The Diosa Dotada Endeavor

One of the most fiery debates in the homeschool world, and perhaps the country at large, these days is the culture war of words being waged by the seemingly irreconcilably opposed camps of Creationism and Evolution. After reading about as much as I could get my hands on at the library on this topic, I was left with a frustrating sense of hopelessness about how to broach this controversial debate in our family’s homeschool program in a manor that would still convey our personal beliefs effectively, but also continue to foster a sense of respect and understanding for those with beliefs divergent from our own. I was also at a loss for decent resources to address the fact that we, personally, do not find spiritual truth and the science of evolution to be at odds with each other. Then a fellow homeschooling mother sent me to The Great Story website which discusses the compatibility of spirituality and science and even provides resources and activities for how to make this possible for the youngest of students. I am excited to utilize this resource and am now happily making plans for us to begin the Great Story Bead project next month in our history, science and spiritual studies. I wanted to be sure to pass on this quality resource to anyone else who may be looking to seek a peaceful middle ground in their own homeschooling adventures with this sometimes sticky subject.

We have been moving right along here and have been quite busy lately with an assortment of in and out of the house lessons and activities as 2007 winds down rapidly.  I am now actively looking ahead to 2008 and all the glorious potential it holds for us. 

 Our wonderful homeschooling group, Learning Adventures of Fort Bend is really blossoming into an exciting experience for our family and next year’s calendar of activities for the lower elementary grades is filling up beautifully.  I am contributing to that effort by organizing a few field trip series and collaborating on an art and music workshop.  I am very excited about how the trips are shaping up.  The first set is my Our Neighborhood trip series.  With all of the sets of trips we will take one a month pertaining to the theme.  Here is the current list for this series: January- grocerey store, February- city hall, March- vet office, April- library.  I have not booked a trip for May yet because my first three orignial ideas have not worked out.  We cannot visit the post office as they stopped doing tours after 9/11 and the anthrax incidents.  The bowling alley is out because two years ago in another part of the country, a child sustained a concussion after being struck in the head with a flying pin so they will no longer do behind the scenes tours.  Also, just about every restaurant I’ve asked has also said no to having the kids tour their kitchen for liability reasons.  My next idea is to ask a movie theater.  The second set I am arranging is our World Religions series.  These are, by far, the trips that I am most excited about attending with my children.  In Januray we are touring a Buddhist monastery and attending a Buddhist tea.   February brings a tour of a synagogue and the rabbi sounds honored to have us.  In April, I scheduled a tour of the stunning Hindu Mandir I have been itching to visit and in May we will visit a Christian church.  I am still working on the March trip and I am finding it challenging to locate a mosque the children can visit.  I find this troubling in a number of ways.  Of all the most populus world religions, I feel Islam is an extremely important one to attempt to understand in our day and age.  There is a great deal of misinformation out there as a result of the highly visible and violent fundamentalism highlighted in the media and I believe it is critical that our children learn about Islam in a more well-rounded manner than the modern news media currently provides.  As a result of this lack of understanding between faiths, I cannot seem to currently find a mosque that will open its doors to us.  I get the impression from the polite refusals I have garnered so far that they seem to feel, somewhat understandably so, that they must protect their communities from any possibility of negativity bred of ignorance.  This, I fear, becomes a vicious circle though as those outside their community then begin to veiw their protective nature as secretive and threatening.  This is excatly the sort of situation I would like to see our children’s generation be capable of rising above by daring to trust and striving to understand.  I will continue to search for an opportunity to share the beautiful and poetic side of Islam with the kids this year.

 We are still looking into a location for the art/music workshops because we need some place where mess (art) and noise (music) will not be an issue.  And we need some place we can afford.  I am excited to get a location pinned down though because I have a vision for an art class that I really think the children will enjoy.  I am planning to use MaryAnne Kohl’s fabulous book, First Art, with the 18mo to 3yo group and Art Adventures at Home Level 1, Year A with the 4yo to 7yo group.  We will also continue our Spanish class and our Texas Outdoor Adventures class with the group, taught by two inspired moms,  throughout the spring semester.       

Never underestimate the power of some precise paper folding.  Origami has become a fantastic activity for Kindy Girl, training her patience, attention to detail and fine motor skills in a productive and beautiful way.  She is delighted with the menagerie her new found passion is producing and I am delighted with the focus she is exhibiting.  I want to teach her meditation, but Master F and Mistress I currently make this a supreme challenge that is virtually impossible.  That and Kindy Girl thinks it is sort of boring and a waste of precious one on one time to just sit with our eyes closed and not talk to each other when the twins are napping.  So meditation lessons will have to wait, but origami seems to be imparting some of the same benefits for us both.  As we gracefully fold our Simple Swans togther our minds empty and we move our fingers together in the unified purpose of creation. 

Tonight origami brought our family another opportunity when she implored Big Daddy to help her learn her next fold; the Ladybug.   They have been struggling with the growth of their relationship lately, but watching them dance together, Kindy Girl guiding him as far as she could and then elegantly letting go to be lead the rest of the way, Big Daddy patiently allowing himself to follow her and then assisting gently when asked to do so, left me awe struck at the beauty of the moment.  Blessed be the peace and personal growth to be found in coming to the fold.