NO WORRIES

We made worry dolls, inspired from Guatemala.  

During the winter months at earth school, when we cannot spend all of our time outdoors, we come inside and focus on other people of the earth; cultures through art.


The children enjoy working with maps and we always locate the country on its continent first.

Can you see Guatemala?

 We also label an outline map of the country, with the capital city, surrounding countries and bodies of water.

The map work gives the children a reference point, exactly where the people of each country live, before they watch the DVD about family life there.  


We love this DVD series, Familes of the World. Each DVD showcases two different families of a particular country, one from a rural area and one from the city. 

Afterwards we talk together, comparing the culture to ours, what the similarities and differences are, and together we make a list.  All the children get involved and it's fun!


We also make ART having to do with each culture, like Guatemalan worry dolls.


Guatemalan worry dolls date back to Mayan traditions and they are thought to soothe fears and anxieties.They are mostly made for children to put under their pillow at night or carry in a pocket. They measure less than an inch long and are made with thin wooden sticks and scraps of clothing and usually come in a box of six.

We took the inspiration from Guatemalan worry dolls, but made our own. 
Our dolls were bigger, about two inches. We used yarn for the body, a wooden bead for the head and an acorn cap for a hat. Some children added hair. 


We formed the body with a chenille stem, using a page from Sally Mavor's terrific book, 

 Felt Wee Folk, for guidance.

We formed the body

twisted it at waist and neck

and started wrapping with the yarn, catching the loose yarn under the leg wrapping, and wrapping until all the chenille stem was covered. Some children decided to leave the ends of the arms and legs unwrapped to look more like hands and feet.

Once the wrapping was completed, we tucked the loose end under another wrapped yarn or up to the neck to tuck under the head. 
A wooden bead was used for the head and glued on.

All the children used an acorn cap for a hat, and some made hair with the yarn.

They also decided it was important the dolls have facial features, and they drew them on with fine marker.

Each doll is very unique and very sweet, just like all the children at earth school.

Go check out what others have done at the Hands-On Homeschool Carnival hosted this month by Cultivated Lives.

                                                               happy day!

WORDS AND CHARLOTTE MASON

 I have always been passionate about 
Charlotte Mason and her educational philosophy.


 She VALUED children, unlike most others of her era. It was a time when the mentality was *children are to be seen but not heard*. Charlotte believed in children and thought they had immense capabilities and great worth.


  Copywork is part of the Charlotte Mason philosophy. A child keeps a notebook and copies a letter, word, quote, poem, or a line or passage from rich literature each day. Copywork is done instead of vocabulary drills, grammar exercises, random penmanship or spelling lists. Charlotte Mason felt that doing daily copywork exposed all of that to the children in a more pleasing and meaningful way.


  Keeping a journal of favorite quotes, sayings, poems or lines from great books or movies, or anything else can be enjoyable to children as well as adults! My children have journals and I have journals.
 I LOVE my journals!
  It's fun for children to have many different materials to write with (colored pens, gel pens, colored pencils, thin markers, calligraphy pens, etc). They can even make their very own journal using many different papers and page protectors in a binder.


Stay tuned for my weekly posts titled 
* WORDS* which will include sentences, quotes, poems, etc that you may want to use as copywork in your journals, or perhaps you just may want to read or talk about them. 
You can do whatever works for YOU, whatever you enJOY. 

  Our first experiences in homeschooling was with a Charlotte Mason philosophy. I started a yahoo group CMinMA to share support with other like-minded families.
  
 It wasn't too long that CM evolved into Unschooling for us. 
Every family has to find the *right fit* for them and the leap to Unschooling made us happier, and life became more peaceful and joyful. That is not to say one cannot have peace and joy with CM , it's what works for each family. We are all unique. 

The questions to ask are "Are we happy?" "Is my child happy?" Because if learning becomes drudgery, that is not happiness. Learning CAN be joyful ALL the time. Please know if there isn't happiness in your lives,with living and learning, you *can* make a change.

