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nature journal homeschool corona virus COVID

Our Impromptu Homeschool Routine and Resources

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homeschool corona virus COVID

With the sudden call to self-isolate due to the novel CoronaVirus (COVID-19), a virus sweeping around the globe, families across Canada with school aged children are in the unexpected position of homeschooling their children. I am by no means an expert (it’s day 8 for us!), but I thought I’d share what we are doing as a way to show what I was able to put together fairly easily as a parent who isn’t experienced in homeschooling. (Although, over the past few years, out of personal interest I have read about homeschooling and discussed different approaches to it with homeschooling families). Apologies in advance, this post is long, as I’ve kept adding to it as more questions have come my way from enquiring families. 

As a disclaimer I would like to say that parents shouldn’t feel pressure to homeschool their children, this is a stressful time and the most important thing is to maintain physical and emotional health. In our household, maintaining a solid routine helps with our overall mental health, and enables my husband and I to work from home while the children school.  

Establish a Schedule

The first thing I would recommend is establishing a schedule each day, for each child. The schedule will help children feel grounded and know what to expect as the day goes on. They will also get a sense of durations of time and time management (a useful life skill!). 

I establish a different schedule for each of my children, since they are 6 years apart and have different interests and school subjects. However, I assume that even if I had children very close in age that they would likely have their own schedules — in my view, schedules should suit a child’s interests and personality, because I think this will make it easier for them enjoy their schedule and stick to it. 

For example, my youngest child needs a lot of physical activity in a day, so his schedule usually alternates between seated learning and movement (for example, building with lego, karate, household chores). Whereas, my other child likes long blocks of time (even a whole day) on one subject so she can really get into her work — for her, weekly balanced schedules are more suited to her learning style. For her, movement is best reserved for the later part of the day, when she needs to take a break from book learning. As her English teacher said “the brain can only absorb what the buttocks can endure”!

Here’s a little tip: Something that I have found very useful for gaining buy-in from the children is asking them what they want to see in their schedule, this way they feel they have agency in their learning and also don’t feel surprised by their schedule each morning. 

Subjects and Work Blocks

For my younger child, who is in Grade 3, I am focusing on the core (essential) skills that are needed to progress through school. In general at this age, reading, writing and mathematics are essential to continued success through conventional schooling. We include these subjects in the schedule each day. I incorporate 2-3 other “work blocks” or other subjects that I think are important and that my son has identified as interesting, these include: science, illustration and art, art history, philosophy, geography, French and other languages. His movement activities include a rotation through: karate, yoga, free movement, outdoor walk, baking, kettlebells and meditation. I include household chores in the schedule every day, to ensure the children are learning “practical life” skills in the vein of Montessori teaching. Practical life is generally well-loved by children, they feel productive, get to do “adult” things, and get to move. Some example are: folding laundry, vacuuming, dishes, raking, hand sewing and so on.

My older child is in high school and was mid-semester through her geography, English, French and drama classes. As such, we ensure that she includes at least a day’s worth of work on each subject over the course of the week. The fifth day can be free learning based on her interests which so far have been: Korean and typing.

Here are a few examples of a Homeschool Schedules for my 9-year old who is in Grade 3:

Day 1

  • 9:00 Breakfast
  • 9:30 Math
  • 10:15 Chores – folding laundry
  • 10:45 Silent Reading
  • 11:30 Journaling
  • 12:00 Lunch + Free Movement
  • 12:30 Art and Illustration
  • 1:00 Science
  • 1:30 Creative Building
  • 2:00 Storytime
  • 2:30 Karate
  • 3:30 End of school day

Day 2

  • 9:00 Breakfast
  • 9:30 Math
  • 10:15 Spelling
  • 10:45 Chores – vacuum (handheld)
  • 11:15 Silent Reading
  • 12:00 Lunch + Movement (yoga)
  • 1:00 Science
  • 1:45 Typing
  • 2:00 Storytime
  • 2:30 Journaling
  • 3:00 Philosophy
  • 3:30 End of school day

Day 3

  • 9:30 Breakfast
  • 10:00 Creative Writing
  • 10:45 Spelling
  • 11:00 Baking + Clean Up (movement and chores)
  • 12:00 Lunch + outdoor walk
  • 1:00 Art + Illustration 
  • 1:45 Silent Reading
  • 2:00 Storytime
  • 2:30 Journaling
  • 3:00 Science + Journal
  • 3:45 End of school day

Here is an example of a Homeschool Schedule for my high schooler, although as mentioned above, we’ve adjusted it so that she mainly does one subject a day:

  • 9:00 Breakfast
  • 9:30 English – essay writing
  • 10:00 Yoga
  • 11:00 English – continued
  • 12:00 Lunch + Movement (stretching, walk outside)
  • 1:00 Languages: Korean or French
  • 2:00 Typing
  • 2:30 Silent Reading (novels, non-fiction)
  • 3:30 End of School Day

Another day, she would substitute English for Geography, or spend an entire day on second language acquisition (French and Korean). 

