The Food Garden v.2014 »
Snapshots of our 2014 home harvest; my return to gardening and the beginning of a beautiful and deeper friendship with my land and food.
Stories from
Are we still doing okay? »
Observations and fear as we started transitioning from four years of Son-Rise and my attuned “Eye of Mordor” towards life without a social development program.
The Rogue Chef: Moew »
“Moew”, pronounced “Moo”, is Joaquin’s latest culinary creation. Inspired by truffles we’ve made and enjoyed at home, he created an SCD recipe for yummy sweet bites.
Letting Go »
Letting myself to do my project instead of seeking to nurture Joaquin’s development brings up fear. But John Holt reminds me: “It’s okay; keep trusting”.
Land for the Man »
Child of Fire saw me working on the backyard project and has decided that he wants to make his own construction. Horay for our life of self-directed learning!
He swims! »
He said “This is the day in which I am going to swim!”… and he did!
Reading v.2 »
At 6 years old Joaquin can read though he hates it, but the last three weeks his motivation for reading and comprehension was on. He just finished his first book.
Swimming Update »
After eight lessons of formal instruction—or, as formal as it could be with this child—Joaquin is now teaching himself how to swim. During his lessons we were fortunate to have Nanette, his most recurring instructor. As soon as she learned from me about Joaquin’s learning process and sensory sensitivities (I didn’t want his challenge to […]
Running »
All summer. Several times a week after Joey gets home from work. We’re so impressed by Joaquin’s ease at this. He doesn’t get tired, and he’s fast on long distances.
Nurturing Conscious Independence »
Two weeks ago, Joaquin decided that he wants to be the chef of our home; he wants to make his own lunch, his own way. I decided to support his independence with some structure: Only one time a week, he can make his own “rogue” lunch. I make my own with him. I deal with […]
The Road Trip »
I just returned from Radical Authenticity at The Option Institute (expansive beyond my expectations), and Kiki is working on a virtual road trip via Google maps from our home to the institute at Sheffield, MA . I’m loving the project and finding a number of learning opportunities and differences for him to perceive. I got […]
Radically Authentic »
Last month I attended one of Anat Baniel’s Kids Beyond Limits workshops. I loved meeting and interacting personally with one of my favorite teachers, refreshing my mind with her knowledge, and considering the possibility of signing up for her professional training – for a very little while. As I considered the kind of help I […]
The View from a Summit »
As I contemplate how far we've climbed –now starting to peek out of the Son-Rise greenhouse, Kiki asks me about Team Joaquin, why they came to his life.
Cultured Butter »
For Joaquin, whose brain is craving industrial amounts of butter these days, and who asked his mama to make our own at home. Of course cultured it needed to be!
A Man and his Vehicle »
Ode to a loved and almost outgrown tricycle and its wonderful powers exercising Kiki's proprioceptive and vestibular senses (and everything else).
Expanding Through Music »
Pursuing growth opportunities for Kiki through musical training, I was challenged by the stimulus that came with it. The experience expanded us both beyond the sheer powers of music.
Out in Deep Water »
Celebrating the challenge and victory I witnessed in Joaquin's first swimming lesson, one of our first experiences out of the Son-Rise nurturing bubble.
The Book of Backyard Trails »
Narrative and photos of Kiki’s project to create hiking trails in our backyard for a book inspired by the hiking guide he uses on his weekend trips with papa.
On Graduation Week »
Our piano teacher finally realizes how exceptional Joaquin is, and "graduates" him to a higher level of instruction.
Happy in the Kitchen »
I have become that woman who cooks delicious nutritious stuff every day, bakes for breakfast, improvises recipes, and ENJOYS IT. This is a collection of recent hits to remind myself.
Childhood Outside »
A moment in time, an image, a thought that made me smile.
Currant Lemon Scones »
This morning I woke up craving scones. After some research I walked determined to the kitchen, improvised a GFSF recipe, and made my first scones ever. Yum!
The Rogue Chef: Fruit Pizza »
Who makes cookie dough out of sunflower seeds, cream cheese, and kombucha? —THE ROGUE CHEF!… Six-year-old Joaquin explains his GFSF recipe in our first cooking show video.
Sweet Cake »
An SCD recipe developed by six-year-old Joaquin. His first muffin and the third concoction for his project of daily experimental desserts. I love the video tutorial!
Projects and Passions: April 2014 »
01. A mural for animation With the filmmaking and animation motivations still alive, I offered Joaquin the idea to draw a long strip of landscape we could scroll in order to create the illusion of movement in a train. He got passionately into it, and surprisingly traded his beloved hour of computer time to draw. […]
“Leon”, a Filmmaking Project »
As the time for vocal exercises started to approach its end, and with an emerging motivation for animated Disney films, I noticed that Joaquin was using my computer to record his own movies. It was so exciting!… Completely spontaneously, he’d impersonate characters and record himself with PhotoBooth, and he’d even bring costume props to enhance […]
“Leon” Film Premiere »
Time to make the popcorn and get cozy. It’s finally time for the world premiere of Leon, a filmmaking project that kept Joaquin and I busy and very motivated all February and part of March. The movie is about a little lion and his friendship and adventures with two friends he meets along the way. […]
Steak Pimienta »
Joaquin and I have been working on a serious filmmaking project for several weeks, and we exported the final movie today! 61 mins with credits as Joaquin set out to do. This is a short clip with one of my favorite scenes. It took me a long time to edit it because I wanted to […]
Hombre Araña: A Holistic Hero »
In this game our superhero gave great advice to pretend kids dealing with uncomfortable emotions. Some missions also gave us a chance to practice complex imitation.
Aaron in the house! »
From our last outreach with Aaron DeLand, these videos show Joaquin practicing complex imitation while playing. The guys went to space again, rehearsed scenes for our next film, and had tons of fun as usual.
Commando Man »
Joaquin's persistence and surprising skill getting through phone operators to share some joyful news with papa.
Joaquin’s Singing Course »
Inspired by my online singing course, six-year-old Joaquin produces his own set of vocal exercises to train my voice. They’re hard! And hilarious.
A Book Collection by “Harey” »
Joaquin’s newest passion is to write illustrated STORIES (whoo hoo!). He started a few days ago, and as I’ve added variations, it’s become a new favorite activity for him. I love his illustrations. They’re 3-dimensional and so expressive. This is “The boy who recharged his batteries” (we often talk about me needing solo time to […]
Unschooling Snippets »
A sampler of the topics Kiki and I have discussed in “homeschooling time” since its recent inception. Topics are always inspired by our conversations during lunch and the themes that populate his mind that day. Reading through this list makes me smile; I’m not afraid of talking “unsavory” topics with Joaquin; no taboos; he’s so […]