We currently live in quirky, quaint Madrid, NM, and frequently spend time with family in the Pacific Northwest, Chicago, and Brooklyn. We are avid (one might more accurately say "voracious") readers, every one, and are currently reading several books each, and The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien, out loud as a family - a book we somewhat seriously refer to as the most important book ever written. We are also very silly, and besides reading we love to chase Mama around the house while screaming with laughter and end up in a cuddling heap. We are pretty geeky, it must be said. We also prioritize social justice work when we can, and are doing our best to raise little rebels, though most of our time is admittedly spent just keeping everyone fed, clothed, and cuddled.
Orion (newly 9, "Big Brother") has attended various schools off-and-on. Last year we realized a long-time dream of homeschooling, and quickly discovered that what we do is really called unschooling. He has happily been an unschooler for a couple of years now - though we always approached his education this way even when he was also attending school. He is a talented dancer, and reads anything and everything he can get his hands on. He is mad about "science" and is constantly conducting experiments with anything that is handy, from chemistry to physics to robotics. With several scientists and inventors in the family, he gets some good support in these endeavors. He loves to travel; particularly on his solo trips to Brooklyn to visit Uncle Logan, an journalist, activist and mentor in Occupy and other movements.
Peregrine (15 months, "Little Brother" ) is currently focused on physics and communications. Favorite activities include taking everything out of the local cabinets, playing raucously with Big Brother, and being naked. Also he thinks breastfeeding is pretty cool, and food too if he gets to take it out of a bag first. Now that he's discovered books, he really feels like he's arrived. We think he might have said his first word this week: "Duck." Mostly he says, "hoidle-doidle-doidle."
Sean Leonard ("Papa-man") is a skilled carpenter and computer programmer. He builds websites for small businesses, and is something of a Wordpress expert. He also does a lot of other stuff with computers that sounds like gobbledygook when he tells me about it at the end of a long day. I'm pretty sure he's a genius. He loves geocaching and science fiction and is passionate about freedom of the internet.
Finally, Bonny Moss ("Meema" or "Mama-man") is the official reader-alouder. I have studied as a performer off and on, and was a bellydancer until very recently. Currently all my interests are second to parenting, which i find fascinating, fulfilling and sometimes frustrating. I was homeschooled my whole life (including some, but not much, school) - really unschooling. Though my parents are radicals in the political and social sense, it was not "radical unschooling", a notion that we are still exploring with delight. I found Sandra Dodd through some roundabout list on Amazon, found the symposium on her website and signed up right away. We can't wait!
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