Our high schooler attends an arts high school and is studying theatre / drama, so to continue this learning her teacher suggested watching classic films, iconic television shows, an oeuvre of a particular director / actor / screenwriter / comedy writer, and then journaling about what she has watched. We created some prompts to guide and organize her journaling: 

  • Name of the show / movie
  • Director, actors
  • Genre
  • Plot summary
  • Which part would you want to play? Why?
  • Why is this show / movie a classic or iconic?
  • Other reflections

Learning Resources

A few friends and parents have asked me about what learning resources I am using for the different subjects and work blocks. I’ll probably do a separate post with more details on each subject, to keep this post a reasonable length, but here is a good start. 

Math and English (writing and grammar) 

In Canada there are really great work books based on the Canadian school curriculum by subjects. We are using the Math and English books for grade 3. You can search “MathSmart” or “EnglishSmart” by grade on Amazon and Indigo books and find the books you need which are usually $10-25.

Journaling

Each child spends a lot of time writing, either making notes on what they learned or writing creatively. For example, after silent reading my younger child has to one of the books read and write 3 things they liked about it. “For silent reading today, my favourite book was Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers. I liked this book because: ….” He is encouraged to write without worrying too much about grammar and spelling, but to use full sentences, and to date the page (which I always write out at the top of each day’s schedule). 

At the end of each week, I review the journal and make a list of misspelled words that form that week’s spelling list. I find this works well because the words are pulled from the child’s working vocabulary and feel most relevant to them, thereby engaging them in learning. 

For journaling, you could use random sheets of paper, or notebooks. For my son, we started a fresh blank (no lines) notebook, so that all his work was in one place and he could look over his weeks of work and feel accomplished. Which, so far, has worked quite well, as he loves to flip through his work and say things like: “I did all this in 4 days!” We chose blank notebooks to encourage drawing and to help hone his hand-eye skills by not having ruled lines.

Something we haven’t started, but my son wants to learn, is cursive handwriting, so we will start that soon.

nature journal homeschool corona virus COVID

Art + Illustration

For art, I am using a fantastic book published by Usborne called Art Treasury: Pictures, Paintings and Projects. The book explains various art movements and styles, famous works and artists, as well as the various materials (canvas, pastel, found objects, bark, etc), and provides mini art projects related to the lessons. It’s simple and accessible enough for young children, from Grades 1-6 I would say, and covers a wide variety of styles of art, and not just the European masters.

The other resource I’ve been using are the video classes (new ones uploaded each day) offered by best-selling author and illustrator, Mo Willems of penguin loving fame! He uploads a new video each day to the Kennedy Centre website. Each 25-35 minute video begins with Willems doodling and explaining how he illustrates, he offers drawing prompts and encourages children (and adults to doodle in their own notebooks). After this he usually teaches a step by step of how to draw one of his iconic characters, and encourages children to find their own creativity and expressive style. After this he will do a walk around his studio and show sketches and drafts of books, and how the drawings and story developed, how he chooses colours and so on. My children have been fascinated to see the behind the scenes of a professional artist, and have been in awe of how much revision goes into such seemingly simple drawings. 

Science

So far we have been relying on a Netflix show called “Brain Child,” which has a series of shows on fun and engaging real life science, such as hidden forces (gravity), dreams (what do our brains do when we sleep?), creativity, oceans, germs (timely!) and many others. I let my son choose which episode he wants to watch, then afterwards he is asked to journal about what he learned, to help him retain and reflect on what he learned (also encourage more “active” watching, since he knows he will have to journal). Like other journaling, he is asked to write full sentences and date the page. I usually give him a suggested opening sentence such as “For science class today I watched Brain Child and learned about ‘germs’. Six things that I learned were:…” I also ask him to draw something based on what he learned. After he finishes this series, we will probably start on the Planet Earth series, also found on Netflix.

