Mid Autumn

There are so many seasons.  Not just summer and winter.  Not even just summer, autumn, winter and spring.   There's early summer, mid summer, late summer, early autumn, mid autumn, late autumn ... you get the drift.

And right now, we're in mid autumn on this half of the globe.

It's a beautiful BEAUTIFUL time of the year.  We're enjoying it to the fullest.

A Rare Gem

In today's world full of OSH, great whopping handrails, soft-fall landscaping, playgrounds being pulled apart and thrown away because the owners can't keep up with the regs etc etc etc rant rant rant ...

...  well, we had an amazing time at a local privately-owned garden that is open to the public.

It's somewhere we've driven past a million times, on the way to appointments, jobs that needed to be done before everyone got over-tired, visits or the like - but today, we stopped and played.

Far, far better than any playground - we will be returning for sure.

 

Keeping a Stash of Potentially Useful things

The other day I bought some 2nd hand, wide, rainbow elastic.  I don't have a project for it yet, but the children have already played quite a few games with it.   I'll put it into our storeroom soon, and one day we'll need it  I'm sure.

Years ago someone gave me a roll of thick clear plastic.  I didn't know what I would use it for immediately,  but some time later I had a Great Idea.   My Great Idea was very successful and everyone enjoyed it for a while.

Last week I was tidying our library (two of the adjustable shelves had fallen over from the weight of the books, so it was time for a tidy up and a clean out) and I found an very old school atlas that I'd bought very cheaply from a sale somewhere, for some reason.   (I know it was very old because I used the same edition when I was in school).

So, with the old atlas in my hand, and the roll of thick clear plastic I embarked on The New Great Idea.


The ingredients you will need for The New Great Idea are:

-   one clean table

-   one old atlas, or any interesting book, posters, maps etc   The first time I did this idea I use an old Bible.

-  a roll of thick clear plastic, or a thick clear plastic tablecloth

And there you are.  Easy as that.  Our 6 year old was helping me with the sticky tape and the scissors.  As soon as I had finished he said "Now, where do we live on this map?"

I was so pleased!  I hadn't been talking to him about it as I was doing it - he knew they were maps, he knew which ones were New Zealand, and he wanted to know where we lived!  

This afternoon as was tidying in the kitchen, the children started a game of calling out places in the world and seeing if the other could find them.

Our 10 year old ran to get the magnifying glass, and world map off the lounge wall, and said "I LOVE geography".  

I hadn't said a word!  I just set it up, and off they went.  Yay for natural education!!

And yay for keeping a stash of potentially useful things!!!

Application for Exemption from a Registered School

Due to rather a lot of interest in our recent escapades with the Ministry of Education, I thought I'd post a copy of our exemption application.  

I was in two minds when I did this - I really didn't want to give TOO MUCH information out of the concern that the MOE will start to expect it from everyone if too many people do this.

But on the other hand, this was the first application I had done like this.  The previous five have been a bit different.  But not much.

As it turned out - I had not given TOO MUCH information.  The MOE had more questions for me (see my last blog post).

Anyhoo - here it be.   And if anyone wants to use it as a model for their own application please feel free if you can do so honestly knowing that you are going to use the same approach as us.

*****

What and how we intend to teach – our philosophy/approach.

We use what we have come to call a Natural Learning approach. It is child-led/delight directed learning taking elements from the following sources:

• Charlotte Mason education
• Montessori
• Pikler
• Waldorf/Steiner
• Thomas Jefferson Education
• Democratic schools
• Free/liberal schools
• Enki Education
• Reggio Emilia
• NZ Government curriculum
• Christian Schools

Researching each of the above areas, we have developed and use our own “spiral curriculum” – so called as it is planned monthly, and we revisit the whole curriculum each year, recapping what we have learned previously and then going deeper and deeper into various topics as the children show interest.

Each month in our Spiral Curriculum has seasonal activities and discussions on many and various topics. As soon as Joseph’s interest in sparked in an area we delve further into that area. If he doesn’t seem ready for the information, or not interested we know that going further into the subject may spoil his enjoyment for that subject later, so we either wait until that topic comes up again the next year – or talk about it if Joseph brings the subject up himself (he may have been spending time considering what we have been talking about) – or more usually we would talk about that particular topic again if it comes up again naturally. An example of which: some time ago when we had been discussing letterboxes – construction, use etc. The children became extremely interested in letterboxes when we started actually spotting quirky or handcrafted letterboxes locally – some time after the original discussion took place. One of the younger children was going through a “posting things” stage, and so the others made a “letterbox” for that younger child, and made “letters” for the child to post, and then collect in a bag and deliver to family members.

