our home education. We're trying something a bit new. A side-step from our unschooling life to something a little bit different. Although, depending on your definition of the term, and are if labels are important to you, unschooling would possibly still define our days in some way. If we're going by school years, we have owlets in Grade 7, Grade 4 and Prep. All school age! One high school age! And, despite knocks and blows of the recent six months,  adamantly and passionately still choosing to be at home. So now to find a way to meet everyone's needs…

At Big Owlet's request, we've experimented and researched a curriculum for her. She adores a steady rhythm and to feel like she's accomplishing things, which is pretty important to her and where she's at. She's ready to knuckle down and work, and also find out where she measures up against her peers, which I hear is a 12yo thing. It's like a little light switched on one day and the desire was there. She wants to be kept busy and loves some external input for prompts to explore. So we're going with that and a curriculum we have. Back to our Waldorf/Steiner-inspired days, which has always been a fallback for her, we're using the Oak Meadow curriculum as a guide, which is written in such a way that she can take responsibility for her work. It's equal parts scary and wonderful. It's challenging and weird and super fun and should give her the mix of structure and freedom she works with best.

Little Owlet? Well… she just wants to work with her hands. But she wants a little bit of the structure that her older sister has. So we started out experimenting with various curriculums for her too, but none seemed a perfect fit for right now. So we're carving a seasonal year for her, using Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series as a starting point. She adores the first book of the series and she's keen to read more and take practical cues as we read on. She loves preserving and baking and all things old-fashioned, so it's a perfect fit. At her request, we'll be sure to compare and contrast to Australian history as we read, and fit a little form drawing and research about animals and the Dreamtime too.

As for Tiny? I'd say she's our radical unschooler. Totally moving to the beat of her own drum in every way, her own body clock determines what she does and when and she's super decisive in everything she does. She's learning in her own time and she's totally got this. She climbs up to the table to join in, or she wanders off on her own to play. Connection is all she needs right now. And patience. And to feel useful. So we keep her busy, get outside, cook, move, read and play and she's happy in her days. She writes letters, draws pictures, loves "Mafsh" (maths), and will only do anything if it was her idea first. Classic Tiny.

Things are settling a little now and I'm excited to see where we end up. Where this new rhythm and these new choices lead us. Perhaps just continuing on and finding the best fit for each of our owlets as we go. There's drama, cello, choir, girl guides and gymnastics in each week's mix too, so busy they are. And so grateful we are for our little shop, which miraculously (although not without effort) provides opportunity for owlets and helps meet their needs, with just the right amount of freedom. Now to add an extra 24hrs per day and all the rest will fit in too! But that's another post entirely….

How's your year going so far?
Is it as you expected?
How do you go about meeting everyone's needs?
Are there enough hours in your day? 

~ Lauren. xx

Unschool Monday :: Rambling...

Well… after a valiant attempt on both our behalves to, at Big Owlet's request, very loosely follow the Australian grade five Steiner curriculum, Big Owlet proclaimed herself "a little bit bored" with that and has set aside her research books for now and moved on… Time at the table, working together has made way for short bursts of inspiration and chats over mealtimes while we all ramble a bit and find our way through the day.  Finding rhythm within that, to satiate Big Owlet's sometimes-love of structure, and knowing when to let go of the structure in favour of fun and chaos, is what keeps this nest bubbling along happily.



So Big Owlet is currently rising early, often to work on her drawing in a quiet nest, before her siblings awake. She also steals moments at times during the day to keep drawing... always drawing and practicing. She still asks me to work on an art exercise with her from time-to-time, but for the most part she's working at her drawing on her own, taking on suggestions as they arise.



We found some anime and manga drawing books on sale at a bookshop in town and Big Owlet set to work not long after. She's been enjoying graphic novels and we've been analysing the social constructs and sexual stereotypes within some of the anime and comic genre while exploring feminist anime characters. We've also, of course,  been watching lots of Miyazaki films. Then sometimes Big Owlet will just break out and draw something from observation. She's beginning to get over her perfectionism and can see that her work is improving.

Then there's role playing. Huz visited his Mum and picked up all his old Dungeons & Dragons and Middle Earth role-playing books and miniatures geekery - an absolute treasure trove for Big Owlet and where she's at right now. It's also providing hours of fun for Huz who's constructing games for Big Owlet which surprisingly take in lots of geographic, historical and mathematical concepts, while testing her literary thinking and knowledge. Add to that her Minecraft Homeschool Vikings unit, her days with friends at co-op, gymnastics and kung-fu and weekend adventures and she has pretty busy days!



Little Owlet is still absorbed in her cook book. Always adding to it and re-visiting recipes. Taking ideas from books we read and films we watch. Once a week she stays up late on her own to watch a tv show with me and Huz. Her show of choice, without fail, is Iron Chef. She always wants the challenger to win. Dismayed with the lack of baking while I'm undertaking the Whole30 challenge, she's taken to cooking every day for her sisters and still always grabs the spoon from my hand when I'm cooking.