For a screen-free science work block we are using the Natural & Earth Science flashcards, which are for ages 5+ according to the box, but I find they are good up to my age (I learned so much from them!) They have really beautiful illustrations and cover topics such as: birds and leaves, flowers and bugs, fossils and minerals, under the water, mammals and marsupials, weather and celestial. For the cards, I normally pick 3-5 for him to read and reflect on. He journals about what he found interesting or learned, and draws from the cards.

Creative Building

Building with lego, wooden blocks, cardboard boxes and household materials — the idea with this work block is to blend creativity and open-ended play with movement. I usually put this in the afternoon, when my son is getting restless and is less interested in book learning. I don’t give much guidance, except to say it is alone time and no screens are involved, but he can refer to books for inspiration or to tie his building back to something he learned.

Storytime

We use this block for reading aloud, so I will read something to my son that is maybe a bit challenging for him on his own, or he will practice reading a book aloud (to his imaginary and stuffed friends, or me if I’m not busy with work), or (and this is his favourite) we tune in to Oliver Jeffers live story time each day at 2pm EST. If you have access to Instagram, all you need to do is log in to @oliverjeffers and he will read one of his stories aloud. He also explains the moral of the story, the evolution of the book, and answers questions. My son absolutely LOVES this. If you aren’t available for the live reading you can access the videos archived on Oliver Jeffers website.

Another fantastic live storytelling account is by author, historian and literacy advocate Christine Platt, also known as ‘The Afrominimalist’. She reads from her book series Ana & Andrew. 

homeschool corona virus COVID

Spelling

As mentioned in the journalling section, for spelling words what I’ve been doing is making a list of misspelled words from journal entries and forming a spelling list from those. About 20-30 words a week, which so far has not been a big challenge for him to learn. He writes out the list of words in a column, once a day, each day of the week. (One page with four or five columns, to save paper, and visually see the repetition). 

French

We are working on vocabulary building, so I am putting together groups of 6-8 words that he then translates (using Google translate). Then he practices reading and saying the words in French. If you aren’t fluent in your child’s second language you can use the function on Google translate that will say words out loud (look for the icon below the translated word that looks like a megaphone, click it). My son is really enjoying using the laptop for this. 

Groups of words are usually based around verbs (run, eat, walk, sleep, think, play), nouns (fruit, bread, chair, table, shoes, car), and adjectives (yellow, red, small, big, happy, sad). This way he is also learning about different types of words by group.

We are also starting on a work book called French 1: K to 5, which is fun and has nice pictures and activities to make learning enjoyable — and less burden on parents to come up with exercises.

Korean

Both children have an interest in learning Korean (thank you, sincerely, K-Pop). They are using a free app called Duo Lingo (I believe there is also a laptop version available online). The app, through small steps and fun exercises, teaches anyone of any (reading) age how to read and speak in Korean (and many other languages). My children are really enjoying it and progressing well.

Typing

The ability to type quickly is a real time saver in high school and higher education, which in my experience alleviated a lot of unnecessary stress when I was writing exams and essays in university, as I could type almost as fast as I could think. This was not the case for my partner, who really struggled unnecessarily due to a lack of typing skills. Our high schooler has already started to find frustration in how slowly she types, so she identified typing as a skill she wanted to develop. She found a free (and fun) typing skills website called Keybr, that she’s been loving. Our younger child also enjoys it.

Silent Reading

For silent reading, our high schooler reads a novel from her English curriculum or our home library, or else some non-fiction book of her choice. We try to maintain silent reading for books or reading that is more effort than magazines.

For our younger child I usually lay out 3-5 story books each day, or about 8-10 over the week based around a theme, and he can choose which books he wants to read. Some of the themes have been: water, plants, and Oliver Jeffers. I will make a separate blog post about my book recommendations, but feel free to ask in the comments section at the end of the blog post.

The objective for silent reading is to have quiet time, and for both children to see what they can achieve in terms of reading when they really focus. After silent reading, they write or journal about a book or something they learned (as explained in the journalling section above).

Baking

An example of one practical life work block is baking. We usually bake or cook something twice a week as part of school. I take the opportunity to teach things like units of measurement (math fractions, like ½ cup), as well as learning the names and uses of different kitchen tools (teaspoon vs tablespoon, spatula vs. wooden spoon), temperatures (different units used for stove settings and oven settings). 

