I’d never been to a Renaissance fair. For 40 years I’d managed to avoid it, in spite of the fact that my Dungeons and Dragons past, my history geek side and my fascination with Celtic lore in general put me square in the group dynamic. Still, it was the image of standing in a blazing hot field while adults all around me played make believe in polyester jester costumes which held me back.

Turns out I was underestimating Renn faire goers. The Bristol Rennaissance Faire we visited Sunday for my birthday is nearly as old as I am. Just three year younger than me actually. In those years they’ve had the time to grow a few trees and build a few permanent type structures. Serious faire-goers have had ample opportunity to create their own economy and the creation of quality costumes seems to be a real part of it.

The night before my whole household could barely sleep. Anoif had painstakingly sewn her costume over the past weeks. Too bad you can’t really see the skirt well here. It is a very lovely green thing with many pleats and folds.

She had been to the fair last year with friends and was now determined to be a member. She helped her equally excited brother cobble together a sort of hobbit hobo outfit that passed as somewhat old and historical looking. They urged their father and I to participate but we explained how we would need to have our hands and limbs free from restrictive clothing in order to better reach our wallets every two minutes once on the fairgrounds.

The wondrous anniversary of my birth finally dawned and off we drove, making a brief lost pitstop at the Mars Cheese Castle to explore not just their fine cheeses but also the modernity of their plumbing which we’d soon find lacking in more ancient realms.

Once upon the dusty red packed earth of the Renn faire I made haste to assert my queenly status (when Queen Elizabeth wasn’t looking). I ,for example, declared we’d all try some archery and then fetch a beer and a sassafras. I deemed the Mud show too pithy in the word department and short on the mud flinging, so on we flounced.  In fact, we flounced until our brows perspired. We ate, found gifts for certain soon to be wedded folk, ate some more, bumped in to friends we knew everywhere of course, oggled much silver jewelry and watched our children jump around on a bungee trampoline contraption that seemed out of place amid the crowd. Ken and I found some small delight in categorizing the faire-goers. Although by no means did we complete an entire nomenclature, here is a small sampling of what we observed. Ken will probably post his separately:

dark shrouded wizard types

ethereal painted fairies

completely been there since 1973, wearing a burlap sack or rags and looking kind of drugged guys

fairy animals

little girls dressed as princesses or fairies

highlanders

Shakespearean wood sprites (one is the mushroom sprite and crawls around)

leprechauns

your every day garden variety parent opening and closing a leather wallet device for their deliriously happy children

girls in Catholic school attire with animal tails or horns on their heads, maybe both

dudes with whips and cudgels

people with fake pets, often dragons, on their shoulders

royal guards

women wearing barmaid or can-can type outfits from an entirely different era

your basic Viking type guys

authentic looking Queen’s court

your average pirate

Conan type creatures

various and assorted men in tights or leggings

knights, usually hanging out with gladiators and vikings for whatever reason

your sexy Halloween costume clad pirate gal, always with similarly dressed friend

your “I’m just here with my wife who likes to dress up as a Renaissance period woman while I wear my  construction boots and jeans” kinda guy

clumps of young people drinking beer and just wearing a goofy hat they bought there

don’t forget my son, the hobo hobbit…or is it boho hobbit? Here he is after having befriended the strangely beautiful and aloof fairy. They took a stroll together…

How fun it was to witness the jousting and queen’s dramas. To see grown people wrapped up in the world of make believe. To look at costumes and weaponry that is as close to authentic as I could have imagined. To eavesdrop on young adults admiring our kids and their friends’ outfits “I hope when I have kids they’ll want to dress up for the faire…” To thank a shopkeeper for complimenting the 5 children I somehow ended up with in one seamstress shop. Afterwards she said “What well behaved kids you have here. Usually this many in one store will cause a ruckus.”

To see a whole world based on fantasy and history combined and run mostly by creative role players and friendly artists. It was actually like coming home. Now I can imagine why Anoif wants to be there every weekend. Who cares is my feet were red and dusty all the way back to Chicago?

Relaxed Homeschooler Talk Radio is my fledgling talk show on Blog Talk Radio where I explore the world of homeschooling and unschooling with a host of talented and interesting guests with many years of combined experience. I’ve got the next three shows lined up with some amazing speakers you’ll want to hear as you cruise in to another exciting year of homeschooling your children. Whether you homeschool, unschool or just wonder what its all about or if you’d enjoy it, this is the show for you to discover how it all fits together. Speaking to the homeschooling community is something I really love doing and I can’t even describe how happy I am to present these next guests to you, but first…

You can listen live on the second and fourth Monday of every month at 10am central time and call in to comment or or you can listen to past archived shows here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RelaxedHomeschooler

The latest show is available for listening at my other blog Relaxedhomeskool.com

You can also download Relaxed Homeschooler as a free podcast at iTunes music store under educational podcasts.

