~september brings her inspirations~

I am sooooo in love with home learning (Dad-e-o keeps asking why I say schooling when what we do is so NOT schooling). Our mornings are filled with inquisitive discovery and some how we keep being done at exactly 12:00!! How we managed that I have yet to figure out...but regardless, the flow of teaching all these sweet babes is going so much more smoothly then I expected. I have time for everyones needs and lessons...complete with projects and novel reading near the end.

One thing I am finding so serendipitous....our Africa study. Beena decided last April that she wanted to study Africa. This was way before Dad-e-o and started talking about possibly adopting from Ethiopia. And now, with my heart so open to the possibility of more children in our lives I am finding myself emersed in a multi-faceted study! It is so cool!! Even the novel that I am reading to Eden is set in Ethiopia in the 1840's.( http://www.janekurtz.com/books/saba.html ) Written by a white women who grew up there, the story comes from the perspective of a 12 year old girl...and it is beautifully and poetically written, which speaks to Edens heart. At the end of the book there is a whole section on a girls life in Ethiopia then and now.

Shifting directions....I am almost done with our application for Mr.Bop's special ed funding for "school". How this program works for me is yet to be seen. It is a bit more work then our already somewhat labor intensive Self Design program http://www.wondertree.org/ but there is a lot of support and our Learning Consultant is very open/unschooly and has loads of experience with autistic kids. I do believe that I might have found a mentor for Mr.Bop as well....someone to do 1 on 1 work in his line of passions ~ nature and all her splendor. http://www.earthwisetours.com/ I have talked with her about the possibility and will talk more after Mr.Bop and Beena have taken part in her Nature Journeys which starts next week. I think the idea kind of intimidated her a bit...the whole label of Autism can be freaky for some people. but I am sure that will shift once she meets him and is able to see his passion and focus in the field. Mr.Bop is also very "high functioning" which is so different from peoples "rain man" perspective of Autism. I am so excited that we might have found something for him!! Now there is something for everyone here, which really does effect our deliberation as far as to move or not to move goes.

Speaking of which, we are going to look at a place this weekend. 30 acres with and old house on it about 30-ish minutes from town in an area that we both really love....huge mountains, beautiful lake, thick forests that are not all pine. The draw behind this, other then its obvious beauty, is that there is a house that might be good enough to live in while we build. It also has power, septic and a well already in place which saves us a huge amount of time and work....we're feeling pretty done in the work category right now!! I'll keep you posted!

Here are a few pic's of our adventures in the greenbelt with Jess.

Me bellydancing at the fall fair with my new orange costume pieces that my mama got me for my birthday!