Getting into the Christmas Spirit and Family Learning Co-op – Suncatchers and Rice Pudding!

Today we met with our the families in our homeschool co-op. Everyone was healthy today! The mom leading the group experience today led off with having the kids make rice pudding. While that was baking in the oven, we made suncatchers from paper plates and tissue paper. Then it was outdoors for some running around! Although it is December in Massachuesetts, it was in the 50's, so it was quite pleasant for the kids. They took turns riding a dump truck and big wheels down a hill and playing in a little house underneath the deck. D had a great time playing tag with the other kids. It is his favorite game and I'm not up for that right now in my condition! When the rice pudding was ready, everyone gathered around the table for snack with some apple juice and listened to two stories.

We decided today that we liked how things were going with the co-op and to continue in 2010. Additionally, we decided to add alternating Wednesday's as informal playgroup get togethers. So we'll meet weekly, but only have organized lessons or crafts alternating weeks. I'm really happy about that D is the only “only child” in the co-op. Albeit not for long. So I really appreciate the opportunity for him to have the regular interaction with the other kids.

Once back home, we made cupcakes for his dad's birthday tomorrow. He added his own flair. I gave him the cupcake papers to place in the cupcake pan. “All done!” He exclaimed and proudly demonstrated that he took it upon himself to separate out the wrappers by color and used all the blue tins for this batch. I appreciated his aesthetic. He scooped the batter into the cupcake wrappers himself.

We were inspired by our hostess's manger to get ours out this evening. I insisted that D wait until after dinner. That way he could help his dad put it together while I cleaned the kitchen. D loves the manger. He loves playing with the figures, especially the baby Jesus. Last year, when he was just learning to talk, he would ask for the “Baby Beesus”, which sounded suspiciously like his favorite word, “cheese”. It was very endearing. This year he seems to want to make one of the wise men a “bad knight” and one of them a “good knight”. We're beginning to share with him the story of the birth of Jesus, but I think he's putting his own spin on things. We got several Christmas-themed books from the library on Monday. We started reading The Littlest Angel. The artwork is wonderful, and definitely conveys the sense of wonder and awe appropriate for nature of the story. Perhaps tonight we'll move on to another selection...

Family, Friends, Learning Fun, and New Experiences!

The past few days have been truly wonderful and full of family, friends, learning fun and new experiences. Here are a few highlights!

Thanksgiving Day at our friend's home – 3 courses and plenty of side dishes and an afternoon walk around their neighborhood. We arrived home in the late afternoon and enjoyed a family movie night curled up on the futon in from of the television watching “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”, one of my favorite movies when I was a child. D loved the finale with all the armor and the castles!

Saturday – Thanksgiving #2 at David's dad's house. Great to see the family and D got to play with his cousin, J. They are only a few months apart in age. It was one of the first times that they actually played with one another rather than playing along side one another.

Sunday – First Sunday of Advent. D share his first bread communion in church (which they had practiced last week in Sunday school.) After church we went to the Worcester Art Museum. We had never been to the WAM, despite living in the are for the last 2 years. It was a trip undertaken with the spirit of adventure. I had no idea what D would make of it. The museum supplied a “scavenger hunt” of several famous portraits which provided us with a purpose as we traveled the amazing galleries. D seemed most intrigued by the pictures with castles and animals. He particularly liked the Buddha statues in the Asia collection. Once we had traveled through the galleries and located all the portraits, we realized that a concert was about to begin! An experimental choir from Worcester Polytechnical Institute was there to give an acapella concert of traditional readings and British carols. We asked d if he would like to stay and he said yes, so we took seats in the back row in case we needed to make a quick exit. Although he squirmed and fidgited in his chair quite a bit (keeping in mind that he sat through a church service already that day for the Intergenerational Service) he really enjoyed the music. Later that evening I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, he replied, “I liked the singing soooooooo much!”

