March 9, 2010

Autumn at owlet

Well here is the first little taste of some of the new things I'll be putting in the owlet shop over the coming weeks...


There are long sleeved t-shirts...



wool tweed pants...


rompers/sleep suits...


beautiful, soft baby pants...



More skirts to come, including some corduroy, perfect nor the weather is getting a little cooler. I'll have some mini me tais too. Many are in my etsy shop today. Keep an eye out and if there's a size you'd like or something you want, but don't see there, give me a hoy!! I'm more than happy to make things to order. Tell me your owlet's favourite colours and I'd love to make them something special. x

March 8, 2010

unschool monday :: so how does it work?


The image most people get in their heads when we tell them big owlet learns at home is us diligently sitting around the table each morning, pencils poised at 9am, ready for a day's work. They expect we'll do loads of beautiful craft. Maybe we'll go for a walk at lunch time. When I explain unschooling to them, the image they most likely get is us sleeping in, doing nothing in particular, waiting for big owlet to announce what she'd like to learn today. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but a whole lot more fun. Here's us starting our day one morning towards the end of last year. Little owlet had asked how the holes get in the bread. Big owlet wanted to know too. The short answer is yeast. But what does yeast do? So we looked up an experiment that could demonstrate yeast working. They get it now. Experiments involving balloons are particularly popular and effective around here... especially before 9am. Its true, much of our best work is done in pyjamas. I know we're not alone in this. You wake up, have breakfast and the questions start and before you know it, its lunchtime and you are in your pyjamas and you have 30 minutes to get to gymnastics...

Natural learning is organic and free-flowing. You can't plan it. Questions come, you answer them. You use the resources you have at hand. If an interest lasts for a while, you go to the library, visit the museum, speak to people. If the interest has passed, often its because the lesson has been learned for now, and you move on. Its not always about waiting for your child to call the shots though. You do normal family stuff. You can encourage interest by doing regular day-to-day things, celebrating festivals, living. Unschoolers will often talk of the word strewing. Perhaps you might find an old box of toys in the cupboard for your toddler and leave it out for them to find, then watch with delight as they discover and explore it. It works in a much similar way for school aged children. We might visit the library and I will choose a secret stash of books that spark an interest or a memory. We might plan a surprise trip somewhere, watch a movie. Sometimes it doesn't work, the time isn't right, but usually an interest is sparked. Children love to learn about new things. Unschooling works for many reasons, but one is because we know our children. We get what makes them tick, what interests them. We can follow their lead. One of the struggles as an unschooling parent, particularly one who has spent 20+ years in the education system, is learning when to hold back and not try to push what we think they should learn. Giving children the space to take charge of their own learning and decide what they need is truly the greatest gift of all. I suppose this why there are as many approaches to home learning/home educating/unschooling as there are home learning/educating/unschooling families.

So what's it like in owlet town? Around here, we are inspired by the seasons. Big owlet went to a steiner kindergarten for two years and many of the rhythms there fitted within our family life really well, so we are occasionally inspired by them. On a typical day we get up and have breakfast around the table. We spend some time cooking, painting, crafting, listening to music, playing on the computer, reading... we'll have morning tea together about three mornings a week, with a teapot and cups with saucers and a candle and some flowers. Its a lovely way to pause and enjoy each others company and celebrate an ordinary day. After lunch we'll usually go out. For a walk, or to the park, or to ballet or gym, or a friend's place. Some days we decide to spend the whole morning at the botanical gardens instead, or the beach, or wherever. Its a great way to shake things up if we feel in a rut. We look at the seasons and what's going on around here. We set up a nature table and change it at the beginning of each season. We write a list of activities we'd like to do during the season. Its a little like the activity advent calendar we have each year and great to have there if we want some inspiration. We celebrate festivals. From a bunch of different cultures, including our own. We talk. We play. We parent. We live.


I've had some requests for a list of my favourite links, books etc. about unschooling. I thought I'd share it here. Its just a beginning list of my faves and things that have inspired me along my travels. I hope you find it useful too...

Books
The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith for a good practical overview.
The Unschooling Unmanual for some inspiring articles
Just about anything by John Holt, but particularly Teach Your Own
Parenting a Free Child by Rue Kream for a great practical look at an unschooling family, day to day.

Links
The Natural Child Project
Sandra Dodd
Beverly Paine's Homeschool Australia website
HEN - the Victorian home education network
Joyous Learning Australian home ed. forum.
Liberated Learning another Australian home ed. forum.
The Parenting Pit
I Was Unschooled
The Unschooled Life Lecture on youtube by unschooled artist Astra Taylor.