Sometimes we use the ingredients as a word list for translation in French class. There are all sorts of ways to bring conventional school subjects to life through baking (math, chemistry). 

To decide what to make I usually ask the children what they’d like, or we look at what fruits and veggies need to get used up and we research a recipe on the web (for example, “recipe carrots, beets, turnip” turned up a delicious balsamic-glazed roasted veggies recipe). Part of baking is also clean-up (household chore), so the kids have to wash up the dishes, wash the counter tops, etc.

Philosophy

We are using a fantastic book called Big Ideas for Curious Minds to work through key philosophers through the ages and continents. The book explains very well what philosophy is, key questions in philosophy and is illustrated in an engaging way for children. The book can be used on many levels and is probably appropriate for grade 2 and up, but is probably targeted to 10-12 year olds (even adults would likely learn a lot from it). I usually read a section (for example, Aristotle, Buddha, Seneca, Descartes), we pause and discuss points that he has questions about, and then he journals 3 things he learned. I also ask him to write the name of the philosopher studied and indicate their years of life (for example, Seneca 4 BC – AD 65).

Yoga + Karate

For yoga, our children have a few books (this one, this one and a few others I can list in another post) and card decks with yoga poses and sequences, that they have been using for years. As well, for videos we are using the instructional videos available from Douvris (our son’s karate dojo), the videos include karate, yoga, meditation and other exercise challenges. You need to be a member to view them. 

Cosmic Kids Yoga is a great YouTube channel with fun yoga videos for children. The videos are colourful and include stories, as well as mindfulness practice. The videos range from around 10 minutes up to around 40, so you can choose something that fits your schedule.

Meditation

We mainly use podcasts as well as the audio recordings (voice led meditations) included in the Global Guardian Project homeschool bundles. Full disclosure: My partner and I worked for Global Guardian Project and wrote and researched the majority of the educational content. The learning bundles are available for FREE (more about this below). The audio recordings included in the GGP bundles are amazing! My children love them! They feel like an adventure, have story or animal / nature elements are engaging.

The free podcasts that we use for children’s meditation are: Deepak Chopra’s Daily Breath (each Friday is a guided meditation episode, and while this is intended for adults, all the meditations have worked perfectly well for my kids). The other one is called Kids Meditation and Sleep Stories. These are great for calming a child. Both are available on Apple Podcasts, but probably on most podcast platforms.

If you want to try a screen-free meditation you can teach your children the Sa Ta Na Ma meditation, which I have a tutorial for on my blog here.

Geography 

We haven’t begun any dedicated geography work blocks, so I’ll be figuring that out this week. Most likely, we will begin with the maps in the Global Guardian Project learning bundles, since they have a whole set of linked activities and exercise built around the maps.

I’ll update this section as I develop more resources.

Canadian and Indigenous History

Similarly, we haven’t done much in terms of focused history lessons, aside from cursory discussion of it in art and philosophy blocks. I’ll be developing some plans and share my resources here when I’ve figured things out better. For now, we are reading storybooks by and about Indigenous people, such as We Are Water Protectors, Ancient Thunder, and Birdsong.

We are also using educational colouring books, such as Explore the Animals: Northwest Coast First Nations and Native Art. I picked up our copy at the National Gallery, but I’ve seen it sold online. If you search on art gallery and museum gift shop websites there are usually a few colouring books available.

Global Guardian Project

My last recommendation is to access the free online learning bundles produced by the Global Guardian Project. Each learning bundle (capsule, packet, magazine, call it what you want) is organized around a country (Canada, Iceland, Colombia, etc) or a theme (Zero Waste, Endangered Animals, Leaders and Changemakers, etc). The bundle includes all sorts of educational content with activities, printable colouring sheets and art projects, recipes (related to the country), vocabulary, games, maps, yoga and meditation, personal challenges and content for adults too. The bundles are fantastic and can provide a week to a month work of learning, depending on the speed of your learner. The bundles are probably best for age 7 and up, but some activities suit younger ages, and some provide enough challenge for ages up to 13.

What’s different about the GGP content is that it has a sustainability focus, environmental stewardship and social justice are woven gently through the content. I have written a lot about (and for) the Global Guardian Project and I hope you will love it. If you search “global guardian project” on my blog, or click the ‘global guardian project’ tag at the end of this post you’ll find more information on it.

