Independent Education

Snow Day Snark

 

How does one keep from sounding catty themselves when wanting to address the problem of uneccesary cattiness? 

I am about to risk sounding like a major hypocrite in light of the upcoming post about our speech and lives being inviting. I know this. 

I apologize in advance. 

But, doggone it!! Something came up, and it's not just an education issue. It's an issue for anyone in leadership be it parenting or whatever. Fill in the blank. 

In an imperious tone that is all too common among those in power wherever they may be, the local superintendent was quoted on the front page of the local newspaper recently seeming to happily take all the joy out of the recent snow days (two!!!) the kids (and parents) have enjoyed by reminding them in a rather humorless way that they'll make it up, so don't get too happy ya little punks.

My immediate thought? Well, what a freakin' kill joy. 

Ok, he didn't say "punks." But the tone.... jeez.

In his defense, I know that certain things can be lost in translation when it comes to the written word, and maybe the reporter didn't quote him exactly, thus making him sound more negative than he'd ever intended. This truly could have been the case.

But, assuming that wasn't the case this time, could he not have been a little more....I don't know...humorous or something about this? I mean, we all know that a snow day now means a make up day later. Duh.

    "You have to make them up...the bad news is: For two Fridays in April, they're absolutely going to school." [emphasis mine]

Bwahaha! 

Don't you hate it when people say, "The bad news is...." and you know that it doesn't really bother them at all to share it? In fact for them, it's not bad news at all. They kind of get off on it. It happens in lots of places. 

When I was a kid in school, often somebody got all snarky sounding because they could and seemed to take joy in reminding us of our impending doom. At the point we'd retaliate, they'd get into a snit, and we'd say, "Rawr, rawr, ppphhtt pphhtt!" You know, the whole cat noise thing? Because people were acting catty/snarky? I'll admit, my inner child was making cat noises after reading the super's comments. 

Not one of my shining moments, but quite possibly not really one of his, either.

So it made me want to yak in my coffee. He could have said the same thing (we have to make up school time missed because the state tells us we have to, which is another post for another time) with humor, with some tongue-in-cheek silliness, or something that would take the 'I'm-big-and-you're-little' tone out of things. 

But, no.

I guess the lesson here is if you're in a place of power over people, don't take yourself too seriously. When you have to share information that is a serious downer, soften it with something funny, bend over backwards to take a gracious tone. Otherwise people just roll their eyes and peg you as an anal-retentive control freak which you may or may not be.

Just sayin' to be careful there, cowboy. 

 

 

 

Winter Break

The year started great, and then as often happens in life--wham! You're on your face in a snowbank. And, sometimes it takes a while to right oneself. The best intentions often come to not. 

The bad news is that a recent setback with my health made it impossible for me to continue teaching full time last fall, and next year is not a sure thing, either. As a teacher, merely being able to gut it out everyday just wasn't fair to the young mind in my care, so we opted to put the munchkin in a small, independent school here in town. There are pros and cons, but overall things are going well.

For me personally, it's been a slow, arduous process of grieving the loss of what I'd done every day for nearly ten years. Repurposing spaces once full has been a bit of a challenge. It's as though the much starker walls of the room happily dubbed "education central" looked at me and said, "What now?" 

Yet, as my dear friend, Melissa, reminded me, "What now? can be a fantastic question!"

So, I've been away from the blogosphere with nary a word. What have I been up to? Well, it's possible that I may have slept through the first few months of the fall in addition to generally staying home taking radical care of myself. Learning how to be gracious with myself in my weakness has been a huge learning experience. 

The good news is that I've more time to write and to create, to synthesize a lot of what I've learned and experienced in the last ten years of teaching,and to encourage other IEs still in the trenches. Energy is returning and with it the desire to keep venturing out of my snowbank burrow. 

Who knows? I might turn this into a real blog on which posts are regularly written and everything. 

Happy winter!

Five specific ways to independently educate

 

Heather, a frequent writer on Ree Drummond's blog, has written a concise introduction to five types of independent education. The practice of these methods is not limited to the home-schooling environment. However, Ree and Heather have chosen home-schooling as the independent setting that works best for their families. These methods are also used in other types of private and democratic schools throughout the world. 

