My New Vision Board

A vision board is a visual representation or collage of the things that you want to have, be, or do in your life. It consists of a poster or foam board with cut-out pictures, drawings and/or writing on it of the things that you want in your life or the things that you want to become.

The purpose of a vision board is to activate the law of attraction to begin to pull things from your external environment that will enable you to realize your dream. By selecting pictures and writing that charges your emotions with feelings of passion, you will begin to manifest those things into your life.

This is just the start of my new vision board. Creating another one was very empowering. It's been over 3 years since I made my first one. Everything that I truly desired came to me from that first vision board in one way or another. I'm so grateful to have learned about this awesome tool years ago.

I won't get into details of everything that I chose to add to my vision board. Some of it is symbolic and known only to me and my family. Some of it is more obvious. I loved the process of getting a visual on some ways that I want to expand and experience my life. It looks so pretty hanging on the wall too. I love it!

~Dayna

Devin's Video on Costa Rica

Our family has a trip planned for this September. We are going to Costa Rica to visit an old friend of mine. He owns a hotel and tour business there and invited us down for a vacation.

All of our kids love to travel. It is a big part of their lives and some of the most memorable times together as a family are on the road traveling to places that introduce us to another way of looking at things, or another way of life. We love trying new foods and learning about the animals, flora and fauna of the area.

Devin is really excited about this trip and he made a video last night after researching Costa Rica. He combined two interests of his. Movie making and traveling. He is most looking forward to the animals and insects there. He made this movie because he wanted to and it was something he was interested in and passionate about.

He even picked out Costa Rican music to go with his video.

He Plays for the Trees

Devin and I were laying in bed last night talking and laughing. He was asking me about something he read online about the world ending in 2012. He shared that although he didn't believe the world would end then, it scared him to think about.

It's pretty heavy to talk to your child about things like death sometimes. Especially when you can so relate to what they are feeling. I explained my own journey about how I came to feel more comfortable with death over the years. I also shared how when I was younger I was much more afraid of certain things than I am now. I empathized and validated the best that I could with him.

I shared my feelings on how every living thing is connected and how we never really die. He's heard this before from me, but he understood it on a deeper level last night. He hugged me and I tickled his back. He cried a little and said that he never wanted us to be apart as a family.

I told him that we would always be together and he said that when we died he hoped we all would become trees in the forest. We laughed and shared what kinds of trees we will be.

This morning Devin woke up and began gathering a few things to bring outside.

When I went out to see him, he was laying beneath what he calls his *favorite tree*. He was barefoot on a blanket and playing his recorder while looking up at the tree. When I asked him what he was doing he told me that he was playing music for the tree. He said, "After all, this tree is family."

My Role

As a mother to Four Unschooled children, it's important for me to take my role as my kids Learning Facilitator seriously. When my kids show an interest in something, I need to jump on it and do all that I can to get their questions answered and bring as much of the World into their lives as possible in a way that they each desire. I offer options to learn more about whatever they are interested in.

Yesterday Devin asked me what Sea Shells were made of, and where they came from. I didn't know all the details of the answer, but knew that I needed to find out. His need to know these questions, led to his siblings needing to know the answers also.

As an Unschooling parent I know that I do not need to know all the answers, but I do need to know how to find out all of the answers.

I jumped online and began researching all that I could about Sea Shells. I dug through our own personal resources and found a big box of Seashells in our attic that were given to Devin from my Uncle Kenny. My Uncle gave Devin his lifetime collection of seashells. I tucked them away in our attic and it was so nice to be able to pull them all out when my kids wanted to learn about them.

Here are some pics of the kids learning about Seashells. We are fortunate enough to be taking a trip to Costa Rica in September and we will all be snorkeling and living in the jungles and beaches for two weeks, totally primitive! No luxury hotels, no room service... We are literally living in the Rain Forest among the most endangered of animal species on the Planet.

-I can't imagine a more rewarding role than as an Radical Unschooling parent!

Radical Bean Mosaics

Today was a snowy day here in New Hampshire. It was the perfect day to make a big batch of potato leek soup and do an art project.

I pulled out several bags of dried beans and rice and scoured the Internet for something fun to do with them.I came across the idea to make Bean Mosaics. The kids all loved the idea. I called Joe over from the shop and asked him if he could bring over some scrap wood and wood glue. I separated the beans by color. The kids each painted their entire piece of wood with glue and began creating. I asked Devin and Tiff if they wanted to see a pictures of mosaics online before getting started, but they said they would rather just "create something from their own minds".

Together they made 8 different mosaics. It was a lot of fun, and Tiff suprised me and cleaned up all of the beans and rice after we were finished. Just another *day in the life*.

Wasted Food

Someone recently posted a question to my yahoo group:

"My daughter will constantly ask for food but not finish it or will ask for something, take a bite or two and then say she wants something else"

My response:

The overall reason why I wouldn't make a big issue out of this is because I choose connection over a power struggle. I choose the make our relationship the first priority over worrying about "wasted" food. The cultural idea of wasted food is a very conditioned way to look at a situation like you shared. Our parents and their parents lived in a very different mindset about these things. It was very much "parent-led eating and meals" back in their day.

