Pizza

India's friend, Abby, comes over some Mondays to play with India. Abby LOVES pizza, so I often make crust ahead of time for the two older girls to top, bake, and then serve to the little ones and themselves.

Today, everyone joined in.

Everyone with their own bit of dough:

 

One crust, ready for sauce:

 

Advanced work with dough:

 

Really working it:

Tasty pizza!

The Right Work at the Right Time

I thought many times about posting to the blog last week... Usually as I was falling asleep or waking up! Planting, watering, planning and setting out new work, sharing time with the children (and trying to catch up on the dishes) ate up all my time...

I was so happy with the materials that I picked up at Mission Restaurant Supply last Monday: pitchers, small dishes, funnels, interesting dishes and spoons and scoops... And the children were so happy with the transfer work that was created with them. Here are some pictures and videos.

As always, I am struck by the child's discernment in working with the materials that suit them. A child may choose new work that is unsuited for them, due to its newness, but when it does not meet their needs, they quickly put it away. And when it does meet their needs, nothing can tear them away. 

Notice Dylan and Noah's focus in these two videos. There are plenty of distractions going on around them, but they are completely focused on their work. (Also notice the important interpersonal work that Oliver and Sam are performing in the background of the second video--awesome!)

Here are other images from last week...

Ninth Street Schoolhouse Visitors:

More work videos:

And, finally, our muddy adventure on Friday!

Don't forget: Community Night is this Friday! 5-7 pm at The Joyful Garden. Pizza slices and juice boxes for $1 each. The Back Forty will be open!

Work Day Wonder

Another work day has come and gone, leaving me in awe of what a group of dedicated and determined adults and kids can accomplish together when they set their minds to it. 

When I predicted beforehand that we would be able to get all the mulch spread in the playground quickly, I never dreamed that we would be completely finished with that task by 10:00 sharp. 

There was a lot of underutilized potential energy in the group at that point, so a group of dads took on removing the landscape timbers that Eric Billig put in a few years ago.

And, the children kept on working with the mulch, and everything else.

And Ari's dad, Joey, fixed the side yard gate!

Thank you, everyone who came and worked and socialized. The pickup truck drivers, who showed up at 7:30 a.m., at Whittlesey Landscape Supply (989rock.com), loaded up, and hauled  back the mulch, deserve a special shout-out! And Whittlesey itself will get all of my mulch and dirt and rock business in the future, for asking, "Is it for a playground?" and then automatically giving $4 off per cubic yard. And, thanks to Cruz's mom, Laura, for taking most of the pictures shown above.


A lot of folks are commenting on how nice the Back Forty looks... I really have to give all the credit to the amazingly energetic Dave Campbell, who has routed the invasive coastal grass, not resting even in the heat of high summer, and never relenting in his quest to see that grass and its root structure gone. He has also mowed, hauled, built, and generally supported the dream of creating a farm--not to mention a log cabin--back there. James Abbott built our gorgeous and predator-proof chicken coop and pen that the grown chickens currently inhabit. And all of you make the emerging farm possible through your support of the Joyful Garden and my work with your children. My most heartfelt thanks go out to all of you!

A Day in the Life

Here's how a typical day unfolds at Joyful Garden, utilizing images from Wednesday and Thursday this week...

Playing outside after parents drop us off. Alina was looking at the bug, lower right, before she got interested in what Oliver was doing.

After we go inside and wash, a snack!

Our inside work includes reading...

Cutting with Scissors:

 Preparing food for brunch:

 

Cleaning up is an important part of completing work!

After brunch, we go back outside to work.

When all our friends have left at 12:30, some of us stay for rest time.

Putting on shoes, post-nap, gets us ready to go home!

What a lot we accomplish in a day at Joyful Garden.

Great Tuesday!

It was so wonderful to see the kids today and to pick up the daily routine with them.

We had a small group, with Dylan out sick. Get well soon, Dylan!

We watered the gutter garden.

We walked back into the Back Forty together to look at the pullets in their new pen, and feed them weeds and grass through their hardware cloth fence. We talked a lot about the fence not being strong enough to support a person's weight.

The children did not notice, and I did not mention for now, the beehive.

We said hello to the grown chickens, and Arsenic the Rooster said hello back!