 That being said, I am still passionate about CM to this day.
Her love of children, her love of nature , art , fine literature and living books is what I love the most. She believed in short lessons, and narration instead of short answer tests. "If you can tell if back you know it", she believed.

 She believed in exposing the child to quality literature and poetry with its rich vocabulary from an early age. Read the original fairy tales and unabridged books not watered down books, "twaddle" she called them.  Adapted books and Disney books come to mind.
Charlotte valued the earth and being OUTDOORS with children every day in all kinds of weather.


She thought children were such capable beings and they will take from it what they will 
I believe that to this day. Children WILL take what they can from every experience they have and make connections over time
There are parts of the CM philosophy interwoven in our lives forever and we are so very grateful.

SO YOU THINK YOU WANT TO HOMESCHOOL

"I really want to homeschool my child, but I just don't know " and their voice trails off as they are deep in thought. This is a statement I have heard repeatedly, and then they ask for advice.

  My two youngest children, who are now 13 1/2 and almost 12,  have always lived WITHOUT school. My four older children went to school and college, one graduates in May, so I can compare.

Life without school is GLORIOUS and is a wondrous JOURNEY!

Here's some of my advice:

- Please know that you can homeschool...legally and with confidence. You CAN do it!  

-All you need to do is LOVE your child WHOLEHEARTEDLY and want to see your child HAPPY.

-You don't need to know everything, but just know where to go to find the information, resources and experiences to provide your child a RICH ENVIRONMENT where learning is JOYFUL and EXCITING.

-You need to be willing to see outside the box though , to REDEFINE LEARNING as you know it (school and separate subjects) .
All of learning and life is INTERCONNECTED. Learning takes places at all times and in all forms.
The WHOLE WORLD is out there to draw from, so please do not mimic school at home.

-Don't worry about a curriculum or textbooks (don't waste your money!), instead, look to your child and see what INTERESTS him/her and START there. Go to libraries, bookstores, videostores, toystores, museum shops,etc. Find something that looks COOL and bring it home. You never know where it may lead.

-TUNE INTO what interests YOU. What are YOU passionate about?  Go forth with that . You will be sharing that experience whether your child joins in or just asks questions. And more importantly, you are modeling that LEARNING IS LIFELONG and that all people need BALANCE in their lives and TIME to devote to their passions.

- READ books and websites about learning, homeschooling, unschooling, mindful parenting, etc with an OPEN MIND.
Know that noone is 100% like someone else, but as you read you can take in what will fit in YOUR life.
More knowledge might cause you to QUESTION your life and your expectations. It's a good thing...to question and re-evaluate your life ...to make it the BEST it can be, for yourself and for your child.

- Don't worry about what kind of homeschooler you are or need to be. Don't compare yourselves to other homeschoolers and what they are doing. Everyone is UNIQUE and the benefit of learning without school is to go with that *uniqueness*.
Just let your days FLOW and see learning in all that you do and everywhere you go. Keep a journal for yourself if you must. You will be amazed at what you do and what you learn.

-Realize that people learn things readily and with Joy IF it has MEANING to them. Think back to YOUR school days.


- Be your child's PARTNER . Talk about EVERYTHING (do you know how much learning takes place in conversations?).  And really LISTEN to your child with all your being.
Be IN THE MOMENT. 
Let him/her tell you and show you WHY he likes what he likes and vice versa. JOIN IN with his passions with him. You will gain much more than knowledge. Respect, love, trust come to mind. And your child will feel valued.

- Ask yourself often, Is my child HAPPY? Am I happy? If not, what one step can you take to make life better? One small step to start with, then the next and so on.
People tend to shrug off the word happy and minimize the importance of happiness. It's a small word but a very important and powerful one.

If you can truly say you and your child are HAPPY,
then Life IS good and you are on your way.