Fundamental Human Needs - the Twilight Zone

Rabbit trails.... and my dark side ;)

We have found Montessori in The Twilight Zone!

Legoboy and I play a browser-based history game and since it is still in development, as we complete each stage, we have to wait for the next "age" to be added... But the game-makers want us to keep playing, so they have these quest rotations that, once you've hit the "end" several times and had to wait, become very routine and familiar. Repetitive. Because while you're waiting for the next age to be added, you get the same 7 quests, over. and over. and over. and over.

What keeps them from being boring is that I call them The Twilight Zone quests. Especially the one with the jester having nightmares - it really fits the theme!

So I was chanting that theme today and Legoboy finally asked what this Twilight Zone thing is about. First we looked up the theme song and a few tidbits on YouTube, but he didn't "get" it - that it's downright creepy because it's JUST. SO. REAL! He didn't believe me. Typical child - he has to experience it to believe it. Do NOT take Mother's word for it - Mother's Day or not. (yes, today is Mother's Day as I type this).

We found a few description pages about the series - specifically listing the themes addressed by the series and sharing that even people who didn't like the show have episodes that just stick with them. Because of all those issues addressed....

I have a few that stuck! That's what happens when you are in college full-time, on winter break with an 8 month old nursing baby, staying at your mother's fiance's house for the Christmas break, it's New Year's Eve, no-one is home and there is a Twilight Zone marathon. Oh, and for all intents and purposes, you're snowed in. In the middle of NOWHERE (no cell phone signal - egads!) with the nearest available neighbor who knows how far away. Yep. I watched all. night. long. I think I watched every single one. A few times through. Yikes.

I couldn't get to sleep after the first one ;)


Flash-forward 8 1/2 years.

I just had to let him watch an episode. The first episode of season 1 is so perfect! It addresses the issue of loneliness - isolation - the fundamental need of people. And in a manner that is not inappropriate for upper elementary children. I know a few episodes I won't let him watch yet (ahem - a doll; a little girl (he actually saw a 30 second blip on YouTube and requested NOT to see the one with the little girl); the airplane creature - which episode is the alien one? that one was fun!). ;)

"You see, we can feed the stomach with concentrates. We can supply microfilm for reading, recreation - even movies of a sort. We can pump oxygen in and waste material out. But there's one thing we can't simulate that's a very basic need. Man's hunger for companionship. The barrier of loneliness - that's one thing we haven't licked yet. 

~Air Force General Where is Everybody? 1959

Our minds are so great, that all of human history and knowledge, even 60 years after the creation of this episode, have made limited progress in understanding the depth of the human psyche.

Yet look at how much Montessori observed and acted upon... that NO current research has debunked or contradicted or even mildly called into question... not one thing! Careful observation, seeking to rid oneself of all bias - and she provided us with SO MUCH.

I feel so humble in passing this work on to others.

And The Twilight Zone only emphasizes the point.

;)


Legoboy had our first conversation about psychology where we knew that is what we were discussing and we even used the word. His response:
That IS creepy.

Not just the show we watched, which he admitted about 5 minutes before the end was finally making him think hard, but the fact that there is SO MUCH to the human mind that can be illuminated or exploited depending on the hands of the person holding it. He's off pondering as I type....

Biology - Coconut Oil

Stemming from our biology studies - botany in particular, Legoboy has fallen in love with coconut oil. Well, maybe not that extreme, but he sure does have an appreciation for it!

For someone who doesn't like coconut, fresh or dry, he was really hesitant to try the oil - so was I because I don't like coconut flavor either! The "expeller-pressed" version of the organic coconut oil does it for both of us. We have even purchased fresh coconut and done the whole "milk" thing and fresh coconut from the shell... didn't cut it. I am so happy there is a healthy, organic option without the flavor!

Note: I am not into "miracle" foods; instead I am interested (and cultivating in my son an interest) in eating wholesome variety of natural foods to maintain health; and use those same foods in different proportions for other needs: health ailments, body cleansing, household cleansing. We don't need man-made chemicals or processed "food" to live in the modern age! We just need hygiene and we can return to many of our ancient roots in a much more life-fulfilling manner! 


