unschooling

to see the sea

We drove out to Mendocino with my parents to visit the ocean. We stayed in two cabins next to each other on a natural preserve, filled with trees, ponds, plants and animals. It was lovely and we spent a bit of time exploring the preserve, but what we really wanted to spend most of our time doing was going to the beaches.

We explored several different spots nearby, each with their own attractions.

One day we watched a whole lot of jellyfish drifting and spinning in the water from high bluffs.

We scrambled up and down bluffs, played in the sand, sat and watched the waves and the seals, went looking in the pools.

In the tidepools we spotted sculpin, sea urchins, crabs of several kinds including one munching on a squid, anemones of several kinds, ochre stars, snails of many types, bat stars, six-rayed stars, a leather star, a sea lemon nudibranch.

We admired some impressive blowholes (areas where the ocean has worn away tunnels in the rock and creates huge splashes or eruptions of water when the conditions are right), arches and caves.

Back at the cabin between ventures, this is what downtime looked like.

The kids rolled and threw a bunch of driftwood into the waves and watched the pieces move with the tide.

We collected some shells.

One day we took a sea cave kayaking tour.

On our last morning in town, we went to the beach one last time. Chris and I watched the waves while the kids created a landscape out of sand, rocks, feathers & shells while telling stories about characters they’ve created.

I’m so grateful.

unschooling

Eagle Eye & Camouflage

In our nature classes we’ve practice using wide angle vision like animals do to observe ourselves and what’s around us more fully. One way we’ve done it is in a game where one person (the eagle) closes their eyes and counts to 100 while everyone else hides in plain sight. Then the eagle looks for people, using wide angle vision. After they have found all the hiders that they can, they hold up a number of fingers and finally tell everyone still unseen to come out. The closest person who remained unspotted AND who saw the number wins and is the eagle for the next round.

This year in our class we increased the difficulty by adding camouflage into the equation. The kids painted themselves with mud, sand, leaves, sticks. I did too. I enjoy participating even while the other parents preferred to sit and watch. It’s more fun for me to join in! The kids are getting good at holding still, and at hiding with the environment. In one picture below, it looks just like an empty landscape at first glance but there are at least five kids standing up from their hiding spots. If the picture was taken while they were hiding, they would probably be completely invisible.

unschooling

Lilah turns Thirteen!

She started her day with homemade chocolate mint donuts with vanilla glaze by request.

We chatted with Grandma and Grandpa in California on the computer and she opened packages from them. Then we had a party on our deck. Gavin did a great job of decorating to make it feel festive.

I organized a scavenger hunt by request for the birthday packages. This one I tried to make extra hard! A few of the clues stumped even this very clever birthday girl. This is the trumpet vine bush, which was the answer to There’s a fanfare for your birthday. Go listen! Her favorite was the juniper tree hiding spot; the answer to If you wanted berries in June, where could you look now? We went all over the yard, searching and finding and unwrapping.

We had a lovely afternoon with my parents and sister.

At thirteen, Lilah climbs and climbs and swings upside down. She loves challenging herself. She loves animals and wants to work rescuing them. She practices by taking care of our animals and making friends with any others she comes across.

Her favorite card game is Exploding Kittens and her favorite computer game is Among Us, which she plays with friends online. She loves graphic novels but is also reading bigger books now. Her favorite book is Aru Shah and The End of Time by Roshani Chokshi.

She can often be found crafting something around the house. Her favorite colors are purple and blue. She loves scattering seeds and petals on our walks, solving riddles, drawing, and anything with chocolate. She brings joy with her everywhere and finds it anywhere.

She thinks we should change how factories keep polluting the world. Her choice for president is Hillary Clinton.

Her curly hair is a bit longer than shoulder length and she prefers it down. She’s almost as tall as Gavin, just inches shorter than I am. She goes barefoot as much as possible and usually has dirt colored soles.

She loves to wear a whole rainbow of colors and patterns. She spends a few minutes most days practicing her favorite song on the keyboard. She stays up late reading, hanging out with her cat or drawing. Then she’s slow to get up in the mornings. She’s always excited about a bunch of different things. She likes picking the garden and climbing out of her window onto the roof. She notices things that not many others do. She’s always ready for an adventure.