Category: Primary

Bliggety Blogs · My Medical Journey · Primary

Survival Strategies: Living With Food Allergies

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment
Plot twist! Someone call M. Night!

It’s storytime, Journey-takers and Life Explorers! 

Recently, I was diagnosed with an insidious new food allergy after a bite from a Lonestar Tick. Contrary to popular belief, this little pest is named for the white spot on it’s back rather than any actual connection to Texas. It’s stomping ground is the South-Eastern United States so never assume you’re out of its range! This tick is hard at work expanding it’s territories too so, anyone that spends any time outdoors, be on guard. Because of this Alpha-gal allergy, my immune system reacts to a carbohydrate found in the meats and products from any hooved animal. This includes dairy and gelatin. 

Now let me tell you, this was not an easy adjustment to make. It isn’t a little allergy either. I ate a Christmas tree brownie for breakfast before my appointment and between the brownie and the test, ended up having an anaphylactic episode. I had to have two medications, a breathing treatment, and a shot of epinephrine to stop it. I am now a card carrying member of the Everyday-I’m-EpiPen’in club. I’m basically a vegan who still eats poultry. So…semi-vegetarian? I dunno. 

Either way, there have been some things that I’ve had to learn pretty quickly and today I’m going to share my Stupid (Food) Allergy Survival Strategies or SASS! Because who doesn’t love throwing around a little sass now and then? 

# 1. Know if your favorite menu items are safe. 

I really really enjoy Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets. Oh yeah. So delicious. But unfortunately many breadings that come cradling our favorite nuggs have dairy products thrown into the literal mix. Ya know, just for posterity’s sake. So when it was time for me to choose a lunch spot for Familia Maxwell to graze, the one true craving of my tiny, Americanized heart had to be some spicy, crunchy nuggets from Wendy’s. 

But be still, dear reader! For this story has a happy ending! Wendy’s spicy nuggets and your favorite (not-so) French, fried side are Alpha-gal friendly! So, look up the menu and ingredients when that crunchable craving hits. Most allergen statements on restaurant websites are just going to say the obligatory, “Hey cross-contamination is a thing. We warned, can’t sue.” However, some helpful eateries like Panera Bread helpfully list vegan options and ingredients in their dishes on their website. Many do show allergens but only the most common eight so if, like me, you need to hunt down if that Thanksgiving turkey has gelatin used in the flavoring smear, you’ll need to hunt down an ingredients list or pack a brown bag.

#2. Know where you’re going to eat before you leave.

Hark! Number two is made a lot easier if you know where you want to eat before you go out! So, ladies, it’s time to just put your foot down, put on a pair of your favorite Not-So Passive Aggressive, killing-it red heels and tell your friends or partner or raging three year old where it’s easiest for you to eat. None of this “Oh, I’ll find something” crap and then we end up sitting there with a gross black coffee watching while everyone else eats and feels awkward as toilet bowl scented slime. Know where you can eat and explain your very limited options to people. It’s not an embarrassment. In some cases, it can be literally life or death or hours of gastrointestinal pain that feels like death.

#3. Find alternatives for your favorite delicious triggers.

Okay. Truth Train here, friends. I am not someone who is big on tofu. Nope. Not a bit. Almond butter? Yes. Almond chocolate milk? It’s chocolate, isn’t it? Then it’s a resounding yes. Tofu? Uh, no. However, throw all of those suckers into a silky, mouth watering chocolate mousse pie? Hells. To. Le Yeah. 

Folks, sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes bad food happens to good people. That’s called food poisoning. But mostly importantly, tasty alternatives to foods you love do exist. It may take some bravery and experimentation to find them but they’re out there. Now go get you some chocolate pie!

#4. Be knowledgeable about your allergy.

You would think this would be an obvious one but, alas, poor Yorick. We knew he was deathly allergic to the belladonna family of plants. Now he’s not. Why? Because he didn’t know a tomato was part of the belladonna family and guess what’s in tikka masala, kids? That’s right, silly Yorick. Tomatoes. 

Especially if you’re allergy is of an uncommon variety, you need to know what the heck is in the things you may be ingesting, but most of all, you need to know about your allergy. Common questions like “Will it go away or can it be treated”, “Does the food trigger have any other names or byproducts?”, as well as fan-favorite, “Will this turn me into a competitor for Mr. Wonka’s Blueberry Girl if I eat it?”

Don’t be Blueberry Girl. Know your allergy so you don’t turn blue at all!

