The Learning Tree
Well folk, it is true, we have officially started our learning journey as Ceiba has turned 4 this past August. The same month we moved into our new quasi tree house at the top of a hill. 10 acres of forest, with a fenced in 1 acre of garden, grass, and forest. Now that the rains have started, we walk past the net at the back of the house and are hugged by a smell of fungi. All kinds of mushroom life growing and making their way out of the mossy ground. With the rushing drops of sky love, we also have a creek rushing past the forest, where more mushrooms like to grow, including some chanterelles (2 that we’ve found so far) growing on its banks.
By “starting” this learning journey I don’t mean to say that we haven’t been hard at work learning, but more so that we are beginning to structure what the learning experiences for our children are going to look like. Thanks again to all the awesome folk in bklyn ny who exposed us to so many options and choices as to how to create communal learning experiences. Ultimately, children learn from everything and everyone, which we have interpreted as, we learn from the way the world exists in nature, and the way human beings live life. Learning Naturally what nature wants us to learn, would be my school of thought. So, with no further ado, welcome to the “Learning Tree”. Where the older trees help the young sprouts understand the place they have been born into. Focusing our energy in understanding our surroundings from the exceptional perspective of the human eye, which after all is a combination of mind, spirit and body. Ok, so how does all of that translate to our every day?
More to come that will explain in detail that process…or at least give some kind of insight into my delirious educational mind, which has been in overdrive for the past month trying to hash this out. I have been wondering for some time now what role my MA on Education will play in my life, and trust me, the last month has reveal much in that regard, starting with kids of my own have definitely pushed everything I learned in school to unquantifiable and incomparable degrees. The outcome of all of this, “The Learning Tree” encompases a pedagogy (funny to use that word again!) of life learning, life development, self-development, community building through the interactions of our aware selves and our environment.
Cool, so that’s the intro, as the 4hrs to myself are culminating for the week! Hurray to all the awesome supportive partners out there!