In a Patch of Fireweed by Bernd Heinrich

The children and I are utterly absorbed by Heinrich’s descriptions of his adventures as a budding naturalist. This passage we read today rang especially true for us as nature-centered us-schoolers:

(After a short description of the value of play in young foxes)

…Foxes who play the most learn the most-and they survive. Almost anything a fox learns will come in handy later in his life.

We, too are predators, though we live much longer than any fox and our environments are much more diverse. Small wonder play is such an important aspect of our lives, especially when the environment is unfamiliar. Growing up in Maine, I played a lot, but I never connected it to “education.” Education in our modern conception, is usually associated with a training toward some practical end. My education was largely outside that mold. My favorite form of play in the summer was looking for bird nests or caterpillars. In the winter I loved to strike out into the woods on snowshoes, with a small backpack holding some food. I explored the swamps and ridges, looking for fresh animal tracks. I followed the tracks of a weasel from morning to late afternoon, hoping only to get a glimpse of the pure white ermine with black-tipped tail, or to see the fur, blood, and feathers where it made a kill. To see these things was a great reward. When on the trail I often built a fire in the snow, to roast some meat on a stick, and to dream about the stories I had read by Ernest Thompson Seton and Jack London.

And with that, I give you scenes from our very educational day today:

A beautiful lichen

A burl in a spruce tree

Moose nuggets

What made this tree grow this way?

Anybody home???

A gorgeous spider

Monk’s hood (don’t they look like little purple-hooded monks at prayer?)

Cassie smells a moose. Can you see the moose tracks in front of her?

Buddy finds a swimming hole

Some interesting algae in the seep

Fresh bear scat. Time to go home!

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments

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In this post JBug will show you how she makes ( all by herself!) a super-easy yummy dessert that we all love: Banana Pudding!

So…here’s JBug! 

First, you cover the bottom and sides of a pie plate with vanilla wafer cookies. Try not to eat too many or you won’t have enough to cover the bottom:

Then you mix up a batch of vanilla pudding using the directions on the box–just add milk and stir! Get out all the lumps!

(Mom’s note:We use two small or one large box of pudding mix) 

Chop up two bananas into circles (I have been practicing cutting and I’m getting pretty good at it!):

Pour half of your vanilla pudding on top of your cookie crust and then lay your banana circles on top:

Then cover with the other half of your pudding:

Then put it in your refrigerator and (this is the hardest part) wait one hour before eating it so the flavors get all mushed up together.

YUMMY!I hope you like it! We all do!

–JBug

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So, what have the kids been up to while mom has been curled up in a ball on the couch?

Well…mostly they have been exploring the woods and fields around the house, keeping a sharp eye out for anything new and interesting.

Superboy’s ever-sharp eyes spotted this neat game trail in the woods out back. I imagine it was made by our elusive resident moose, plus some snowshoe hares.  Looks like the perfect place for Superboy to hone those snare-making skills he’s been reading about.

And JBug has been stalking some small prey of her own.

She found this lovely lady crouched under our front deck. She is some kind of orb weaver in the genus Araneus, but I have not been able to key her to species yet. My spider books are still packed in boxes somewhere and online spider keys are woefully deficient. If anyone wants to key her for us, I’d be grateful. As it stands, JBug just calls her the “eyeball spider.” Sounds good to me! LOL! And if the size of her abdomen is any indication, we’ll be having lots of little eyeball spiders around here soon!

And speaking of eyeballs, I’d better go rest mine before I regret it.

“See” you soon!

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments

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Our first day back to school. Whatever that means.

Superboy’s highbush cranberries.

JBug’s Larkspur (aka wild delphinium.)

Hope your first day is/was as bountiful.

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 10 comments

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Except me, of course.

Since we are moseying along in our us-schooling kind of way I have been feeling kind of out-of-the loop in homeschooling circles lately as nearly everyone’s thoughts turn to planning, curricula, schedules and such. That shouldn’t come as such a surprise to me as I find myself the odd one out more often than not.

But sometimes, of course, the doubt creeps in. I am only human, after all. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing the right thing by my kiddos by taking a more relaxed, life-learning approach to their education.

Shouldn’t I be poring over the homeschooling catalogs, making spreadsheets, weighing the pros and cons of each and every piece of educational material that I present to my children in hopes of finding that perfect fit? That magic bullet? That one piece of perfectly planned and printed nirvana that will work it’s magical wonders on our educational endeavors, making my children not only love learning but leave them BEGGING FOR MORE????