Using this system of learning Joseph will naturally go deeper into subjects each time they come up, and remember what he has learned from the previous discussions/projects.

When we use our Spiral Curriculum it takes place during the time of day we call “Cozy Time” where there are songs (including action songs), discussions, fingerplays, art lessons, short reading sessions (for example reading a portion of a health/manners/geography type book – often Rod & Staff Publishers), language lessons, games etc – whatever suits the age and interests of the children. Joseph has been raised in this environment and it is natural to him. We have a large number of games and activities that we have developed into a booklet and we take ideas from that.

Joseph participates as he is interested, but is always around, absorbing what the others are doing.

Much of our learning is oral, but often spills over into games the children invent. As an example, whilst watching a favourite BBC documentary series “Wartime Farm” the children made a wartime shop where MANY experiences were discussed and agreements/disagreements were involved.

The most effective and appropriate time for Joseph to learn is when he’s interested, and he is encouraged and respected when he has questions, which he often has i.e., during a rain storm he may ask about rain, clouds etc. We will either just discuss things, or look in books.

This is a sample from our Spiral Curriculum, which, as mentioned, is based on what we consider to be the “best” of many educational styles.

MARCH

Early Autumn

Character Quality: Boldness vs Fearfulness

Fun Studies:

• drying flowers
• deciduous trees
• how to sincerely congratulate someone
• seas and oceans
• harvesting and saving/storage of food
• light and heavy
• sea life
• migration
• stacking blocks to make an arch
• architecture
• gorse/flax
• plastics
• re-writing a newspaper article
• send cards to people we know
• reciting – focus on not fidgeting

(these studies may be oral, books, videos, hands-on activities, but always done in a very natural way, not forced and Joseph is free to come and go as his interest leads).

Games: name items, child repeats then goes and touches them (i.e., chair, cushion, door)

Draw five dots then join them to be head, hands, feet

Memory – items on a tray, take one away

Sort buttons

Play with precious things in the box

Make tents

Beanbag toss

Write story – write a piece, fold paper and pass it on to another to continue– two characters/this day they were/but suddenly/it was just as well that/the end.

This list of subjects and games is a springboard for me to use for the month. We are never restricted by this list though, and will often delve into another subject (perhaps from something we have seen/heard, learned in a book etc) when interest comes up.

If, one year, we don’t get round to studying a particular topic, then it will be covered the next year.

Any of the above subjects may be “studied” by talking about them, or in a hands-on way – writing, drawing, making something, playing with things etc which really cements the learning in Joseph’s mind. I keep in mind the topics for the month, and “strew the path” (to quote Sandra Dodd) with resources (library books, our own books, science equipment, art and craft supplies etc) and activities (trips out, games, building projects etc) pertinent to those topics.

For example: Flower drying – I will keep in mind that this topic will be looked at in March. When we are having a walk around the paddock I might pick a few flowers and briefly discuss them with Joseph – the name of the plant – whether it is a weed (a plant growing in the wrong place) or something we have planted; we’ll discuss the colour, the pattern of the petals, maybe we’ll take a flower apart. When we get home we’ll put various flowers carefully between two pieces of cartridge paper, with paper towels to protect the pages, in a heavy book. We’ll write on the calendar when we can open the pages to look at them again, discussing time, weeks, days at the same time.

Another learning tool we enjoy is a “Current Subjects” poster which I change every few weeks – it is kept on our fridge, so we see it every time we sit at the kitchen table. It is a strong visual resource spotlighting an artist and their style of art; a person from history; a hymn; a poem; a piece of scripture; an animal. We discuss these posters as a family and Joseph is very much part of the discussion, and absorbs much of the information.