A note: The content is digital, but some families print out the content as it is formatted in a PDF like a magazine.

Please comment below if you have any questions, I’ll try to update this post often and make separate posts elaborating on the work blocks and best practices so far. 

Thank you for reading this far down the post. Good luck and enjoyment with your homeschooling adventures!

Ecominimalism and Slow Living: An Interview with Me!

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Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

All photos in this post by Ottawa photographer, Shabana Buwalda

I always prefer to talk about others than talk about myself. However, I get a lot of questions about how we live, so I thought I’d share this interview we did where I talk about how we try to live a slow, minimal family life, in a fast, big city.

The interview below appears in the Rwanda issue (2016) of the Global Guardian Project learning capsules, an interactive STEM-based curriculum and magazine aiming to educate children and families about global environmental issues, animals, ecosystems, and much more. Each issue includes an interview with a family striving to live a sustainable lifestyle. I encourage you to explore their magazines and educational materials, which are beautiful and inspiring, and includes all sorts of activities, art downloads, and other fun projects.

Rebecca Lane, founder of the Global Guardian Project, interviewed me about our family’s way of life in August 2016.

Tell us a little about your family.  Where do you live + how do you spend a typical day with your family?

Hello! We are Matt, Ro, Sen and Danielle, a family of four living in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. Ottawa has four very distinct seasons, experiencing very hot and humid summer days (40 Celsius / 104 Fahrenheit)  and very cold snow-filled winter days (-40 Celsius / -40 Fahrenheit). We feel fortunate to live in a place with such variety in weather and we do our best to make the most of it, by spending lots of time outdoors in the elements year round. As a car-free family, we live downtown to facilitate our travels by bike or foot.

About us? First, there’s me, Danielle, I do a lot of things. I work outside the home as a Policy Strategist for the Canadian government, where my main task is advising the government on social and economic problems related to supporting vulnerable populations. I don’t define myself through my occupation though. It’s my passions that make me who I am. Foremost I am a mother. But I’m also a creative, a writer, a minimalist, and slow living advocate. Matt, does similar work outside the home, although he advises on ocean health and climate change. Matt is an avid athlete and an ambassador for cycling lifestyle. Ro and Sen are our two children. Ro is our 11 year old girl. She is highly intuitive, deeply loving, naturally funny and the definition of a social butterfly. She loves the arts and is always dancing, singing or drawing. Sen is our 5 year old boy. He is a wild one and highly self-directed. He is head strong, while also being very sweet and calm. He loves inventing, climbing, dancing, cycling, and pretending to be a ninja.

Our children attend public school and we work outside the home, so our family doesn’t get much time together during the week. We’d love to change that, but instead we make the most of our weekend time together and make a concerted effort to slow things down and connect. We generally schedule nothing for weekends so that serendipity can lead the way.

Our typical weekend day involves walking around the city. There’s a lot of thinking behind why I value walking, wandering, and urban adventuring, and part of that thinking is to show my children that there is an abundance of nature in the city. But, if we only ever walked down Main Street or drove to get to the places we visit they would think, as many others do, that our city is a concrete jungle. I also want them to learn that it’s fun to have no plan, that schedules can get in the way of opportunity. So, we usually leave our home, with water bottles and snacks, and have no specific destination in mind, just a broad sense of direction. Along the way it’s a little thrill to find a pocket of wildflowers, painted alleyways, new bakeries, and pop-up art shows. Our favourite days usually involve time by the beautiful Ottawa River and eating all our meals outdoors.

Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

It’s obvious that  slow + minimalism are core beliefs for your family. Tell us a little about what that means.

Minimalism and slow living are growing in popularity, which means there is a range of ways people interpret and apply these concepts. What people refer to as minimalism varies quite a lot. For example, minimalism is used to refer to a home aesthetic or a visual signature. For me, minimalism is a way of life, it’s a lens through which we approach our days, our activities, our thoughts, our behaviours. This lens focuses on reducing quantity and increasing quality. Our minimalist lifestyle is motivated by environmental concerns and my affinity with simplicity, this is why I like to call it ‘ecominimalism’.

Minimalism and slow living intersect easily for us. Slow living is really about connecting more with the things we do and the people in our life. Connecting with the present, mindfully, wholeheartedly. To do this, to live slowly, we must do less. To increase our quality of connections, we must decrease the quantity of things we do.

Tell us a little about your family life before your shift.

