Remembering you by candle light, Katie.

an emerging perspective on education

Our word educate comes from the Greek word "to give," if memory is serving me correctly. In education we are introduced to vantage points from which to view the world. I hope for Henry's life windows to be broad enough to capture many, many different views.Play is the primary work of childhood. Responsibility is important, but identity (and initiative) emerge from play. I am so grateful for memories of my mother saying something to the effect of, "I will do this work right now. Your job is to play." My friend Jen's family of origin said it well on the walls of the home where they once lived: "The days that make us happy make us wise."

Whether or not he values these things now, I hope for Henry's life to be full of the real deal: real flowers, homemade food, things made and repaired by human hands belonging to people he loves.

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Learning happens all the time. I want to give our days together enough structure to hold us in, but enough freedom to allow all three (and then four) of us to do what we need and want to do.

I try the intentional "lesson" on occasion, but we seem to be rearing a boy who prefers learning through his own initiative. Perhaps he would thrive in a classroom setting where the learning goals are set out for him. Perhaps he would not. What I know is that I love, love, love it when he spells out words for me and asks me what they are. Yesterday's finds from an Arby's animal identification kit: s-w-i-f-t-f-o-x, m-o-u-n-t-a-i-n-g-o-a-t and skunk ("...but I already knew that one," he told me). I love learning things together, like the fact that most birds in the world are "passerine" (I think), but the hornbill (which we will be studying at the homeschool co-op this week) is non-passerine, meaning it doesn't sing a song and its young are (probably ...maybe?) precocial (don't need feeding from parents) as opposed to altricial, which means needing feeding...

I want to acquire some Waldorf main lesson books for drawing, but right now we are content doing daily journal entries in the little green diary with a lock on it that he requested when we went to buy school supplies.

I am beginning to feel a little more happily placed as a "home-schooling mom" even though that label still makes me bristle a bit if I stop to consider the assumptions about me it may cause others to form.

Glory be!

I sewed an apron

Despite the fact that the photos are fuzzy and that I think the first picture makes me look like I have no teeth, I want to share with you the apron I made. The thrift-shop fabric had been in the middle of a pile in my bedroom until I cleaned out Joel's closet and made room for my sewing things. I had dreams of making an apron of this cloth, but it had been so long since I had sewn anything that I doubted this idea would ever come to fruition. It did, though. A pattern of my own devising. I even made a buttonhole, with Joel's help. I was amazed that I could make crude gathers under the bib. Despite thinking I never paid attention, I remember a thing or two from my mother's years of sewing for us!
The shell button is from my maternal grandma's collection. The tie in the back is the same red gauzy fabric that I used for the neck strap. I loved making this apron. It was so satisfying to come up with a plan for it and carry that plan out. Can't wait to sew some more things for the sheer fun of it. The added benefit of the apron is that I have needed it. Since I'm borrowing so many maternity clothes (mostly from my dear sister-in-law), I want to take good care of them and that means none of my customary kitchen grease spots. Thank you to my mother and sister for sharing a wonderful new button-hole-ready Singer with me. What a gift!

fall harvest

What a beautiful day was Tuesday. After spending weeks looking out the window to see our deflated pool lying on the ground, Joel and I used this sunny autumn day to clean and cut up pieces of our defective pool and turn them into fodder for a water slide next summer. While Joel was fixing our mop with screws, I did a little weeding and harvesting. Above are the zinnias and cosmos I picked.And here is my very first brandywine of the season--harvested on October 7! Also, chard, yellow peppers on their way to turning and, underneath it all, jalapenos.
Henry played outside on the swing and in the dirt and sand. A joyful, joyful morning that helped me breathe deeply and believe we'll eventually be able to make room and a way for the baby that is coming.