#5. Carry your allergy treatment.

This is an easy one to get lax about. Day after day you get so good about avoiding triggers and being every so careful that you stop carrying that life-saving EpiPen. After all, you haven’t needed it in ages! You’ve never needed it! 

Until you do.

And all because Kevin in Accounting thought he’d play a stupid prank on the office tight-ass. A little lactose-intolerance is the only food allergy his half-baked brain knows of so surely it won’t be that bad to slip a little dairy into your specially marked creamer, right? Then there you are gasping like a fish out of water on the floor of the breakroom with no treatment to help get you to the hospital.

When it comes to a lack of oxygen, seconds can count. Carry your damn EpiPen and kick Kevin in the shins on your way out to the ER. 

#6. Make sure you keep allergist and doctor appointments.

This is another one that is really easy to get lazy about. It’s so easy to just put off an appointment or to cancel and just never reschedule. Our everyday lives are so hectic, our days so busy, and hey! America’s Got Talent is on at that same time so…

Yet keeping those oftentimes unnecessary but sometimes critical appointments can make a huge difference in a person’s quality of life or in how your treatments may need to change to best manage your condition. You may be outgrowing your allergy and not need to worry quite so much or it may be that your allergy is worsening and a better treatment plan is available to you. You never know unless you go! So get out of your p-jams, set that show to record, and get your butt to your allergist! 

Those are my survival strategies for staying ahead of my Alpha-gal allergy. The learning curve has been a painful one so let me know! Do you have any other tips or tricks you utilize to manage your allergy? Let us know in the comments! 

With Peace and Passion.

Ta!

Adventures In Unschooling · Primary

What Does Unschooling Look Like For Us?

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment

People often ask me if we are putting Little Maxwell in pre-K next year. My response is often a rather humorous: “Eh, no. We’re homeschooling.” 

But for us, that really isn’t what we’re doing either or rather not the most accurate definition. 

We’re unschoolers. Life-long learners. Relaxed homeschoolers to some.

What does that look like? 

Well, for us, it looks like…like dancing. Hiking. Shopping. Baking. Picking up trash along our neighborhood or park. Most importantly? It looks like playing! And reading, reading, reading!

I know what you’re thinking. “That sounds great and all but how does any of that stuff equal up to an education?” Actually that’s exactly the point. It is an education. What it isn’t, however, is schooling and there is a stark difference in being schooled and getting an education. 

An education is defined by dictionary.com as ‘the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life’. 

Schooling, however, is defined as ‘the process of being taught in a school. Instruction, education, or training, especially when received in a school’.

It may not seem on the outside like much of a difference but I can assure you, fellow knowledge-seeker, it’s a big one. 

Schooling as we know it now, compulsory and enforced under penalty of law, was a program that came out of the Industrial Age, though in truth the very first community schools came about long before that. It was the Puritans settling the New World who introduced organized education to what would be known as the United States. The idea of enforced education is a rather newer invention.

I won’t wax poetic on the failings of our current school system (in this article, at least). It’s no secret that wide and over-arching changes need to be made but with no quick, easy, or inexpensive fix, we must look to ourselves for the changes we want. How does the saying go? 

‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’- Not Ghandi 

Thanks, Not Ghandi. True fact, that is actually not what Ghandi said. Check it out.

But what can a parent do? 

There’s another saying, you know. Something about expecting different results when you do the same thing over and over. So let me make one point very very clear.

You. Do. Not. Have. To. Do. It. Just. Because. Your. Parents. Did.

Just because your parents sent you off to school with a pat on the head and a backpack filled with stuff you’d probably only use half of, doesn’t mean you have to do the same. At the time when we were younger, even as early as ten or fifteen years ago, there just weren’t the same options that we parents today are blessed with. 

Hell, homeschooling only just became legalized in all fifty states in the mid-90s. I say ‘just’ and then realize that was two and a half decades ago. Still though. As far as educational options and advancements, we have may vast leaps in recent years!

Now there aren’t just public and private schools. There are public, private, charter, magnet, democratic, religious, homeschools, co-ops, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, freaking Forest schools! 

Yes. That is exactly right and it’s exactly what you think. 

School. In a forest. 

Free Forest School Cincinnati: https://www.freeforestschool.org/free-forest-school-cincinnati-ohio/

It is holistic. It is green. It is freaking amazing.

And of course there is my personal favorite: the Sudbury school model.