The current poster we have features

1. Artist: Albrecht Durer. This has already invoked discussions on Germany, the sound of a “u” when the amlaut is over it (like the oo sound in “food”), in the quote from the artist we have the word “youngsters” – would Albrecht Durer really have used that word in the mid 1500’s? and many more things)

2. Historic Person: King Charles the II. We have discussed the fashion at the time of this King, where this King was in time compared to Cromwell, was this around the time of the classic literature “Children Of The New Forest” (which we have read, and will re-read next winter), we discussed the King’s nickname – The Merry Monarch, and other things.

3. Our hymn is “Will your Anchor Hold” which we sing every so often, allowing the words to be memorized naturally.

4. Poem: We have chosen a very long poem - a favourite of our older boys – “Saddle To Rags” written in the 1700’s presumably, discussing a highwayman intent on robbing an old man, but the tables are turned. I read this through often and Joseph absorbs it naturally as he loves the rhythm, the rhymes and the mental imagery. He often asks me to recite it at other times, and so I retell as much as I can remember – he often prompts me in the places I have forgotten.

5. Our piece of scripture is Proverbs 12:15. We use the King James Version for memorisation as the language is rich and there are many benefits for Joseph growing up hearing this language being used.

6. The animal we are currently studying is the “Streaked Tenric” - a favourite due to his cool hairstyle, and colour. From discussing the Tenric we learn about Madagascar, we try to pronounce the Latin name (Hemicentetes semispinosus) and we talk about habitat and other interesting points.

(In relation to Latin we often learn the Latin and Greek roots of words, and I have made a card game where we learn fun Latin names of animals (i.e., Gorilla = Gorilla Gorilla) – Joseph absorbs and remembers these extremely easily.)

Literacy is covered in the many hours we spend reading together. Our reading aloud sessions as a family cover such classics as Henty, Ballantyne, Laura Ingalls Wilder etc, and then we have one-on-one reading sessions too with just Daddy and Joseph, or Mummy and Joseph, or his big sister and Joseph.

Joseph takes over reading more and more as his enjoyment and confidence increases. His favourite books currently are Dr Seuss, and entwined in the reading are many discussions including those on grammar, punctuation, fantasy, artistic style etc. Joseph learns and retains all this information very naturally in our style of education.

Health and Physical Education – we have many discussions about healthy lifestyle choices – Joseph is very aware of making healthy decisions in relation to food, drink and enjoyable, healthy, respectful pastimes. These things are learned from many discussions, from topics coming up naturally, or from a story that I might invent about a child who did not make good decisions – which is always enjoyed! We live on over 2 acres and Joseph runs, trampolines, climbs trees and generally has a lovely life.

Maths – we have always used Math-U-See, and the concepts learned in the early years are covered very naturally in everyday life currently. When Joseph is ready he will start Math-U-See bookwork. In the meantime he is learning to add, multiply, divide, subtract, looking at telling the time, making charts, graphing, learning shapes and colours – all through natural life.

Languages – Joseph could count to 20 in German from an early age simply because we were learning German, and would sing songs and he absorbed what was interesting to him. He is extremely verbal and has a large vocabulary. This is built on naturally from many discussions where Joseph is respected and listened to.

When Joseph produces some paperwork we keep this in his schoolwork box, which will eventually be turned into a notebook style of record (a ring binder). I am constantly monitoring his progress in our discussions, and looking at his readiness for various tasks and learning skills.

Joseph’s sister is very keen on photography, and we have thousands of photographic records of our activities.

Some Of The Resources I Intend To Use/Am Using

As previously mentioned we use Math-U-See

The Internet – supervised use to look up things of interest and watch programmes

The local libraries – borrowing books

Parks – walks, games, meeting friends

Beaches – walks, games

Over 1,000 books in our personal library – fiction and non-fiction

Daddy’s workshop tools – supervised use of tools and being around/learning the names and function of various machines

Mummy’s art and craft supplies – free use of various art supplies, making things alone or designing them and having Mummy make them

Cameras – taking photos and videos and enjoying them again later

Toys – construction toys like Duplo, Lego, Magna Tiles, wooden blocks, train sets, dress-up clothes, Playmobil, small cars, puzzles, logic games etc

Sewing machine and relevant equipment (the children use a hand-cranked Singer machine)

Musical instruments – guitars, piano, ukulele, tin whistles, chromaharp

Moutere Hills Community Centre – we have been involved in an art group, the recent book stall, and hope to become more involved this year in various events and happenings at the Centre.