Uses for coconut oil as listed by Legoboy, with my explanations:

• 2nd coolest use for coconut oil: weather gauge. Check the glass jar we store small quantities in for quick access; if it is solid, wear warmer clothes; if it is liquid, wear lighter-weight clothing; if it is solid on bottom and liquid on top, better layer! ;) 
• cooking (we use refined, so there is NO coconut flavor) - used for sauteeing, stir-frying, baking (in place of other vegetable oils) - Legoboy notes that Mama makes really good eggs on hashbrowns, but the use of coconut oil instead of olive oil makes them even better!
• moisturizing dry spots - he used to have eczema and still has occasional dry spots in the same locations. (note: over-use of coconut oil is actually drying)
• soap-making - it makes VERY HARD bars of soap with decent lather and moisturizing. I make the soap and he serves as guard with the buckets of water and vinegar in case of lye spillage. Once the soap is done, he grates it to mix with other soaps (olive oil is the other top seller for our family business; 100% olive oil; 100% coconut; varying blends of those two; sometimes we'll do lard or other vegetable oils for customers; Legoboy wants me to note that our laundry soap for our personal use is made from odds and ends of left-over bars or the scrapings from the molds); we could make the blends from the start, but it is easier on both of us to do batches of one-fat/oil and re-mix. 
• deodorant - for those who want a rub-on deodorant like store-bought (mix 1 part each of cornstarch, baking soda and coconut oil; fill an old deodorant container)
• mix with smoothies for a smooth texture
• chapstick
• taken internally as well as rubbed just inside the nose can improve allergy symptoms (we're testing this one!)
• Additional uses at Wellness Mama
• Additional uses at Tropical Traditions
• in gallon size, it is not only affordable per ounce, but a little boy gets to use the really heavy metal tool to open the lid! Next time they have free shipping we are ordering the 5 gallon bucket - we go through it SO fast with all that just we do with it! 

1 gallon from Tropical Traditions -
sign up for their newsletter and be ready to order
when Free Shipping comes along.
WELL worth the wait!

Legos!

He has the screen-name Legoboy for a reason ;)

A series of images of some of his recent work - that yes, I let count as school work if he can tie it into his other studies ;)

Riders of Rohan

Battling Ram and Siege Tower

Multiplication Checkerboard

Colosseum 

Fundamental Needs Cards - Heat (and cooling!)

Fundamental Needs Cards - Defense

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring

Incomplete Nineveh (needs towers yet)

Riders of Rohan

(movable) Siege tower - attacking the castle

(meant to be) Incomplete Tower of Babel

Botany leads to Chemistry leads to Anatomy!

One direction our Herb studies have gone is into healing - medicines from our very food and even from our weeds!

During our Supermarket Herbalism E-Course (7 days, totally free, less than 5 minutes a day, truly all typical grocery items), we learned some great things that garlic can do for your body. Legoboy just LOVES the fact that the chopped-up garlic soaked in olive oil creates a fantastic oil to be rubbed onto one's toes for overnight. No cough! And the congestion has all but cleared up. And he gets his toes rubbed every night ;)
(he has spring allergies and this has been a life-saver! and NO allergy meds needed yet!)

That led to questions about what components in the foods cause the various responses. How is it that the essential garlic particles are diffused into the olive oil; then the olive oil, along with those wonderful components (particles) are soaked upwards through our bodies where the garlic takes up residence in one's lungs (endocrine system) - thus cleaning out the airway passages. In the meantime, we explored the reactions of soaking garlic in other substances - what would happen - sometimes a physical reaction, sometimes a chemical reaction. Which are safe to consume and which not? Of the safe ones, what are the options for taking it? (chopped up garlic in olive oil can make a great salad dressing! and if you like vinaigrettes then soak some chopped up garlic in the vinegar type of your preference)

We just had to take a look at the insides of the body to check out the respiratory system.

Not our favorite book due to lack of detail; but
interesting with the pop-ups - it's the one he used several
years ago to first learn about the body.
he keeps it on hand for the 3-d ;)
there are so many wonderful options out there!

Side-tidbits learned: 

we are still working on several
vitamin e bottles of capsules
NOTE: just buy in liquid form
and use an eyedropper ;)

• when you eat a lot of garlic and can't brush/clean it out of your mouth? it's because it is in your lungs, where it should be. 
• we always use vitamin e added to basic lotion as an insect repellent. Our studies above recalled this fact to his mind and Legoboy asked me, "What else does vitamin E do?" It helps with healthy nails and hair, which are the same thing - the particles are just re-arranged. He didn't believe me. 
• I then pointed out that diamonds and coal and our bodies are made of the same stuff - carbon - just with the particles arranged in different manners. He didn't believe me. 
• We then pulled out the crystals he'd previously made of alum - white powder as far as he is concerned, but forms crystals. He finally believed me!
• DOING is a better way of learning than lecturing ;) 

Now, I've hit on things kind of lightly here - mostly because, to give you more details, I would have had to chronicle every tidbit as it happened, and that would be a LONG blog post (or series of blog posts) that would show what happened only here in our home, not necessarily a "program" of study (program being pre-planned). We simply worked through the biology elementary Montessori album and took off on rabbit trails (extensions). ;) Thus, here are some of the highlights of where it could go!