Enjoy!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2010/08/five-different-approaches-to-homeschooling/

A Trail Through Leaves

My other favorite nature artist/writer is Hannah Hinchman. I stumbled onto her work via Clare Walker Leslie's books. Hannah writes much of the concept of place and how to carve some out in your life and record it artistically.  

While Hannah has a few books out (all of which I highly recommend), I'll just introduce you to this one. It is, as Sue Hubbell says, "An inspiration to journal-keepers and common-place-book-makers everywhere." 

Hannah's penmanship is so beautiful it makes you almost cry, and she experiments and uses several different styles to marvelous effect throughout her book and journals. 

She sketches and watercolors her "immediate universe" and invites you to do the same. She offers tips on starting a journal as well as various assignments to get you thinking, seeing, drawing. My favorite is a memory walk. 

I immediately felt a kinship with Hannah because I, too, look for the "holy in the commonplace," or what she calls recognizing the "power of the ordinary." 

Her book is filled with common sense how-tos, lists of her favorite tools and books, drawing exercises to get your game on, and inviting thoughts about how she sees the world.  

The book is beautiful and meditative. There is a quietness, a gentleness about her work; through it she calls you to a quieter, gentler way of being, and art is the vehicle that takes you there. 

I encourage you to seek out Hannah Hinchman's work. You couldn't possibly be disappointed : )

Into The Field

This is a wonderful resource for doing locally focused teaching of nature study. 

There are three sections of the book. In the first section, Clare Walker Leslie writes about Teaching Nature Journaling and Observation. In part two, John Tallmadge introduces us to Writing as a Window into Nature.  Part three, by Tom Wessels, is about Reading the Landscape's History (and I might add that this was utterly fascinating). 

My copy is, of course, dog-eared, highlighted, written in, paper clipped and book marked. It's a small book, and makes for a quick but educational read. 

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Field-Locally-Teaching-Literacy/dp/0913098523

We're nearing the end of my series of posts on nature journaling.  Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Hannah Hinchman. She's just amazing. 

Field Sketching

This is, hands down, the best book on Field Sketching that I've ever seen. This book is to Keeping A Nature Journal what college is to high school. It delves deeper into certain aspects of the science of nature study as well as offering more detailed help on drawing skills that are specific to field study. 

It suggests different habitats to study, and offers in-depth advice on what to watch for and how to set up your field journal for each area. It has a particularly nice section on water habitats that I think you will enjoy. 

 

As if being chock full of great information and beautiful drawings and images of pages from real field journals isn't enough, the author introduces you to different wildlife artists along the way. The book is simply beautiful, even though it's in black and white.

 

I loved Keeping A Nature Journal, but if I had to pick one nature sketching book to save in a fire, it'd be this one. It's less colorful, but it's very meaty. 

This chapter is such a nice one because an awfully lot of us are stuck--or otherwise living--in the city. I'm a farm girl, so I suppose I'll always yearn for trees instead of buildings, and wide open spaces that don't involve the parking lot at Home Depot. 

 Just in case you're wondering, this is where I grew up :) 

Ahhhh....! Makes my soul expand, it does!

 

Keeping A Nature Journal

I am so excited to share this post with you!! I've long wanted to introduce you to the book that inspired and taught me to nature journal--and got me hooked. If you are looking for a fantastic, beautiful, all-around perfect introduction to nature journaling, this is your book. 

 

Clare Walker Leslie is, in my opinion, the very best artist and teacher out there when it comes to the subject of nature study. Moreover, she seems to be a lovely person. I contacted her once about doing a workshop for a group of folks in my area, and she was fantastic to converse with. Unfortunately, we never were able to make it happen, but I've not given up that dream just yet. 

I have both editions of the book, and both are utterly dog-eared. I've used Clare's books to help me facilitate nature study classes in my area. Most of the kids loved the books I brought along for them to look at so much I believe they convinced their parents to head right out and buy them their own copies!

Clare uses this book to teach how to keep a nature journal. She offers ideas on keeping seasonal journals as well as offering several skills pages to help you draw more closely what you actually see. There are a multitude of tips and tricks.

 

The book alternates between black and white sketches as well as full color sketches. No lack of inspiration here! 

There are four chapters of seasonal journals, and each one begins with a gorgeous rendering from Clare's own journals. 