Lately Little Owlet has taken to gardening alongside me and I'm secretly hoping some of that practical interest will cross over and she'll enjoy learning holistically about where the food she's cooking with comes from. Both interests have certainly helped quell her fear of the outdoors and experimenting with new foods. Progress! Yes! She's also working super hard at reading, mastering her first small chapter book and spelling out random words she's learnt, off the top of her head. I'm loving watching her literacy learning path and how it is so different to her sister's.



As for Tiny, well, her days are filled with play and exploration of the sensory kind. Just as life should be when you are three. She's coming down with the squeezels quite regularly these days, so it's a good thing that Dr Cheeseballs is here to help.



So our days are pretty loose and flowing gently right now. A little out breath, perhaps before Winter. They seem to match these golden, last warm days of Autumn and I'm thinking of squirrelling away some nurturing, inspiring resources and activities for wintry days.



I'm also making the most of the garden and it's always lovely to find an owlet or three spending time alongside me, playing, digging, helping or daydreaming. Foraging for berries and eggs, playing with pets or bouncing on the trampoline… Golden, rambling unschooling days indeed.

How are your days rolling along? 
Is your year different to how it started out?
Getting much time in the garden? 

Have a wonderful week. xx

**Photos in this post are by me @owletmama and Huz @berondi

Unschool Monday :: Social Awareness

It's a wonderful thing to watch an owlet grow into an awareness of people and things going on around them. To see their thoughts develop and change on issues involving others and how they might help.

At first it might be a response to an issue that affects someone they care about. Tiny Owlet, in her own way, gets why mining and dredging in the Great Barrier Reef, for example, might not be desirable…

"We have to go because they want to put mulch on Nemo's home." 

They might go through a phase of understanding issues, but not totally grasping why they are important, or that people as small as them can make a real difference. So they help those in their immediate surroundings. Little Owlet does this by cooking for her sisters everyday.

And then they gain an understanding of their emerging place in the world. They want to do something and look for ways to help.



Yesterday was eye opening for Big Owlet. Over breakfast, we talked about the new state government coming in and how their policies affect our way of life. We also talked about the national protests happening over the past three days. The March in March, a motion of no-confidence in the current federal government. We talked about many of the issues under discussion; Tasmanian forests under threat, treatment of asylum seekers, cuts to the ABC… The list goes on and on, but those were the three that stood out for Big Owlet.

We read the owlets the children's book, Ziba Came on a Boat, for some perspective on asylum seekers. Then we discussed the reality of what might happen to Ziba as she neared Australia. Big Owlet stood, with tear in her eyes, and asked why children weren't allowed to vote. "Aren't we people too?" Then she demanded to go to the march.

It wasn't her first protest rally either, but the first that she cared about. And for the first time she saw she
could get involved and do something. A very empowering feeling for an owlet.

She signed her name to the big banner that said "not in my name". She stood there, clapping until her hands were sore, while the speakers spoke. She cast her vote. She cared.



We listened to Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support's Emily Conlan make an inspiring speech and and one point read a diary excerpt that claimed the people who make and support these rules, that we were there to protest, are made by people who were raised to be "obedient children". "May I never have an obedient child", she proclaimed… And we couldn't have agreed more as we clapped and marvelled at our own disobedient children rolling around on the grass at our feet.

We came away with a bunch of ideas for getting involved further. Letters to write, volunteering to be done, people to speak to, new friends to make. And so unfolds the beauty of this unschooling path.

Unschooling is, for us, about providing discussion and opportunity for owlets to develop an awareness of the world around them. I really can't think of a better place to do that than in the real world here, with real people, hearing real stories and finding ways every day to cast our vote, make a difference and care for each other and the world around us. There isn't a NAPLAN test for social awareness. But really, it should be one of the key things that all our owlets grow up with, don't you think?

How do you talk to your owlets about the hard stuff?
What do you do to help raise their social awareness?
Do you think social awareness is important for your owlets? Or not at all? Not yet?

Have a gorgeous week. xx

Variations on a theme...

We learnt a whole lot last year. Not just about the world outside our little nest, but about the world inside it. As our owlets get older and reach for more independence, we learn and shift. Like how we play musical beds all the time. We meet their (and our) needs.

Last year we explored letting go all over again. Owlets spent days upon days at play, making new friends and strengthening old friendships. It was a wonderful life-learning experience. Most of it happened online. We thought we'd see how long it'd last... Minecraftschooling. How long they'd want to keep playing/watching all day (and I mean ALL day). They went hard. They learnt to touch-type and play online parkour. They figured out some tough mathematical puzzles and negotiated friendships. Oh, they learnt. They learnt lots. And we were always around to guide them (we learnt lots too). It was great! They didn't want to do anything else in their waking hours.



But underneath it all there was this strange, underlying... boredom. Our owlets seemed to be waiting for something. And yet not. If we were out, they'd count down until they could get back to playing and rage if it felt like too long. We'd suggest going out or trying something new... a craft activity or baking or an outing... anything... and it was met by this overwhelming sense of *meh*. They were grumpy lots. They didn't know what they could do without some direction or entertainment. Unless they were online. They were bored, but it was an unsettling kind of boredom. And despite one out of the three owlets being able to self-regulate, even she was caught up in it. It was almost dependency. It was all a bit much.