Tuesday – Homeschool Day at the EcoTarium! We brought the nature treasures we'd been collecting on our walks to the curator volunteers. They discussed the items with us and showed us how to create nature boxes. We were inspired to do a different nature box for each season. D scours the ground when we are outside for small treasures to add to our collection and record in our notepad. We enjoyed lunching and chatting with other homeschoolers at lunch. D loved the “animal encounter” - chinchillas!

A Whale of a Good Time at the EcoTarium

This morning we made our bimonthly visit to the EcoTarium for preschool story time. It is one of Daniel's favorite things to do. We forgot that it was Veterans Day until we got there and saw the throngs of people. Luckily we were able to get a ticket! (It is free, but you have to get a ticket as they limit the number of families that can participate.)

The topic of the story time was "Whales". Miss Kathy read a story about saving the whales and then we took a little field trip out to one of the main exhibit rooms where they had set up a 40 or 50 foot "whale" - a plastic whale inflated with a large fan that the kids were invited to go into and pretend what it would be like to be inside a whale! While Daniel was a little dissappointed that there wasn't a real whale, he loved getting inside and playing pretend. We then did a craft and made a necklace in the shape of a whale tale.

Afterward we poked around some of the exhibits - the outer space exhibits are always a hit. Daniel loves visiting the air table. (See the picture) His favorite thing to do is to get the small plastic ball to hang in air. He delights in adjusting the air to watch the ball rise and fall!

After playing outside on the payground for a while and revising the air table on the way out, we purchased a book in the gift show and returned home. We read the book, "On Earth" by G. Brian Karas when we got home and both loved it! Great book introducing the concepts of the revolution of the earth, the earth's axis and equator, and the journey of the earth around the sun resulting in seasons. We were then inspired to begin work on a craft project - constructing a model solar system. We talked about the relative sizes of the planets and that the sun is not a planet, but rather a star. It was lively conversation and I was impressed on Daniel's grasp of the concepts as the result of his nightly conversations with his dad at bedtime. They have been putting up glow-in-the-dark stars and constellations in his room and talking about them for the past few months. Yet again, I'm inspired by my son's love of learning and for rolling abstract ideas around in his head!

Family Learning Co-op - Harvest and the Cycle of Life

When we decided to homeschool Daniel for preschool I knew that I wanted him to have a recurring group of children with whom to have fun learning adventures and camaraderie. I put out a request on Facebook to my friends to see if anyone else was interested in setting up a homeschool co-op or knew of anyone who did with kids ages 2 to 6. One friend replied in the affirmative and she knew someone interested, who knew someone else who might be interested...and on until we had 5 families on board.

The last co-op meeting we had the theme of Halloween and met at one of the families homes. The highlight for Daniel was painting gourds. He distinctly did not like pulling the guts out of the pumpkin – too messy!

Today we had our third meeting. Another mother and I were in charge of the activity for the day. We met at my church and set the theme as “harvest and the cycle of life”. We first prepped apples one of the families had recently gleaned from a local orchard for homemade applesauce and talked about picking fruit and how at this time of the year that is "harvesting" food, relating that to upcoming Thanksgiving. We talked a bit about the ingredients of applesauce as well and added them to the bowl with the sliced apples. We then took the peels and cores and talked about how we could compost them to make good food for the plants in the spring, along with leaves and grass clippings.

Once the apples were on the stove cooking, we went outdoors to look at our church's large compost pile. We were able to see the stratification of the pile; the leaves on top and at the rich soil bottom of the pile. One of the children added our apple peels and cores to the compost pile. Then we put down a large vinyl table cloth and had the kids pile leaves on it for transport to the compost bin – not without a significant amount of jumping in the pile first however!

After the compost pile field trip, we went into the church courtyard and let the kids burn off energy for about a half hour. They enjoyed running around and throwing leaves at one another and playing tag. At one point two of the girls started to run back and forth across the courtyard holding hands. Before long others joined in, forming a long chain. Then it developed into “Ring Around the Rosey”. What was so touching was how they took care of one another. They made sure that they waited for one another if a younger child was a little slower to move around the circle. They also made sure to stop and let a child join in and would then start the song over. The nurturing among the group was touching when taking into consideration they've only been together as a group three times!