The three children jumped into the red wagon and I pulled them to the brick pile to pick up some bricks that we used to plug potential holes in the pullet pen fence.

We went back into the playground and sang our going inside songs, then followed our inside routines.

Noah peeled the oranges, to go with pinto beans and corn tortillas, for our brunch.

When we went back outside, there were some exciting and beautiful moments of friends re-connecting. When Noah lost a shoe, Hugh came directly to his aid. They were both so intent, right up to the moment that I snapped this picture. I felt sorry that I intruded... Hugh quickly and competently applied the shoe to the foot, and off the two boys went!

See you all soon!

Spring Breaks!

It seems as though spring is truly here. And isn't it a beautiful spring this year? Every being at Joyful Garden seems to be truly appreciating the cool mornings and the sunny afternoons. The chickens are basking outdoors in their pen, not yet needing to hide in the shade of the coop due to heat. The pullets are stretching their wings and legs in a sort of Kenchicky Derby inside their new outdoor enclosure every morning. They pile together at night, nestled deep in the straw inside the small coop. Pip the dog lies in the sun in the afternoons, often baring his belly to the sun! Our burr oak leafed out in just the last 48 hours, the seedlings from the garden have easily doubled in size in the two weeks since I bought them, and the tomato and calendula sprouts that we seeded are growing well. Even the gutter garden has survived the spring break, thanks to India reminding me to water it. 

Our latest delivery of chicks arrived and they are tiny and lively. They are bantams, which is just another term for miniature. They will be available for viewing, should you like to come early for noon departure and have your child show them to you. 

Spring sprang a bit early for one of our soon-to-start members and his family: Hudson's new baby brother, Phoenix Alejandro, arrived March 16, about two weeks ahead of his scheduled due date! You may remember meeting Hudson and his parents, Nancy and Adam, at the February Community Night. I am accepting refrigerated/frozen, reheatable meals for Hudson's family this week; I will drop them off on Friday. They eat vegetarian + dairy. I know that the meals will be much appreciated! Hudson will thank you in person when he starts at Community in June.

There is definitely a huge increase in insect life around Joyful Garden since the last time the children were here. It is a great idea to give your kiddo a spritz of mosquito repellent before you head over in the morning. Unfortunately, the wasps are making a comeback this spring, as well. I am looking for natural solutions to this problem, including traps. Apparently, chickens love to eat trapped wasps, so everybody is a winner with this solution (except the wasps, of course). Complicating things a little bit is the fact that we received our new bees and beehive from Beeweaver (www.beeweaver.com) over the weekend. If I can figure out how to trap wasps without also trapping bees, then I won't hesitate to do so.

The bees are very docile and are getting oriented to their water and food sources. The hive we received is already completely full of honey, so we must add a new super (the box that the honey frames go in and that the bees live in) as soon as possible. India is very interested in bees and their plight (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1918282,00.html). We love to think that we are helping keep the species alive, while also helping our garden. And that we'll get some delicious honey, to boot.

The beehive is in the far northwest corner of the Back Forty. We will be constructing some type of screen loosely around the hive. We don't wish to hide the hive, but the screen will elevate the bees' flight path above the heads of the other inhabitants of the property. This helps reduce painful collisions. Ideally, we will use reed fencing, so that guides can occasionally take children on a destination to observe the bees through the screen.

I am struck by the change in energy that the spring breeze is blowing in, both internally and externally. While the plants and chicks are growing, the bees busily tending to their honeyflow, my ideas are coming quickly, my energy is flowing, and I must work and make lists and gogogo. But, should I build a raised bed, or work on fencing the pasture for the chickens? Is there budget for both, or only one? Which is more important, right now?

Spring is a time of enormous change and upheaval in nature, and so it is with people, too. Coincidentally, it is also the time of year when families are asked to make decisions about their childrens' school for the next year, when we find ourselves weighing and assessing our previous assumptions, and making adjustments as current data dictates we must.

It can be a time to feel overwhelmed, out of balance. The intensity of the season can flow over into our relationships with each other. It is only natural, with all the urgency of spring pressing in on us. All our decisions seem critical, so vitally important. So it is important to also take time in spring to sit still and think from time to time. Our true priorities rise to the surface, if we can just take a little time to let them. All too soon, the volatility of spring will pass, and we'll be working to assimilate the choices we have made and the lessons we have learned (gathering the fruits, so to speak). 