I know, I know, dream on, right?

Well…just in case you think it might be some kind of homeschool pipe dream, I present to you what I found on the kitchen table upon awakening yesterday morning:

What is this scribbled scroll? This messy missive?

This is none other than Superboy’s plans for his school year.

!!!!!!!!!!!??????!!!!!!

This is what he was up doing late at night when I thought he was reading comics or his survival books. When I was snoozing away, dreaming of how I had possibly failed my children by not assigning read chapter 3, pages 27-34 and complete comprehension questions and definitions at the end…Superboy was making his own plans. Taking charge of his own education. Making lists of the things he wants to learn, the books he wants to read, and the activities he wants to try! Good things! Fascinating things! Well-thought-out and balanced things ranging from art and religion to history and science, with a healthy dose of nature study thrown in to boot!

Now… someone pick my jaw up off the floor and tell me… What was it I was afraid of?

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 15 comments

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MOOSE, of course!

So, here was last night’s menu: Roast Moose steaks, mashed potatoes, sourdough rolls and a salad of Alaska-grown greens. And for dessert, Extreme Moose tracks Ice cream (of course!) and this:

Are we detecting a theme here?

And what was on his birthday list?

Water purifyer,Camel back, Flint and steel firestarter, 1 man tent, sleeping mat, SAS Survival Handbook, campstove…

What is this boy planning???? 

Well, whatever it is….HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERBOY!!!!

( lets just hope he is around to see his 14th birthday next year!LOL! )

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 20 comments

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But it sure put a smile on my face today!

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 36 comments

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If Superboy is bored, he goes outside (despite the weather) and finds some berries, and then comes in to identify them to see if they are edible (sharpening his survival skills, you know).

This is Dwarf Cornel or bunchberries. They look like (and actually ARE) tiny little dogwoods. They are apparently NOT edible. But the Gooseberries he found were.

He also picked up this book at a used book store and is busy looking for clues and solving a mystery.

(ps:Don’t tell him if you’ve read it and know the answer. It’ll spoil the thrill of the chase!)

What does JBug do? Why color beautiful pictures, of course!

I call it “Landscape in Hot Pink.”

What do I do when I’m bored?

Try a new recipe, of course (in this case it’s strawberry rhubarb pie). I will leave it to you to interpret what I mean by “try.”

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments

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We have so much to discover!

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The night we attended was the final night, and it began with contestants in native dance, which is an important part of the native culture:

Even though I had no idea of the words they sang in their native languages, we could follow along with the story of the dance-stories of whales spotted, seals hunted, kayaks paddled, and spears thrown, nets mended, eagles soaring and lovers embracing.  All this and more brought to life with pounding drums, stomping feet, and the beautifully coordinated and highly stylized motions of the traditional dances.

Then it was on to the athletic competitions.

The WEIO events are quite different from the events in the more well-known Olympics. They all have to do with characteristics needed for survival in a harsh environment: strength, agility, and ability to endure pain. They often mimic skills used in hunting or other traditional activities and include such events as the knuckle hop, stick pull, ear pull, and 4 man carry. Here is a link with good descriptions of the events.

One of our favorites is the One Foot High Kick, where the contestant must leap from the floor and with one foot, kick a suspended ball of seal fur, then land on the same foot, without falling.

These guys are amazing! We saw them achieving kicks up to 104 inches high.

A highlight of the evening is the Blanket Toss, where a blanket of seal skins is used to toss men up to thirty feet or more into the air, where they perform stunts and land standing on their feet on the blanket.

This young man achieved amazing heights!

This guy did some awesome flips!

And then came an event that had us all squirming in our seats-the Ear Weight. In this event  sixteen pounds of lead weight is suspended from twine. The contestant must lift the weight with only his ear and carry the weight as far as he can. As you can guess, it is a test of extreme pain tolerance!

Here was this year’s champ:

As you can see, these Olympics are not restricted to the elite, and there are no fancy uniforms or highly trained athletes here. Only extremely courageous young men and women who are willing to put themselves to the test for a chance at victory and honoring their native heritage. Check out this little guy giving the ear weights a shot!

In between events we strolled through the vendors and displays of native crafts which were absolutely beautiful–carvings in whale bone, baleen and ivory, beautiful bead-work and native costumes of fur and hide. All gorgeous and all way out of our price range!

What great way to spend an evening and what a lucky family we are to be able to experience such a culturally rich event!I can’t wait until next year!

© lapazfarm for LaPaz Home Learning, 2008. | Permalink | 12 comments

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