Today's educational slate included pyramids, mummies, royal lineages, 3-D modeling and creative expression, narrative structure, comparative cultural cuisines, spelling, drawing, reading, math, interpersonal communication methods, and melodic/harmonic singing, along with lots of one-on-one tutoring.Also, an extensive discussion of the United States government's organization (i.e. the executive, legislative and judicial branches), and a related exploration of civil war politics & the function of the secret service.

A few weeks ago we took a road trip across the country. In Jefferson City, Missouri, we visited a history museum which emphasized the Civil War. From there, we went to the National Park in Springfield, Illinois, which houses the home of President Lincoln. Needless to say, since then there's been lots of thinking and talking about the civil war and related topics: civil rights, presidential security, politics, the leadership role of a president vs. kings, the differences between democracy, dictatorships and anarchy, and even why so many civil war soldiers died of mumps and measles (vs. from fighting).

Some people wonder how learning can possibly happen in such an "unstructured" environment. (In our school, we have no classroom, no desks, no bells and no requirements – other than cooperation, respect, and enjoyment of the learning process.) Despite their doubts, learning happens. With the proper care, it cannot help but happen.

It is easy to see and understand structure when it is imposed upon us, or when we create it. It is not so easy to see structure when it is busy creating itself.

Without any intervention, a plant can grow, and no two plants will be exactly alike. Every tree strives to find its own perfect shape and height, with limbs reaching left and right and up to find the sun. Some of the structure comes from within and some is shaped from without. The patterns reveal themselves over time, and time reveals the true character of the structure.

How silly to worry about a healthy tree that fails to reach a certain benchmark height, or label it "disorderly" if its shape dances differently than the norm. Instead, while walking in the forest, we notice each tree for its own particular beauty. Each tree has created its own growing pattern and structure. Why can't our children thrive when we allow them to reach for the sun in an supportive atmosphere which enables them to naturally create their own structure?

Seens like a long time since we attended to our blog. It's August 2010, and "back to school" fever seems to be everywhere. So, why not start writing down our activities once again? School has not yet started for most of the elementary kids, but at the Farwell School, the learning never stops.

Today the Nobel Pirate (7) attended a breakdancing class. He's been learning new ways to move his body, and watching him, I could see his brain working to coordinate multiple limbs. The effort made his forehead wrinkle. The Coffee Grinder move caused him a bit of trouble. It involved holding one foot in front while balancing on the other foot and hands, then spinning the free foot around and hopping over it while holding the full body weight briefly on the other hand.

Meanwhile, Puppy Artiste (4) and I meandered over to the grocery store, where we talked about the nutritional qualities of fruit, popcorn and muffins and discussed the different types of sugar in each. We also discussed the marketing display technique of putting food samples out. She agreed that it was a good way for the store owners to make a profit (and we did buy some delicious kettle corn after trying it).

Driving back home, the three of us had a talk about planning for the future. Puppy thought that if you plan to be a cowboy when you grow up, the chances are good that you will become a business person instead. She has no illusions about becoming a cowboy, but instead plans to become a singer, dancer and veterinarian. Nobel Pirate disagreed, insisting that indeed he would become a pirate later in life, as well as a singer/dancer too.

Back at home, we listened to a bit of German Muzzy music, and then played a great game of Jetboat Harbor, A Small Vowels Game. The star vowel of the day? Short "o", with the favorite "o" word being "mop." Both Pirate and Puppy ended up in tears during the game when the other player stole their favorite "o" but each recovered an "o" on a subsequent turn, and fairness prevailed.

Later today we will be visiting the library, both to return books (about 50) and to take out a few more. For not being full readers, these are the most book-readingist kids I've ever seen. Somehow I suspect that their current lack of reading skills will not be a long term problem.

Snow!

Some people think that cold temperatures and snow mean it's time to stay inside. No way! There's nothing like cold air and warm clothes to make you feel alive. Today we braved the weather to discover the best of winter. Underneath a 150 year old oak tree, we found soft feathers scattered across the snow. It was a spotted owl that had met its end - how? Perhaps to a coyote. Now the owls are mating. They nest in nests that have been left behind by other birds. When do the eggs hatch? How do the owls keep their eggs warm? How old was the owl that died?