The second edition of the book includes a whole section full of selections of pages from Clare's journals. Honest to goodness, it's nothing short of inspiring. If you're not itching for colored pencils and watercolors by this point in the book, I think you're probably not breathing.

 

Chapter 11 is about journaling with school children. This is geared for teachers in classrooms with many children, and a curriculum web is provided as well as information on the teacher's role, a reflection page, and several project ideas. Independent Educators can tweak all this information to suit their unique needs quite easily. 

People of all ages love to experience this, and chapter ten talks about teaching journaling to groups of all ages. I facilitated a class where we had moms and dads and kids all learning together, and it was great fun! I like learning experiences that pull the generations together. We have so much we can learn from one another!

Hurry quick and nab a copy of this book for yourself! You will not, I promise, ever, ever, ever regret the $20 you'll spend to make it yours. It's really that good. 

Here is where you can find Clare Walker Leslie on the web:

http://clarewalkerleslie.com/  

I think you'll love visiting her site, as you'll learn more about who she is, the workshops she offers, and you'll get to see lots of her beautiful illustrations. I will say that her fees for workshops are very fair, and if there is any possible way for you to experience this, go for it!

Here is where you can buy her book at amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Nature-Journal-Discover-Seeing/dp/1580173063

Also, check out this link for a more detailed look at the book itself:

http://tiny.cc/dwf59

Enjoy!

A Nice Sketchbook

Before I show you all my favorite nature journaling books, I have to share one of my favorite new finds with you because this could become your favorite tool for sketching. It's a Circa sketchbook from Levenger. I ordered it couple months ago for about $13. 

  

The paper is sturdy, smooth, and can handle a light wash without getting too bent out of shape (for watercolors on-the-go, I prefer the Moleskin watercolor sketchbooks--can't beat 'em). It has a clear, plastic cover that easily folds over for great access to your paper (a hallmark of all Levenger's Circa products). It sports an elastic band that keeps the book closed when not in use. 

While the factory cover page of the book is nice, you personalize it by popping it out, turning it over, and creating your own design. Or you can just take it out altogether, and let your first entry be the cover page. 

Another thing I like about this book is that each page is perforated, so you can easily take a particularly cute piece of kid art and pop it into a 5X7 frame (although the sheets are just a hair over 7", so minimal trimming would be required). 

 
My kiddo couldn't wait to try out the new sketchbook! He was in such a hurry to see how the book "felt," that he just dashed a bit of something off. That done, he gave the book a big thumbs up! 

 

Of course, you needn't have this sketchbook in order to begin drawing. I just thought it was spiffy, so wanted to share it with you. 

Tomorrow: Into the Field for field sketching!

Anna Botsford Comstock

 

Let me introduce you to the lady who wrote the 'Bible' on nature study. Anna Botsford Comstock founded and became the first head of the Department of Nature Study at Cornell University. 

Doesn't she have a gentle look about her? I bet she'd have been a fascinating woman to know! 

According to the book, she and her husband, John, were leading scientists in their fields. Though she wrote may books on nature, the most widely circulated was this beauty: The Handbook of Nature Study. It was first published in 1911.  

 

A teacher at heart, she begins her book with lots of ideas on how to go about teaching the study nature.

 

In Parts II,III,IV and V, she covers animals, birds, plants, and the earth and sky. The book is illustrated with black and white photos of the various wonders being studied. She starts each lesson by offering reasons for studying each particular thing and goes on to describe it in detail. After introducing the student to the thing that is to be studied, she shares what she calls a "method" of observation which will help you position your students in the field. She guides observation and even includes appropriate poetry.

I just love that! I knew the lady had to have a bit of a poetic soul.

 

Don't feel that you have to follow her lessons perfectly, though. This is a veritable encyclopedia, and I often took it along with us to refer to as we saw a certain type of insect, animal, flower or what not. It's pretty easy to just grab the highlights of the lesson and talk about those with your student/s as you're watching and drawing. 

There are almost 900 pages in this book, and the index is just fabulous. You can look up everything from Henry Abbe to the Zone of Twilight. Vampires not included. 

 

You can find the book at...

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Nature-Study-Botsford-Comstock/dp/0801493846

Enjoy! 

