(this is a long post - you might like to make yourself a cup of tea before settling in)
For months we've been making plans for this: a Charlotte-Mason style co-op class involving 15 children ages 14 years down to 7 months. Yesterday it happened.
All five participating families are working through Ancient Greece in History, so the first part of our first session was dedicated to making salt-dough maps of that region. This was painstaking work, maybe not a best first-country choice for this experience; picture Greece: its filigreed shoreline, its multitudinous islands, its deep inlets and irregular terrain. Complex and intimidating, but we did it.
We still have to paint the background water, but for now this is what we have accomplished.
The older children stuck with the project much longer than the younger, in fact, Brown-Eyed Boy didn't even attempt to work on the map - he went straight to the room where our friends house their Playmobil toys and we didn't see him for the rest of the morning!
While the older children and the moms completed the maps, the others went to explore the expansive, inviting back yard. This is one of the most interesting yards I've been in - there is a trickling fountain, a rustic see-saw, a little outbuilding which looks like it could double as a small cabin, an inviting deck as well as several seating areas around the grass and ground-cover. Huge trees canopy the yard, offering a venue for climbing, swinging, and hiding.
As some cleaned up the work stations on the deck, others began to set out the pot-luck lunch, a mouth-watering assortment of foods: oatmeal banana muffins, tomato salad, fresh whole-grain bread, cold chicken, fresh strawberries and blueberries, croissants, yogurt, and apple cider, just to name a few of the items shared.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, we gathered the children together, donned our sturdy shoes and backpacks, and struck out for the woods.
The plan was to hike down (literally) to the creek and follow it along until we reached a small glade where we would sit, eat our snacks, and paint the bulrushes there for our nature journals.
Along the way the children were intrigued with the fallen branches and trees, long tree limbs partially blocking the path; the place in the creek bed with iron deposits which were leaching into the water, staining the water in that little area orange; a culvert to explore, rocks to throw: all these things made for slower progress on the route we'd chosen.
And then there was a treasure! On the opposite side of the creek there was a significant natural clay deposit. Within minutes the children had removed their shoes and socks and were wading in the creek, hands filled with the wonderful clay.
The texture had them completely engaged as they squeezed it, dipped it in the water, kneaded it.
It didn't take long to realize that this was an opportunity we needed to embrace. Here we were, in a beautiful setting, with a source of natural clay at our disposal, and one of the moms with us was an artist and a potter!
We abandoned the bulrushes idea and, with no hesitation whatsoever, our dear friend waded into the stream and started teaching the children how to work the clay so it would be the most effective.
They tried a couple of different group projects (a giant caterpillar on a log was one of them) but the variation in the consistency of the clay made it not work too well. Several smaller sculptures were completed: a snake eating a rat, a 'snow'man, and this, done by the art teacher herself:
After the sculpting was complete there was some debate about whether it would be possible to carry out some clay with us. One option was to sacrifice a couple of boys' shirts and use them as bags, but, once we remembered how far we had to walk back, how steep the incline was, and how many little ones were with us, we contented ourselves with two small zip-lock bags as samples.
All too soon it was time to wash off the clay from arms, legs, and faces. Children splashed gently in the stream, hair skimming the surface of the water.
We made it through nearly an hour at the creek with 15 children and no major slips into the water...
...until Little Man reached his runners on the other side of the creek, turned to cross back to the near side, slipped on the clay, and splashed chest deep into to creek, runners still in hand!
After the initial shock was over came laughter and grins, and Little Man made his way to shore!
He was not the only one to walk barefoot for half the return hike, but he was the only one who dripped the whole way!
All in all, a wonderful day, and a great start to our new CM co-op! And definitely worth the 90 minute drive.
