a year in the life of a lifelong learner

i have been delinquent on posting ~a month of unschool~ for so many months now, that it is time for an update on a whole year! i gave up on the idea of back-dating the posts and decided to do one giant long post of the whole year in the life of one lifelong learner. which also feels like a more fitting title for where we are in life at the moment. i am not threatening to make these posts become an annual thing, i’d rather go back to monthly, now that we’re caught up… so go run to the bathroom and fetch yourself your beverage of choice before you read on, this one is going to take you a few minutes! and as always, thanks for reading. xoxo

june 24- july 23, 2014

Picture 006 Picture 028 Picture 043 Picture 027 Picture 003

~ ols summer program ~ pinata making ~ new owner of a library card ~ game making ~ logic game playing ~ book sewing ~

Picture 014 Picture 017 Picture 022 Picture 033 Picture 046 Picture 038 Picture 039 Picture 063

~big creek park hiking ~ water quality testing ~

Picture 043

Picture 119 Picture 123 Picture 107

~ snake witnessing ~

Picture 037 Picture 046 Picture 054 Picture 064 Picture 066 Picture 071 Picture 080 Picture 085 Picture 091

~ oregon country fair ~ pokemon toting ~ totem ogling ~ beauty absorbing ~ fun having ~

Picture 223 Picture 233 Picture 229 Picture 230 Picture 203

~ snail experiment to test intertidal snails’ tendency to move towards red and away from blue, hence towards “shallow” based on the attenuation of light at depth ~

Picture 103 Picture 105 Picture 101 Picture 108 Picture 099 Picture 111 Picture 112 Picture 113 Picture 123 Picture 125 Picture 183 Picture 188 Picture 176 Picture 193 Picture 178 Picture 194 crab Picture 122 Picture 199 Picture 206

~ tidepooling ~

Picture 189

Picture 048 Picture 051 Picture 054 Picture 055

~ scientific method! a good experiment is repeatable! repeating the snail experiment with a different batch of intertidal snails, different species from a different beach, but same experimental design ~

Picture 003 Picture 005 Picture 003

~ experimenting with wind energy and how blade configuration affects windmill efficiency ~

Picture 078 Picture 056 Picture 125 Picture 126 Picture 108 Picture 112 Picture 141

~ blueberry picking ~ livestock visiting ~

Picture 004 Picture 051 Picture 079 Picture 102

~ earth dough volcano making ~

0721141715a Picture 142 Picture 136 Picture 183

 ~ more snails, this time freshwater snails whose parasites are pretty fun to watch under a microscope ~

Picture 197 Picture 206 Picture 212

~ marine science center fun ~

Picture 012

~ returning the snails to their river home ~

Picture 105 Picture 084 Picture 080 Picture 001 Picture 069

~ reading ~ playing ~ eating ~ yoga-ing ~

 july 24-august 23, 2014

Picture 226 Picture 231 Picture 255

~ pancake-ing ~

Picture 272 Picture 266 Picture 294 Picture 293

~ marine discovery touring ~

Picture 035 Picture 029

~ developing a farmer’s market booth (a biweekly tradition observed at ols for practice with currency and entrpreneurship) around trading cards ~

Picture 120

~ camping with family. i love the magical glowing dust motes suggestive of fireflies, and the purposeful walk of the kids ~

Picture 102 Picture 103 Picture 108 Picture 115 Picture 114

~ comic reading, pasta slurping, river romping, adventure plotting ~

Picture 131

~ joy bubbling up at the river’s edge ~

Picture 148 Picture 133 Picture 142 Picture 156

~ tent dwelling, water meditating, karate dancing, tire swinging ~

Picture 221 Picture 275 Picture 232 Picture 281 Picture 186

~ big creek park adventuring ~

Picture 021 Picture 022 Picture 025 Picture 026 Picture 032 Picture 023

~ library summer program fun, including dragon puppet theatre’s 2014 feature “it’s electric!” ~

Picture 018 Picture 017 Picture 040 Picture 026 Picture 037

~ selling his very own homemade pokemon cards at farmer’s market, using magnatiles to display his wares and organize his cash~

Picture 076 Picture 064 Picture 072

~ noodling, sparkling, sprinkling, camping, and generally having fun at squirrel fest ~

