VERY PROUD OF RYDER

Ryder takes Aikido, now in his 2nd year (it is a Japanese form of martial arts that is about being fully present, connected with all energy and able to redirect an attackers energy, it also flows in harmony with laws of nature. Steven Seagal is an Aikido Master - so if you have seen a movie of Seagal's or you have seen anything about a samari you can get an idea of Aikido) I also started taking Aikido and have taken a test - and I can tell you it's nerve wracking.  Most test takers go into panic mode including me. So this email from Ryder's instructor was tremendous and meant A LOT! Kelly suggested we share this and as I am not a big horn tooter usually, with this one - it's pure Ryder and he earned it. We are very proud of him and love how his beautiful spirit shines as he is developing in to a wonderful, kind and competent human being. The email is posted below.

One other thing I want to note, in our Aikido school - it is not like a typical kid martial art school where you do fun and games and learn a few kicks and punches and such. Everything he is learning is exactly what an adult is learning. When he tests and advances it is for real. When he is 14 he can go in to the adult class and he will bow in at whatever level he has attained. Anyway, that's kind of a big deal in the martial arts world.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: george ellis <george_ellis3@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 24, 2013 at 10:57 PM
Subject: ping
To: "stephana.johnson@gmail.com" <stephana.johnson@gmail.com>

if this is Ryder's mom....I want you to know how impressive R's composure was at Test Time.....truly impressive

 

there are times when I think that the thirty year old Ryder kicks in......just what I ask....the little boy is for a short time a martial artist and a senior student in every

sense of the word.....but we can let him be a kid,  most of the time.

 

really impressive

 

osu!

 

G

REPOSTING a picture of our night time routine - maybe other's will be inspired...

I'll give you the whole picture of our night time as we had suffered for years from night issues. After an early dinner, I start dimming lights, slowing down and picking/cleaning up.
All screens go away/off - this was and is the worst culprit for poor sleep for us.

I put on lullaby cd (gorgeous soothing music we all love) quietly in the background.

On days needed I will prepare warm epsom salt baths (great for magnesium uptake) and finish with all over oil massage - calming oil combos.

We take a product called Baby calm Peter Gilham makes it -it is good on it's own  but I add cup of chamomile tea and valerian with tulsi. I also rub valerian and or lavender essential oils on their feet especially between their toes. They ask for this if I'm not right on it - and they make sure I get both feet and each toe - so they are enjoying it greatly and within minutes they are out and happily sleeping. I notice they also wake in much better moods. It may seem like a lot but it's about 20 minutes of a simple soothing ritual that helps me too - to get present and be grounded.

  I will tell you, because we have had trauma and rough experiences at times I will add EFT (tapping technique) to the routine especially if I see there is residual effects hanging around - from a loss or upset or just a tough day. It's fast, easy, effective. The other thing is - I don't read stories to them at night - I tell them a story - I literally sit for a moment and ask for guidance to share a story that will best support my children - and it just starts to flow. It took a bit of confidence and practice but now it's a treasure for me and them. A couple of  nights ago I actually finished the story and my 7 year old said, "mom that was a really really good story. thanks for that" magical words.

Holiday Traditions

My boys are 7 almost 8 and a new 5. Legos - argh! so many and yet they keep coming in so I let the g-parents send them..

But, this year I made a new tradition. Arbitrary but still something intended to build on. No real start time - one because I don't have any date for anything being set in stone. So I a dreidel made for hanukkah with their own new box of real art clay and a trip to the potter's wheel - a cool place to make things. Singing the song - Ryder will just start singing it and his dad will go - what are you singing? SO FUN!

For Ryder I am getting him a djembe drum and roller blades.

Dax a piano - (we've been saving for a while) and a full size play stand I'm building custom for him. I'm also making a small sandbox on the patio with digger items. He loooves sand.

Then experiences.

So far this week we've gone to the local credit union and opened each their own savings accounts. They got a lollipop which I pre-checked to be approved by mom and met with a wonderful banker and they each deposited their own money. So cute!

