Ecotopia, a life model.

The decision to Homeschool... 

(or how the hokey pokey makes a difference)

We all know the stereotype of homeschooled kids. They are awkward, don't know how to make friends, are endlessly nerdy and have no idea what pop culture is due to their massively sheltered lives :)

I never actually thought I'd end up homeschooling. Especially once I found Montessori. Then 2 things happened. First I found the book called Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach and second, my little sister came to live with us. 

First: Ecotopia. This book Blew My Mind. It truly was a life altering read. For those who are not familiar this is the books synopsis: 

Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.

Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.

A hippy book? (as my husband calls it) Yes. But amazing none the less. The 20 hour work week was particularly interesting to me along with the notion that "school" is more like summer camp/homeschooling/unschooling. In Ecotopia, life is about honesty, conservation (of the land and of the self) and community. These are tenets that rang true and deep for me. 

I told my husband that I would move to Ecotopia in a heart beat and realized how sad I was that I couldn't, what with it being an imaginary place and all... I feel that way after reading lots of books with fanciful worlds but Ecotopia seems possible to me. 

My 3 homeschool students :)

Second: My little sister came to live with us. She is 12 now. She was 11 when she came and we got to experience her 6th grade year of public school. It was amazing. We spent the first semester fighting nightly, over homework, until we quit helping her because she was so rude. But the deeper problem was that she was getting assignments that she couldn't complete on her own because public school had failed miserably at "teaching" her prior to her 6th grade year. They made sure she 'knew' something for a test and didn't care if she retained, remembered or held on to it for life. But then expected her to find that information in August for the next grade. This was infuriating. She was expected to fall in step with kids who were beyond her understanding AND keep up. It wasn't until we got her final grades during the summer that I officially lost it. In the first month of school she was put into a math support class. So she attended her normal math/science class AND she then went to another math class where they went over all work from the normal math class. Sounds great, right?! A whole other class that assists her in getting her math homework done. It was brought to our attention through, observations of her work and inability to complete simple math equations, that the math support class was simply "going over" the work, which resulted in the giving of answers.... not the learning of skills. So her grades came and she had failed math... but aced the math support class. She also failed 2 other classes. 

And they were passing her to 7th grade!! Lets pass her till 12th grade and then hold her diploma till she "learns" how to pass the tests. 

Now, I don't blame teachers... mostly. I blame the system. (now, if teachers stood up for individual students rights and needs and say... went on strike to force a reform... well there's a story, but I digress). 

I believe the public school model is out dated, and I'm not the only one.

Trevor Eissler has a few takes on the subject

Ryan Normandin, staff writer for The Tech online edition 

Has a few thoughts.

Ken Robinson: 'How school kills creativity' Is funny but serious and brilliant.









These are just a few of examples. Take a moment, watch, read and most of all think.

So there I am, Ecotopia on the brain and a sister who failed 6th grade and is still passing. My own daughter would have started 1st grade in public school this year, based on her birthday. So I did a bit of research on homeschooling before we made the choice. I first went to the Hawaii Department of Education website... if I was going to homeschool I needed to know what standards were expected of us. I read over the 7th grade set... then the 6th... then the 5th, there I found mostly where my sister was. Except in math... she was below 5th and I couldn't bring myself to set her at 4th grade standards, so we took the Montessori approach, assessed her as an individual and made our plans from there.

Then I read through the 1st grade standards to see what my daughter should be learning. I could count on 1 hand the number of 1st grade standards that she didn't already know... as a kindergarden graduate. So I went into the 2nd grade standards and found where she was in math... but still not in language or world languages or technologies... I didn't go to the 3rd grade... I gave up. I have the standards printed for each girls respective "grade level" (1st and 7th) but we rarely reference them. And I felt bad about that... at first.

Then I got a dose of Montessori memory. Montessori assesses each child, plans for them and teaches them, period. No "standards" or grades. So why was I suddenly guilty about not adhering to the standards... and the guilt was gone. I believe the public system is flawed, so why would I follow the standards of a flawed system? Because I've been conditioned, brainwashed to follow it.