Educational Goals

We would like to see Joseph continue to love learning as much as he does. To be able to read fluently, choose high-quality literature along with more easily read books, to be able to speak and write effectively, communicating his thoughts and beliefs easily and well. If we can keep him blossoming and growing, allow his personality to develop, his character traits to strengthen, provide and equip him with things to allow intelligent growth, give him time and space to think, philosophise and theorise then we shall be happy. When Joseph does not know the answer to something, we are confident that he will know WHERE to go, to find the answer.

Our Vision

We would like for Joseph will be literate, competent with basic maths/English skills (or advanced skills if his nature is so inclined) be thoughtful, kind, considerate of others, have a wide general knowledge, a high degree of competent independent life skills, be responsible towards his family/community/country/world, be respectful, have covered so much educational material during his early years that he can be sure of his likes and dislikes which will lead him into a profession of his choosing where he can find contentment.

Special Project or Topic Plan

Please see the information above in relation to our “Current Subjects” poster. The plan for learning is that I will compile information on topics that I know Joseph and the other children will be interested in. I am completely confident that whatever I expect the educational outcome to be the children will far exceed this with our discussions and subsequent rabbit trails and interests sparked from one point. As previously described, I will use resources including the internet, our own books, our art/craft supplies, technological tools we have (Daddy’s workshop, Mummy’s sewing machine, digital SLR camera, computers, printer, tablets) or anything else that fits the need.

Our educational and learning moments are from wake up to sleep time. There is not a time when Joseph is switched off. We have lived this lifestyle for so long, and Joseph has been born into this, and so it is completely natural to him.

TOPIC PLAN

It is not unusual for us at any time, on any day, to play a game involving the world map. Joseph will be given a pointer to use (a stick) and be asked to point out New Zealand. Then we will ask him to show us Australia, then New Zealand. Next I will point out Japan, and subsequently ask him to show me Australia, Japan and New Zealand … gradually new countries are added in as he becomes confident and familiar. It is our expectation that Joseph will eventually have a thorough knowledge of the world’s geography, peoples, history, and learn many geographical terms (ocean, lake, pond, isle, island, reef, headland, cove, river etc etc.) Learning in this way is easy and fun and Joseph asks for more and more! Next time we are discussing say, marsupials, and mention Australia, Joseph will remember where Australia was on the world map. And next time we are drawing maps of imaginary places, Joseph will remember the difference between a peninsula and a bay.

Natural Learning is joyful and exciting, enabling Joseph to put “puzzle pieces” together naturally, at his own pace – making discoveries, “joining the dots” and making learning “his own”. Whether it be technology, geography, social studies, the natural world, art, physics, logic, languages – whatever the “subject”, natural learning is truly as natural as breathing for Joseph.

We have a weekly schedule (copy attached) that shows mealtimes, playtimes, jobs, quiet times – EVERY single one of these activities is an educational time and a learning time when it includes discussions, sharing, exploring things, and Joseph feels very free to ask questions and provide his thoughts.

Joseph’s Dad is a joiner with many years experience who loves his family and spends all his spare time with the family – working on the house or the property, or on various things the children want built, or helping them learn how to use his fully equipped workshop. We are blessed to have a Daddy like this. Daddy is gifted in science, electronics, logic, mathematics, technology and physics areas.

Joseph’s Mum is an experienced home educator with a passion for Natural Education. She is an artist and craftsperson, writer and researcher. She is completely committed to her family. Her areas of interest are the arts, communications and encouraging others.

Joseph’s siblings are his team where he feels secure and loved, and learns many lessons including sharing, communication, working together, teaching them and learning from them.

Joseph will enjoy his first term at gymnastics when the classes start up soon at the local Community Centre – we are waiting for the schedule to be organised so we can register for this. The family have attended the same church for the last 10 years, and Joseph is well-known by everyone when he attends.

CONTROL CENTRE

Here's something a psychologist shared with us a year or so back, and it had an AMAZING effect on the child it was directed towards.




One of our children was having trouble with emotional outbursts. Along with Asperger's Syndrome he has "Emotional Dysregulation" which means he goes from regular to angry with no stops between.  He also goes very swiftly from regular to depressed/tears/upset/the world is too big/everyone is going to die ...