Introduction to Nature Journaling

Long ago and far away when the munchkin was a wee one, I read a book by Charlotte Mason, and decided immediately that nature journaling would be a part of his life (and my own) as we began our independent education journey. Over the years, few things have given us the same amount of joy and peace as the afternoons when we'd blow this joint and head out into the backyard or go sit by the lake and simply watch what happened in the natural world around us. Some days we sketched like mad. Other days we spent the majority of our journaling time quietly taking in everything we could. 

And that, my friends, is the point of the nature journal--to observe first, and then record what it is that you've seen. Sometimes you do more observing than drawing, but really, learning to see is what it's all about. I firmly believe that there should be No Child Left Inside!

Scientists and explorers have been writing down their observations as long as they've had a way to make marks on something be it stone, papyrus, or paper. In the Victorian era, a nature journal was simply a required part of any respectable, liberal education. It was how science was done, and very few people gave up on drawing at the young ages we do now. It was simply a given that you'd observe the world and record those observations for further study. Lewis and Clark are famous for their journals (which can be downloaded for free on the iPad). John Muir always had a sketchbook with him. Geologists today are rarely without their field notebooks. 

And, quite frankly, I'm hard pressed to find a method for studying the natural world that will do more for your budding scientist than the simply enjoyable art of keeping a nature journal. 

 

The journals themselves become treasures. If my house is burning, these are things I really want to save. They are not only records of nature, but of good times spent experiencing the world together, and they are beautiful as well. 

Over the next few days, I'm going to share with you my very favorite books on this subject. However, before we begin, I need to address something very important: fear. 

Overcoming the Fear of Drawing...

It's no secret that most of us are, or at some point were (myself included), completely convinced of our inability to draw. All at once we find ourselves in love with the lovely concept of the nature journal, and we cannot bring ourselves to start because...gulp...we tell ourselves that we can't draw. 

Please hear me: you can. Clare Walker Leslie, wild life artist and nature journaler extraordinaire (you'll be meeting her on this blog in a couple days), says in her book, The Art of Field Sketching, that, "Drawing is like any skill learned: rock climbing, basketball, geometry, piano, life. It comes with practice and desire." 

And that, my friends, is the key. Practice and desire.

Again, it's a learned skill, like anything. This understanding was a given for students of old, and it must come to be a given for us as well. It's painful for students, at first, when they can't immediately draw what they see. This is when you must nix fear and judgment and teach them to understand drawing as a learned skill instead. 

About My Own Drawing Journey...

Personally, the desire came first for me. I've always been drawn to nature and art, and thus I began reading every book on nature journaling and drawing technique I could. That is, I fed my desire. And as the desire grew, the courage to start practicing came along, and I discovered that it really is true--drawing is a skill that grows as long as you're willing to simply practice. 

Most adults who create very child-like drawings and find themselves frustrated that they can't do more must remember that they more than likely stopped drawing when they were in first grade. If the last time you drew anything was in first grade, then you are still in first grade when it comes to drawing. 

The good news is that this skill, when practiced, grows exponentially, and you can find yourself suddenly drawing far more realistically than you dreamed you ever could within the space of a few weeks or months. 

For example, here is a drawing I did when I was 16 (if you've been in Jim's workshops, you know the story behind this guy--I'll share it in a later post for the rest of y'all):

While I'm not a pro by any stretch, the next picture shows I can finally, at the age of 35, create a fairly realistic drawing that captures some of what I see. Of course, I've only been at this a year or more, so for all practical purposes I'm just drawing like I would have at 18 if I'd kept at it. 

 
 

Copy Work...

Another great way to improve your drawing skill is to do what Charlotte Mason called copy work.  That is, you simply create your best rendition of another artist's work. There is no pressure, it's really fun, and you begin to pick up their techniques (so it's good to make sure you really like the artist's work).

 The following picture is copy work that I created from a favorite flower painter's guide. 

The point is you simply must begin to do that thing that you so dearly love and yearn to know how to do. I am a self-educated artist, thanks to beautiful books written by folks who are passionate about, and experts in, what they do (the very definition of a "living book," by the way...). Trust me, if I can do this, you most certainly can, too. 

Kick the fear out of your life. It's only paper, and you can go through as much as you need to while you're learning. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! 

Ready to begin? Meet me here tomorrow, and I'll introduce you to the grand lady of nature study, Anna Botsford Comstock. 

In the meantime, feel free to share your favorite drawing tips--or dreams!