On Tuesday the weather looked to take a turn for the better, although it was still forecasted to rain through the morning. I anticipated more Learners showing up on day eleven than on day ten, but our numbers decreased. Two Learners chose to stay home because of the weather, two others stayed home to order clothes better suited for rainy and cold weather, and another is still out of state. Meanwhile, the other cell started the day with more Learners than we did, although they didn’t finish the day that way. More on that later.
We believe in play at Abrome—lots of it
With so few Learners in our cell on Tuesday we had lots of flexibility to entertain the wants of the Learners. During our morning meeting we shared what we were excited to do during the day, we reviewed our awarenesses (five of them) and the practices we are working on this week, and then we played a game that we made up that morning. Everyone was really into the game, and we had been playing for over thirty minutes when we finally got tired (some sprinting was involved for the more eager participants) and decided it was time to move on with our day.
Picturesque, indeed
One Learner said they wanted to move back to the lake (which they had not been to since last week) while Facilitator Lauren said that she was hoping to go on a hike instead of going straight to the lake. We found a good compromise is taking what we assumed would be a short detour down a path that we found on Monday. And it was a beautiful, short hike. Along the way we came across a bunch of ants frantically working, a picturesque tree and grapevine that framed the trail, and a rusted metal frame of some sort that was certainly out of place along the side of the trail. One of the Learners and Facilitator Lauren talked about magic and superheroes during the walk.
Because of the longer game we played in the morning meeting, I was rushed to set up the zoom room for the remote Learners when I arrived at the lake. And after the morning meeting we checked on the tadpoles we had been helping out. We were thrilled to see the puddles were larger than we had ever seen them before, and the remaining tadpoles bigger and much more lively than they were last Friday.
Digging a “baby trap” is hard work (play)
While we were not surprised to see so few people in the park on Monday, because of the weather, we were surprised to not see many people in the park on Tuesday. Rain was forecasted in the morning but it never materialized, and the weather turned out to be quite beautiful, if not sunny. Throughout the day we didn’t even see any boats on the lake—noticing only one person going by on a jet ski. And although getting wet was a problem the day before for the Learners, they had no problem getting wet on this day. Specifically, they began digging in the sand on a small inlet on the shore of the lake. They said they were digging a “baby trap” (no babies were harmed), and it required some frantic efforts that splashed water all over their shirts and their pants. In addition to the weather being more welcoming, they appeared to be dressed in clothing that pulled the water off the skin, as opposed to holding it agains the skin as cotton does.
The most challenging part of the day was addressing boundaries; a challenge for my cell and the other Abrome cell. In my cell there was some throwing of small sticks, tossing of sand, and kicking water at others in a joking manner, but without consent. We raised the awareness multiple times and that helped modify the behavior. But addressing the issue of boundaries and consent seemed to leave one of the Learners a bit embarrassed or insecure, and they reverted to insulting me. The Learner received direct feedback from me and Facilitator Lauren about this, and we pointed to our principles, agreements, and the practices we were working on that addressed why the behavior was problematic and how we were working together on it to improve the culture at Abrome.
Shortly thereafter the Learners ran up the hill to hang out at a favorite spot. But because of the recent rains and occasionally strong wind gusts we asked them to not hang out under the pecan trees. The young Learner who was having difficulties with the boundaries previously mentioned began yelling over us asking them to please move away from the pecan trees. This led to a conversation about how when it comes to safety boundaries we will be directive if we need to be to protect everyone in the community. I was then told by Facilitator Jennifer in the other cell that the day was ending early for some of the younger Learners because they had ventured off beyond an agreed upon distance. The Learners, one of who needs support for spatial awareness, had been reminded multiple times to honor the safety boundary and had been told that if they couldn’t honor that that they would need to go home for the day. So Facilitator Jennifer called their parents for an early pickup and had a conversation with them about why safety boundaries are important to us as a community, even if we are far more willing than most to allow them to engage in risky play. One of the Learners replied, “Jennifer, I like you, but you just ruined my day.”
Post-difficult boundaries conversation at our cell, the Learners were back at playing in the water, talking to the Facilitators, and hanging out on the dock. One of the Learners focused on a fairly large rock and decided to see if he could lift it. He could not, but he could roll it into the lake. We decided to bring the rock back out of the lake so that I could see how big of a splash it would make if thrown in the lake from overhead. I don’t know if it was bad form on my part or the angle of the rock face when it went in the water but I got soaked in the process.
Meme shared by the South Austin Unschoolers
Side note: Facilitator Lauren took a video of me throwing the rock into the lake, and in my phone when I went to look at the photos and videos for this blog post, I saw next to it a picture I got from the South Austin Unschoolers group on Facebook about the stress of e-learning coming at parents who have their kids in conventional schools while unschooled parents look on, untouched. I think I could make a meme where in the video I am conventional school leaders, the rock is their (indoor) school reopening plans, and the water splashing back on them is Covid-19 cases.
Talk about a cute baby turtle
Facilitator Lauren later found a feather and took it to the Learners to see if they could identify the bird it came from by comparing it to the images in a field guide she pulled out. And then I found the cutest little baby turtle floating in the lake that we pulled out and looked at. One of the Learners was quite concerned about the welfare of the turtle and suggested that we put it back in the water and let it alone, so we did.
I then stepped away for a quick afternoon check-in with a remote Learner. We discussed the upcoming Scary Story offering that they are hosting, and I received updates on the creepy decorations she was adding to her Halloween themed bedroom. After the remote check-in, I joined the afternoon roundup for everyone present at the lake. We each shared the best thing about our day, the worst thing about our day, and the second best thing about our day. We also played a drinking game of “never have I ever” so that each Learner and Facilitator could get more water in them. We ended our day with a short walk back to the pickup location where the Learners rides were waiting for them. It was a good day, with great weather, and very needed conversations about boundaries. It was one of those days that will help make future days even better.