When the psychologist played a game with him, showing him pictures (a butterfly, an aeroplane, a mummy hugging a child, a car, a building etc), and asked him how he felt about each one, the answer was either happy or angry - despite the fact that this child is fully involved a family where the FULL RANGE of emotions are modelled and accepted.   And the answers were surprising - the butterfly made him angry.  I guess it was because he didn't really like butterflies that much, but he didn't have the ability to feel "neutral".

Anyhoo - the psychologist came up with this illustration, and I'd like to share it here in case someone else can benefit from this information.

I would suggest that if you have a child who struggles with "inbetween emotions" (like frustrated, disappointed, cross, dislike), or BIG emotional outbursts, then pick a quiet moment, uninterrupted when everything is calm, then talk to them about this.

Excuse the poor quality of photos, I took them quickly to illustrate the concept!    Our psychologist drew a rough picture of a head, and drew a little dot in the head which she enlarged as the story went on.
 

When a baby is born there is a little spot of their brain called the "Control Centre".  It's just a tiny spot, very little.  The baby doesn't have much control because their Control Centre is just so small.  Babies can't walk or talk, or hold things until their Control Centre gets larger.

And it does get larger!   With practice and age, a baby's Control Centre will grow and grow, so that by the time they are toddlers the Control Centre has got bigger and they can walk, and hold things, and chew food, and let you know when they want things in a way that doesn't involve screaming.

By the time they're 6 their Control Centre has got bigger and they don't have to cry all the time for something, or scream if something goes wrong, or screw up a paper and throw it away if the picture they are drawing is wrong. 

And so on.

Each time the child has an experience and learns something the Control Centre gets bigger.

Each time a child makes a Good Decision about their behaviour their Control Centre gets bigger.

So in the end, when a person is an adult, their Control Centre CAN be really big, and they can control their emotions and behaviour MUCH BETTER than they could when they were a baby!


**********

Sad to say, some people DON'T learn from their experiences and they DON'T put thought into their behaviour and they never consider the effect they have on other people, and even when they're an adult, they have a tiny, small Control Centre.  

 

 

In New Zealand, which is where we live, we must ask permission from the Government if we'd like to educate our children ourselves. 

This sounds kind of backwards, from a natural point of view.  Surely it would be more sensible to just go ahead and educate our children ourselves, OR if we want someone else to educate them (the public school system) THEN we would need to ask permission?

Anyway - the law says that we must ask permission to home educate, so before a child turns six years old we approach the Ministry of Education and embark on a complex procedure called an "application for exemption" to satisfy the Ministry that we will teach our child "as regularly and as well" as a registered school.

In February of this year I put our exemption together for our 6th child - and yes, it was the 6th application I've done.

However, due to ... shall I say "over-zealous" behaviour  from a member of the Ministry in our local office in relation to "face-to-face meetings" with new applicants (meetings are ONE way the ministry can obtain further information from an applicant - the other two ways are email or telephone, but unfortunately our local office was DEMANDING meetings) there has been much, MUCH stress on me during the EIGHT weeks it has taken for us to have our exemption granted.   I declined the meeting, and this was not accepted by the MOE ... blah blah blah ... enter the National Council of Home Educators New Zealand to advocate for me ... blah blah blah .. on it went ...

Today I received the news that our application has been accepted - signed off - and we await the official letter to let us know we can educate our child (!).

This blog post is rather a rant,  but I just wanted to share something that the nice lady from the Min Of Ed seemed to have trouble getting her head around  in relation to our chosen method of education which, as you may know by now dear reader is called "Natural Learning".

The questions she had for me related to "Topic Plan" and "Assessment".

The first two answers I gave her didn't satisfy her.    It was REALLY hard for me to turn natural learning into edu-speak, and I felt I was trying to convince her that LEARNING actually took place.

I didn't seem to be giving the "right answer".   I suddenly had that feeling that I lived with at school - not knowing the "right answer", not having any clue about the "right answer" but still being expected to produce the "right answer" with no clues or hints given.  To be fair, most of the problem with that was of my own making - something to do with Asperger's now I realise, but still, it's pretty frightening for someone who likes to get things right.