That isn’t all either! There are new types and methods of educating turning up every day! Just this afternoon, I discovered a new school going in not too far from my home called the Edison School. They favor a multi-sensory learning style paired with smaller classes and more individualized attention per child. Instead of being focused on cramming in x amount of lessons in x amount of time and crossing your figures that Jimmy doesn’t flunk out because he doesn’t understand a concept or two, the Edison school website boasts that they follow the child’s understanding of the concepts and skills rather than a pre-determined, standardized timetable. 

So what the hekkin Humdinger is unschooling?

And for those of you wondering if that was a Paw Patrol reference: Yes. Yes, it was.

Help. The toddlers are inside my brain pan.

Unschooling, unlike it’s forest-dwelling cousin, is not what it sounds like. It does not mean to ‘not school’ though it does involve taking your child out of the public school sphere. Unschooling was a term coined by the late great John Holt to describe a type of child-led, interest-led education that allows the child to take their learning into their own hands and lead the way into their education by way of the things they are most passionate about. It involves a heavy focus on encouraging personal decision making and learning practical skills, knowledge, and, most importantly, how to find information.

In essence, a core aspect of unschooling is teaching the child how to access knowledge available so they can learn what they want to know.

Of course, with very young children this may look like regular trips to the library, family reading times together, exposing them to different things, places, ideas, and hobbies. 

For example, I asked my three year old what she would like to do one Monday, and she told me point blank that she wanted to go to a bakery. So, first, we went to our library to find some books on baking, bakeries, etc, and then we located the nearest bakery and went on a visit there.

Let me tell you something very important. Triple. Chocolate. Bundt cake.

So delicious.

The next week she wanted to visit an aquarium but, unfortunately, there wasn’t one within, oh, about two hours from us. So instead we got creative as you learn to do when it comes to unschooling. We sought out our nearest Petco. 

Sound weird? Well, Petco has freshwater and saltwater fish as well as amphibians and reptiles. They also have educational pamphlets on each species which was a lot of fun to take home and look through. 

Unschooling very much follows the philosophy that allowing a child to live and experience life and the world will educate them far better than any rote-taught classroom can. 

Does my daughter need to know how to factor a trinomial? Providing she’s not going into a math-related field, no. Is it completely necessary for her to know that Shakespeare’s mom’s name was Mary Arden? Negative. How many times China broke apart across history? Gonna go with no on that one too.

Does she need to know how to budget her earnings, how to change a tire, and make healthy and sound decisions? Yes. How about how to be a passionate and kind person? Abso-freaking-lutely. Does she need to know the earth isn’t flat? Oh yeah. We’re heathens, not Flat Earthers. 

How about how to buy and pay for a house? Check. How to compromise and work cooperatively with others? Also check.

There’s a youtuber by the screen name BoyInABand who has the best and most succinct description of this bizarre dissonance in our schooling system in his song ‘Don’t Stay In School’. *linked below

“BUT WHAT ABOUT COLLEGE?!” I hear, enraged from the comment section. 

Colleges, even jobs, are actually becoming very homeschool friendly because it’s being found more and more that homeschoolers tend to have higher levels of resilience, self-sufficiency, and resourcefulness. Most colleges are looking for ACT/SAT scores as well as if you have a diploma or GED. Homeschoolers as well as Unschoolers are just as able to get or do those as any traditionally schooled student and do every day.

Watching my daughter live, experience, learn and thrive every day of her life is the most wonderful, amazing thing I’ve ever done. Just like her, I am also learning every moment of the day. Did you know that a lichen is actually a combo of a fungus and algae living in a symbiotic relationship with one another? Or that a bizarre looking creature called a sea pig is actually a weirdo pink sea cucumber with legs? Or that it has no brain and farts it’s own lungs out as a defense? Neither did I! Sounds like a party animal. So many interesting and amazing things have been opened to our world because we decided to journey down a path less traveled. 

Is unschooling, or even straight homeschooling, the easiest option? No. Would I enjoy the time to myself during the day if I sent her to preschool instead? Probably, but I wholeheartedly believe that my life would be lessened because of it. I live a fuller life getting to take this journey alongside her and I wouldn’t trade it for all of the quiet time in the world. So which path will your own journey lead you down? 

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

We planted our own pumpkins from seeds to see how they grew! It was awesome to have the pumpkins ready at Halloween time!

