Peace, Quiet, and Nature Spirits...

Meandering through a mysterious path, we found awe-inspiring examples of nature...lovely leaves, darling ducks, tall trees, brambling berries, regal roots, bumpy bridges (yes, we are doing some alliteration this week at Syrendell!).

The American River gently rushed past us as we took an adventure down a trail through Folsom, CA. Joey took about 300 photos! Some plants we recognized, and many we did not. Interesting little alcoves popped up amongst the rocks and fern. Faces could be seen in the bark of trees. Spirals were springing out of lovely vines. We could sense fairies, sprites, nymphs...nature spirits all around.

Raw Food Resources

We get a lot of questions about raw foodism...what is it? How do we do it? Where is there more information?

Raw food is essentially eating whole foods in their natural form. Being a raw food vegan means that fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains are eaten. There are a lot of "gourmet" raw food meals, but the easiest prep meals are often the best! Juicing and smoothies make great drinks, as well as natural spring water. Eating raw food is healthy for us and good for the planet.

Shopping and food prep is much quicker, and the health benefits are astounding. There are many wonderful books with recipes and information to get you started. Alisa Cohen's book is one of our favorites. We have a list of our favorite books that are available through Amazon listed at the bottom of our blog. Raw food prep classes are offered throughout the world, and raw restaurants can be found in many major cities.

Great tools to have in the kitchen: Vita-Mix or other high-speed blender, Juiceman or other juicing machine, citrus juicer, chopper, good set of knives, dehydrator, seed sprouter. These are not all necessary, but are nice to have on hand.

We highly recommend Purely Delicious magazine. It's a wonderful resource for the whole family! Click on this link to subscribe or take a quick peek at the current issue.

The Raw Food Coach (click on her picture below for more info.) is the perfect place to start if you need more information, e-books, classes and inspiration.

Magical Math

We are constantly seeking wonderful ways to experience the world of numbers. Here are some of our recent adventures...

Golden Ratio - (phi, spirals, botany, phyllotaxis)

Number Stories (inspired by A Little Garden Flower's Book - wonderful!)

Times Tables (Faerie Rebecca on Etsy makes these)

Gnomes & Jewels (weekly jewel-hunting)

Wilson and Mommy's Math Gnome Song

Once upon a time
There were four little gnomes
They were happy
In their little homes

Under the mushrooms
Near the lumber
They loved to count
Every number

Today they are hunting
Jewels that are shiny
Pretty and round
Sparkly and tiny

Add and Subtract
Times and Divide
Jewels placed in groups

They joyfully guide

Lucy Leprechaun and Mother Teresa in the Dell!

We welcomed two visitors to Syrendell, Lucy Leprechaun and Mother Teresa. They stopped by and chatted it up with the sprites and fairydell. Lucy talked about the rainbow she had seen two days ago and when she went to go find the pot of gold, it was a pot of boiling basmati rice instead! (It's India Week at homeschool in the dell.) Mother Teresa told a little limerick and everyone laughed - who knew this Nobel laureate could be so funny - she is so endearing! Thank you both for gracing our dell with your cuteness!

Early Spring Nature Table

Early Spring Nature Table
Originally uploaded by meike

Here are three of the Syrendell Sprites, happy in their new home in the Netherlands! Thank you, Meike, for sharing pictures of your beautiful early Spring nature table.

Meal Verse

We prepare and eat at least one lunch that relates to each social studies block (pictures above feature: Jewish charoset from the Diaspora, Medieval peasant/servant meal served in a castle, Moorish feast, Medieval European monk's meal). We love to eat together as a family! During lunch, we start with a meal verse.

Ricky, Joey and Wilson have been entrenched in botany adventures this year, so they made up a poem about a seed becoming a tree, then growing fruit that we will eat. With all of the recent rain, we've been talking a lot about rainbows and colors...also included in the poem!

The poem became a song, and then we added gentle movements to it. At some point, we'll get a video clip of it here on our blog.

Syrendell Meal Verse - From the Earth

From the Earth a seed is born

Sun and rain, in the morn

Grows a tall and happy tree

Lots of shade for you and me

Rainbow-colored sweet fruits grow

Pick them when they're ripe and low

Smell and taste their sugar sweet

Thank you, Earth, for this treat

Anatomy for Kids is on Etsy!

Thank you to our family and friends for feedback on our Anatomy for Kids eBook! It is in our Syrendell Etsy shop, just follow this link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21645925. Please pass it on to homeschooling families who are interested in supplementing their science curriculum!

Holistic Therapies at Syrendell

Daddy graduated from medical school (but became a stay-at-home-dad...yay!), and Mommy is a retired elementary school principal (and now a stay-at-home mom...hooray!). Besides these conventional educational backgrounds, they love to infuse their holistic therapies throughout Syrendell. Daddy is a Feng Shui consultant and plays harp for pregnant mommies and premature babies. Mommy is certified in Leclaire Hypnobirthing, Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga, Infant Massage, Aromatherapy and Bach Flower Essences.