I am so grateful for the choices that working to create this community brings me, and for all that I have learned and continue to learn in doing that work.

I am also grateful for the wonderful work table that James and Emily built for the front outside area, giving up precious time on a Sunday to do it. Thanks, Emily and James!

Some important dates:

Monday, March 21--TODAY--please let us know your plans for enrolling your child for summer and fall. Annual re-enrollment fee is due.

Saturday, March 25: Work Day, 9am-12 noon; pickup truck convoy from Whittlesey Landscape Supply at 7:30 am.

Thursday, April 21: Katherine will be out; Garden Cottage will have a substitute, most likely Maya.

Friday, April 22: Joyful Garden Holiday--Community is closed.

Tuesday, May 31-Friday, June 3: Early Summer Break; Community is closed.

Monday, June 6: Joyful Garden is open on Mondays! New fee schedule for naps applies from this date on.

The Work Period, or: How Can Cutting with Scissors Teach Counting?

Parents are often curious about our work period at Joyful Garden. What do the children do? And how do they learn anything from the materials in the environment? When grownups come to visit, the children often abandon their usual work to interact with the visitor, so it can be hard to get a true idea of how our time for working unfolds.

Here are some videos from recent work periods.

Changing shoes, cooperatively:

Working with materials:

And practicing counting, and naming family members, via cutting materials.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Bodies in Motion

Wow! The children have so much energy lately! On Wednesday (the only day so far this week that I have had nappers), they all fell asleep right away, too. Little wonder after all the running, jumping, pushing, pulling that was taking place throughout the morning.

There has been an incredible upswing in cooperative work.

Our newly offered, indoor, fine-motor work is getting a workout, too.

The children came back from the Winter Break so completely transformed... Great strides were made in potty learning, language development, fine and gross motor skills. Young children are such wonderful teachers; I love their constant reminders that human development is not linear--that some areas must contract in order for others to expand, and that disintegration is necessary in order for the being to re-integrate on a different plane of development.

For example, a child mastering language may seem to regress in the area of sleep habits, or toilet independence, or "minding" (actually, the child is always minding, but grownups tend to feel challenged when the child minds his or her own mind, instead of the adult's). The child's flow in and out of relative equanimity is often referred to as equilibrium/disequilibrium.

When the child exhibits behavior that makes us long "for my baby," or wonder, "where did my happy kid go?", then they are said to be in disequilibrium. Disequilibrium is marked by the child's strong expression of emotion, rigidity of preference, and preoccupation with struggle. We may wish to avoid periods of disequilibrium, but in reality they are necessary for human development--both in our children and in ourselves.

Here are some interesting articles about equilibrium/disequilibrium:

http://www.centerforparentingeducation.org/programs_articlesresource_ucstages.html

http://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/02/27/the-typical-ages-of-disequilibrium/

The terms were originated by Jean Piaget, the father of the modern kindergarten. Read some background here:

http://www.nndb.com/people/359/000094077/

Tips for coping with disequilibrium:

--Uphold routines--even though your child may protest bed time as never before during a period of disequilibrium, s/he needs the routine to be firm to feel secure. Not to mention, you both need all the rest you can get right now.

--Reduce the range of available options. If you have been giving 3-4 choices, reduce it down to 2 in any given situation. Make sure that both are choices that you can live with. Be clear with your child when there is no choice but yours (when safety is at issue, for example) in a given situation, and be prepared to follow through with loving action.

--Limit stimulus. Now is a good time to have fewer playdates, limit changes to routine, even let kiddo stay home with your partner or a sitter while you do necessary errands and shopping.

--Expand your toolbox. We have many wonderful resources locally for broadening your mind and technique when it comes to parenting. Even just learning, and making habitual, a few new phrases can change your child's outlook--and your own! Look up the class offerings at:

http://www.carriecontey.com/

http://www.bethanyprescott.com/

http://www.languageoflistening.com/classes/classes

Finally, take heart! Childrens' developmental phases pass in about the time it takes for parents to master coping with them. Your kiddo will be on to something new before you know it.