We then "capered" one of their friends as an outting - friend hadn't been feeling well, I explained this and said wouldn't it be lovely...we went to the $ store and and I gave each $1 to get something Kobe would enjoy - (we also made nice little art cards for him but they are mainstream and although of course would appreciate...well, you know) so we showed up at their door and sang to them and gave our gifts and left him and his family smiling and laughing) The boys talked about it as a big "wow" that was kinda fun.

I made a treasure box - this I will be introduced with a story - where we will keep all of our "ideas" to go treasure hunting through the year/s.

We also packed up a big bag of things to send to the Philippines and took it to the folks sending it.

Honestly -- the more we've focused on this in a gentle, subtle part of life - there hasn't been a lot of what's for me. Nor me feeling like - what am I going to get these guys. So not getting caught up in the give me get me, buy me something or any of the frenzy that gets created - it's nice to be able to see what they see. The different holidays that are celebrated are such a nice experience to share with each other in the stories.

Experiences - that's first. Maybe presented in a cool book you made - horse back riding lessons, day at the beach, hot cocoa and light walk, watching home movies when the boys were babies - the best, etc. So many fun things. With the roller blades I've got a 3 day pass with mom to learn to Blade. And with the piano - lessons with a cool teacher. Djembe comes with a drumming circle night out with friends.

Funny, as I am writing Dax came in and said "I have a gift for you" He came in with a wrapped foil of home made marshmallows. He loves to wrap anything and present it as a gift to us and anyone.

This is definitely where I would sit with things. And let it flow to you freely. Oh I read this great thing by Pema - the emotion last only 90 seconds if it lasts longer it's something you are keeping going by telling a story or making it mean something. So, when you feel that "holiday frenzy" gotta buy something to fill some need - sit with it, breathe it in and such and then after 90 seconds we find our way.

November 11, 2013 - Veteran's Day, Martinmas and Lantern Walk

We talked about 11.11.11 - and saw peace instead of war and understanding instead of confusion and faith instead of fear.

We made lanterns and bird feeders and other treats to decorate a tree in a forest park where we would end our lantern walk with a night picnic.

We talked of St. Martin and his kindness and sang songs about our lanterns. Ryder made up a lovely one I don't fully remember.Here is what I do remember and photos to follow.

Lantern lantern shine your light make for me my path so bright.

Story time shared this lantern walk of the little people

John Muir Block - Language Arts and Humanities from the Enki Curriculum

We are in our 3rd block for the year. We are studying the life of John Muir using our Enki Curriculum for Second Grade.

For me as a teacher and as a human being this has been a healing, inspiring and powerful experience.

For Ryder (and Dax) I see the pieces of this beautiful human being light the way for my boys.

We began reading the Fox tales so when we started Johnnie's stories the boys could imagine Johnnie's Grandfather sharing these stories with him.

When we began reading his life story one of our first trips was to our closest National Park where we found Owl Pellets and other goodies.

We watched The Secret of Roan Innish, a fabulous movie for family night that shares the legend of the Silkies.

Here are some photos from our many wonderful time with John Muir.

Autumn leaves have fallen, winter is around the corner but play will always be the order of the day

Mischief Mouse Kindy Story with Bees Wax Sculpture and Water Color Painting

Dax made this tiny jack-o-lantern and mischief mouse inside. From our Enki Kindy curriculum.

So cute and a perfect lesson for Dax right now!

Pumpkin Patch, Hay Ride and Petting Zoo with friends

A Visit To Bob's Red Mill

My mother is visiting for a couple of days and I thought it would be nice to take the free tour at Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukee, OR. Since we are gluten free and my mother enjoys Bob's Red Mill products too it seemed like a perfect time to tour.

We learned about Bob and his vision and action to keep the company locally owned - each employee is an owner. We learned how important it is not to give up and to be willing to start fresh, roll up your sleeves and get to working on your purpose. The arson fire that burned the mill in the late 80's, while a real tragedy, was the catalyst to the great expansion of Bob's Red Mill.  I am not articulating well here how significant this tour impacted me personally.

The boys harvested and ground wheat by hand. We felt the quartz stones that grind. We saw the whole process and learned about how Bob and his wife Charlie started.

