That Nature Connection

(Photo by Stephanie Congdon Barnes)

"No matter how impassioned the teacher, kids aren’t going to learn [that] in textbooks or lab experiments, or even through scientific analysis of the natural world. That kind of learning happens only through being alive and being free in the wild without an agenda, where the only thing that matters is presence. Categorization is irrelevant, boundaries disappear and a connection is made that is so deep that it will be protected, at all costs, regardless of the quality of science education that follows. But it has to happen now. And it has to happen with the youngest of our young people, those who are so new to their notion of self that the earth is folded into the fabric of their being."

-Quote by Brynn of Connected at the Roots. Brynn is an Enki-inspired homeschooling mama of two.

A Day in the Life

The Homeschooling Life. How do you make it work? Hop on over to the *new* Homeschool Style Bytes Discussion Boards and give us a peek into what your typical day looks like.

(Photo by Keith Davis Young)  

" [Then] I sat back and let our days unfold, and do you know what? A rhythm formed itself naturally. It grew organically out of our real life.

A rhythm is a real, living thing. A rhythm grows and changes and adapts to our families, our families' lives. A rhythm allows for imperfections, for compromises, for the unexpected. A rhythm doesn't make you feel guilty, or like you're not doing it 'right'. "

-Quote by Kyrie of Are So Happy. Kyrie is a Waldorf mama to three sweet girls, and is living and loving life in Oregon.

Picture Day

Some inspiration here as we break out our cameras to document a new school year or a special milestone. Dennis Kleiman of Stomping Ground in New York has reinvented the school portrait. These aren't your average student shots.. "We take beautiful and spirited portraits of children. We create a positive environment where the kids are encouraged to be themselves. No more stuffy poses. No cheesy backgrounds. No pained, forced smiles."  

     

Living Intentionally

Living with intention, and enjoying the freedom to do so. Homeschooling is often about so much more than what it seems. I like Kort's (of One Deep Drawer) list of intentions for this new season -- she records a simple, personal manifesto that will help her to focus on what's most important in daily life, while teaching her own.

(Photo via Miss Wallflower)

"I began to understand the appeal of that old Quaker phrase "living intentionally." We were able to slow down more and more; we saw now that we didn't have to let ourselves be pushed and jostled along with the Joneses. We could take our lives into our own hands, and begin to live them meaningfully. We began to take careful stock of everything we did to see if we were doing what we really wanted to -- the kind of work we did, the parties we went to, the causes we supported, the books we read. One involvement after another fell away, replaced by something better, or not replaced at all except by a little more time, a little more peace of mind."

-Bronwen Godfrey (co-author of Laurel's Kitchen) 

fearless

(Photo by Kate of Mama You)

"We never know what skills or experiences might come in handy some day. It is our job as parents to discover our children's gifts, to see them when others might only see only deficits, to support our children in their pursuit of everchanging dreams, to get out of the way and let them leap off cliffs."

-Nancy Meltzoff from the article Jumping Off Cliffs, featured in Mothering Magazine - March/April 2009