Once outdoor play was over, we went back inside and worked on some coloring and craft sheets that were put together (utilizing free resources on the internet) in keeping with the theme and prepped the apple sauce. Part of the serving of the snack included having the children take on jobs of putting the craft supplies away and passing out napkins, spoons, and water. Each child was given a small serving of the applesauce and assured that if they finished, they could have more. While the snack was enjoyed, two stories were read which kept the kids, for the most part, engaged until the end. The kids demolished the applesauce with great relish! We then took care to clean the room before we departed.

All in all, a successful day and the kids and parents, for the most part, had a great time. (Except M, who was very tired when he arrived, poor little guy!)

It is so great working with the other mothers to provide these fun experiences. I had a blast serving the families in this way. It was enriching to get to know the other children and to observe my son developing relationships and learning from them. He had never done “Ring Around the Rosey” before today and loved it! It is also a relief to be able to arrive somewhere with your child and enjoy a fun and educational afternoon when it is not your turn to provide the experience! I am so blessed to be working with such caring and committed mothers!

Applesauce recipe
8 apples, cored, peeled and sliced
1.5 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Bring to boil and reduce to medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes.
Use potato masher to mash to desired texture.
Allow to cool.
Enjoy!

Resources for Worksheets:
www.familyfun.com
www.first-school.ws

No More Questions - In Praise of Respecting My Son's Moments of Awe and Wonder

July 12th

A revelation this week. I resolve to allow Daniel to enjoy each new experience he has without peppering him with questions about it and thus drawing him out of the experience of awe and wonder. Awe and wonder are seed crystals of curiosity and inquiry. Allowing him to have that complete experience will do more for his future learning and understanding than any question I could pose.

I received this insight at the EcoTarium with him on Wednesday. I've noticed that despite his enthusiastic hopping up and down and darting all around that he will usually settle on one or two exhibits to focus on for a relatively long period of time. He thrills in fully investigating the exhibit, pointing out details and nuance that are quite remarkable considering his age. While toddlers may be famous for their short attention spans, he spent almost 20 minutes at the wind exhibit repeating the experiential demonstration many times himself and observing the results of the other kids. He seemed to have endless joy and marveled at the exhibit, exclaiming in full body laughs and sparking eyes his enjoyment of “the game” as he called it. He engaged the interaction of the exhibit fully. At first he was a flurry of touching, manipulating, and all the while chattering. Over time he become more intentional and finally quite refined and subtle in the interplay. His interpretation was unique. He refered to this activity as “making eggs.” I have no idea how he arrived at that considering the exhibit had nothing to do with a farm or farm animals. He was insistent, however. He was making eggs.

In contract, many children passed through the exhibit and only repeated the experiment once or twice. Time and time again the well meaning parents would ask the child questions or begin to explain the principles of the demonstration. The child's eyes would dim or roll with perhaps a touch of exasperation and the child would move on to something else. You could see that is was well intentioned on the parents part. They were doing what good engaged parents are taught to do. I myself have done that many times. However as I stood back and observed, it seemed quite artificial, not authentic dialog and the kids knew it. All the while, Daniel stayed, repeating it demo over and over, laughing and having a great time. I simply stood back and observed, responding to him with encouragement and validation. Eventually he moved on to the next exhibit and with just as much enthusiasm and confidence set about absorbing the pendulum exhibit completely.

Before you can wonder why something happens or why something is the way it is, you must first observe it and process your experience. Sometimes this happens in an instant. Other times it can take a while. Daniel was in observation mode in his exploration of the exhibits. He was awe filled and delighting in wonder. He was completely absorbed in the experience and newness of the exhibits.

