Homeschooling Update

Both Dani and I are continuing to thoroughly enjoy our role as Lielle's new teachers.... and Lielle seems to be a very motivated student! The system we have adopted is a semi-structured one where we give Lielle a range of subjects to choose from and she organizes her time-table each evening for the next day. Hot favorites are still English and Cookery, but she is also regularly choosing Geography, Science and Nature Studies. Maths is incorporated into the time-table with ongoing games throughout the day and her writing and reading skills are merged into the other subjects that she chooses. Without even trying she is learning more and more Bulgarian every day too.

We try to connect all the various subjects to each other so that everything has relevence. Today was a great example: Yesterday we noticed our neighbour working hard in her garden cutting maize (sweetcorn) and we offered to help her. At 9 o'clock this morning we turned up for work (but she wouldn't let us start until we had eaten some home-made bread and plum jam!) We spent a good couple of hours helping out. It was great physical exercise for Lielle, as well as a real fun and hands-on way of learning about how corn grows and what it is used for. When we came home we gave her a page of questions to answer relating to what she had learnt that morning and she also wrote a short account of what we did there and how much she enjoyed it. We finished off the days' studies with some artwork using paint and corncobs and leaves - all in beautiful autumn colors.

At the moment we are spending around 3 hours each day on homeschooling, but our aim is for Lielle to become a more independent pupil as she masters reading and writing, enabling us to spend less time one-on-one with her as she gets on with many of the tasks by herself.

A few days ago her day began with Cookery and Sport followed by English and Maths. You can check it out in this video clip on Lielle's Blog www.liellesblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/school-of-life.html

The family is reunited!

Dani arrived five days ago! He surprised us all when he showed up at the village about 6 hours earlier than we were expecting him having sussed out all the various transport options from Sofia. Since he arrived hungry one of the very first things we did was to show him the garden and he picked himself a salad. There is nothing quite like eating fresh food from your own garden that has been picked only minutes before! Check out the video above.

We have already got stuck in to a few of our projects: Together we have almost finished the mud-plastering in the entrance (more about that soon), and Dani has painted over the wallpaper in the guest bedroom to at least give it a nice fresh clean look. The time just whizzes by between working, preparing food and eating. We still have the bigger projects ahead of us: dismantling the old summer kitchen and making seating areas outside, organizing the compost toilets and shower room... the list goes on ... but we are doing it all bit by bit and by the end of each day there is always something to tick off the list, however small.

Now Dani is with us we have decided to establish more of a routine to our day and have started off this morning with a bit of homeschooling. Dani is teaching Lielle maths and after lunch I shall sit with her to learn about the upcoming Rosh HaShana holiday and make cards to send to the family back in Israel. The idea is that she will become more of an independent learner and will be able to get on with many of the subjects by herself. Watch this space!

The Tooth Fairy

One of Lielle's top middle teeth fell out last week giving her that charming toothless grin appeal so typical of 7-8 year olds. This was her third lost tooth - the lower middle two both fell out within a week of each other last summer in Bulgaria. I remember how excited she was then about the tooth fairy and how thrilled she was to receive a small gift and a little note.

This time round she asked me straight up if there really is a tooth fairy, or if it's the parents. I could sense that she really wanted to know the truth, but that the truth might not be what she wanted to hear. It reminded me a lot of the Father Christmas dilemma in my own childhood. Suggesting that she put the tooth under her pillow, I kissed her goodnight and promised that we'd see what happened and talk about it in the morning. I knew that this would be the last time that she, and I, would be experiencing the magic of this particular aspect of childhood naivety.

I could hear her fiddling about for some time in her room before she finally settled off to sleep. When I crept in just before midnight I found a little handwritten note next to the tooth:

"Dear Fairy, Do you know a fairy called Julie? I believe in fairies. When you take my tooth you can take the little bag too as a present". Along with a 10-shekel coin I left a little note thanking her for the gift.

Lielle woke us up excitedly at 7 am, the coin and note in her hand, and with a cheeky grin and a knowing look in her eye she said: "Ima, this looks just like your handwriting!" So I smiled and admitted that maybe there is a fairy called Julie, and when she insisted, I showed her where I had hidden the tooth, the bag and her little note.

It was interesting to hear the excitement in her voice as she realized she was now a party to one of the secrets of the grown-up world, but at the same time just a hint of disappointment at the realization that that particular part of childhood innocence can never be brought back.

Amongst the challenges that face us during this coming year of homeschooling will be helping Lielle become more independent, more 'grown-up', while at the same time preserving the balance and giving her ample opportunity to enjoy a wonderful childhood. I think we're up for the challenge!

From Another Angle

One of our daughter's projects as a new homeschooler is to document our year away by keeping a photo-journal. Although most will be handwritten she will also be putting up pictures and showing her side of the story on her own blog. She will be writing in Hebrew and I shall add an English translation.