Here is a list of other resources for those who may be interested in further research onto this topic: 

*The Guardian- In The Age Of Robots, Schools Are Teaching Children To Be Redundant: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/robots-schools-teaching-children-redundant-testing-learn-future

*BoyInABand- Don’t Stay In School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xe6nLVXEC0

      And a companion video on teachers reacting and their comments on the video:             (compilation by Taco Inplosion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONi4yC7YDtc&t=4s

*Toxic culture of education: Joshua Katz at TEDxUniversityofAkron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnC6IABJXOI&list=PLJXtn5fVLYj_-sktHFTbVWn5hAd0FxbWa&index=16&t=0s

*There’s No Place Like Home-Schooling Is Not Education:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7W0SS3VJ4M&list=PLJXtn5fVLYj_-sktHFTbVWn5hAd0FxbWa&index=83

*The Parenting Junkie- Heard of Unschooling?: https://www.theparentingjunkie.com/heard-of-unschooling/

*Why Parents Are CHoosing To Unschool Their Kids- https://patch-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/patch.com/new-york/rivertowns/amp/28409859/why-parents-are-choosing-unschool-their-children?usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D&amp_js_v=0.1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fpatch.com%2Fnew-york%2Frivertowns%2Fwhy-parents-are-choosing-unschool-their-children

*UnSchoolers.com (a whole website dedicated to resources and information): http://www.unschoolers.com/

*Real Family Journey- Unschooling Day In The Life! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHJgdpY0yQ4 (also another great channel for other videos and resources! I love the book episodes! :D)

Primary · WakingWitches & WanderingWunderkammer

Seeking the Divine: Deities and Do I Need One?

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment

My personal home altar. Our family ancestor shrine to come in a future post!

So let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. 

You do NOT need a deity to be pagan. You don’t even need one to be a witch. These things are not part of some exclusive club where it’s all or nothing. In fact, paganism is more like…a Choose Your Own Adventure story.

Let me start at the beginning.

What does following a deity have to do with being a pagan? Or a witch? 

So many people classify ‘pagan’ as meaning ‘any faith practice that is not Christian’. This is not a definition that I personally ascribe to just because it seems very ego-centric as far as Christianity is concerned. It brings up a very Them vs. Us mentality and that isn’t helpful for anyone. There is already enough of that when it comes to religion in general and it just spreads discord. 

I agree more with the line of thinking that ‘pagan’ means more ‘not of a mainstream faith practice’. The top three faiths worldwide are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism according to website thecountriesof.com. You definitely aren’t going to see any worship of the Norse or Egyptian pantheons on a top five list. Not even on a top ten. However, the Germanic and Kemetic faiths are par for the course when it comes to your everyday pagan ideal. 

Now, subscribing to a particular deity isn’t necessarily required to get your paganism green card, here. Many deists believe in the idea or a universal power, whether it be divided into masculine and feminine or singularly. Many still haven’t “connected”, so to speak, with the deity that is meant for them. The thing that makes paganism so different from other faith practices is it’s lack of a specific practice or dogma. One of the biggest tenets of the pagan ideal is that each person’s practice and faith journey is theirs to make alone. No one person’s journey will look like another and that your walk is just as valid as the next. 

Tl;dr- You doeth you, man.

Now being a witch is a bit different and if it wasn’t made clear before then allow me to make it clear now. Being pagan isn’t a requirement to be a witch, though it certainly doesn’t hurt, and being a witch isn’t a requirement to be pagan. Think of them this way: Paganism is a religion and witchcraft is a practice. They don’t at all have to coexist together. 

You may have noticed that in recent years, being a witch has taken on a sort of trendiness or what I like to think of as Witch-Kitsch. Whether that’s a good or bad thing has been a widely disputed case in the witchy community but that’s a discussion for another day. Today, we’re tackling the connection between witchcraft and deities. 

A lot of times, and in a lot of practices, a person will call out to ‘The Goddess’ or ‘God/dess’, a moniker that includes the male consort of the Goddess in the invocation. The Dianic and Hellenistic paths and groups are a good example. Many witches connect with a specific (or multiple) deity to grant aid to their workings, rituals or even just for aid in everyday life.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to have a direct line to divinity when it comes to aceing that final? Or when your raging offspring is taking your center and stomping it into the nineth circle of hell? And don’t even get me started on Karen the Workplace Drama Farm and the desperate need to take that stupid smirk on her face and Nama-stick-her-right-in-the-ego-with-a-spork. 

The spork in my hand honors the massive ego that must live in her yoga bag since her head sure is full of air. 

