Hello.
Sara's long-awaited blog entry? Well, this is not it.
Will Sara ever blog again? Perhaps if you join me in gently encouraging her. Or in shamelessly bugging her to blog. However you prefer.
-- Ajay
Sunday, October 14, 2007
the long run
In this land of plenty we have 17 types of salsa on the supermarket shelf. And our family has seven schooling/unschooling/freeschooling options to pick from. Literally. On certain days I feel caught between a rock and a hard place in this schooling culture (virtually all the other kids trucked to confinement zones at the edge of Indianola or beyond) and wonder if it's just a question of time before I throw in the towel and start packing them a bag lunch in the mornings and take a day job.
Here's a different sort of story. On Friday morning we were down on the shore and Satya suggested we go canoeing, right along the shore. Kids walked home for paddles, lifejackets, net. I put canoe in water. While loading up I find out he said 'right along the shore' because they think to go without Papa, and staying close to shore is their version of danger mitigation. No way, I say, no way is Tara going if i'm not. So we all get in, with Satya and Violet paddling in the stern and bow, with me and Tara as passengers in the middle. Until this time, I've paddled in the stern with Satya in the bow. After a rough start and few minutes of difficulty handling the boat, and significant frustration (cranky whining?) on Satya's part, i've done all i can (and failed) to encourage the two paddlers to cooperate. Tara and I opt out. I grouchily paddle us to shore and, with Tara, I climb out: "If you go too far out and drift to Tacoma, there's nothing i can do to help you." Five minutes later Satya and Violet have figured out how to manage the boat, and are paddling between the dock piers catching crabs in the net. Nice lunch, and, for me, a nice lesson in getting out of the way. Chalk one up for unschooling.
Seven options. What should their upbringing look like? Gourmet or fair-trade? Mild or spicy? Imported? Organic? Homemade?
posted by Ajay
By the way, do you agree or disagree?: The #1 reason most kids are in school is to allow adults (other than those working in schools) to get on with their work. In other words segregation/containment, not education.
Here's a different sort of story. On Friday morning we were down on the shore and Satya suggested we go canoeing, right along the shore. Kids walked home for paddles, lifejackets, net. I put canoe in water. While loading up I find out he said 'right along the shore' because they think to go without Papa, and staying close to shore is their version of danger mitigation. No way, I say, no way is Tara going if i'm not. So we all get in, with Satya and Violet paddling in the stern and bow, with me and Tara as passengers in the middle. Until this time, I've paddled in the stern with Satya in the bow. After a rough start and few minutes of difficulty handling the boat, and significant frustration (cranky whining?) on Satya's part, i've done all i can (and failed) to encourage the two paddlers to cooperate. Tara and I opt out. I grouchily paddle us to shore and, with Tara, I climb out: "If you go too far out and drift to Tacoma, there's nothing i can do to help you." Five minutes later Satya and Violet have figured out how to manage the boat, and are paddling between the dock piers catching crabs in the net. Nice lunch, and, for me, a nice lesson in getting out of the way. Chalk one up for unschooling.
Seven options. What should their upbringing look like? Gourmet or fair-trade? Mild or spicy? Imported? Organic? Homemade?
posted by Ajay
By the way, do you agree or disagree?: The #1 reason most kids are in school is to allow adults (other than those working in schools) to get on with their work. In other words segregation/containment, not education.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
It's in writing
A prayer of gratitude. My blessings are many.
At the moment the house is a mess and i'm taking a couple of hours to myself while the others sleep. Tiime to myself often = tidying, doing dishes, dealing with paperwork, but now i sit to write. I went to bed early this night, with the kids, feeling tired and under the weather after a non-stop series of days.
Last Thursday Sara's mom and aunt returned here after several days exploring the Olympic Mtns. and Victoria BC. On Friday Sally, Barbara, the kids and I went to the fish hatchery up the road with our new friends Spencer, Camas (age 5) and Asha (2). The hatchery operation was in full swing, the crew netting, knocking out, and taking eggs and milt from the Chinook salmon. The magic of the salmon's natural life cycle was knotted together with human enterprise in this fishery management effort run by the Suquamish tribe. Insert here your own musings on wildness, native heritage, and humanity's surge.
Last Thursday Sara's mom and aunt returned here after several days exploring the Olympic Mtns. and Victoria BC. On Friday Sally, Barbara, the kids and I went to the fish hatchery up the road with our new friends Spencer, Camas (age 5) and Asha (2). The hatchery operation was in full swing, the crew netting, knocking out, and taking eggs and milt from the Chinook salmon. The magic of the salmon's natural life cycle was knotted together with human enterprise in this fishery management effort run by the Suquamish tribe. Insert here your own musings on wildness, native heritage, and humanity's surge.
