The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
As we wrap up another adventure I’m feeling worn right down, but oh so blessed. We’ve found traveling companions who go as hard as we do and can smile as they roll with the punches. We giggle and play, hike and seek, and somehow survive the new dynamic of six in a vehicle instead of the road-tested Zerbey Three.
We even squeezed in a two-hour ecology tour before an eight-hour excursion today. The learning lifestyle takes us many places and follows us where we least expect.
God bless,
Jason
We were blessed to choose homeschooling and to gradually evolve our philosophy toward unschooling, home education, and a holistic learning lifestyle. We had to deschool ourselves and break away from many of the poor learning habits we had internalized. It was, and still is, scary to turn away from our past paths and the present paths of almost everyone we knew. My wife and I discussed these decisions for hours and were dedicated to providing a better way for our sons. We were also dedicated to taking on the journey together. I was the bullhorn of home education and she was the quiet, steadfast warrior. We were a helluva team.
When Mary died, it was an unexpected disruption that would ripple out, echo back, and continue to vibrate through our lives. She left me with all her warrior strength and a little of her quiet steadfastness. It took me a few months, but I finally took up those gifts and embraced the disruption. Looking as deep into myself as I can stand I have chosen to take on my own demons and become a better father, man, and human.
Life is a series of disruptions, whether you steer into them or not. But life is a force of nature and fighting against change is not advisable. You will lose and it may tear you in half. Instead, put your hands out, close your eyes, and feel the air around you shift in place and temperature. Follow it. Set your sails to the coming wind and hold on. If you are careful enough and lucky enough you could be carried to a grand new land.
Do not fool yourself. That wind is coming.
God bless,
Jason
I left a proofreading/editing career that I had wanted since I was a teen and had fought hard to get into without a college degree so I could come home and take care of my sons.
I was hardly listening over toddler babbles and newborn diaper filling when God told me I was in the right place. He didn’t tell me it would be easy, but I had no idea how hard it would be.
He blessed me with my sons, a wonderful wife, and just enough insanity to believe I can succeed without her.
I only need one reason, but I’ve got two.
God bless,
Jason
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These sessions have been the most fun for me. They’re when the grown-ups take a step back and the team digs into the building of their Moon Base. We’ve stretched these sessions out to maximize creativity and allow more time dedicated to experimenting and coding with the motorized portions of the base.
Mapping the layout:
The team broke into two groups and got to building each half of the base.
Session 9 saw several rooms come together.
The team also had a little fun building, coding, and modifying some motorized components.
Some team members took home the WeDo 2.0 sets to further experiment with the task of bringing some robot-building expertise to our next meeting. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they learn.
God bless,
Jason
With so many activites planned around our learning lifestyle and an intense urge to explore something new when plans are light, it can be hard to settle into a quiet day around the house. Today’s low-energy activities found us in a calm that has not been the norm for my two sons and me.
I took a break from listening to and reading parenting advice. I even took a break from actively attempting strategies and “tools.” This was a good way to see which positive parenting ideas already fit into our rhythms. We started another game of South Phillyopoly, drew on dry erase boards, and stretched out on the floor in the afternoon sunshine. It wasn’t perfect and had its rough spots, but it was a good day.
God bless,
Jason
Single parenting. It still doesn’t feel right for me. We’re always having more fun, learning more, and being more positive when we’re around our friends. I’ve felt supported most by local parents. Whether they’re single moms, home educators, or those in more traditional educational and familial arrangements, families have formed the backbone of our new life.
There are a couple standouts. Families who have welcomed us into their lives and homes so warmly that there are times when I feel the lonliness of solo parenting slip away. I’m creating a world that doesn’t require a romantic co-parent, but one that values and intertwines with positive families working hard and smart to raise the next generation of independent thinkers and doers.
God bless,
Jason
The post holiday mellow was strong. My sons played with cousins and grandparents while my sister, brother-in-law, and I did some tidying.
I did find time to take Amy McCready’s Parent Personality Assessment. After reading a few chapters of her book and watching my own behavior, I had guessed that I would turn out to be a controlling parent type with superiority tendencies. I have always questioned my habits and the way I go about my activities in an effort to find better ways to live every day. I’ve taken on this role for my children as well, always suggesting better ways to do things and criticizing their mistakes. I thought I was helping them improve, but now I see how obnoxious it is. Self-improvement is just that, it almost never comes from an external source. Certainly not a bossy, always right, external source capable of imposing consequences for all types of mistakes.
