In print

This delightful magazine arrived on my Australian doorstep all the way from America this week. The first issue of Secular Homeschooler magazine. I had been anticipating its arrival, as it is the first time my words and drawings have been featured in an International print magazine. I couldn't believe it when I opened the cover and my leaf painting was the front page! Emerson and I are both feeling a little bit famous. I love the layout and I can't wait to read the rest of the magazine. Keep an eye out for my quarterly contributions in upcoming issues! 

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Order a print or digital copy of the magazine over here.

Nature Journaling

 

Golden Orb-weaving spider

Nephila plumipes

(female) 

The small red spider to the left is the male.

Sunrise 6:29 am

Sunset 5:16 pm

28 July 2018

Saturday

9 - 25' C

Springwood Conservation Park

I took a nature walk on my own today while the children were tucked up at home with coughs and runny noses. It was a nice change to be able to set my own pace, be quiet and listen to the birds and sit still and look for wildlife. I walked off the path and found a big rock to walk on. I heard a rustle in the leaf litter and spotted a goanna eating beneath a tree. I'm not sure what it was eating, but it seemed large, like it was choking. It rubbed its face on the bark of the tree and eventually licked its lips, had a sniff around and wandered off. It was so quiet I heard bird calls I didn't recognise. 

I kept walking and saw a water dragon sunning itself, the colours of its body a brilliant camouflage against the silvery lichen on the rocks. As I walked the loop up to the lookout I snapped off a few twigs and popped them in my backpack. I found a large flat rock at the highest point and sat down and made these sketches in pencil. I walked back to the car as the shadows grew longer and added pen and watercolour at the dining room table, looking up the names of these beautiful native Australian flowers.

Boronia pinnata

Qld silver wattle / Acacia podalyriifolia

Playful

1. Finding her reading to herself melts my heart, especially as she refused to read or write when she left school, 2. Air dry clay feathers, 3. Nature journaling, 4. Dry feathers

I've been consciously incorporating the word 'playful' into our days lately. Surprising the children as we go about our day to day by calling out "race you to the trampoline!" then playing 'crack the egg' with them until we are all just in fits of giggles. Or, having running races with the little ones from the veggie patch to the chicken run and back again. Or, stopping what we are doing to announce 'let's dance!' and playing dance music on Spotify as we sway, stomp and twirl around the living room. 

I found a beautiful book about feathers at the library after we had been sketching feathers in our nature journals. We flicked through its pages one morning as we snuggled on the couch and I suggested we add more information to our journal pages. No one was particularly interested and wandered off to do their own things. I happily labelled my feathers on my own, not wishing to resort to coercion to have the children join me. Does it really matter if they don't know the parts of a feather? I hadn't known them until that moment, but now they suddenly fascinated me, as did learning that there are only six types of feathers. 

Later, as I washed the dishes I had another thought - let's MAKE feathers. I turned to Pinterest and found a tutorial on air dry clay feathers and invited the children to make them with me. You can see Cohen's (9 years) feather at the top of the plate picture. Emerson's (6 years) feather didn't survive the creative clay play that continued after the feather making. While Oscar (3 years) rolled, poked and cut his clay happily before squishing it in his fist, dropping the triangular result on the table and announcing he had made a mountain.

Later, when I asked the children their favourite parts of the day, these were the things they remembered.

Here's to making time to play. xx

Glamping

The last time we went camping was disastrous. One word - gastro. It has been several years since we attempted to camp again recently. I think our expectations were rather low when we signed up for the Unschooling Camp at Cob and Co Nine Mile camping grounds, but we were willing to give it another try. And oh, how wonderful it was! We stayed in a 'glamp' which was all sorts of wonderful. A tent - with beds, carpet, a door, and LED lights! - complete with deck, table and chairs and a BBQ. We made fires out front and roasted marshmallows, stunned by the brilliance of the starry sky above us. 

We stomped around the wet earth in our gumboots after all the rain of late, and the camp dog alternated between following us and having us follow him. There were horse and carriage rides, puddles to stomp in, time to draw in my nature journal, time to read inside the tent while it rained, rock pools to explore just up the road, and so many varieties of mushrooms and fungi that I could have stayed several weeks trying to document them all. 

We panned for gold at the Gympie museum without luck, then wandered through the old school house, the slab hut, the enormous shell collection and the blacksmith's workshop.And it felt good. No, it felt great, to be with my most beloved people enjoying a change of pace while coating one another with mosquito repellant. 

We are already planning our next such adventure.

Bananas

 1. Rainy days, 2. Miss Five Nature Journaling, 3. Emerson, 4. Fern, 5. Wallaby love, 6. Kookaburra feather?

There's a show on the ABC, 'Didi and B'. A butterfly puppet, Didi, sings the days of the week, then B mucks about half way thought and shouts, 'Bananas!' and they both have a fit of giggles. It makes my children giggle too. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs, Bananas!"

We spend a lot of time together exploring, creating and learning. But too often the children end up squabbling and I am left feeling like a referee while the magic of the day is lost. After looking for a shorthand way to get my children's attention when they are fighting, 'bananas' has become our codeword for feeling frustrated or cranky. It has made all the difference to smoother, battle free-ish days now that we are all spending more time together through homeschooling. Using the codeword 'bananas' is both funny and nonsensical, and gently breaks the mood. When the children start to bicker I say, "Are you feeling bananas?" And they can't help but crack a smile, despite trying to keep a straight/cranky face. Rather than saying, "I am feeling frustrated", I say, "I'm feeling bananas". Or, "are you feeling bananas?" The weight seems to lift without blame. Once the tension has eased we can discuss their frustrations, put their big feelings into words, and find solutions.

The children have embraced the term as their own and will acknowledge proudly that it is lunch time, and no one has said the word 'bananas'. Or point out when I am starting to express 'bananas' and try to offer alternatives.

It's sweet that such a simple thing could have such a big impact on our days and help us all be mindful of our reactions and emotions, and the way they affect the family.

Do you have a family code word that helps destress a situation? Or a tactic for improving the relationships between your children? I'd love to hear, for who knows how long 'bananas' will be effective?!

Nature Studies

I found a post sitting in drafts that sums up much of our weekly nature study adventures.

Mama packs a basket with water, snacks, nature journal and paints. The children pack their backpacks with toys, dolls, sketchbooks and pens. After a little wander we unroll a picnic blanket and snack while documenting the flora and fauna around us. Ducks, lizards, water lilies, freshwater mussel shells, 'santa clause' seeds, feathers, leaves. We observe, discuss, record.

And for a little while, a peacefulness descends. They are in tune with nature and each other, exploring their creativity and really studying what is around them. Eventually the spell is broken and the squabbling begins again. I was sitting there/ he stole my pen/ she ate my food/ don't touch my bag! 

Ah, the realities of parenting. But still, those peaceful nature study moments keep me coming back for more.