Now for the shows:

September 8^th 10-11:30am central time

Show #4

Join me as I speak with my guest Sandra Dodd about her life unschooling her mostly grown now kids. She is the author of the Radical Unschooling blog, the inventor of Learn Nothing Day and a tireless champion for respectful parenting. Also, Dayna Martin of Unschooling America will be checking in with us from the Rethinking Education conference to give us a taste of what the world of homeschooling conferences are like.

September 22^nd 10-11:30am central time

Show #5

This week Sarah Parent, author of the Clan of Parents blog and the podcast Humans Being will be on the show to talk about unschooling food, to name just one topic. As always, we’ll take callers with thoughts to share and questions.

Dayna Martin will pop in with the second of what we hope to be regular appearances in a radio segments titled View from Utopia.

October 6^th 10-11:30am central time

Show #6

Special show-one week early!

Peggy Webb will be the guest this week and we will discuss her life raising 3 unschooled girls and running the West River Academy. She also consults homeschoolers and will be available to answer your questions about keeping transcripts, unschooling high school and helping your teen to take the path they are most interested in.

Call out your teens because Peggy’s youngest daughter, 14-year-old Rachel will also be a guest on the show and will speak to us about her experiences with various types of schooling (all of which she chose to try as an unschooler) and her recent travels to Costa Rica and upcoming travels to Japan to learn the languages among other things. Teens and parents are encouraged to call Rachel with their questions and thoughts.

Did you ever get to seem like the most fun parent in the world by accident? Well, I did last night and it was lovely. Ken went off to pick up Anoif at her writing camp for the last time this summer. It is in the happening neighborhood of Wicker Park and they have been going out to dinner together. I was beginning to think maybe Mail and I should do the same, or something like it, so I picked him up from a playdate with his friend and whisked him off to a movie, complete with popcorn dinner (okay, we’d eaten a late lunch). When we left the theater we had plans to stroll around a bookstore or library looking for the 11th Naruto comic when what to our amazed visages appeared but a Thursday night street festival in which many vendors and clubs all demonstrated their ukelele, karate and jazz skills to name a few. I watched in awe as my 8 year old strode up to an aikido instructor on his own and introduced himself.  He almost got a snake painted on his arm by the most talented face painter I’d ever seen but that wait seemed to be a half an hour per kid and we had other tasks, like an impromptu shared massage. It was $10 for ten minutes and we decided to split it. You know, because I figured he was tense too from swimming and playing in the sprinkler all day, not to mention all of that arm work he’d been doing with his yo-yo lately.

Okay, so the masseuse kindly gave me a much bigger chunk of the time whispering “He doesn’t really need a whole five minutes.” Thanks most strong and awesome massage lady. Afterwards, a chatty gelato vendor snagged us with samples and a whole bunch a hooha about how much less fat gelato had than regular ice cream. She had us at the samples. So we shared a cup, half chocolate chip and mango peach. All of that strolling and admiring led to some discussions about the upcoming year’s activities and well, a feeling that we were both so lucky and pleased to hang out together.  Even in the movie theater, which was thankfully not too crowded, we spent an unusual amount of time joking around about what was happening on the screen. We’re both movie talkers but the rest of our clan isn’t, so it was a rare opportunity for us.

With Anoif  I’ve had similar fun going on a long bike ride and stopping at every garage sale or otherwise interesting place we come across. The thing that amazes me about those outtings is how different it feels to have just one famly member with you. Focusing on that one person instead of listening to 2 or more people vying for your attention with parlor tricks and trench warfare is a refreshing change of pace that I cannot reccomend highly enough.  Now I’ve got to try this with my husband real soon.

Okay, so we’re at the annual reunion block party, surrounded by loving friends and music and food and fun. The day is waning away and it is time for the much awaited raffle prizes to be doled out. My son and another boy his age volunteer to pull the numbers and read them off. There are dozens of prizes it seems. They read through them wonderfully and the adult in charge keeps the witty banter rolling as he hands out the goods. The boys are getting a little bored and tired now. They didn’t know the glory would fade and they’d still be reading off endless sets of numbers 20 minutes in to the process. The bike ramp and pinata are patiently waiting for their attentions.My son picks a number and says loud and clear, “Four eight eighty.” There is a half second of silence followed by the adult in charge saying “Otherwise known as four hundred and eighty” but I can hardly hear it over the roar from our side of the block party. Everyone in our group has just simultaneously burst in to laughter and shouted “Homeschooler!” at the top of their lungs while making a point to aim their fingers at me and Ken in case anyone on the other side of the block wanted to know who was the educational guru. If I wasn’t so busy falling off my chair with laughter I might have hid under the table. Good thing my son has a sense of humor and a bullet proof self esteem too. He just shrugged and smiled and moved on to the next 500 draws.