In regards to food, I find ways to meet my children where they are and get creative.
I've thrown foods that they haven't finished in soups, or salads, for the next meal, if I don't feel like eating their leftovers that day. Or I throw what they didn't eat in the fridge, or give it to our birds. We have friends whose dog gets all the kids uneaten things. We also compost. It's all part of our great circle of life and usage of food. ;)

For dinner Tiff, 8, takes more food than the other kids. She usually puts everything on her plate that she can fit. She never eats it all, but she loves the look and feel of abundance on her plate. I don't try to change her, but support her in her needs. She enjoys feeling that she has more than enough and it is a secure feeling to her. There are times when one of us will kindly ask her to leave enough of this or that for everyone, she does. Also, I will just wait and let everyone else take what they want because I know I will just eat the potatoes on her plate that aren't finished.

Our children are aware that as a culture we are very fortunate regards to food. We discuss poverty and starvation in the world and their gratitude for their life is apparent. They are very aware children. I do not try to make my children feel bad for their abundance and guilt them into finishing what is on their plates.

I like to be flexible and understanding and go with the flow. Food, like money, is only energy. There is always enough and I never feel like any of it is wasted. Every use of it is of value.

Children don't eat like adults usually. They have a unique way of experiencing foods and eating. I embrace this about my kids and meet them where they are. I am the one who can choose to connect with them and find ways to get creative, or I can Choose to force and coerce them to eat like I think they should and in turn have negativity and power struggles over mealtimes and snacks. I choose to observe their choices, help them get what they want and respect how they choose to interact with their food.

In my opinion no food is never "wasted". If the money is already spent, what difference does it make whether or not you child eats it, or the raccoons and rats at the dump do? Seriously, I love the fact that we are feeding the wildlife and insects with whatever we don't eat. I never see anything my kids don't eat as "waste". I feel such a part of every living thing and know they we are feeding an extention of ourselves in whatever living thing consumes what we don't eat.

You'll never hear me tell my kids to "clean their plates", or that there are "starving kids in China", like many of us were told as children. I will always honor how much they choose to consume and then be joyful in giving our food back to the Earth in a respectful, loving way.

Life Rocks!

The date for the Life Rocks! Unschooling Conference Cruise has been set!

Join us on April 3rd, 2011!

You are invited to sail on board the Freedom of the Seas ship, and visit four different exotic locations with other Unschooling families! This is the ultimate, all-inclusive vacation within an unforgettable Unschooling Conference! Swim with the Stingrays in Grand Cayman, Visit Mayan Ruins or swim with the dolphins in Cozumel, Mexico, Enjoy a blissful day at our private water park on the beach of Haiti, Climb Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and explore jungles, ancient cities and beaches

Living on a boat for a week gives you a different perspective on life and the world itself. You can actually see and feel how much water is out there - how huge the ocean is -and by sailing on it, you gain such reverence for the Earth in a new way.Give your family as Big of a World as Possible... Travel and see the new places, different cultures, learn, grow and explore together..... with your Unschooling tribe!

If this interests you, read more about the cruise for April 2011 here.

Borders Magic!

On our way to Ohio last week, we stopped at a Borders Bookstore in New York. We found my book on the shelf and it was so surreal...

To actually see the book *in* a store, and not just in bookstores online was an amazing feeling.

Joe took a photo to always remember how special it was for us to see my book, "Radical Unschooling: A Revolution Has Begun", with a picture of our family.

Supporting Their Passions

Devin has recently began playing the online game World of Warcraft. I posted his new passion as a Facebook update and received some pretty surprising comments! I even had a long-time friend "unfriend" me for our choice to support Devin's passion. It seems that video game play brings up some intense emotions for some people.

Devin's new interest has branched off in wondrous directions! He has a new found skill creating weapons from materials that you can find in any hardware store. Here is a picture of what he calls a "double-sided blunt weapon" created from PVC pipe, a pool noodle and duct tape. He wants to make and sell these at the next conference we attend. (He is a natural-born entrepreneur.)

I recently read a few quotes online about the game World of Warcraft that I wanted to share,

"Researchers who gathered in Boston for the American Psychological Association convention detailed a series of studies suggesting video games can be powerful learning tools — from increasing younger students' problem-solving potential to improving the suturing skills of laparoscopic surgeons.

The research found the game encouraged scientific thinking, like using systems and models for understanding situations and using math and testing to investigate problems.
The vast majority of the discussion participants, 86 percent, shared knowledge to solve problems and more than half, 58 percent, used systematic and evaluative processes, researchers found.

The forums show that gamers are "creating an environment in which informal scientific reasoning practices are being learned," said Sean Duncan, a doctoral student who worked on the "World of Warcraft" report with lead author Constance Steinkuehler."