The grand highlight was we got to meet Bob personally. At almost 85, he was bright and kind and interested in life and his life's work. Wow! What an inspiration. I would love to have met his wife Charlie and given her a great big hug. I'll aspire to be a grandma like her.

Here are photos that will tell more...

"Children today are cossetted and pressured in equal measure. Without the freedom to play they will never grow up." by Peter Grey

One of the very first home schooling conferences I attended had Peter Grey as a guest speaker. It was not the first I'd heard of these concepts, but it was the first I understood them fully.

I had major shifts in my thinking and trajectory with schooling my boys. I went from shoving facts and "teaching my baby to read" to going out an playing and letting them play freely - and NOT feel guilty about letting my boys really play, even if it meant that was how we spent the whole day. So even now with my boys - play was the most important thing we did today!

"The decline in opportunity to play has also been accompanied by a decline in empathy and a rise in narcissism, both of which have been assessed since the late 1970s with standard questionnaires given to normative samples of college students. Empathy refers to the ability and tendency to see from another person’s point of view and experience what that person experiences. Narcissism refers to inflated self-regard, coupled with a lack of concern for others and an inability to connect emotionally with others. A decline of empathy and a rise in narcissism are exactly what we would expect to see in children who have little opportunity to play socially. Children can’t learn these social skills and values in school, because school is an authoritarian, not a democratic setting. School fosters competition, not co-operation; and children there are not free to quit when others fail to respect their needs and wishes."

" Because students spend nearly all their time studying, they have little opportunity to be creative, take initiative, or develop physical and social skills: in short, they have little opportunity to play."

 "You can’t teach creativity; all you can do is let it blossom, and it blossoms in play"


Here are a few quotes. The whole article is here
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/children-today-are-suffering-a-severe-deficit-of-play/

Greater/Less Than - Domino

Continuing our Enki Curriculum math block and because I like more physical work, to balance the worksheets we worked this out. Dax wanted to do his own variation.

 Along with a fun train ride with the four processes - delivering and carrying loads as we used the concepts of plus, minus, multiply and divide.

OH HOW I LOVE ENKI!!

Maya the Apple Head Chihauhau

Today, during our afternoon adventure time, we met Maya Hokolele, a 2 pound Applehead Chihauhau and her human RoseAnn. Both lovely ladies. Dax spotted the little one a foot ball field off, took my hand and said "we need to go visit that cute little puppy".

Dax was certainly enthralled with Maya and Ryder spent ample time trying to convince me the merits of getting a dog, similar to Maya. We also got to know RoseAnn and come to find she was an artist and art teacher for nearly 25 years. She was on a journey of healing and the simplicity of how the afternoon unfolded was led by Grace.

While I shared my gift as healer, helping RoseAnn with PTSD through Ho'oponopono and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique, aka Tapping) Dax, the expressionist, was inspired to draw Maya and all of us.

It was a precious and enriching afternoon for each of us and as we know, synchronicity is splendid.

Wind, Wind, Wind the Bobbin

I remember doing this song with Ryder at library story time in Austin, TX. The story lady there was probably the best librarian story teller we've come across. She was made for story times. With the special shoes and puppets and so much fun. I wish I could recall her name. Anyway, I digress...

We sing the song and do the movements to this during our circle but today I thought to bring it to life for Dax as he wasn't willing to participate. In an impromptu craft I took a drum stick from Dad some red yarn and used the concept of making pom pom.

So now we have some practical to go along with our conceptual. Fun. And inspiration for holiday decorations perhaps.

Recent Birthday and Volcanos

Dax turned 5 on the 29th of September and here are a few photos with his new volcano and horse race game.

During his 5th year (so that's all while being 4) he has drawn, painted, colored over 426 pieces, learned to ride a bike (sans training wheels - we skipped that part altogether thanks to Grandpa's gift of the Balance Bike last Christmas, made some wonderful new friends and learned to calm himself on his own when he gets angry or upset. Of course he's developed and gained so much in vocabulary and understanding and I am deeply proud of my second son.