Picture 123 Picture 098

~ tie dying ~ peaceful kids power teaming ~

Picture 176 Picture 177 Picture 178 Picture 179 Picture 253

~ eating, tracking down carmen sandiego, breaking into dance moves ~

Picture 196

~ perhaps foreshadowing his future karate self, or maybe air drumming ~

august 24- september 23, 2014

Picture 535 Picture 552 Picture 554

~first day of schooling ~

Picture 560 Picture 564 Picture 555 Picture 556

~ setting up a rock museum ~

Picture 276 Picture 271

~ best friending ~

Picture 244 Picture 057

~ learning through games ~

Picture 130 Picture 316

~ learning through engineering ~

Picture 140

~ learning through time for reflection ~

Picture 287 Picture 324

~ ceramics magic ~

Picture 384 Picture 391 Picture 390

~ biking ~

Picture 394

Picture 327 Picture 022 Picture 382 Picture 053 Picture 024

~ slicing up a fresh batch of pokemon cards to sell ~ reading aloud to younger students ~ figure drawing ~ math gaming ~

Picture 014 Picture 037 Picture 044 Picture 045

~ 3 dimensional geometry using a variety of media ~

september 24 – october 23, 2014

Picture 101 Picture 078 Picture 079 Picture 080

~ a study of optics prompted by a visit to ols by a local eye doctor ~

Picture 114 Picture 133 Picture 137

~ pancaking ~

0929142149 Picture 157 Picture 178

~ airporting ~ flying ~ cousin reuniting!~

Picture 201

~ happy times in new york ~

Picture 269 Picture 256

~ helping grampy with the tractor ~

Picture 296 Picture 301

~ noodle field hockey at the nature center ~

Picture 341 Picture 342 Picture 333 Picture 336 Picture 352

~ observing lots of nature center beauty and life ~

praying mantis Picture 345

Picture 357 Picture 365 Picture 384 Picture 378

~ these photos were taken by quinn, as material he planned to use in creating pokemon stadium cards ~

Picture 398 Picture 394

~ shelter building ~

Picture 041 Picture 042 Picture 020 Picture 025 Picture 032

~ demolitioning grampy’s broken wagon ~

Picture 203 Picture 312 Picture 295 Picture 307 Picture 321

~ lounging with grampy ~ mountain coastering with rich ~ perler beading with cousins ~ celebrating with grammy ~

 Picture 017 Picture 024 Picture 028 Picture 034 Picture 041

~ apple picking wagon riding ~

Picture 031

 Picture 049 Picture 066 Picture 063

Picture 007 Picture 076

~ play time with friends and cousins ~

Picture 048 Picture 014 Picture 091 Picture 085

~ writing ~ practicing with the metric system ~ more work on the eye and optics ~

Picture 104 Picture 106 Picture 115

~ hiking and exploring cape perpetua ~

Picture 233 Picture 225 Picture 230 Picture 232 Picture 287b

~ experimenting with color mixing ~ contributing to group art piece gratitude poster made from finger prints ~

Picture 268 Picture 260 Picture 261 Picture 289

~ reading the raven and other books about northwest native american culture ~ creating art in preparation for dia de los muertos ~ visiting a local tribal cultural center ~

Picture 335

~ learning firsthand what it means to be a seal or a sea lion, during a pinniped lesson ~

october 24- november 23, 2014

Picture 039 Picture 033

~ taking lots of walks down our gravel road, often wielding a staff like donatello ~

Picture 017 Picture 024 Picture 074 Picture 141

~ baking pan (bread) for dia de los muertos ~ learning all about the day of the dead traditions and participating in a celebration  of it ~

Picture 062 Picture 063 Picture 055 Picture 060

~ writing stories ~ drawing zombies ~

Picture 144 Picture 153 Picture 098 Picture 151

~ making maps of haunted mansions ~ coming up with the idea for his halloween costume from a pokemon card ~

Picture 009 Picture 004 Picture 028

~ making a group totem pole, including his own totem animal, the owl ~

Picture 033 Picture 031 Picture 032 Picture 115 Picture 114 1109141344

~ delving into dungeons and dragons (seriously academic stuff, folks. lots of great math, storytelling, mapping, creativity!) ~

