It's 5pm. Friday afternoon.
Lu takes his guitar to the window and sings me a song,
a lovely way to finish our homeschool week.
Lu is getting more and more involved in facilitating workshops.
We've been doing hooping workshops at the local public school.
He's a pro at hooping.
Here he's sharing some of his tricks:
In our homeschool records, I put this down as "Leadership Skills".
At the end of each class we do a hoop snake,
and run around linked up with our hoops.
It's a blast!
I've been a workshop facilitator for most of my life. There is a deep satisfaction in seeing my son inherit my trade. Not that I want him to dedicate his life to it, unless that's what he wants, but it's a wonderful feeling to see him doing something that he learned by watching me.
And as a child who has taken workshops from hundreds of facilitators from around the world, he has a really good handle on what works, and what doesn't. He knows how to adapt to different ages, engage the group, and to lead in a way that is respectful and inclusive.
I didn't teach him. He just learned through participation and
observation. I imagine that the same goes for the jeweler, or the
butcher, or the writer... You don't expect them to want to learn it, but
it makes you very happy if they do. Even if it's just one more trick up their sleeve.
* * * *
We're making a HUGE world map to learn geography
with the kids in our after-school program.
Lu helped out with the tracing.
Two friends are drawing and painting the map onto 3 huge panels. They came over to draw it out with a projector, and Lu just jumped right in. "Can I help?" I wasn't going to say no. Even though it was pretty much already bedtime. And this is one of the great things about homeschooling. You can have exceptions, and changes of plans, and unexpected activities whenever you want!
We also participated in a 5-hr symposium called
"Awakening the Dreamer"
It was 5 hours long, with video-watching, discussion in small groups, sharing in circles... We learned about environmental justice and sustainability, and we heard other people's perspective on how we should go about reducing our impact on the planet.
Lu was the only child in the group. I think it was a really valuable experience for him, and that his participation enriched the whole group's experience as well. At one point he shared this:
"I am happy and grateful for the technology and the knowledge that has been developed by people before me, that I can learn from."
Every now and then I am left in awe by my son.
This was one of those times.