I went back to my Montessori roots and planned our curriculum for the year WITH the girls. We made a list of things we were interested in learning about. This is where 'only passionate curiosity' was VERY helpful. This blog gave me a few pages to get me started on organizing my thoughts and plans. Once I had that all planned out. Daily lessons came fast and furious. Take a look at her simple pages and use them to get your homeschool experience organized and moving.

I know homeschool is not for everyone. And realistically, if we weren't on an island that had NO Montessori programs for my sister... we might not be homeschooling, they would probably be in a Montessori school. But now that we're here and doing it, I wouldn't trade it. At all. My daughter is still moving at a pace to be reckoned with, reading into the 2nd grade level and my sister has taken up cooking, do you realize how much math is in cooking?? Even though she constantly has to add or subtract fractions, convert teaspoons to tablespoons and reread recipes when she tries to tell me we need 10 4oz packets of ranch mix for our dressing... she sticks with it. The ability to use what she loves to teach has made a great difference in her learning to love learning.

Which is totally Hokey Pokey (what it's all about).

ING
!jen

Turning 'toys' into shelf work.

Making Work for the Shelf

(how to turn any TOY into a job)

I'm often faced with teachers who say "that's just a toy, it shouldn't be on the shelf." To them I reply "that's just your lack of creativity talking, watch." Then I show said teacher exactly what my kids are getting from that "toy" on the shelf.

So this is a little intro to making any toy into a job for the shelf of your classroom, wether that classroom is in a center based program or your own home, the principles are the same.

I once took over a classroom in a performing arts school and though the owner knew a little about Montessori philosophy the teacher I took over from, did not. The result was a slew of 'materials' that were just toys being rotated every few weeks with no real intention behind what was chosen, when it was rotated or how it was displayed. So I became unexpectedly adept at turning "toys" into jobs. 

The classroom had a pretend stove and fridge in the dramatic play corner. I broke them up. Turned the stove into a practical life shelf. And the fridge became our sensorial (on the left side) and beginning math shelf (on the right side). I spent a few hours cleaning out all the fake food that was shoved in and on every shelf. Step 1 was to organize the food and decide who much was actually being used. I tried several different variations before making a final decision. I had to weed out what they weren't using and categorize what they were so they could actually play with all the pieces... novel idea!

Next we were on to the "toys". The first step there was 'purpose'. Determining a purpose (or lesson) for each material. Most "toys" can be very versatile.

Like the plastic keys in 5 colors could be a color sorting work but the keys also varied in size (and shape)... a size (or shape) sorting job, or I could place keys in various patterns, take pictures, laminate the pictures and then we have a patterning work. Once choices are made as to the purpose of the material, setting up the tray and placing it on the right shelf are much easier. I decided to make the keys into a color sorting job (sensorial shelf), as a few of my kids were pretty little. I left the rings out... again, little hands got frustrated with the intricate task of placing keys on the rings and snapping the rings closed. Then I put all the keys into a bucket on a tray, with color labels. Labels get placed on the rug and keys sorted under them. After this job rotated out and back in, I changed it's purpose. You may ask "weren't they confused by the change in lesson?" NOPE. With the job being off the shelf completely for a time, it was easy to reintroduce. Additionally, if kids are using it in the old way, it was ok. As long as they are being respectful with the materials... I'm pretty flexible on HOW they use them.

Another example.

I currently have a magnetic doll set. Now some teachers, even Montessori ones, would take that nicely separated tray that 'Melissa and Doug' sell their magnetic doll in and place it right on the shelf. Which is fine. It allows for creativity and maybe even teamwork if you have the set with a boy and a girl in it. However, it could be so much more. A matching work: take pictures of predetermined clothing combinations and have students try to match the outfits you made. A sequencing work: laying out 'bottoms' from shortest to tallest or laying out tops, least colors to most colors. A patterning work: lay all clothes out in predetermined patterns (take pictures before hand) or let students make their own patterns (top, pants, shoe, top, pants, shoe or shoe, skirt, shoe skirt). Also don't be afraid to eliminate a few pieces, especially for younger children. Like for my son  (2), I'd only put out the clothing pieces he needed to do the job, no distractions and less pieces to loose.

We do similar things, now that we're homeschooling, with our play kitchen. Right now it has a 'pizza serving' work and 'ice cream serving' as part of our serving others/ manners curriculum and 'cooking utensils' as part of our creativity curriculum. These rotate as we find new things on sale or at goodwill.