Picture 107

Picture 119 Picture 118 Picture 120

~ listening to his dad play banjo and guitar at ols ~

Picture 093 Picture 172 Picture 177

~ celebrating birthdays ~

Picture 167

Picture 125 Picture 127 Picture 094 Picture 100 Picture 002

~ studying animal classification ~ solidifying concepts about the 5 groups of vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish) and also being introduced to kingdom-phylum-class-order-family-genus-species ~ playing a scattergories-esque game where you have to name a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and fish all starting with the letter chosen (this got all the kids opening up reference books, and i quickly abandoned any time-limits in favor of letting them dive deeper to find more obscure animal names) ~

Picture 048 Picture 027 Picture 028 Picture 054 Picture 052

~ making gratitude trees ~ making games ~ making adventures ~

Picture 046 Picture 061 Picture 077

~ learning about the process of taking wool from sheep to sweater ~ more figure drawing, this time from life ~ reading my old book the little lamb ~

Picture 103 Picture 104 Picture 145 PART951417458439771

~ taking care of dogs and guinea pigs ~ breakfast with a guinea pig snuggled in your blanket is a great way to start the day ~

november 24 – december 23,  2014

Picture 097 IMG_4754 IMG_4752 IMG_4785

~ making applesauce (which them became fruit leather) using simple machines  (apple peeler-corer-slicer and food-mill) ~

IMG_4848 IMG_4854 IMG_4859 IMG_4874

~ making pumpkin pie ~ simple machine grinder to crush the ginger cookies for the pie crust ~

IMG_5020 IMG_5024 IMG_5025 IMG_5030 IMG_5035

~ rolling with the simple machines theme ~ building a rope-making machine from scratch ~ making rope ~

IMG_4630 IMG_4631 IMG_4632

~ sculpting storyteller dolls ~

IMG_4642 IMG_4643 IMG_5120 IMG_5122

~ coming up with new pokemon card designs to sell ~ making a set of cards and a special elven rope (very thin, exceptionally strong) using the ols rope making machine, for his dad’s birthday present ~

IMG_5013 IMG_5017

~ clearing limbs off the road after a storm ~ drawing by flashlight in power outage ~

IMG_4640 IMG_4641 IMG_5130

~ taking care of ruby tuesday ~ listening to stories ~ reading stories ~

IMG_5140 IMG_5144 IMG_5167 IMG_5149 IMG_5166

~ planting a new tree for the local public library ~

IMG_5290

~ celebrating friends’ birthdays. i love his birthday song face ~

IMG_5339

~ 3d geometry ceramics project in final form ~

IMG_5363 IMG_5428ed IMG_5443

~ caroling at ols, this year’s favorite song was “do you hear what i hear?” ~ decorating our tree ~ making gingerbread houses with friends ~

december 24, 2014 – january 23, 2015

IMG_5458 IMG_5451 family IMG_5501

~ celebrating with family ~

IMG_5526 IMG_5514 IMG_5520

~ exploring the arctic ~

 colorsplash hearts1

~ indulging mama’s photography practice by posing in front of christmas tree lights ~

IMG_5652

~ for a while ~

IMG_5647

~ super patiently ~

IMG_5692 IMG_5698 IMG_6091 0119151654

~ worked on a new report topic (started out with dragons but ended up focusing on oregon trail) ~ studied perspective through painting ~ learned how to rock a kilt thanks to an awesome homemade gift ~ visited whale bones ~

IMG_5761 IMG_5762 IMG_5763

~ movie magic, discovering stop-motion film making ~

~ around this time, quinn made a few quotable statements:

“learning would be so much easier without teachers”

“when ava sat down it looked like a white lily pad!”

noted here so that once the sticky note i jotted them down on gets washed in my jeans pocket only to end up stuck in the lint trap and lost forever, they are somewhere

IMG_5723 IMG_5706 IMG_5737 IMG_5734

~ began a month-long pioneers and oregon trail unit ~ making corn husk dolls ~ keeping an oregon trail journal from perspective of a pioneer, including a budget for the supplies they would need for their journey on the oregon trail ~