Where was I? Right. Deities.

The belief is that by building a relationship with a deity through presence, prayer, offerings, etc, you gain their favor in both spellwork and everyday life. Whether you feel pulled to do so is entirely up to you though and is certainly not a requirement. Choosing a God/dess of any pantheon is a very personal and big decision that you should never feel pressured or rushed into. Just like any relationship. After all, you wouldn’t date Kyle in Deliveries just because Karen of the Spork said you had to, right? 

Tell Karen that she can’t mind the eyelash in someone else’s eye if she doesn’t first mind the utensil in her own. 

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! 

Primary · WakingWitches & WanderingWunderkammer

Spilling The Tea With Tarot: The Fool

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment

The Fool in me is digging with gusto into a piping hot cup of Earl Grey with a rosemary sprig steeped alongside the bag. Definitely an all time favorite that I 10 out of 10 would recommend. Give it a try!

And speaking of giving it a try, welcome to Part Zero of our journey through the Tarot cards’ Major Arcana! We are starting our count with zero because that is where our Major Leagues Tarot Team game begins, at the count of zero and The Fool. 

Now, we hear the title of the Fool card and think of it immediately as an insult, associating it with the meaning ‘a silly or stupid person’. However, in earlier centuries, this word did not have the same sort of derision or disdain that we commonly tag it with in modern times. Looking at The Fool card, one notices a few things right away.

Cheerful looking, right? It’s a bright card with yellows and oranges and blues (despite our picture being in black and white). The sun is shining, the Fool is holding a flower with his face basking upward in the excited freedom that is a new adventure. He has a four-legged companion and modest knapsack to carry all that he’ll need. 

The Fool doesn’t heed the looming mountains to the back or the cliff at his feet (though maybe he should). This card stands without numerical value in the storyline of the Tarot and yes! There is a story! It is said that the Major Arcana is the Fool’s own life journey through time, gaining experience through trials and tribulations. Therefore, he needs no number, since the Major Arcana details his story!

But what about your story? What does the Fool card mean for a reading?

Traditionally, the Fool card signifies innocence, naitivity, and the starting of a new journey. Opportunities and potential! So be like the Fool and commit to your new adventure with a sense of enthusiasm and wonder. Embrace the unknown! 

A word of experience though that many long-time readers will tell you. The future is not set in stone. I myself have done a reading where the Fool encouraged exploration and potential but to be cautious of leading the ones following you into a perilous drop off of a metaphorical cliff. Just like the card, the little dog follows the Fool with faith and loyalty, unaware of the edge his friend leads him along to.

When it comes to doing readings for yourself, the important thing is to follow your intuition. Keep card meanings in mind though don’t cling to them so hard that you’re not listening to what your intuition may be telling you. 

Until next time on Spilling the Tea with the Tarot when we interview the Magician card!

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤

Primary · WakingWitches & WanderingWunderkammer

Spilling the Tea with the Tarot: A New Series

Featured Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment

Hello all! Here in on Little Journeys, we are going to be taking a deep dive into the Tarot card type of divination. More specifically, the Major Arcana! 

And what would make spilling the tea on the Tarot even better? Actual tea!

So each day that we dip our spoons into a cup of spooptastic Tarot terrific-ness, we will be enjoying a different steeped something or another. Let those tannins tickle your tastebuds and join us here in our journey through the Major Arcana!

Some of you may be wondering, all tea aside, what is Tarot? And what the hekkin Hernandez is the Major Arcana? 

For you veterans to Tarot lore, I won’t be getting into all of the correspondences and archetypes, but on the meanings of the cards as a whole. For those of you who are looking for a more esoteric history dive, check out this truly awe-inspiring piece by Christine Payne-Towler over at tarot.com (https://www.tarot.com/tarot/christine-payne-towler/history-of-tarot)! Her research into what exactly went from it’s birth in the 1400’s and developed into what we now know as Tarot today is just stunning. 

So, what is Tarot? 

Tarot is a system of reading the meanings and connections between cards to gain insight into…well, anything really. Some use it as a tool to gain wisdom or advice for present issues. Others may use the cards to look into their future paths. Others still use the Tarot as a way to set up a mirror for their innermost turmoils. After all, from a psychological standpoint, we tend to see the things that our consciousness is projecting. Being able to see our thought patterns reflected back at us allows for a self-exploration that we may not be able to achieve through other means. Whether you are interested in card reading because of the mystical or because of the psychological, the next step is understanding more about the deck itself!