Under the snow, water is still running despite the frigid temperatures (-20 degrees just two days ago). The snow insulates the water, which is trying desperately to reach the ocean. The world, a huge circulation system, just like our bodies...

Even in the winter, the hens lay eggs, but just not as often. What does a hen think about this cold weather? What does a hen think? And where do the deer go in all the snow?

Woodchip Pile

Summer - it seems like spring was just arriving and now summer has already started moving into fall. The air seemed to snap this morning like leaves underfoot. The trees are holding onto their green leaves though, even if many flowers are fading by the pond.

Today was all about working with the woodchip pile. Why don't bees live in woodchip piles? Why do they like to live in trees? Well, old dead trees have nice solid walls. That makes a nice home for bees, or perhaps hornets. An old dead tree is one big piece of wood with a nice hole in the middle, while a woodchip pile has lots of little pieces of wood but no holes to make a bee's door. The woodchip pile looks like one big object, but it is really lots of little objects. That is why a woodchip pile comes apart easily with a pitchfork, while a dead tree does not want to budge, even if a tractor tries to move it. And if a tractor bumps or tries to move a dead tree with bees or hornets in it - Watch Out! They can sting. Remember how they chased Uncle Phil? Don't drink the mug of juice that we left outside yesterday - there's a bee in it! Bees like to eat things that are sweet. But that bee did not realize that she would fall into the juice. Poor bee.

Today and yesterday we used wheelbarrows, pitchforks, shovels and rakes to transfer woodchips from the pile to the path. The path looks so beautiful now with new woodchips spread all over it. Soon we will have a much easier time taking out the compost.

First Day at the Beach

The beach opens up into the big blue everywhere. It's fun to be in the water! We love it! Look at the sand. All the little stones are different colors - red, blue, grey, brown. The lifeguard tells people what to do, and keeps watch to keep the people safe. What if there were no lifeguard? That would be fun because we don't like to be told what to do. But that would not be safe. It wouldn't be fun to be in trouble with nobody there to help us. What if we bumped our heads and couldn't swim? A lifeguard has a job to do. Maybe one day some of us will become lifeguards. And tell the swimmers what to do. Until then we will just have fun at the beach.

Oh! Look at those clouds. They are dark. That means it looks like rain. The wind is picking up and blowing more. All the people are packing up. The children and mamas and daddys and grandmas and grandpas. It's time to wash our feet in the shower. How does it turn on? Push the button and water comes out. This is fun too. Bye bye, beach.

Splitting wood

Outdoor activities rule the roost when the weather cooperates. Today we learned about splitting logs.

A huge tree fell across the road a few weeks ago, and it's gradually been disappearing into woodpiles, firepiles, but most of it has been languishing by the side of the road waiting to be split. Well, today was the day. Uncle Phil came with the neighbor's hydraulic splitter, attached to the farm tractor. The wedge went through three foot diameter logs like butter. Everyone got to take a turn at the splitter, and we all drank lots of water afterwards.
Its hard to imagine how heavy trees really are when they stand so easily above us.

After the tree fell, it knew immediately that the end of its life had come. The leaves shrank and sank sorrowfully. The tree had rotted at its base, probably over many years, and the strong winds of our recent storms simply took it down. We were lucky that it did not fall on our building. A visitor actually watched it fall from his seat inside. It slowly started to topple, hesitating, then suddenly continued into the crash, decisively.

We will use it for firewood next winter. And the stack of newly split wood to the east is quite beautiful right now.

Springtime has come so quickly and we have been so busy here at the Farwell School. There's simply so much to do and see now when the weather's so warm and lovely. Everytime you turn around, the plants seem to grow by the foot.

New baby animals appear each week. Geese nested and hatched a flock of goslings in the south pond. On May 18 we spotted a newborn fawn and its nervous attentive mother - she seemed to be pretty young herself, and kept leading the fawn across the road. Mallard ducks hatched a batch of ducklings, and the ubiquitous robins have nests here and there, including one over our west deck. The babies from that nest just learned to fly, and we found one preening its scraggly feathers outside the window.

Toads bring friendly energy to visit when we find them. We can pick them up and feel their bumpy skin before letting them go again. We found a couple Mole Grasshoppers and kept them in our Bug Habitat for few days.

Our baby mollies are still small, but growing too. It's hard to keep the tank filled with water. Why does it evaporate? Why do we get thirsty? Where does all the water go?