IMG_5759 IMG_5745

~ acting out pioneer life in a wagon built from fort magic (what a great learning tool! we used it in many applications throughout the year) ~

IMG_6146 IMG_6129 IMG_6134 IMG_6135 IMG_6145

~ presenting his research on life on the oregon trail, specializing in the life of pioneer children ~

january 24- february 23, 2015

~ pioneers continued ~

IMG_6185 IMG_6212 IMG_6251 IMG_6216

~ slates ~ rules and rulers ~  pioneer lunch (ham, biscuits, jam, cheese, pickles, dried apples, wrapped in cloth or stored in glass jars) ~ nail, ear, neck inspection ~

~ baking biscuits, shaking butter, building a salt dough map of the united states featuring the oregon trail ~

~ building an oregon trail diorama, calculating the number of times a wagon wheel turned depending on how many miles it drove ~

~ celebrated a grand finale *pioneer day* featuring washboards for washing doll clothes, candle making, soap pouring, lunch packed in baskets with no plastic baggies or tupperwares or individually wrapped snacks, and 3-legged races ~

IMG_6276

IMG_6331

~ research presentation on scorpions ~

IMG_6332 IMG_6304 IMG_6291 IMG_6374

~ egg drop engineering ~ spill-and-spell and handwriting practice ~

orange IMG_6294 IMG_6319 IMG_6286 IMG_6328 IMG_6327

~ beginning a salmon science unit ~ provided a home for some salmon eggs in a tank on our ols science counter ~ ate snack made with graham crackers, peanut butter, chocolate rocks and blueberries, that looked suspiciously like our tank bottom ~ played return to the redd board game (so much good curriculum on salmon science is available online, the problem was not thinking up curriculum but sifting through all the great stuff already out there!) ~ group art project and puzzle making a large salmon poster from individual coloring sheets ~

IMG_6365 IMG_6356 IMG_6415

~ found our way home using our noses (each stream had its own characteristic essential oil fragrance in a packet clothes-pinned to each fork in the stream; i made the stream finger-knitting while kids were giving their research presentations  ~ watched eggs hatch out alevins ~

IMG_6354

 ~ science counter with tank full of eggs, and finished poster ~ we also sculpted and embossed fish in art class, but i didn’t have good pictures to show ~

8 IMG_6593 8 IMG_6579

~ turning 8 at school ~

8 IMG_6502

~ turning 8 on his actual birthday ~

february 24 – march 23, 2015

IMG_6968 IMG_6992 IMG_7129

~ large floor diagram of internal salmon anatomy ~ adding the heart ~ all parts taped on and labeled ~

IMG_7011 IMG_7030 IMG_7035 IMG_7047 IMG_7069

~ dissection of an adult salmon (provided by fish and wildlife, who had some leftover from a trap survey ~ thousands of eggs! this was a female, and we got to see a male, too ~ one egg ~ the lens removed from the eye ~ (note: a dissection is actually not quinn’s idea of a good time, and he opted to do the virtual dissection and not attend this dissection; i still wanted to record it here, to remember what i taught in science class!)

IMG_6673 IMG_6680 IMG_6725 clues IMG_6695

~ celebrating turning 8 one more time for good measure! dragon party at the dragon house ~ featuring reading of treasure hunt clues and science experimenting with lava lamps, amid all the cupcakes and fun ~

IMG_6748 IMG_6731 IMG_6834

~ pancaking ~

IMG_6766

IMG_6815 IMG_6825 IMG_6822

~ climbing ~

eagle quinn 2 IMG_6818

~ fraternizing with eagles ~

IMG_6611 IMG_6618 IMG_6955 IMG_6959

~ unstructured time playing pokemon in costume in fort magic ~ watercolor and marker on wood veneer ~ reading great books, such as buffalo woman, to himself ~ organizing his pokemon cards in a binder, with a cover he designed and decorated ~

IMG_6944 IMG_6942 IMG_6940 IMG_6951

~ sand therapy ~

IMG_6950

IMG_6939

0224151147 0224151147a

~ game making lab and library (including all the game pieces you might need for creating your own game- fake money, dice, spinners, timers, mover pieces, letter tiles, and more); students developed their idea for a game, tested it by having other students play it, and then were given a blank game board (thrifted and covered with white paper) and a sharpie to make it a real game ~