Tarot decks are divided into what are called the Major and Minor Arcana, the former boasting 22 cards and the latter with an impressive 56 for a total of 72 cards per deck. 

Just like a playing card deck, the Minors are divided into 4 suites with 14 cards per suite. Suits are called by the titles pentacles, swords, cups, and wands, though different themed decks maybe have variations on these. 

The Major Arcana features no suits but instead 22 different cards. They are as follows, in order of assigned number: 

     0. The Fool

  1. The Magician
  2. The High Priestess
  3. The Empress
  4. The Emperor
  5. The Hierophant
  6. The Lovers
  7. The Chariot
  8. Strength
  9. The Hermit
  10. The Wheel of Fortune
  11. Justice
  12. The Hanged Man
  13. Death
  14. Temperance
  15. The Devil
  16. The Tower
  17. The Star
  18. The Moon
  19. The Sun
  20. Judgement
  21. The World

The Rider-Waite variation of the Tarot is the deck that most comes to people’s minds (though they may not know its name or that it but one of hundreds). I’ve always found the Rider-Waite to be too severe aesthetically, however, there are many many others that you may find yourself drawn to just as well. The Shadowscapes deck was my very first, followed by my Rider-Waite which was a gift from Daddy Maxwell. I’ve since grown my collection and at the moment, the deck I most often reach for is the more modern, slightly kitschy Everyday Witch Tarot. There are decks that feature cats, elves, deities. I’ve had my eye on the Egyptian Tarot for a while now but there are even ones devoted to themes like the late Ziggy Stardust, Erotica, Food, and even a deck for Conspiracies. 

So whichever deck suits your mood and jiggles your jams, join us here on the next sip of Spilling the Tea with the Tarot when we turn over a cup of The Fool card and see what the leaves read in store for us!

With Passion and Peace.

Ta! ❤

Adventures In Unschooling · Primary

Nature Schooling: Trading in the Desk for the Outdoors (Part Two)

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Welcome back to Little Journeys Everywhere and to Part Two of my series on Nature Schooling!

In Part One, we talked about what Nature School is and which curriculum we use.

Now, why Nature School of all things? 

So there has been some notable studies about how children in our modern age are presenting more and more with things like ADHD and sensory processing disorders. My own Little is an example of this and had to do six months of Occupational Therapy at a young(er) age. The prevailing theory in these studies is that children are not being exposed like they use to be to the outdoors at young ages. Today’s kids are more often inside and engaged in mostly stationary activities and hobbies.

Even when I was growing up, for example, we were outside playing. Rolling down hills, spinning, jumping, splashing and getting as messy as we pleased. Who among us hasn’t experienced the cooperative play and sensory variety in making a mud pie with a friend? Just within that activity, discounting the two already mentioned, there is creativity involved in deciding how to make and decorate it, fine and gross motor skill development, bending over to pick up the mud activating the neck and core muscles. This last was a particular problem for Little Maxwell and one of the prevailing reasons she went to OT. 

Following the theory of this Nature-Deficit Disorder, as it’s been called, the cure is a simple but profound one. 

GO THE F$@K OUTSIDE.

No, seriously. The studies that books like ‘Last Child in the Woods’ by Richard Louv and ‘Balanced and Barefoot’ by Angela J. Hanscom make note of state that getting your children outside is the best way to keep your kids not only the healthiest physically, but emotionally, cognitively and socially as well. There are proofs showing how uninhibited outdoor play can aid in the relief of stress, depression, and attention disorders. Nature, in essence, is critical for juvenile brain development. 

For our family in particular, Nature Schooling has been a true boon. If you aren’t someone who enjoys being outside though, this is not the curriculum for you. We are a nature-centered family (Mother Earth and all that jazz) but we are also very eco-conscious. We enjoy going to the woods and picking up trash. Recycling, composting, growing vegetables, dancing in the moonlight, you name it. So being out in the wild, studying the seasonal changes and green, growing things, it’s a part of who we are. Our identity as a family. This curriculum is good for elementary to middle school aged children but has a note on page six for how to adapt it for older children as well. 

Spending our days out in the sun is something that we have really connected with. Will we use it forever? No, eventually I’m sure we will move on to something different, but for this year and the next, we are loving every moment of our Nature Schooling adventure. 