Join me and my guest Michelle Barone on the next Relaxed Homeschooler Talk Radio this coming Monday at 10 am central time. This is your chance to call in and speak to a therapist who specializes in working with homeschoolers and unschoolers.

I just received a copy of her new book Finding Your Way Exploring Your Family’s Educational Journey and I am very excited about it. It is exactly what I have always hoped to find in a homeschooling book. Instead of telling you how-to or how others do, Michelle writes briefly and  openly on a series of topics familiar to all of us (your vision of your child, anger,advice, etc…) then she invites you to do some exercises on those topics to help  you explore what would work for you and your family. Its all very gentle and encouraging and at the same time it is such a powerful tool. I am trying to read it as an interviewer now, you know, what parts to bring up, what to ask about, but I find my fingers twitching to pick up a pencil and get cracking on those exercises. That’s a good sign!

We need lots of callers this week and I’m hoping my friends can get the ball rolling. Are you excited about the opportunities for fall? Overwhelmed by planning? Trying a new math program? Wanting to know how to find time for yourself or just to pay the bills? Delighted to share the highlights of your many years of unschooling with us? Whatever the topic, my guest Michelle has years of wisdom to share on the matter and I bet she’s heard it all.

Here’s the details about the show:

Relaxed Homeschooler Talk Radio show #3

When: Monday 8/11/08
10am until 11:30am central time

Where: Call in number (347)633-9765
Click here to listen live.
For download subscribe to Relaxed Homeschooler at iTunes store via podcasts.
Who: This show Michelle Barone will be my guest. She is an unschooler/homeschooler, a family therapist, a retired La Leche League counselor and the author of a new book titled “Finding Your Way;Exploring Your Families Educational Journey”. She was trained as a teacher before deciding to keep her own kids home, has worked with special needs kids and is also a former radio show host! So call if you want to speak to an experienced homeschooler and therapist about concerns and hopes you have for the upcoming year! (347)633-9765. Michelle’s book is available at lulu.com

What I want to say to summer today as I head off to the beach is….Summer, don’t leave us. You don’t need to make the sun go down imperceptibly sooner each day, cutting short our bouts of Frisbee and bike riding for mundane showers and snacks before bed.

No need to look suspiciously a bit like ‘just three more weeks’ on my calendar. That is so way harsh. After last winter I think we here in the midwest deserve a do over of summer.

In the back of my brain somewhere the little cogs are starting to click and whir and align themselves to concerns about the fall and fall activities. Whenever it pops in to my consciousness I do not embrace the thoughts as I have in the past. Instead I think, oh maybe next week I’ll think about that. Right now I’ve got to make chickpea salad and iced tea. Or walk barefoot down to the garden and pluck some string beans. Or bike over to the pool. We’re going to squeeze this summer with a juicer until there is no denying the red leaves on the ground anymore. How about you?

Over at Radical Unschoolers Network, Ren has challenged people to describe a normal day for unschoolers. Naturally, the whole idea of unschooling is that your family is doing things that they are interested in, and those interests change as children age. So, rather than one day, I’m going to dig back through my journals of yesteryear and pick out the same time every year. That ought to be interesting. Let me go fetch the journals. Yup, I keep journals. A little nutty no doubt but they give me pause and often transport me right back to the day. That will be a big consolation in my old age.

Oh, here they are.

Let’s start with this disclaimer: these are only a small slice of life every August for a few years. They in no way constitute all of our activities or learning experiences. Why August? Because it is August now and I just wanted to see what the heck we were doing each year around the same time. I missed a few years there in the middle. Let’s just call those years ’second toddler syndrome’ and commit them to my own personal brain journal. But you will see that I am no stranger to personal doubts and delusions and that throughout the maelstrom things with my kids have pretty much remained the same. They want to play and explore and meet people and try new things and one way or another, regardless of how on board I am, that is what they manage to do. Just as I accidentally learn to sew in one entry, they incidentally learn so many things while doing what they do that I couldn’t pretend to keep track of those learnings realistically. I’ve only just gotten a bit better at relaxing about it.

Early on, unschooling is easy. Math and science just happen and I don’t fret…

[Read more →]

(Summer in a nutshell)

Ken and I collaborated on a project, called Son, It’s Time You Knew. He wanted to do a comic with me so he asked me to write a story for it. He’s got this drawing board where he can draw on a pad and it goes in to the computer like magic. Pretty cool. You know, my writing is so full of pith. After reading my story Ken very politely told me I was not a very visual writer. That is so cloudy and lime-colored of him!