Blogs
There are loads, but three of my faves...
Majikfaerie It was while reading her blog two years ago that I realised we could do this...
Mackville Road
SouleMama... no introduction necessary, but she makes unschooling look so lovely and do-able in the most inspiring way. Her books are handy around here too...

March 7, 2010

another market day

We had a beautiful day at the market. We spent some lovely time amongst friends. I finally caught up with Angie (and as if by magic, had a mini mei tai just perfect for her little one), hooray!!. I had a quick chat to Jacquie and lovely chats to Michelle (mmmm, more chocolate truffles), and Simone throughout the day. Did you see Simone and her two beautiful girls on the Collectors on ABC last week? We did and big owlet was so excited to see the girls and tell them all about it. She spent the day wandering around the market arm in arm with one of the girls, flitting from stall to stall, chatting and charming (I hope!) the other stallholders.


So we each chose one little thing at this market. We all put in the hours, so it was only fair... The owlets chose a badge each. Little owlet is enjoying the power of decision making, so she made about 8 choices before finally settling on a skull and crossbones. Huz chose the Mountain Lilac unheated honey from the Arve.


I chose this beautiful little gocco print by Cat Rabbit. I just love it!. I spent the day sitting opposite her beautiful rabbits and owls, eyeing them off... I bought a very special little something made by Tara Badcock for my Mum for her birthday. I can't show you yet though, just in case you are reading now mum... so I'll show it off in April when the coast is clear.

The day was successful enough that we managed to afford our little things, groceries on the way home and a life membership to the local organic co-op. I'll post more on that during the week, along with some pics of the new Autumn range I launched at the market. I'll be updating the owlet shops with what's left. Hope your Sunday was lovely too! x

March 4, 2010

my creative space... messy = creative



Its the usual battle for the dining table around here again today. I have a market on Sunday, with lots to do. I'm making lots of new bits and pieces for Autumn, and adding as much unisex stuff as I can - hoping to cater to some of the boys out there!!


Little owlet is filling her half of the table with paintings of gingerbread men (so she says...).

More creative spaces at Kirsty's.

March 3, 2010

marine discovery


Summer has been all about water for us. We've been to the beach lots, spending time looking at animals in rock pools and collecting bits and pieces. Stories and play have been of fish, seahorses and mermaids... So today we rounded it all up with a visit to the Marine Discovery Centre. Its set up mostly for schools to visit and learn. They run several educational programs all about water and the local marine environment. They also let families of home educators in for a wander and chat if you ask nicely... so Huz took the afternoon off and we took a leisurely drive down south to look around.


It was a great chance to see and touch some of the local marine life and watch what they do.


Big owlet thought the sea stars were hilarious. They kept moving when we turned our backs.


After we visited the restaurant and sculpture garden next door to race some boats along the water course... then fish & chips at the playground. Perfect afternoon...

March 2, 2010

mother of invention...

Big owlet is way into inventing things. This is her latest way to get through the hot Tasmanian summer nights...

March 1, 2010

unschool monday :: algebra

Someone always asks. Last time my own lovely mum was here, she brought it up... "So who will teach the girls algebra?" Its always about algebra. Or trigonometry. They must be the concepts that so many of us struggled with at school, that just didn't make sense or apply to daily life. I must say that I kinda enjoyed basic algebra once I understood it, so I'm not afraid of it if it does happen to pop into our lives. Really though, aside from the repetitive hours I spent on my year 10 workbook, I can say that I haven't come across the need for algebra in my life. Well, not the hard stuff anyway. Huz has and I believe still uses it in his profession... so I expect he'll be taking the reigns if either of the owlets decides to follow in his footsteps. If they want to learn it, they will. If they need to learn it to get into the university course they really want to do, they will. But how will they go to university if they don't go to school and sit exams? Well, if they want to go to university, they can do a TAFE bridging course of equivalency program. If they decide the best way to get to where they want to be is through high school or college, then thats what they need to do. But there's really no point sending them to school to learn algebra if they just really want to be a dancer or a chef, or gardener, or writer, or historian or.... If there's something we can't help them learn, we find a mentor, or a tutor who can pass the knowledge on. For example, big owlet wants to learn ballet. I'm not a ballet dancer. So she does ballet classes. I imagine it would be the same with algebra. When we can't help with it, we look for help. Once we remove the idea of what children should be learning and just let them get on with it, it becomes so much less daunting. And a whole lot more fun! Here's today's maths class:



We managed to cover biology, home economics, art, english and chemistry too!