So finally, on the telephone last week to the lady from the Min of Ed I prayed whilst speaking,  and God gave me an example of "Topic Plan" and "Assessment" which satisfied her.  

I spoke for about 5 minutes after which the lady said "Ok - I've made some notes, and if you could just email that information to me that would be great.  Then I can take it all to my supervisor".

Sigh.

Ok - so I can type efficiently, and it wouldn't be a big deal - but during this whole process I kept thinking of the newbie home educator, someone without 22 years of experience under their belt, someone who had not given talks, made copious notes, written books and articles - someone unaware of what the MOE were allowed to ask for, and the very real problem of applicants giving more information than is asked for - and then it becomes an EXPECTATION from the MOE that ALL APPLICANTS will need to give that much information, despite the fact that the only requirement of the law is that we teach "as regularly and as well" as a registered school.

Anyway - I did type the information up.  I got a little sarcastic as I was writing it ...  woops.

Just in case it helps anyone here it is:

 

Further to our telephone conversation last week, here is the written information you requested on

 

TOPIC AND ASSESSMENT

 

Our topic will be MAKING PANCAKES

 

First we will discuss what we’re going to do.  J will use large motor skills dragging the chair over to the pantry to get ingredients.  He will put the chair back showing diligence.  He needs to read labels including flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, butter, rice milk and blueberries.   He shows me that he’s familiar with where these items live in our house – fridge, pantry, baking shelf ...

 

We turn the electric frying pan on and discuss safety.   Using a scientific process we turn the butter from a solid to a liquid by putting it into the hot frying pan.

 

Meanwhile J uses fine motor skills as we crack the eggs open, and discuss the chickens who laid the eggs.  Using technology we employ the use of a whisk to beat air into the eggs, and J measures, reads numbers, and adds sugar and beat again.

 

J then measures a liquid and reads mls, then pours the rice milk into the egg and sugar mixture.  We beat that again.

 

At this point we discuss being careful of not spilling the mixture.

 

The flour and the baking powder are added and we discuss how the baking soda in the baking powder causes the flour to be able to puff up during the cooking process.

 

When the mixing becomes too tiring J asks me to take over, effectively communicating his need.

 

We check that the butter is the colour of golden hay, and pour the pancake mixture into the frying pan.  We discuss that if we pour a large amount in one pile it will be thicker and won’t cook so well – so we need a medium amount, spread over the frying pan, allowing more surface heat to evenly cook the pancake. 

 

We dot frozen blueberries over the pancake and pour a little more mixture evenly over.  We discuss that if we put the blueberries into the mixture in the bowl the colour of the blueberries would “stain” the whole mixture, and whilst this would not affect the taste it would affect the look.  We discuss the use of colour in foods, and how manufacturers even put food colouring into dog food to make it look appealing to humans.

 

J exercises patience whilst waiting for the bubbles to come to the surface in the pancake that is cooking.  When he observes the bubbles rising he uses decision-making, and decides it is time to turn the pancake over.

 

Using technology he chooses the correct tool – the fish slice is employed to gently slide under the pancake, and the pancake is flipped over.   At this stage J realises it is a tricky operation, and it may not go well for him – there may be uncooked batter left over the side of the frying pan.  We discuss the fact that practice makes things go easier, and we can’t always succeed on the first try.

 

More patience is needed whilst J waits for the second side to cook.  He takes little looks at the colour underneath, using the fish slice to lift it slightly, always being careful about the hot side of the frying pan.

 

When at last it is cooked, J takes the pancake out, and places it carefully onto a plate.  He sprinkles it with lemon, and spreads some cream cheese onto it.

 

We discuss the flavour and taste and he recalls how the pancake was cooked.  Through this discussion I ASSESS what he has learned.

 

The next time we go through this process I explain less because I have assessed that he is remembering more.  He remembers what the ingredients are, and where they are kept, that the frying pan must pre-heat, that we must not make our pancake too thick, how to tell when it is ready to be flipped over and when it is ready to eat.

 

When Daddy gets home, J re-tells the event using narration and recall skills.  He answers questions from Daddy about the event.

 

 

   

ANOTHER ADVENTURE WITH DADDY

Whilst Mummy rested her back and her mind and played at home with the baby one morning, Daddy took the others on an adventure.