wholistic learning

A week ago, I nervously made my way to attend my first homeschool conference. I knew I picked the right one to start with when I set my bag down, glanced down and saw that Waldorf Essentials was a sponsor. And when I looked in the bag, I pulled out information for Brave Writer and Christopherus. A wholistic homeschoolers conference that is my speed. Yes.

After beginning as a group, with singing, the keynote address was by Rick Tan of Syrendell. He talked about the 5 spheres of parenting and homeschooling. He had each of us select 5 rocks, onto which he asked us to write/draw the words and images he assigned to each sphere. Did he know I have a thing for rocks and writing on them?!

His spheres were as follows:

1. Self. For the parent; vitality. For the child; development. Being the parent teacher means giving of oneself and so we must take of ourselves. For the child, it means finding oneself.
2. Relationship. For the parent; synergy. For the child;; entrustment. Thinking, feeling, and doing has to do with our interaction with another person. It is a two way street.
3. Balance. For the parent; harmony. For the child; engagement. We work to keep in balance, withing the 12 senses  (in Waldorf).
4. Rhythm. For the parent; sustainability. For the child; contentment. We need to keep a pace and a pattern that are sustainable, with enthusiasm.
5. Course. For the parent; discovery. For the child; wonderment. The curriculum for the homeschooler can be more organic. We instill a love of learning.

 

A number of workshops were offered, but I chose one on alternative methods for homeschooling and unschooling, which was lead by a woman with 6 children, 3 of whom have graduated high school already. She reminded me very much of Brave Writer's Julie Bogart. Relationship first.

The second workshop I attended was one on making your homeschool mission statement. This is something that hasn't ever come easily for me. The leader gave several suggestions and offered the heart centered outline below, but I opted to make a collage, much like my annual dream vision garden collages, but this one on a folder.

I have an image of the inside, below, but I also added words and images to the front and do want to write a mission statement to include, once we have discussed it as a fmaily. Below is the inside - on the left, for my children, on the right, for me.

The third workshop I participated in was all about games and movement, with Brian Wolfe of Waldorfish. It was excellent. He had us playing games with bean bags and balls, all of which I will bring to our morning movement for math and spelling practice and may use as ice breakers and group gathering with 4-H. He also talked about the stages of play and we discussed the challenges of balancing the pressures toward competitive play with the developmental appropriateness of it. This was timely for me, as the kids have been asking for more competitive soccer. As an aside, I have done Brian's online course for form and geometric drawings previously and was very pleased.

All in all, I came away feeling very validated in our approach to family life and homeschooling, a little fortified in my plans for the year ahead, and feeling brave and pleased that I had overcome my nerves about going on my own.