Preparing for our homeschool registration

Tonight I'm up to my elbows in books & papers & computer-files. Not ice-cream.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with a representative from the Board Of Studies to officially become a registered homeschooler in our state. I've certainly had moments of panic about tomorrow over the past few weeks (the big Christmas / Summer break made it feel almost impossible to wrap my head back around my plans) but I feel quite Zen about it tonight. I still have a bit to do (and it's already 11.23pm  - eeeeek) but I've been finalising my plan all day and I know what I want to do.

It's all made me feel a little sentimental about the years past - years that really were part of our homeschooling adventure. This is just our new stage. But in honour of sweet days past I am going to post a few special photos. It's hard to believe my boys were this little only a few short years ago...

We are finding our true centres. Mama included.

Decisions. Decisions.

Speaking of time flying - it's been a month since I last posted! Ker-azy.

The responses to my Montessori | Steiner post had an unexpectedly huge impact on me and have sent me on a huge journey of re-assessment and self-contemplation.

But the most amazing bit is that I'm looking at the options for getting my Montessori qualifications! Which has turned out to be exceedingly confusing and scary & exciting all at the same time.

I'd love to get some feedback and hear your personal insights. I'll try & write more tomorrow about what the options look like :)

Yay! A. x

Yay! 100 "google" followers :)

Awww, someone - Kara from Rockin' Granola in fact ;) - just became my 100th follower. That's a nice little surprise before bed! Thanks Kara.

On that note - a huge thank you to all of my lovely blog followers... U rock.
Wishing everyone a good night. & sweet dreams. xoxo

p.s. by the way... i just wanted to mention how happy the front of my fridge makes me :)
Anyone else wanna share theirs with the world too? Maybe we could even have Fridge Fridays...?! x

Single-tasking

A monk from The Gyoto Monks of Tibet displays calm focus on the task of creating a sand mandala in celebration of The Dalai Lama's 75th birthday at The Crystal Castle, Mullumbimby. July 2010.

Isn't it funny - we spent our bn (before-now) lives impressing ourselves with our ability to multi-task & suddenly the simple idea of being able 2 *single task* is completely lust-worthy.

I was just reading this article from the Zen Habits blog & really feel an affinity with it. While I am loving & embracing our new social media reality I also acknowledge how flighty & unfocused it makes me feel at times.

It used 2 be a case of hanging out waiting 4 the postman 2 come or maybe the old-skool landline phone to ring* to add some sparkle into our day - particularly if we full-time parent or work from home - but now there is entertainment, intellectual stimulation & fleeting or heart-felt connection available 24/7.

What are we losing in the gaps...? & how are we going 2 ensure that we don't completely sacrifice the delicate art of focussed concentration in a world that only promises 2 get big, bigger & big-gig-ier by the minute?

I would love 2 hear your thoughts :) x


* = does anyone actually still use theirs??

taking my breath away...

Home sweet home. It was the BEST trip. Love...

& here i find myself back & taking photos of flowers at 1.30 in the morning. So breathtaking. It's a funny, silly, happy, complicated life. x

Time flies...

Ahhh, this has been a funny year. Heading home tomorrow 4 the first time since we moved.... will be interesting. in lotsa ways. & how has it been weeks & weeks since i last posted?? sorry.

I have a busy day with lots 2 get organised & am feeling a bit overwhelmed & procrastinational ;) lol. 

but i just wanted 2 say hi! & post a few photos.

hope everyone has lots of LOVE in your hearts. xxx

the boardwalk

Today was a beautiful day spent by the water with Lovely & a special new friend I've made since we moved. I'm appreciating her friendship greatly :)

Ahhhh, & the weather is so perfect at the moment...

I'm off on a course tomorrow but maybe tomorrow night I'll find some time 2 start 2 post some photo's from the past few months. By the way, this photo is off my iphone - i haven't been able 2 find my camera battery charger in months!  :(

I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world too. x

Well, well, well. Fancy seeing me here!

Why, hellooooo everyone! Sorry i've been such a bad blogging mama ;) for the past 6 or so months ~ but I'm officially back with a new thirst 4 adventure & ... a new city 2 discover 2. We moved to Sydney in January & it's taken a while 2 get settled but I think we're finally there.

The boys are doing so well. There have been big changes for both of them but most notably for Hug who finished Kindergarten at his Waldorf Steiner school at the end of last year & started at a traditional state school for Class 1. We have been blessed to find a Steiner Family Day Care that Lovely can attend (1 day a week) & since Easter he has been attending a wonderful new preschool also. The preesk is 2 days a week & although it isn't officially a Montessori or Steiner program I feel it has lots of earthy elements that echo a lot of the things I love about both.

All in all things are progressing nicely... though I'm certainly still getting used 2 a lot of the finer details of life in a traditional school. I'm sure I'll have lots to say about that in the future. Lol.

We haven't actively focused on Montessori or Steiner learning since we landed...  but I feel the tides turning over the past few weeks & I am implementing home-school again on Mondays & Tuesdays for Lovely & hoping that these lessons spill out into our wider lives.