Crazy ideas... Win-Win-Win

My mind is always ticking over.... The other day my thoughts wandered to the extent that I was wondering what I would do if I came unexpectedly into quite a bit of money (not that that's very likely to happen!). I surprised myself by thinking how bothersome this might be! I'm quite convinced that the whole beauty of our project is that it is without money changing hands. It has evolved like this because we never have had much money to start with so I just had to think of alternative ways of achieving what others may have thought only money could buy. This has been the whole beauty of the project so far, and that's how I envisage the whole thing running in the future.

But since the niggling question was already in my brain, I had to delve a bit deeper and come up with an answer, and I didn't have to delve too deep to find some inspiration. Whilst in Bulgaria recently serendipity granted me the opportunity to spend a few days with an amazing woman and watch how she puts some of her philosophies of life into action on a daily basis. She's not super-wealthy, but has a steady income which provides just a little more than she actually needs for her own modest lifestyle. I witnessed the smile of gratitude on the face of an elderly woman with whom we exchanged greetings as we passed her, sitting on a low stool outside the supermarket. That particular day was warm and pleasant, and she was there as usual with her various sized bottles of home-produced goat's milk, hoping to sell them all before going home. My new friend told me how a few months before, when the weather had been well below freezing for weeks on end, she would buy all the woman's milk enabling her to go home to somewhere warm. She didn't really need the milk so she gave it to the cats and dogs she found herself taking care of.

A similar encounter awaited us in the outdoor market. I stood by and watched her exchange a lively banter with a stall-holder there, letting herself be easily persuaded into buying much more fruit and vegetables than she could possibly use herself (the extras to be later shared modestly amongst her neighbors). As we left the stall-holder gave her a broad smile. "Did you notice her teeth?", my friend asked me as we walked away together from the market place. "I'm sure she would want to have the dental work she needs done if she could. But she has several children at home and works so hard just to feed them and give them a good education. I bet she happily puts their needs before her own." Regularly buying from this same woman each week, exchanging a few words and a smile, was her way of validating this woman and showing her how her selflessness, hard work and determination were appreciated.

So how did these random musings inspire me? If one day I should have a little spare cash, how would I like to see it used? You'll have to bear with me here if this sounds a bit rambling, but there are a few different thoughts here that all meld into one idea at the end...

I really like Win-Win situations. Even better are Win-Win-Win situations. As I've mentioned on previous posts, since we will be homeschooling our daughter while in the village we are interested in attracting other traveling/homeschooling families to spend time with us and to share their skills. We are also hoping to involve the local children in various activities, broadening their horizons and giving everyone a good opportunity for some cultural exchange. Over time we hope to build up a resource centre providing educational materials and workshops for ourselves, the local children and those who come to visit. One of the things that I feel really brings people together is music and I think that music workshops could be a really excellent way of bringing kids together.

Here in Israel I happen to know someone whose work I really admire. He also brings children together through music: Arab and Jewish children. Separately he teaches them through their respective schools to play the ukulele, and then they get together for rehearsals and performances where they play together, laugh together, have fun together and get to understand each other a little better.

How would it be, I thought to myself, if we could arrange some kind of funding to bring someone like this guy and say 4 of his most promising students to Voditsa to present a summer workshop? This could be an excellent way of rewarding and encouraging outstanding students. They could come to Voditsa for say a week, where maybe a dozen or so willing and eager local children could take part in an intensive introductory workshop. We are hoping to build up a collection of musical instruments. The ukuleles purchased or donated especially for an event like this could be loaned out to the local children to practice on... maybe it could become an annual event to be looked forward to year after year?

But the idea doesn't stop here... why not do something similar with sports activities? dance? yoga? arts and crafts? cookery? drama?

Do YOU know someone who is passionate about what they teach? Maybe they have students who could be rewarded by a trip like this for their achievements? How can we raise the funding? Would YOU like to be part of something like this?

Project Bulgaria - Checking Out Some of Life's Alternatives

In just 8 weeks from today our lives are going to be changing drastically. We have decided to take a year out of our 'normal' lives to experience different alternatives: we shall be homeschooling our 7 year old daughter, getting back to basics in a village in Bulgaria, and generally getting as much hands-on learning experience as we can in alternative building, recycling, organic gardening, self-sustainability and more.

For approximately one year we hope to leave behind our routine of regular jobs (as a mechanic / teacher), and take time to discover what really is the essence of a good and healthy life. We are looking forward to living in a community where money and material possessions are not the main motivators, where the pace of life is governed by the seasons, and a good day's work (with liberal breaks for socializing and enjoying life's little pleasures) is the order of the day. We are looking forward too to having more time to get to really know ourselves, as individuals and as a family.

This plan has come about as a result of dreaming, believing and determination... and of course the guiding hand of fate that gave us a gentle push here and there in the right direction.

Before deciding to publish this to a blog I wrote down my own private thoughts explaining where this idea came from and how the whole plan developed from the original dream. These original articles explain quite a bit of the background and can be found here.