We had long conversations, explored the books we have, used the internet (especially learningherbs.com, but others as well), culled a friend's 5 acres of land, visited the library some, scheduled a visit with a local herbalist... and otherwise really took a lot of time with this. We followed my own interests as well as Legoboy's interests and had a lot of fun along the way. Some days, not much happened; other days it was our sole focus. (past tense! haha! We're still in the middle of all this!)

Present the keys and follow the child (guiding to make sure the path is a healthy one ;) ). Then express such joy when your son brings you these:

Half-dead
but he can tell me the type of leaves; the type of flowers;
what kind of roots they had;
and what kind of seed they came from.
How they are pollinated.
And how they lovely they smell on our kitchen table :) 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Biology Studies

So here we are in the spring time again - and the skies are finally blue! We typically re-start our botany studies in the winter because we have so much sunlight in our south-facing balcony doors - but this winter just dragged on... So we got started on herbs, but didn't get just too far - not far enough.

And it is admission time - we do not follow an academic work plan every single week. We DO meet each week and talk about the upcoming week, what needs to be done, what is scheduled, what we would like to do. About half the weeks of the year we are quite heavy on the academics, about 1/4 of the weeks in a year we have some academics and the rest - we blow off.

Or do we? We're still meeting, we're still planning, we're still working - we just might not be doing specific math skills or specific album pages in ANY subject. But we are still learning, exploring, discovering, and experiencing REAL life. THIS is the reality of Montessori - not how many album pages we worked on in a week, but how deep are we studying? Album pages can be flown through if the right foundation is there, enthusiasm for learning and the right timing.

Thus our last few weeks (since our return from out of state in fact) have been focused on practical life (spring cleaning), closing up school year events (my busiest week of this semester, I had 8 atrium sessions - he assisted in teaching 3 of them; and joined me for 3 others; but we also have other school-year related events), preparation for the next TKD belt test, preparing materials for the atrium, co-op, and homeschool, and getting ready for a new niece and nephew. Oh - and lots and lots of Legos ;)

Legoboy has been busy. I'll have a few blog posts about what he has been doing.


Starting with his herb studies, it has branched out from there. (click that link for the first post about herbs)


A few weeks ago, I posted this message to a couple of yahoo groups - I thought I'd posted it here, but the scheduled time didn't get it up - sorry! It's available next year (sign up now to get the message when it re-opens):

"A few months back, through a rabbit trail style of Montessori elementary, my son fell in love with herbs. I've shared a bit about it before and I have a few blog posts to get up about it... in my free time (haha!).

My son and I discovered this site - http://learningherbs.com - they have a great herb learning game (Wildcraft), which is a bit cheaper in other places, but the BONUSES this site provides are far more than worth the extra cost! All sorts of downloads - my son just loves them (think: a boy who is excited to learn about herbs!).

Only until Saturday, they have opened up their Herb Fairy learning system - they open up once a year, provide monthly stories and activities about specific herbs that correspond with that month (probably most matches northern hemisphere, but you could start it and save them for later if you are in the southern hemisphere).... I'm short on time to list all the benefits, but I wanted to share that if you have children interested in botany and/or herbs, or that might be - and you have $97 for an entire year's curriculum (that comes with a LOT), now is the time.
http://herbfairies.com

(note: this is NOT an affiliate link - I'm just sharing this opportunity because of my son's enthusiasm and how *thoroughly* pleased we've been with their materials thus far) "

(note - after the fact - we're on month 3 of this herb learning system and all I can say is "it is WORTH every penny!!!!")

Here are some of Legoboy's botany studies this winter/spring: 

Herbal Remedies
left: garlic chopped and soaking in olive oil (massage into feet to clear up coughs overnight)
right: onions chopped and simmered in honey - take small amount every 15 minutes
during a sore throat and/or cough
More information at LearningHerbs.com

growing 1-1/2 year old tomato plant in the house; mixed itself with the flowers...
We need to move these out to the balcony, but we're both nervous to separate out the branches. 

Legoboy just had to try to replicate Mama's success in growing mint from seed
(usually not an easy task for anyone; and I have a black thumb)
Results: SUCCESS!
(tip - just cut back your mint stalks and they'll re-sprout from the roots on the stump)

The jungle mess of a 2 1/2 year old tomato plant - still growing (tiny but edible) tomatoes!
This one is housed in Legboy's bedroom - south-facing window.

What was left of the dandelions after making cookies and teas
(see learningherbs.com for more information!)

All photos courtesy Legoboy.