After the hatchery we went up to visit Judith's kitchen, where the kids had started making ice cream on Thursday. The Weinstocks, Judith and David, live in the residential community of 9 households called wise acres that we've been looking to join since moving up here this spring. Since then Sara and I have been attending wise acres meetings and participating in the community dinner rotation. Over this weekend we took part in a wiseacres retreat at a boy scout camp an hour from here. There we got to know the group better and feel even more comfortable with our decision to join the community. Satya and Violet, growing in independence, went to the retreat Friday evening with the Weinstocks, and Sally, Barb, Tara, Sara and I followed along on Saturday morning.
Anyway, on Friday afternoon at Judith and David's place we met my friend Mackall and little ones Arlo and Hector. In little ways, I have started tilling the rich loam of unschooling here with Mackall and others. During the ice cream churning and the peanut-butter-sandwich-eating, Mom and Aunt Barbara got to see the place for sale next door and I was able to do a little paperwork on the sly.
Back at home, helped Violet and Tara get to sleep and hurriedly packed up Satya and Violet's things for the retreat, then got cleaned up and out the door for my date. From Sara's office, we walked to the ferry dock and rode across to Seattle, and then by pedi-cab (more $ than a taxi, we found at the end that it's priced as a "novelty") a hotel for the Social Justice Fund's annual dinner, where BGI hosted a table. Hearing Amy Goodman's talk may have made it worth the 1 am bedtime, but i'm still tired.
Fast-forward to Monday: fruit shakes and pancakes for all, and gave mom and barb a good sendoff. Satya, Tara and I took Violet to her first day of kindergarten, in the program run by the school district for homeschooling families. She'll be going one day a week, from 10 to 3, including swimming, visual art, and soccer. She'd been looking forward to this day for weeks or months, or maybe since Satya started KG at the Davis Waldorf School two years ago. She got a nice hug and kiss from her sibs to take with her into class.
Sounds funny. Are the Advanis going to school or are they not? I'd be reluctant to enroll Violet in a five-day-a-week school. But I suspect that the Great Gifts That School Offers, which homeschooling naysayers continually tout, can be Received, to a large degree, without consigning a young life to full-time institutionalization. And so i'm grateful that a program like this exists.
After leaving Violet at her class, the three of us delivered the real estate purchase contract (signed queitly on Friday) to the title company.
We look forward to a closing date of November 15. Having the deal in place, i feel yet more settled.
So after errands, dropoffs, pickups, chaperoning fishing, community dinner, etcetera, i was happy to be asleep before 9 pm. Now i'll try to catch a few more winks before the others wake up.
by Ajay
Anyway, on Friday afternoon at Judith and David's place we met my friend Mackall and little ones Arlo and Hector. In little ways, I have started tilling the rich loam of unschooling here with Mackall and others. During the ice cream churning and the peanut-butter-sandwich-eating, Mom and Aunt Barbara got to see the place for sale next door and I was able to do a little paperwork on the sly.
Back at home, helped Violet and Tara get to sleep and hurriedly packed up Satya and Violet's things for the retreat, then got cleaned up and out the door for my date. From Sara's office, we walked to the ferry dock and rode across to Seattle, and then by pedi-cab (more $ than a taxi, we found at the end that it's priced as a "novelty") a hotel for the Social Justice Fund's annual dinner, where BGI hosted a table. Hearing Amy Goodman's talk may have made it worth the 1 am bedtime, but i'm still tired.
Fast-forward to Monday: fruit shakes and pancakes for all, and gave mom and barb a good sendoff. Satya, Tara and I took Violet to her first day of kindergarten, in the program run by the school district for homeschooling families. She'll be going one day a week, from 10 to 3, including swimming, visual art, and soccer. She'd been looking forward to this day for weeks or months, or maybe since Satya started KG at the Davis Waldorf School two years ago. She got a nice hug and kiss from her sibs to take with her into class.
Sounds funny. Are the Advanis going to school or are they not? I'd be reluctant to enroll Violet in a five-day-a-week school. But I suspect that the Great Gifts That School Offers, which homeschooling naysayers continually tout, can be Received, to a large degree, without consigning a young life to full-time institutionalization. And so i'm grateful that a program like this exists.
After leaving Violet at her class, the three of us delivered the real estate purchase contract (signed queitly on Friday) to the title company.
We look forward to a closing date of November 15. Having the deal in place, i feel yet more settled.So after errands, dropoffs, pickups, chaperoning fishing, community dinner, etcetera, i was happy to be asleep before 9 pm. Now i'll try to catch a few more winks before the others wake up.
by Ajay
Here's a snap of us from last December. Satya is now age 7, Violet 5, and Tara 3.
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