What areas of your playroom or classroom could use a sprucing? Go shopping at places like Ross or Goodwill to find great deals on "toys" that you can turn into a fun new job.

If you have a material in mind but need a bit of inspiration as to how to put it on the shelf, please email me. I LOVE getting inspired by what others are doing and offering a bit of that inspiration back.

 ING
!jen

Lifestyle? Photography... 10 tips.

Lifestyle? Photography... since when?

While getting ready to head to La Jolla on sunday for a day of beachy fun, my mom asked me to bring my camera in case there was a good shot of her at some point. She wanted something candid and unposed. I informed her that they call that "lifestyle photography" now.

Did you notice this change? cause it was very subtle and it wasn't until that conversation with my mom that I realized, just HOW subtle the change was.

Now at first, I was mad. I've always prided myself on getting the candid shots that you cherish for years to come 'during' my 'photo shoot'. This is why my childrens portraits are always met with some variation of 'that's SO (enter childs name here)!'. And yet NOW, everyone is claiming to have this... super power.

But then I came to terms with the fact that, that was the point. Lifestyle Photography is something everyone can do... brilliantly. My 5 year old takes amazing 'lifestyle' photographs.


A Beautiful Mess describes 5 tips for lifestyle photography.

1. bring your camera.

This may seem obvious, but you know you do it too. As you load up the 1001 things you're going to need or not going to use at all but can't leave at home... just in case, into the car you contemplate NOT going back for your camera. So just go get it.

These Tiako drummers were randomly in Carlsbad when we decided to go at the last minute. I almost didn't bring my camera...

2. zoom in.

This is something I learned from my high school photo teacher 'Half'. Although his reasons for zooming in during shooting were because we printed our own pictures and we were supposed to 'crop on site' so we didn't have to crop out in the darkroom. But the lesson still stands. Even more so in the digital world. Zooming in not only gives you a more interesting subject matter but saves you precious pixels in the digital darkroom.

this picture is on the 'A Beautiful Mess' blog as 'weird' cause it was the morning after she got engaged. I like it's cropping. Up close, could be any woman at starbucks but that ring pops either way.

3. be weird.

This she describes as getting those things that only make sense or matter to those 'in' on the joke. This is your odd subject matter or difficult to infer meanings category.

This is my son and his god mother. I have the same picture of her "hugging" his big sister when she was a little younger that he was in this shot. Eventually I will touch it up and clean the background and frame the 2 kids being 'hugged' by their god mother together. Weird picture? yes. Meaningful to us? YEP.

4. using your cell phone as a camera is ok.

This is true. 100%. a picture can be great no matter what it's shot on.

My son Icarus. Eating a hammer at Home Depot while his big sister builds something with her hammer. Snapped with my phone.

5. there is no such things as a 'wasted photo'.

Now I have to say that with digital this is a true statement. The amount of pictures you can get on a single card is sometimes mind boggling, so shoot away! However, I have to disagree if you're experimenting with film. Unless you have access to and know how to develop your own film and print your own pictures.... there can be lots of 'wasted photos' which translate to wasted money.

I would give you an example of any one of the MANY wasted shots I have on film... only I tend NOT to print those, go figure. and they are surprisingly difficult to scan in film form... until I get my film scanner. Someday..... someday.

I'm adding a few tips myself. Lets see how many I crank out before my toddler wrecks the kitchen and I'm called to entertain him while my husband finishes cooking.

6. Don't be afraid of getting dirty.
Thats where the most interesting angles are. I will be the first one to lay on the floor to get the amazing shot of the Tokyo Tower rising up into the sky.

Lay down, squat, lean over a railing or bench, whatever it takes for the perfect angle.

7. get creative with your light source.

Using the fire from the Poi my husband spins as the ONLY light source makes for much more interesting shots.

A long exposure did the REAL magic. But another light source would have completely washed out the image with a longer exposure.

8. Make things look undefinable.

Get SO close to her bent arm that you cant tell that its an arm. Take a picture from the back of something instead of the front.

9. Shoot the awkward.

get in the face of your grandmother as she screams at the neighbors to get off her lawn. Follow your son around until he eats another piece of dog food... don't stop him!! Shoot it.