Finally, a big *thank u* 2 the lovely people who have dropped me little messages over the past few months 2 say hello & make sure everything was okay & to the blogs that have continued to link to my pages (especially The Crafty Crow + The Montessori Goldmine + this list of the top 50 must-read Montessori blogs ).

Please say hello & throw me some iNSPiRATION! I want 2 hear what everyone is up to :) xoxo

Hello!

Hello lovelies!

Yes, I am here. Thanks for the kind notes & thoughts I've been receiving recently. It's nice 2 feel missed :)

Things just spun in some interesting tangents recently & have distracted me completely from my regular blogging life. It's been nice actually but I do miss my blog & I miss u guys & everything that's happening out there!

I'm sure I'll be back soon. Till then I shall leave u with this photo taken on the afternoon of Hug's 6th birthday (hoorah!). I'm not sure how many people outside of Australia heard about the red dust storm that hit but it was pretty bizarre! That is the sun - not the moon.

The commercialisation of childhood

Last night I watched a doco called Consuming Kids: The commercialization of childhood & this morning read a post from Makings of a Montessori Mum about her reaction to it (you can read her post here). I wrote such a long comment that blogger wouldn't accept it! So I've decide to post it below. For the next 13 days (only) the full doco can be watched for free here or there is a 5 minute trailer on youtube - you might have something to say about it too!

.........

I got chills reading that quote. I watched the doco last night too & experienced many of the same emotions.

Watching things like that just solidify your resolve to do it differently. To say a blessing that your own kids aren't being "sold" to 24/7 because we've made a *commitment* to keeping them away from it.

I haven't had a chance to watch the extra clip you found - but I totally will!

It is amazing how truly *insidious* advertising is - Lovely *thinks* that he loves Batman & the only thing I can think of it that he's seen other children wearing Batman costumes at the park or other 'inconspicuous' advertising. Like yesterday, we passed the bags of a group of older kids & one of them had a 'Transformers' bag & he had to walk back past it & ooooed & ahhhed about the "Batman" on it. Basically anything black & kinda sinister... Yes, and aggressive must be "Batman". Wasn't that HORRIFIC the part where they showed how girls are sold to with images & messages about being valued by their looks and how popular they are & boys are sold to with images of aggression & violence. It is SICK!

Sometimes it drives me crazy that my boys are constantly collecting sticks & trying to use them as swords or all of those things that little boys seem to be instinctively drawn to - but last night when they talked about children not being able to construct things of their own imagination, that a stick can no longer become anything else, it made me so thankful for the creative energy pulsating through my sweet boys bones.

I *love* that by choosing to homeschool or by choosing an 'alternative' school (like a Steiner school in our case) we are giving our children the gift of their true un-commercialised selves. Watching the program reminded me that this was one of the cornerstones of our decision to send Hug to the school we chose, despite any hesitations we might have had with Steiner versus our interest in Montessori, because I knew that it was the only way (outside of homeschooling) that we could protect him for mass-media-itis.

At Hug's school the children don't wear a uniform and the rule is no black (for children in the kindergarten & primary school) or any images/writing on clothes and bags etc. Plus, we had to show our commitment to no t.v. or computer time when we were interviewed for a place at the school. Although the interview process was *very* daunting at the time, having come out the other side, I am thrilled to know that all of the other parent's in the school are on the same page.

I was involved in a discussion at the MWEI workshop I did about Maria Montessori & how she apparently had typewriters in some classrooms & how because of her forward & practical thinking she would have probably embraced technology & seen the importance of children learning the 'Practical Life' lessons that they would need in their technological future. Hmmmm, last night I thought that Maria Montessori would have a LOT to say about the commercialisation of children. If they can no longer concentrate outside of a video game. If they no longer appreciate the beauty of the natural world. If they can't use their imaginations. If they can't think for themselves... they will *never* become their true selves. And THAT is what Maria Montessori really wanted. To let our children unfold, unhindered, into their true selves, their true essence, in the hope that they would therefore have within them the spirit to bring about a more peaceful world. That so isn't going to happen if we let advertisers sink their teeth into them at birth.

Having said that we don't have a complete ban on t.v. in our house but it's restricted to Playschool (wish I had some of your retro ones!) or the british show 'Grand Designs' (gotta add a little culture for Hug!) but it's only on once a week or fortnight & often less than that. While it's true that it's is all about moderation it's also all about looking after the best interest of the child & creating a "prepared environment" for them (ie. our homes) where they are free to be themselves.

We don't give brands a name in our house either - so I loved reading that you talk to Little Bird about that "girl with brown hair" (not 'Dora). Btw, who (WHO?!!!) is letting their children be scanned with an MRi machine in the name of advertising research?! That is beyond outrageous...

I could go on forever!

Hope you & LB are having a happy *advertising-free* day :)

Orbital Debris

What's with all the space junk?!!

These are digitally generated images of the objects in Earth's orbit that are currently being tracked by NASA. 95% are non-functioning debris. Craziness... Why do we think our Oceans, Soil & -now- Space are acceptable places to throw our garbage?