I have never visited the Grand Canyon. A friend of mine related to me that upon finally arriving there, as she and her five kids filed out of the RV after a 2 hour drive through barren landscape, they all fell silent and their jaws dropped as they gazed out upon the vast scar in the earth. She said despite the large number of people on the rim, it was silent. Everyone was completely absorbed in awe and wonder, absorbed in the experience of the Canyon. I imagine they were not thinking about it, evaluating it, questioning it. That would only come later. I would imagine that curiosity would at some point be sparked and the mind would chime in with theories and reasonings. When that happened, it would take them out of the experience of the Canyon, out of the merging, out of the present, and into the mind, into their concept of the Canyon, and into the past thought forms. Maybe those that could reasonably link the three dimensional magnificence before them to one dimensional theories of to plate tectonics, geology, and theology. To think about something is not the same as its experiencing. When questions are introduced too early in the merging experience it most surely aborts the formation of the seed crystals of awe and wonder that drive the precipitation of logical, compelling, and personally meaningful questions, the source of self directed inquiry.

To put it another way, imagine finally getting to see your favorite musician in concert. For me this would be like seeing the late great Miles Davis perform “Kind of Blue” or “Sketches of Spain” live in an intimate and smoky jazz club or the original Allman Brothers Band line up perform my favorite song of all time, “Blue Sky,” at a sold-out stadium show in the summertime. You would be completely entranced, hanging on every note, every well-timed phrase. You would be in some sort or rapture. The world around you would stop and your friends around you would vanish from your immediate awareness. You would merge with the performance. All thoughts would leave your mind and you would be completely as one with the performance. You would find you couldn't stop smiling and tears would fill your eyes. Now image someone standing next to you asking a bunch of questions to which they already had the answers. How are you were enjoying the concert? What you were finding most interesting? How you think they assembled the stage? Where was the last concert? Did you remember hearing the song on the car the day before? All questions would be irrelevant to the actual experience of the concert. They wold take you out of your experience of awe and wonder and force you into your mind. Enough! If you hadn't given up trying to enjoy the concert you surely would have told this person to kindly shut up.

All it takes for Daniel to experience bliss is to play with an exhibit on the wind at the EcoTarium. When I pose questions to Daniel prematurely, that is to say when he is still in the fascination mode, it robs him of that precious experience. There will be plenty of time to reflect on the experience later.

Sir Batman, the Knight

July 1, 2009

This morning I had a leadership training to attend, so David stayed home with the little guy and then took him over to see his Pop-pop and Mum-mum. I arrived at about 1:30pm to a house full of people, which meant a house full of people for Daniel to play with, entertain, interrogate, and otherwise enjoy. It was great to see everyone in good spirits despite yet another day of rain.

Pop-pop was remarking on how Daniel's intonation had really evolved and was revealing more of his personality. The last time they spent time together was at the end of May for his birthday party at the park. It had been several months since Daniel was at their home. Mum-mum remarked how upon entering the home, Daniel requested “Mum-mum's bunny that is in her office” - referring to a rubber rabbit that has sentimental value to her. He fell in love with and played with non-stop during his last visit. It was rough when we had to leave. He wanted to take it with him but we convinced him that the rabbit lived in Mum-mum's office and Mum-mum would very sad if it went away. Daniel put the rabbit back in the office himself and we assured him that he could play with it next time he visited. All of us - meaning the adults - had completely forgotten about it. Not Daniel. What a memory! And sure enough, when I walked in, he had it in hand and again didn't want to part with it. He did return it to her personally when it was time to leave and thanked her. In exchange, she allowed him to borrow a small bell he'd discovered. He solemnly promised to return with it next time. By the time we arrived at the car, the bell had become a hat for Batman whom he promptly declared a knight, no doubt inspired by our recent visit to the Higgins Armory Museum the previous weekend. What an imagination. The whole way home, he alternately sang and rang the bell, knighted Batman, and requested we do “cafts” when we got home until he fell asleep, the bell dropping out of his hands onto the floor of the car.