10. Have patience.

When you see the perfectly mischievous grin creep across your daughters face and you race for your camera to try and catch the 'daddy jump' she is about to embark on and she's too fast for you... wait. moments, months, whatever it takes. Wait.

I'm still waiting for this shot...


Lifestyle Photography is full of interesting angles, unconventional lighting choices, odd subject matter, difficult to infer meanings and... fun. So grab your camera, start shooting and call it 'lifestyle' photography. Then enter it in a contest or something, you never know.


Happy shooting.
ING
!jen

Barnes and Noble, helping people sin :)

Barnes and Noble.

Perhaps the most ruthless bookstore in the world. My husband mentioned a few days ago that they have successfully run almost every other big chain bookstore out of business. Walden books is in like NO malls anymore. Borders? Haven't seen one of those in forever.

Does this stop us from spending our precious child free Date Nights wandering around the shelves with our coffee in hand? NOPE!

So this is the first place I go when shopping...for anyone, for anything. I had finished my parade around the store and my arms were full of exactly what I came for... nothing more. Usually I can't get out without 3 things I never knew I needed. Z and I are standing in line waiting for the next available cashier and there on the strategically placed table is a little black book that reads...

 

  Well, I didn't have a choice! I grabbed it as the cashier called me over and I placed it on the counter with my other treasures. And MAN! Am I glad I did. It is a fabulous book. It's full of suggestions on ways you can be truly selfish. Personally? I don't know if I could get through the entire year. I might be able to pull off 1-3 a month. But, no matter, because I didn't keep this book. I gave it to my good friend Sharon. She will be braver than I in implementing some of the suggestions.

Suggestions like:

I could probably bring myself to do something like this. Silly and laughed off :)

I LOVE the 'rest for the wicked' warning on these 2.

This one I loved for the list of suggested routes at the bottom :)

Other note worthy ideas were:

Attend a religious service for the snacks.
play with your childs toys.
Fake an accent for a day.
Purposely fart during a major life moment.
Pretend to be single for a day.
Pretend it's your birthday.
Eat the last cookie.
Skip work and go to the beach.
Commission a self portrait.
Slide down the banister.
Follow an ambulance through traffic.
Invent a religious holiday to get out of working.
Eat only things that contain chocolate.
Eat ice cream for breakfast.

These are the ones I could copy down before Z yelled at me because the holiday wrapping party had suddenly ceased.

So if anyone is looking to be charitable this new years (or anytime during 2013 as we accept donations all year), please don't hesitate to email me about the newly founded "Hands off my moolah" club. It's a fabulous group of me collecting money for...me.

Happy new years.
ING
!jen

Christmoose Inspiration from Holland

Stockings...I strongly dislike them. From the time I was a kid and Grandma ALWAYS filled the bottom of ours with fruit.... I have disliked them. Not that fruit is bad... its just so...ordinary.

So when I came upon the traditions of Holland and setting out wooden clogs on December 5th... I was saved. I LOVE doing this with my family. It helps break up the month by putting a little gift giving at the beginning. And although it sometimes doesn't work out for my husband to be there when the kids wake (cause it's usually a weekday) and discover their shoes we still do it.

For me, it's more about lessening the 'gimme' affect. Not that Z has that problem but i feel these traditions we have adopted or created are, in part, responsible for her lack of 'gimme'itis. By the time Christmoose (it's our new name for Christmas) comes around she has been playing with or used up entirely whatever was in her shoe on the 5th and Christmoose morning is all about what is wrapped under the tree. And this is where she is JUST as excited to see others open what SHE has wrapped as she is to unwrap her own gifts.

Plus, the shoe is ALOT smaller and easier to fill :) and lets face it stuffing stockings is a nightmare for most people.

Zephira's clog 2012.

Icarus' clog 2012.

As you can see, we still have a hard time remembering HOW small the shoes are. We get a few things and it's overflowing. Icky is the year of the rabbit. so he gets more bunny stuff than the average child :). The grey mat is actually a road rug for the hot wheels in his shoe. The road rug was one of Z's advents earlier in the month.

My husband and I have clogs as well.  bigger, cause we are bigger :) and someday (I'm thinking when Icky is 5ish, cause Z is 5 this year and I think she could do it) we will paint them. Unless we have more kids then we'll to wait for the youngest to be old enough to paint theirs.