IMG_7204 IMG_7132

~ fry growing rapidly in science counter tank ~ returning carcasses of dissected fish to the stream ~

 IMG_7236 IMG_7235 IMG_7229 IMG_7257

IMG_7233

~ group project: stop-motion animation of the entire life cycle of a salmon ~ man in black currently operating the camera is quinn ~

IMG_7599

~ setting up insect prey and making salmon eat them ~

~ the finished film ~

IMG_7267 IMG_7268 IMG_7353 IMG_7328 IMG_7371

~ returning a week later with our ready-to-release fry, we observed the way the ecosystem was utilizing the salmon carcasses; all but one had been “utilized” completely, and this one remained, covered in snails ~ each student got to release individual fry, carefully netting it and setting it free in the stream, along with a “wish for a fish” for health and survival prospects ~ a fun frog was found on release day as well ~

IMG_7366

~ some of the kids named their fish; quinn released swimmy and sammy ~

IMG_7433 IMG_7420

~ the free fry, swimming in the stream ~

0302151819 0302151820a

~ his own stop motion studio at home, this time with his birthday lego set of mos eisley cantina ~

 

IMG_7436 IMG_7453 IMG_7439

 ~ fully absorbed in the wings of fire series about dragons, by tui sutherland ~ pinewood derby fun ~

karate IMG_7611 karate IMG_7612 karate IMG_7616 karate IMG_7618

~ started karate!!! ~

IMG_7601

~ what he looked like in the evening after the first few karate practices ~

march 24- april 23, 2015

IMG_7724

IMG_7726 IMG_7725 IMG_7718

~ room makeover ~

purple IMG_7734 IMG_7747 IMG_7800

~ creating a board game for a best friend birthday present ~ decorating eggs ~

IMG_7825 IMG_7831 IMG_7847 IMG_7849 IMG_7854

~ diving wholeheartedly into his new passion ~

IMG_7900 IMG_7917 IMG_7923 IMG_7932

~ celebrating a friend ~

IMG_7942 IMG_7944 IMG_7946

~ experiencing a watershed model ~

IMG_7934 IMG_8318 IMG_8322 0401151105

~ exploring book covers as a material for art making ~ contributing to a group art exhibit at the local public library ~

IMG_7950 IMG_7975 IMG_7968

~ pancaking is always so much fun ~

IMG_7954 IMG_7997

~ dabbling in photography, quinn has recently had very urgent needs to use my camera, and these two are some of his shots ~

0421151627

~ drumming on a drum set ~ i see more drums in our future ~

IMG_8036 IMG_8035 IMG_8039 IMG_8040 IMG_8041 IMG_8042

~ karate game called “whack the students” for practicing basic blocking set ~ quinn got to go first and not knowing what to expect, the whole group ended up laughing together as he dissolved in giggles ~

IMG_8043

IMG_8021

~ did you see me? ~

IMG_8058

7 weeks mt tabor black and white

~ brief flashback to another day, another daisy ~

IMG_8078 IMG_8077 IMG_8022

IMG_8084 IMG_8095

~ earth day writing assignment, inspired by an out-of-print book i came across at omsi years ago, and then bought a copy of, called while a tree was growing ~ quinn’s story from the perspective of the tree he chose to write about ~

april 24- may 23, 2015

IMG_8114 IMG_8115 IMG_8120

~ alternative energy experiments with solar panels and windmills ~

IMG_8167 IMG_8216 IMG_8228

~ an earth-day board game ~ experimenting with wind energy, using it to perform work, such as hauling “kids” (washers) up in an “elevator” (cup) which was great fun ~