They'd forgotten how to daydream. 

This worried us. Daydreaming and boredom are big friends of creativity, in our book. Boredom isn't something to be afraid of usually. It pushes you to be creative. To be perfectly honest, we adults fill quiet moments with screens too. We work online. We organise social outings online. There's no time to be bored or daydream. No time to be quiet. Always, always busy.



We had a family chat about all the things we hoped to do this year. It wandered into what we'd like to do in years to come. Hopes and dreams and all that stuff you talk about as a new year approaches.

Big Owlet wants to be an artist. Little Owlet wants to cook. Tiny Owlet wants to be a tiger. And so we talked about how they are and can be all those things NOW. That they can work at them and master them and perhaps do them for a living (tiger may be tricky), but they have to DO them. We pointed out that right now, at that moment,  they were skilled online gamers, which is totally cool if that's what they want to be, but they seemed bored with it. Like it was their job. Not their passion. Turns out we were right.



They needed balance, just as we do. And they just weren't equipped to find it on their own yet. They were ready for a push. Big Owlet was ready for a challenge. She identified gaps she found and didn't know how to go about filling. From birth, this owlet has adored routine. She loves the comfort of order and a programme. Which is, I suspect, why screens appeal so much.



If you were to label it, we'd probably have one sort-of-waldorfy-homeschooler, one unschooler and one radical-or-bust unschooler. But we don't have to label it because it is what it is. And how it looks now will most likely look different next month. I'm being a bit careful about the words we use to describe what we do these days. And I'm ignoring the voices out there who try to package it and tell me how it should look. Labels are unhelpful other than to help identify a tribe. And, wonderfully, thankfully, we have found it.

So we're working with variations on a theme. We're life learning, living and loving. And doing what we want and need for now. Looking out for each other so there's time for all the good stuff. So far, so good.

unschool monday :: whole family learning

I'm constantly astonished at how this unschooling life evolves. And yet, I've always had a sense of how things would flow as we settled in and it all became second nature... And it has. So much so that I forgot about noting it here for a time and, as such, I'm not sure that Unschool Monday is a thing anymore... but hey, it's Monday and I'm writing about unschooling, so why not? Anyhow, it flows, this life. And we flow with it. And what we have created in our little nest is a group of people all working towards a common goal - to love each other, make life a little easier, and to help. We help out and take turns and communicate openly and it seems there's always someone to lend a hand if another's hands are busy. These owlets are turning into the most excellent humans, who see a need to help and (most of the time), gladly step up.

Big Owlet has become the most patient of teachers for Little Owlet, who will ask for help with spelling, writing and reading multiple times a day. What's brilliant is that there's always someone to answer Little Owlet and help her on her way. And understands there are loads of people available to help her and she's supported in her learning. When little bursts of development happen for her and she, for example, solves a maths problem in her head upon waking in the morning (this happens lots right now), she knows she's supported by more than just one of us. There's a whole gang of us cheering her on!

But it's not just Little Owlet who's benefiting here... When any of us takes on something new, we all pitch in to help them learn it. Of course, there are always basic needs like "I'm hungry, I'm tired, she hurt me, can you carry me?... Muuuuuuummmm!!!" going on. And we meet those needs. We move through it. And that takes up much of the day. But there's support too. And so we find ourselves going to pick up Huz from a run at 8.30am on a Saturday morning... Or everyone will feign interest and don the gardening gloves to help implement my permaculture design. We're in this together.

We help each other. It's good. It's what gets things done and its how these excellent humans learn to seek and create communities where everyone lives by this code. There is no competition. There are no rules to abide, or tests to pass. Only enthusiasm and help and learning and support. We are creating the kind of world we want to live in by listening and supporting and learning together. Imagine that!

How does learning look for your family right now? 
How was your Monday? 
Have a happy one! xo

ten...

Big Owlet turned ten this month... TEN! She woke up with a cold, so some of the plans she made couldn't happen as hoped. But we sure did make the most of it!

There was lego and her favourite breakfast...

A visit to her blossom tree...

A rite of passage... Pierced ears. After a whole lot of research and a visit to the tattoo parlour, she convinced them, in her own words, why the needle was her preferred method. And they agreed and treated her like the awesome human she is.

A ceremony... This time it was Big Owlet's turn. Her felt placenta, gifted to her a year ago. We found a three-way pear and found a spot in our orchard for Big Owlet's very own placenta tree, between her sisters' trees and beside her brother... After all these years, she has her own. Let's face it, it wouldn't be an Owlet birthday without placenta featuring in some way...

Rainbows, cake and wishes came next. And for the first time, Big Owlet played Mum while I got to watch and enjoy. And reflect on ten years of parenting one of the best kids I know... TEN YEARS!!

Now I think I'm ready for a lie down and a cuppa. Or two. How about you? xx