Two of the children were born at home, unassisted, and the last one was a pleasurable waterbirth, utilizing flower essences, essential oils, yoga and hypnobirthing techniques. The children enjoyed receiving massages from Mommy and Daddy! Harp, aromatherapy and Feng Shui continues to be a natural part of our daily rhythms at Syrendell.

In case other parents are interested in holistic trainings, we highly recommend the following:
1. Leclaire Hypnobirthing: http://www.leclairemethod.com/ She does 3-day trainings in beautiful Pacific Palisades, CA, near Malibu.
2. Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga: http://www.wholebirth.com/ Robin's approach to teacher training is amazing, and you leave with a renewed sense of yourself as a person! 5-day trainings in the Santa Cruz, CA area, although she'll travel other places if you get a group together.
3. Infant Massage: http://www.infantmassageusa.org/ These wonderful trainings are held all over the US. Teaching couples (some before the baby is born, but most of them after the baby is born) how to massage their babies is one of the most rewarding experiences. Be sure to go to a training by this organization, as they are the founders of IM.
4. Aromatherapy: http://www.theida.com Jade is a gifted aromatherapist and a wonderful person. She teaches in Washington state, but also offers a distance learning option. Info. on pregnancy is included.
5. Flower Essences: http://www.bachremedies.com/Training_Bach-International-Education-Program_pg24.aspx Bach is the most well-known and purchasing their products is fairly easy, world-wide. Trainings are all over the world. I also recommend Flower Essence Society, located in N. California: http://www.flowersociety.org/, Masters Essences (home study option, too): http://www.mastersessences.com/, and Star Essences (trainings annually in Santa Barbara, CA) http://www.mastersessences.com/.
6. Feng Shui: http://www.westernschooloffengshui.com/ Trainings in San Diego, CA.

7. Harp Therapy: http://www.harprealm.com/ Trainings in San Diego, UK, Netherlands, Japan.

Mommy created a holistic childbirth preparation course, Meditative Mama, that incorporates the above therapies into a 2.5 hr. workshop for pregnant mommies and their partners/families. She also trains others on how to teach this class.

Anatomy for Kids eBook, Feedback Please

In our daily homeschool lessons, the kids learn about the world around them. The beauty of bulb plants and flowers. The history of Africa. Artistic geometry. Playing the kalimba. Perhaps for all homeschooling parents, a core value is for our children to have a deep appreciation and respect for our world.

In creating My Body, Anatomy for Kids, we wanted the kids to also have an appreciation and respect for what's inside their own bodies. Freshly minted from the publishing desk of Syrendell, this book will be available in our Etsy shop as an ebook! For now, we would like some initial feedback from you, our blog friends. Please take a glimpse of these posted images from the book.

The book has 21 pages total, and designed for the parent to facilitate discussions and activities with their children, five and up. It is up to the parent to tailor the learning for age-appropriateness. Upon completion of the book, the child will have a cut-out figure with all the anatomical systems (skin, circulatory, respiratory, nervous, urinary, reproduction, etc) stapled together, a handy dandy quick reference companion!

Please offer your feedback (Is this a book you can use for your children? Do you see many science ebooks available for homeschoolers?). Email us at thetanfamily@msn.com with your comments. Thank you.

The Dell

dell: n. A small secluded wooded valley. A vale.

Our homelearning space is known to us as the "dell". Because we call ourselves "Syrendell", dell is a nickname of sorts. The word "dell" brings up images of a beautiful, magical, wooded vale, full of fairies, sprites and gnomes!

We love our homelearning space...small, secluded and at times, full of wood! The changing seasons are honored by hanging colorful mobiles, and attaching window stars, mosaics or snowflakes to the glass. When the weather is warm, we open the sliding glass door and paint on the deck, extending the dell into the natural world.

We create a wreath for each season. The circle is woven out of wire by Ricky. All three children decide which type of leaf or other bits of nature to include in the wreath. We gather real leaves and make patterns to use later when we cut with felt. In the winter, holly berries are needlefelting. Spring is coming soon, and we will be needlefelting tiny eggs, birds and nests starting this week.

Our "Seasonal Spot" (aka, nature table) is a shelter built by Daddy with twigs from our backyard and reclaimed wood. A wooden tree puzzle shows us the season by the color of leaves (or lack of color). Our friend Gnomy likes to hang out in the Seasonal Spot. Seasonal fairies, finger puppet children, Syrendell Sprites, acorn families or other creatures often visit. Special stones, geodes, acorns, pine cones also can be found in the Seasonal Spot.

The dell features small chalkboards, a space for featuring books and projects that relate to the stories, holidays, S.S. block or science explorations of the week. Daddy's wood puzzles, wood stove, and tree blocks are found under a table, easy to reach for everyone! Our naturally-dyed silks, handmade crowns, play cloths and wooden clothespins are available whenever the mood strikes us. A large basket, full of percussion instruments sits near the foot of the dell, by the piano, as a nice transition space to wear we have our circle time.

Each person in the family has a frame on the wall made from twigs, featuring a watercolor, drawing, or crayon exploration. Baskets of crayons, finger puppets, geometric shapes and wool fibers with a drum carder, hand carders and needlefelters can be found throughout the dell.

We love the dell and try to tidy up when we can! It's our special place to learn, love and grow....