IMG_8165

~ making their own laptops and ipads, on paper ~

IMG_8154 IMG_8195 IMG_8238 IMG_8236

IMG_8258

~ sucked into the diary of a wimpy kid vortex ~

IMG_8338 IMG_8340 IMG_8346 IMG_8333

IMG_8354

~ earned his red tip, and qualified to test for a yellow belt ~

IMG_8368 IMG_8365 IMG_8361 IMG_8362 IMG_8364 IMG_8366 IMG_8370 IMG_8371 IMG_8376 IMG_8386 IMG_8378 IMG_8398 IMG_8402

~ yellow belt test success! ~

IMG_8417 IMG_8405 IMG_8412 IMG_8413

~ guinea pig research presentation ~

IMG_8423 IMG_8431 IMG_8484

~ practicing coordinate plane with “find the spy” game ~ making a special egg quilt square for teacher k ~ becoming a wizard with a handmade blue-agate topped staff ~

IMG_8472 IMG_8471 IMG_8486 IMG_8489

~ visiting tall ships with class and learning about shipping trade and the life of a sailor ~ visiting tall ships with mama and learning about capstans, windlasses, tillers and lines ~

may 24 – june 23, 2015

 IMG_8569 IMG_8573 IMG_8575 IMG_8587 IMG_8601

~ horsing around ~

IMG_8620 IMG_8611 PART_1432960575488 0527151035

~ creating our own comic strips ~ singing spanish songs ~ fishing and canoeing ~ reading a ton!~

0604151602this moment date

~ going on “dates” with mama to the food co-op for treats and quiet time after school and before karate and devouring calvin and hobbes ~

IMG_8627 IMG_8624 IMG_8623

~ yellow belting ~

IMG_8631 IMG_8630 IMG_8653

~ learning about babies ~ grating the purple cabbage of science, and using purple cabbage acid/base indicator to test our water supply ph (it’s all good, we don’t have a lot of trouble with acid rain here) ~

IMG_8719 IMG_8712 IMG_8716 yellow IMG_8711 IMG_8740 yellow IMG_8738

IMG_8732

~ practicing archery (here only in gesture, but for real at his dad’s house) ~

IMG_8747 IMG_8743 IMG_8745 IMG_8746 otter IMG_8749

IMG_8785 IMG_8766

~ tidepooling and adventuring with friends ~

 IMG_8803 IMG_8801 IMG_8802

IMG_8814 IMG_8811 IMG_8812 IMG_8813

~ learning the yellow belt curriculum ~

IMG_8821 IMG_8822

~ sparring ~

jump IMG_8844 tassel IMG_8894 q IMG_8845

~ graduating! the ols kids had a last day of school outing to one of our state parks, and had a wonderful, heartfelt graduation ceremony, involving stuffed bears with graduation caps, tassels with meaningful symbolic charms attached, and diplomas, in addition to some wonderful words spoken by teacher k about her hopes for the kids as they leave ols ~

(condensed and excerpted here, so he can look back on it and remember!)

“Always do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember that we are one. Anything you do for another, you do for yourself. And anything you do for yourself, you do for another.

Obey all laws so long as they’re just. Check to see if a rule or law is fair. Ask questions. If you find that a law is fair, then abide by it. If it creates injustice for another person or being or a group of beings, then don’t.

Love, Love, Love, Love. Keep your heart open and your mind sharp. Remember that the best way to conquer an enemy is to become their friend.

Finally, never accept the status quo. If everyone around you says it can’t be done, then ask them to kindly step aside so that you can get it done. If you want to see more love in the world, then be the love.

Remember that each of your lives is essential to our world. Be who you are. Love who you are. Like the many instruments in a symphony, we each play a part. Play yours with all your heart!”

rainbow colored glasses IMG_8897

~ seeing the world through rainbow colored glasses ~ here he is looking at his tassel, with its golden key to the world, and musical instrument charm (his was a saxophone) ~

IMG_8916 IMG_8920 IMG_8923 IMG_8925

~ earning his first black tip on his yellow belt ~

run IMG_8931

IMG_8936 IMG_8942 IMG_8934 IMG_8954 IMG_8956

~ first lesson with nunchaka (“chucks”) which quinn thoroughly enjoyed ~

nunchaka IMG_8939

IMG_8825

 ~ and onward we go, embracing whatever comes around the next bend or over the next bridge,  learning all the time! ~

1 comment to a year in the life of a lifelong learner

  • your new neighbor

    What a great yearly recap!!! Loved all best friend photos 🙂 here’s to many more bestie adventures!! And family camping trips !!

Leave a Reply to your new neighbor Cancel reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>