But he’s right. I think he was hoping my story would have vistas and adventures that were fun to draw. Well, most of my adventures take place in transit. So he’s going to be drawing a van and some flashbacks. It works for me!

Maybe 8 months ago Anoif confided in me that although she loved writing and reading and wanted to be a publisher/author/editor, she also had a love of being with little children that made her dream of nursery schools,nanny work and ultimately of motherhood. We talked about many careers and how they could involve children. The end result of this talk was that we both agreed it was never too early for her to explore many different ways of working with kids through volunteerism.

So, we began by talking to everyone we ran in to who worked with kids. Anoif let it be known that she’d love to babysit and mother’s help for pay but also that she wanted to clock some hours at the local children’s museum, nursery school, the children’s bookstore and the library for story time and summer reading programs. People were polite but in spite of babysitting gigs she got no volunteer call backs. It was almost as if no protocol existed for what to do when some kid says they want to be an apprentice.

Fast forward to today in our local library. I was returning some stuff and the sweet librarian who was helping me seemed swamped by the large amount of children who showed up to play video games on the computer and collect their summer reading gift certificates and t-shirts. I won’t even explore the motivational techniques the city uses to encourage reading. That is another blogpost and a half.

With Anoif’s approval, I mentioned to the librarian that we had hoped to hear from them long before summer about her getting volunteer time there. The librarian looked surprised, “Oh, no one called you back? Well, she has to volunteer here, right? For school?” Now we looked baffled. How can you have to volunteer? Isn’t that the opposite of volunteering? Anoif and I both said “No…” uncertainly. We were probably both thinking about whether or not to play the homeschool card. Last time she volunteered at the library, the children’s librarian told her she couldn’t help at the preschool story time because that was during school hours. Anoif said no problem, she was homeschooled and the librarian at the time began to slowly back away from her mumbling stuff that we were pleased not to understand. So, we were both tight lipped on the omeschoolhay hingtay this time. She could spring it on them once they’d unhinged the velvet ropes and let her in.

“I mean, doesn’t she have community service hours she has to clock for her school requirements?” the nice librarian added more clearly. “No.Not really.” I hesitated, not knowing how to explain in 10 words or less that this isn’t mandatory and she really just wants to hang out with little kids. Then Anoif got her own voice, “I just…want to.” she said politely, smiling at the lady and giving me a befuddled look, mentally texting me ‘Why can’t she believe that I want to do this? Is it some kind of medieval torture or Masonic right working in the library?’ Maybe there is no such thing as a mental text, but you know the spirit of the look was the same. The librarian got it all of a sudden and went to fetch us the same children’s librarian who formerly backed away mumbling.

At this point we were entrenched. I encouraged Anoif to go speak to her alone while I hung around the two younger kids I was with.  She came back a few minutes later looking more confused. “She says why didn’t I just come in whenever I wanted to volunteer before. There’s no call back. You are just supposed to come in.” “Really?But how were you supposed to know that if no one told you?” “I don’t know, mom. She just seemed like she didn’t really care one way or another.”

I could feel the fighting spirit rise up in me a little. Not care? Did my advocacy need to transition here from gently encouraging my reserved daughter to try something she was interested in to loudly berating staff in the supervisors office for being callous with young recruits? Okay, thats what I wanted to do.I tried cooling the brain down by considering the other side a little.  Maybe its a lot of work training kids how to reshelve stuff and maybe they disappear after two or three sessions because they’re bored or they’ve met their community service requirements so maybe some librarians aren’t so keen on recruits because it makes more of a mess. Maybe this wasn’t the best time of the year to storm in demanding work, right at the end of an intense period of children’s librarianing. Maybe we should just keep looking around for opportunities where the staff would be a little more pleased and mentorlike. Maybe we should be the ones backing away and mumbling.

Anoif seemed resigned but just then the children’s librarian wrapped up her t-shirt handing out and came over to explain the routine. Apparently she had just been frazzled, swamped with summer reading club tasks and now she had a few minutes, which she very generously spent ascertianing what Anoif wanted to do and signing her up to assist with the preschool reading time. Whew. Here’s hoping some preschoolers show up and toss lots of board books on the floor.

Get your phones polished up and ready to dial, because tomorrow morning at 10am central I’ll be talking with my guest Dayna Martin of Unschooling America all about her family, her projects (hint; there’s an unschooling cruise) plans and unschooling ideas.

To listen live to the show tomorrow tune in here.

Between the two of us we have about 11 or 12 years of homeschooling/unschooling and we want to hear from you now about how and why you do it. We’d love it if you call in with your questions, thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, and struggles. Call early and please hold on the line to get through and speak to Dana and I. Here’s the number: 347-633-9765

Of course, the show is also available for download through iTunes podcasts at the Apple Store.