the fate of a busy scarf

I contemplated unraveling a scarf-long stretch of knitting that I did during the school year last year. I knit it while sitting ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with the kids, being present with them while they did something that I wasn’t doing, but they wanted company as they did it. This type of presence is hard for me—companionable silence, not reading, not doing dishes, not chopping things and shuffling papers. There are times I’ve longed to scrub floors rather than sit quietly and watch them fastidiously—the furious pencil erasing!—fill in a quiz. The difficulty of this type of presence is probably why John Stuart Mill’s father quizzed him about what he had learned while they walked long miles together, instead of sitting as we do.¹ Gently folding and refolding the stretch of uneven knobby soft brilliant blue knots, I reasoned that if I undid it, I could use the beautiful wool yarn again. It could yet again serve the purpose of calming my mind through my hand’s occupation. In the end, I had not wanted a scarf, I had wanted to keep myself in calm quiet next to them while they worked and asked me questions. And it had done that.

As I thought through this plan in broad daylight in the exposed arena of my living room, the 4yr old pounced. She asked to have ‘the blanket’ to tuck in her animals. She had no good blankets for this purpose, she claimed. So I gave it to her. Minutes later, she walked by scissors. Moments after that, she walked by with the knitting cut cleanly in half. I gasped when I saw the dangling shorn threads.

Oh no!

What, she said, surprised.

I didn’t want…you to cut it…I said. By now all the girls were looking up, listening with concern.

I needed two blankets, she said.

But now it will unravel, the ends aren’t tied off in the middle…I trailed off, remembering I had intended to undo it anyway. Oh well, I bet it will be great, I said. Everyone’s eyes went from the chopped knitwear and back to my face to check for authenticity, and reassured that I wasn’t weeping on the inside, they went back to what they were doing.

The blankets haven’t unraveled yet, actually, and they nicely tuck in animals on her bed. I will get another ball of yarn and begin again.

I could not find the image source for these cuties, but they remind me of all the jams on sale at the farmer’s market right now.

The wonder of an outschool fit continues 

For most of the spring and summer our 12yr old did two outschool baking classes every week. These were hour-long classes held remotely by two different teachers. I tried to tidy the counters and get out of the way, and the projects were almost always completed within the hour, which I found astounding. If I initially griped that my grocery shopping list was filling up with novelty chocolate chips and pudding mix, I was soon astonished to see her turning out homemade pretzels, lemon meringue pies, sour jello squares, cinnamon twists, and upside down pineapple cakes.

The two specific classes she was enrolled in, though there are many others listed and well reviewed…

Sweet Treats & Dessert Baking

Bake It or Fake It!

This is a great example of something I would like be the teacher for, in theory, but my tasks skew more toward prepping dinner and household traditional desserts. Bringing in a different teacher has made her feel much more comfortable in the kitchen, and feel far braver about trying new things.

I wrote in a previous newsletter about the fun we’ve had with illustration classes on outschool as well.

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales   

I really hope I have mentioned these before but it's possible I have not. These wonderfully done, incredibly well researched comics teach children unbelievable amounts of history. If not every family can have every single one, then doubtless every library in the country should have every single one on their shelves for children to checkout.

I was recently reminded of their power when I was reading aloud a just-okay book about spies in the American Revolution. The kids already knew all the cool parts, all of them, from the Nathan Hale American revolution book. We reference the books whe we need to set something historical we are talking about in a context that we all remember—remember the slave revolution on Haiti? It was around that time.

What’s more, it is tough nearly impossible work to be a balanced historian, but he has done it.

Nathan Hale, if you’re reading this, we patiently await your next volume, thank you for your work.

An Illustrated Recipe

In other baking developments around the house, the 7yr old now has a chocolate chip cookie recipe she can pull off on her own from start to finish. I bought Lucy Kinsley’s Relish: My Life in the Kitchen and it has several jubilantly illustrated recipes. Alma was inspired by how easy the recipe was to read, and gave it a try. We have all benefitted from every stage of this recipe testing.

I really think the potential of the graphic novel explosion is unlimited.

What I’m reading

Here’s what I’m reading these days…

Sabbath World: a friend sent us this book and it’s very interesting. I like how much history and religious theory she mixes in with her own experience. I’m sure I’ll have thoughts on setting aside a day of rest once I finish it.

John Adams: a classic David McCullough tome, and it is just SO good. I fell completely in love with John and Abigail. The integrity! The tenacity! The vision! I now aspire to bring my level of letter writing up to theirs. I am reading it on a kindle, which is very helpful for all the times I’m curled up in bed and reading one-handed.

I have a new goal of reading all of David McCullough’s books. So far I’ve read The Wright Brothers, The Greater Journey, and Brave Companions. They are entertaining and the characters stay with you.

I love this thematic October image by Rebecca Green

Speaking of Sabbaths…

In this podcast Michelle Garrels mentions that her kids only do Legos on Saturdays, the day they practice taking a Sabbath. Intriguing. Many parents experiment with the idea of cycling toys in and out of storage to “refresh them.” I think this idea is effective but it can be yet another chore for the tired caregiver; and sometimes it makes you feel like you’ve created some sort of curated play world for your children to live in. I’m intrigued by this suggestion of linking a particularly quiet and restful day to an especially occupying toy.

The podcast is meandering to be sure, but I recommend it. Lots of interesting ideas.

And a quote for you…

Finally and emphatically, he urged the widest possible support for education. “Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially for the lower classes of people, are so extremely wise and useful that to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.”

-John Adams, quoted in John Adams by David McCullough

1. You can read about this in John Stuart Mill’s autobiography, although I forewarn you that there are likely very few things about his dad’s homeschool that you will want to imitate.