We also got one for Elle, our fabulous niece who was born this year. This is her first christmoose and we're making sure to bombard my brother and sister in law with our ridiculous and silly traditions. Elle just may get a zombie for christmoose... :)

Happy Yule,
ING
!jen

Advent Calender? Nailed it!

I have always loved the idea of counting down the days with something other than a sharpie and a flip calender. Even if that flip calender DOES have horses on it (Z's favorite). But a little box with candies in it and perforated doors just isn't what our family is about.

A little disclaimer about Jen and the year 2012... I became addicted to Pinterest. It was accidental at first but now I'm on it ALL the time.

So I found, on pinterest, a ton of ideas for advents that were things to DO instead of things to get. Way back in November, remember November? I thought, I'll do something like this. Luckily my ipad makes whipping up things like this a breeze. I had the entire month of advents on 3 pages of business card templates and done in 2 days... and still managed to go to work and be productive.

I had to get creative as some ideas online were not conducive for CA. Like build a snowman in the front yard. I also had to be careful of the order some went in. For example: 'start Amish Friendship Bread' had to be 10 days before 'Bake Amish Friendship Bread'. And 'attend a holiday party or performance' had to be on a day that I knew of a few happening. So some took more planning and forethought than others.

But here we are at day 20 and we've only missed 1 advent and that was only because the supplies we bought were not as effective as we had hoped, live and learn.

I have had SO much fun doing advents with Z this month. some days I really didn't want to do whatever was on the card... but I didn't let myself poop out and I've been so glad every time. I hope that next year I have the resources to make an advent calender that is reusable from year to year (Z ripped open each envelope) and all we'll have to do is refill it each November.

In addition to the advents on the example page here's the rest of our list and a few I didn't get to put in or thought of too late :)

Have a tea party. (except we did a hot cocoa party.)

Make crafty ornaments (my husband and I started our ornament collection this way before we were married and now Z has added to it.)

Take a bubble bath.

Dance to loud christmoose music.

Watch a christmoose movie.

 Attend a holiday party or performance.

Cover a few windows with snow. (we bought the spray on snow from walmart)

Make a Yule log to burn on christmoose morning.

Wrap Graces presents. (grace is my sister and she lives with us)

Make and wrap something for Obichan. (Obichan is what Z calls her grandmother)

Make christmoose button art. (you know all those things on pinterest where they use buttons to make a letter for a girls room? we tried it and Z picked a moose shape, it was hard and took 3 days to finish, Z gave up after 20 min :)

Read 5 christmoose stories cause you are 5 years old. (Z was extatic to turn 5. her birthday was in July and we still have to do 5 of things regularly... cause she's 5 years old)

Stay up late and watch a movie.

Start Amish Friendship Bread.

Bake Amish Friendship Bread and gift to 3 friends.

Go see christmoose lights in the neighboorhood.

Go out to the mall and sing christmoose carols. (inspired by Buddy the Elf's 'the best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear)

Go shopping for a daddy present.

Schedule a christmas volunteer project.

 Happy Holidays,

ING

!jen

Introduction

I'm Jen and I am the Indecisive Moose. What started out as a blog on photography... and maybe a little "other", quickly turned into a plethora of "other" topics. And I realized that my indecisiveness, though a joke in my house may actually be the downfall to my completing a great many unfinished tasks I have left in my wake. But that's besides the point... or maybe that IS the point :)

So for post 1, I thought I'd start with Photography...novel, right? This is my great friend Sonya and a fabulous shot from her 'Trash the Dress' session. She wanted to paint it... but how to get great splatter without ruining carpet or backdrops? The solution? a do-it-yourself carwash!

We hung the canvas (as a white backdrop), which made an amazing piece of art for their walls. You can see the green paint sailing toward Brandon in the lower lefthand corner. It took 3 paint splatterers to get a variety of colors and angles. Later Brandon learned not to laugh out loud... he got orange teeth :)

Once finished. We washed them off as best we could and placed the new art work in the car. luckily we had towels... cause no one thought ahead to how we would transport the still wet canvas :) But we're a role with the punches kind of group.

!jen