Wordless Wednesday: Today

Miss Lorie Jean

One of my very best friends in the whole world has put up an audition video for "Miss D-I-Y". Hopefully her vid will get noticed if she gets a lot of hits, so please check it out. She totally rocks!

My blog name & address has changed

Happy New Year!

Adventures of a Montessori Mama is now... Adventures of a Rainbow Mama!

The address is also new  http://adventuresofarainbowmamamama.blogspot.com so you might choose to bookmark it or subscribe to the rss feed here.

Please continue to join me for our unique *bespoke* Montessori / Waldorf Steiner / alternative & holistic education adventures!

I have changed the name to mirror the new direction our lives will take this year when Hug starts at a Steiner school while we continue to pursue our own Montessori ideas and ideals at home. And more. That's the adventure bit! You never quite know where you might end up but the journey will be good.  So, from now on I'm a Rainbow Mama... tasting & embracing lots of different flavours and colours. Life is sweet.

On a creative note - I have pledged to give only handmade gifts this year so there will probably also be a lot of creative adventures. And spiritual ones if I ever find the time for that too ;)

So, please, get comfy... say hello & stay a while!

Trees are made for climbing

Hug test-driving the tree-climbing options at what will be his school next year. I think he's going to love it!

{I am quite behind in all of the pix I am wanting to post so please excuse me while I do lots of simple catch-up posts for a little while :}

Happy 1000 visitors!

Ooooo, just about to log off for the night when I noticed that my counter had reached the magical 1000 visitors!  From 32 countries! Too cool. That's since the middle of August when I put the counter on there and I know that a lot of sites get this many hits every day but it's still happy-making :)  

Thanks for reading!

Some days

Oh somedays...

Some days are easier than others :)

and, some days are harder :(

or - even - some *moments* are easier and some are harder ;)

yesterday was such a dream - the boys were so joyful and polite and we had lots of fun doing simple things and having friends to visit.

today - was actually a lot of fun - with some real fun treats thrown in (mainly 2 big sessions at the new indoor kids "world" and some extra yummy things to eat) but thrown in the middle of that was a mighty t.a.n.t.r.u.m (it was Lovely, not me, I should add -  though I *was* on the brink! ;) 

a full hour and fifteen minutes of screaming. 

screaming...

screaming...

screaming...

Sweet Lord. I thought I was going to lose my mind. 

The funny thing is that yesterday I was having such a blissful time that I was thinking about next year and second-guessing our plans in preference for actually *doing* the homeschool thing. I felt so in the groove. And for that hour and fifteen minutes of ear-bleeding today I felt so lost and hopeless. 

Ah, motherhood. It sure ain't always easy, is it?!

Living a simple life :)

On the back of my last post I wanted to list a few of the things that we're actively doing here in our house at the moment. We're basically working under the banner of 'simplifying' and this is T's  'Simplicity Now List' (of things we've done in the last week) that he jotted down tonight:

+ Email program off laptop (so that he can focus on his writing)

+ Half of the shed purged and simplified 

   (We threw out + gave away a LOT of things we had just cluttering up our space)

+ Signed up for VOIP to cut our phone expenses

+ Lowered our broadband plan

+ Prioritised buying organic, fresh foods

+ Googled "Frugal Vegetarian Organic Healthy food"! There are some amazing resources out there! Today I discovered a whole hew world of blogs dedicated to frugal eating and living.

+ Committed to shopping at the local Farmers Markets (we are lucky to have a great one) and just do the supermarket shop once a month rather than weekly (wish me luck with this!)

Are you making any changes towards a simpler life? What are you doing? I'd love to hear.

{ image: Stained glass at the National Library}

Blog Action Day 2008: POVERTY

So, I just stumbled upon the fact that it's blog action day. Living in a 'lucky country' I don't have to deal with poverty on a daily basis. I have *some* money to buy good things for my family, even if it's not a lot by some people's standards it will always be a lot by most of the world's.

But I want to make a conscious effort to minimise our negative impact on the world. I don't want the poor people who *are* living in poverty in this world to be slaving in sweatshops or working with dangerous materials or being treated badly so that I can buy some cheap junky thing that I use once and then throw out. 

I wanna buy free-trade goods and buy local and buy organic and buy second-hand...

Maria Montessori believed in the potential for world peace through the healthy education of our children and I quote:

"The child is much more spiritually elevated than is usually supposed. He often suffers, not from too much work, but from work that is unworthy of him"

So too our civilized culture provides our children with many *things* that are unworthy of them. So much junky tv & junky food and stores and stores and stores of junky toys. And more often than not this on the back of people living in poverty, somewhere else on this mighty planet. They suffer and paradoxically our children suffer too.

Each small decision that we make as a family towards living consciously and ethically will impact upon our children and hopefully imprint them with compassion and consideration and the ability to think before they "consume"; be it food or media or *stuff*.

That was my rant... I shouldn't get on the computer at night (but it's my only opportunity :)