The Mindful Homeschool

I am always amazed …

… that doing just 10 minutes of yoga stretches and mindful breathing can make me feel so much better.

… how much my 7 yo son loves animals.  (On Friday we saw chickens at a farm we were visiting.  W just adored them.  I guess I am going to have to work on getting him a pet of his own.)

… how much I love to walk on clean floors and how it can truly brighten my day, sometimes my week.

… how a good book can change your life, or at least your perspective on your life.

… how passionately I feel about politics, the issues, and the politicians themselves.

… that I don’t always do all the things I am supposed to do to stay healthy, like eating broccoli (!) and exercising regularly and meditating, etc.,  when I know how good they are for one’s health and well-being.

… how much time I can spend on the computer these days.

… how strong the bond is between a parent and a child and how much I love my children.

Dh and I were able to go out for a night on the town on Saturday.  We were able to drop the kids off at my brother’s house and go out for dinner together.  This is such a rare treat for us.  And it was a win-win situation because our kids love getting together with their cousins. 

I had done research on places to go and finally decided on a small cafe that specialized in serving locally grown and locally made food.  The place was simply decorated and homey.  We ordered our food at the counter while we listened to a lovely woman singing and playing a guitar.  It was “locals’ night” on Saturday so they had live musicians playing while you ate.  How quaint, you say?

Yes, it was nice.  We sat down in a section where we could see the musician.  Dh ordered curry and I ordered a pasta plate.  Then I had this tea called “Moon over Madagascar” that was really good.  It was from a local tea shop called TeaSource.  Their blackboard listed all the fruit and veggies that were in season and being prepared in their kitchen. They also had homemade granola for sale, also very good, made with Minnesota honey, and all kinds of other goodies. Their food was made from scratch, without preservatives or artificial ingredients.

I want to see more places like this thriving in our communities.  Places where the food is “home made”, locally grown, the entertainment is live (not just some TV blaring a football game), and the emphasis is on doing things the right way, not just to make a quick buck.

Thank goodness there are people out there who are willing to make these kind of places happen and customers who keep the place thriving. 

We have had a few moments over here that are notable.  Today my dd was able to read the Chinese character for “mountain” on my Chinese tea box.  All but the name of the tea, which by the way was “Lingtou Single-Bush Tea” (???), was written in kanji and she spotted a character that I had taught her months ago.  That was so cool!  They really are learning!  And I am not just blowing air when I am talking to them.  By golly, they must be listening to me!  I felt somewhat like Helen Keller’s teacher when Helen started to talk.  I taught her something!  Now I gotta teach them more and am more inspired to fill their minds with as much as I can.

She also surprised me the other night when she recommended that we read this book that is actually part of her brother’s CM/AO curriculum.  It is called American Tall Tales and she read it and then listened to it on audio CD when we were travelling last week.  She has been mentioning tales that would be appropriate to read for different events.  The other night as we were sitting around our backyard campfire/ring she told me which tale would be good to read at that moment.  She mentioned that we should read a different story for another scenario but I cannot remember the details.  I just love that she is taking these stories to heart!  Tall tales about Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, etc.

Lastly, my son who has been struggling with reading is now showing more signs of improvement.  It is thrilling to see your child read text fluently for the first time!  I am hoping his confidence will continue to grow.

Oh, and something my 3 yo told me tonight as I was lying next to him, trying to get him to sleep: 

“Mom, you know what ‘devour’ means?”  “To gobble down greedily”, he says, answering his own question.  When I asked him where he had learned this, he said, “Word Girl”.  !!!

Lucy

You

taste

delicious

and

of

beans.                                                                                                                                      

______

Summer

juice

mist

go.

(P.S.   I could only use refrigerator magnet words.)

We spent the earlier part of this week camping and vacationing on the beautiful shore of Lake Superior.  We tent camped at a site that had a good view of Split Rock Lighthouse and a path leading down to the rocky shoreline.   We hiked and ate wild raspberries along the paths bordering the trails.  We found beautiful Lake Superior agates (a few), Thomsonite stone (we think), and broken pieces of vintage glass that had been “polished” by the rocks and waves on this great lake.   We roasted marshmallows, studied the stars, and saw some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  We also heard (and maybe saw?) a loon from afar.  We saw a marsh hawk aka northern harrier up close at Hawks Ridge in Duluth and came pretty close to an immature bald eagle.  (Did you know that bald eagles don’t have their white heads until they are about 5 years of age?)

We spent our third night relaxing at an inn on Lake Superior.  Dd and I were able to do some sketching while relaxing on the big rocks on the shoreline and the boys walked all the way to the lighthouses.  We went over the aerial lift bridge a few times, which is always a treat, and spent some glorious moments hanging out on the beach at Park Point before we headed back home. 

The kids and I are still recovering from all the big adventures.  Everyone is a bit exhausted from the early mornings and numerous adventures.  Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip: 

We have “officially” started back to school.  We are concentrating on a Charlotte Mason approach this year and I am borrowing lots of good ideas from Ambleside Online.  We are doing short lessons in the morning in math, copywork and reading.  There is still lots of time to play outdoors which is a high priority for me.  Today all three of them rode their bikes in front of our house and played in the yard.  When they came in to do schoolwork, they seemed ready to settle down and work on their math workbooks.  There was actual quiet in my house for those 20 minutes or so!  Then after a short break we did copy work:

Hurt No Living Thing by Christina Rossetti. 

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

This is a great poem and dovetails nicely with the yogic philosophy of non-violence, something I am concentrating on this week.  Later today, we plan to make rice krispie bars, have teatime, and read some more.  I also hope to get some cleaning done.  And maybe we will even watch the Nancy Drew DVD we picked up from the library.