I’ve got a long road to hike on this one. Being a home educator, I take on too much responsibility for their growth as human beings. I forget that I’m there to facilitate learning, not teach every tiny lesson over and over.
God bless,
Jason
From Vogel Arte Visual:
Active learning; putting to mind and practice the basics of #jiujitsu || #ICANdoIt! || Learning, despite having general characteristics, always happens in the background in the context of one’s abilities, interests, down to the very moment itself. What is doable? What is solvable? Once we add our unique learning abilities, our educational experiences (settings) can encourage us to grasp ideas, acquire knowledge to retain and master. Or more generally, we may find activities that promote our curiosity. What can emerge, as we mature, is the ability for us to develop new capabilities. “Active learning is fundamental to the full development of human potential and that active learning occurs most effectively in settings that provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. Therefore the overarching goal of our early childhood work is to establish a flexible, ‘open framework…’
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpaSu6Ugdfm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wsrmwn1tae7o
From me: Yes!
What’s so beautiful about BJJ is that the learner only sees progress where it really counts, in the long term. There aren’t grades and check marks to be gained on a daily basis from external sources. There is an accumulation of skill that is nearly impossible to see from day to day. A progress that is real and comes from within, there’s no need to please a teacher or a test, the learner will KNOW when he or she is performing at a higher level than previously attained.
My little pirates have been plundering the riches Brandywine River Museum of Art for a long time. The Museum introduced us to N.C. Wyeth’s illustrations for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and we read the Scribner’s Classics edition to them. It provided one of my first home education breakthroughs. Having introduced them to the characters, settings, and plot of the story in this simplified version, I ventured on exposing them to the original text. We were already adventuring and spending a lot of time in the minivan, so I borrowed the audio book and took to the high seas. Every time I stopped the playback to review and make sure my toddlers were getting it, they cut me off, “Yeah yeah Dad, could you hit play?”
This set a pattern of exposing them to literature using junior editions of Robin Hood, graphic novels of The Time Machine, and film adaptations of Shakespeare. Each of these abridged retellings has flaws, sometimes significant (“Sorry son, everyone actually dies in the real version.”); however, therein lies the real surprise. My boys become hunters and detectives, tracking down the mistakes, analyzing the changes, and assigning value to the different choices of each author, illustrator, and editor.
And that began before the very first Pirate Adventure Day!
The adventure comes alive and the stories step into the real world. Hedgerow Theatre Company brings a fast-paced and fun Peter Pan to the stage and Pirates of Fortune’ s Folly bring knot tying, pirate speak, and maybe a tug of war!
Get yourself to the Museum on Sunday, November 4th, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm for this worthwhile and FREE event!
Schedule:
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pirate Crafts
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Photo Ops and knot-tying with Fortune’s Folly Pirates
11 a.m. and 12 noon
Performances of Storytime Peter Pan by Hedgerow Theatre
First Sundays for Families at the Museum presents free, hands-on workshops designed to engage visitors of all ages in creative art activities and performances. No registration necessary.
God bless,
Jason
Guiding a learning lifestyle with young children is chasing a moving target. Interests can grow or wane daily or by the hour. I’ve learned to listen and observe with intention, to know my sons as well as I can and feed their fickle hungers. However, there is one discipline that has consistently grabbed their attention week after week for more than three years.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) has become foundational to our home education lifestyle. They attend classes up to six times a week and we have all acquired important knowledge from Elevated Studios co-owner, Stephen Plyler. After watching and attending several BJJ tournaments, my sons are competing in their first at the Tap Cancer Out 2018 Philly BJJ Open.
As many families, we have suffered painful damage from the diverse effects of cancer. This organization targets childhood cancer research in an effort to protect our most vulnerable sons and daughters. My boys are raising funds and training hard.
I don’t think they could be better prepared for this competition. After visiting half a dozen other schools, I am confident that Elevated is the highest quality training I could find for my sons. Stephen is honest, encouraging, fun, focused, determined, and competitive. He’s been a role model of the utmost caliber for all of his students. We’re all really excited and proud to represent his school in this tournament.
God bless,
Jason