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤


Adventures In Unschooling · Primary

Nature Schooling: Trading in the Desk for the Outdoors (Part One)

Little Journeys EverywhereLeave a comment
Nature Schooling with this week’s theme: Mushrooms and Fungi!

If you follow my blog here on Little Journeys Everywhere, you’ll quickly discover that not only do we as a family thoroughly enjoy learning but that we hold it as one of our highest values. Whether we’re learning together or individually, it’s both a passion and a hobby. What do we like to learn? Whatever strikes our fancy at the time! Right now, for Little Maxwell, it’s storytelling and animals. 

We spent a few months learning and observing two wild toads we had found in our backyard: Frankie G and Frog-Friend, respectively. We learned about the difference between frogs and toads, what sort of habitat toads liked,and what they ate. Then we build them a habitat to live in and caught insects to feed them after finding out what they liked to eat. We checked out books from our library on amphibians to read. Before it started getting cold, we released them back into the wild but not before two months of learning! Even now my three year old surprises me with talking about how frogs drink through their skin. Something as passingly interesting as finding a toad in the backyard turned into an amazing, hands-on learning activity!

For me right now, I love to learn about different parenting styles as well plants and animals! From hygge to attachment parenting as well as names and uses for local plants and foraging safety. I’m gearing up for a documentary on pangolins now! For Daddy Maxwell, he’s learning about different table top gaming systems and how they can best be merged or altered for easier use.

It may not seem like super useful information to another person but the point is that you’re learning. You’re engaging your mind and following the things that you’re passionate about. 

That sounds great and all but what does any of it have to do with Nature Schooling?

So about a month and a half ago, I found an interesting curriculum while I was researching online and asked Little Maxwell if it was something she would like to do. The curriculum is ‘Exploring Nature with Children: A Complete, Year-long Curriculum‘ by Lynn Seddon and can be found at https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/ . Lynn also hosts at the same address with extras for each week’s theme! The extras include videos, links, etc. It’s wonderful! We love being outside more than anything so this was a no-brainer for us. 

We had to try it out and let me tell you, Lynn did not disappoint!

Each week is broken up into a theme complete with: 

*Educational material on the theme

*Nature Walk activities

*An art/classical music piece 

*A poem to follow the theme 

*Relevant pages in the Handbook of Nature Study (available for free online)

*Relevant fiction and non-fiction books 

*Suggested activities

*Safety notes when relevant

It’s amazing and we’re loving every day of it! It’s very much science and literature geared but it’s easy to find ways to incorporate our maths in whether it be counting rocks that get stacked up or learning about fractions by baking. English comes with our reading each day, subtitles on shows and movies, and through ABCMouse. We occasionally throw a few BOB Book sets into the mix since Little Maxwell isn’t reading yet.

But for today, we’ll end it here. Stay tuned and subscribe to get alerted when Nature School: Part Two comes out!

With Peace and Passion.

Ta! ❤


Eco-Loving Living! · Primary

A Fall Garden Party

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A fern fiddlehead! This is a new branch on my fern, Journey.

Hello all! Welcome to 2020! I wanted to start the new calendar year off with a declaration of love to the earth, to tie in my admiration of nature past and present.

So, years ago, when I was still rocking my Mennonite cap and cape dresses, I had a blog called The Writer’s Bay. I was working in a garden center at the time and this piece was one of the poems I wrote and have now decided to share here with you. Working outside in the sunshine, in the snowfall, in the open air, really taught me better than almost anything the joy that lives in every plant and that even in the dead of winter there are beauties to be found. From the delicate lace of ice crystals to the dew that gathers on flower petals in the early mornings. There is something always to marvel at in this magical, green Earth.

A Fall Garden Party

The day is warm, sweet and bright as a shiny new penny.

The Violas are Jumping-Up,

And the Mums are keeping mum.

The Pansies have tilted their sleeping faces to the sun,

Waking to find that they are many.

Legion.

The Azaleas sit in their shaded lounge spaces,

Gossiping merrily over the Hydrangea’s latest color change.

Scandalous.

The Daisies stand regal and tall overhead, gazing about their kingdom with an air of haughty grace.

They never condescend to the lower blooms, those barely flowered things below.

The Gardenia’s lie back, heavy and glutted, as they wax philosophical amongst themselves.

All the while, the Rosemary and Lavender smile to one another with the silent coyness of secret knowledge shared.

They know that the true meaning isn’t to have the most glorious blooms, but to be joyous and useful.

A reflection of the Creator’s promise of new life and happiness.