I have a natural affinity for slow and minimalist living. That being said, our family did go through a few years of living on fast-forward. And while our weeks still include a list of commitments, I approach them with mindful presence, which makes the experience completely different.

Like I mentioned above, I work in government policy. The nature of my work is unpredictable and generally hectic. After working in this environment for a few years I started to notice that I carried this hustled, stressed energy home with me. I would manically clean and tidy all evening, I would speedily move from task to task. On the weekends, I would hustle around doing errands, take the children to a list of activities, catch up on my social calendar, and generally try to pack as much “life” as I could. I had one setting and it was fast-forward.

Finally it hit me one day that I never slowed down. That, ironically, while I did so much I never felt like I accomplished anything. Worst of all, I desperately missed my children, despite spending every second of the weekends with them. I realized that something had to change. I was never going to catch up. Going fast wasn’t working, so I decided to go slow.

At the time I hadn’t heard of slow living or minimalism. But I knew intuitively what our family needed. We needed quality time together, we needed to do less, so that the things we did we could do in a more meaningful way, with presence, and without a need to rush through them to get to the next thing on our itinerary or to do list. We needed to take things slowly, to be able savour the moment, savour the weekend, savour our lives. So, that’s what we started doing. As you can imagine, we’ve never looked back.

Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

How has the shift to a minimalist life affected your family dynamic?

Approaching life from a minimalist perspective has been immensely satisfying for us. The children can enjoy life at an organic pace and I feel more present with them when I’m not concerned about when our next activity starts. Moreover, it’s great that my children have learned that they can be thoroughly engaged in life, full of energy and curiosity, while doing something simple, outdoors, uncurated and free. I call this minimalist fun. Slow days out in nature.

We no longer accept every social invitation or birthday party. The children only do one extra-curricular activity a week. I worried a bit that they would miss things or feel left out, but in all honesty they haven’t shown concern once about a lack of activity. The benefits of doing less, feeling calm and having a sense of freedom with time, have won over any sense of lack.

In terms of minimalism with things themselves, we’ve never had a bank account full of money, so the children are accustomed to not getting much in the way of stuff. That being said, we now only get them gifts for birthday and Christmas, and it’s one special thing, whereas before they would sometimes get new toys and books throughout the year. They adapted to this fairly painlessly because they were offered fun alternatives, like play time with friends and outdoor adventures.

Overall, our family dynamic has improved. We all feel a little calmer, more connected, and enjoy being around each other. As a hungry athlete, Matt might not *love* that I take a minimalist approach to meals and don’t observe as much of a schedule around meal times, but he’s adapting!

Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

What are some ways you see your children being positively affected by the shift?

I think that in spending time in nature and living a slow, minimalist life, I am preserving my children’s innate, natural born strengths: creativity, curiosity, connection. I don’t think my children were struggling much from our fast-paced life, but I know that in time they would have shown symptoms of fatigue, so I’m glad I made a change before we started seeing social or behavioural issues. Overall, the children have more time and freedom to just be themselves and not ply to an adult’s will or schedule. I think the typical traits of a child: creativity, wonder and positivity, need to be protected and cultivated, particularly as these traits will be critical in solving the massive global issues emerging today. By letting children be themselves I believe I am preserving these traits in them.

In terms of positive effects, our children certainly notice that we live differently than virtually everyone we know. They ask a lot of questions about why we “can’t go places fast in a car?” or “have a big piles of presents?” or “buy something packaged in plastic?” or “go to two parties on the weekend?” But these questions always lead to great conversations about choice and aligning what we care about (values) with what we do (behaviour). Children have an innately strong sense of right and wrong and so talking about what we care about, for example healthy oceans, and how our behaviours are linked to these, makes it easy to opt-out of single use plastic. The positive effect is that the children are learning a lot about how everything is connected. We are not islands. We are embedded. Living like that everyday, they are understanding from an early age, and developing the necessary habits, they need to make sustainable choices, for the health of the planet, but  also sustainable choices about how they use their time and energy, for their own mental health.

Hippie in Disguise Shabana Buwalda

What are your hopes for your children by allowing them to be more connected through nature.

The benefits of time in nature are many and there are many great thinkers writing about this. Creativity, independence, mental and physical health, are just a few of the direct benefits. For me, I focus on time in and connecting with nature, for those reasons, but also to instill an understanding of impermanence and our embededness in nature. I also think that if my children have their fondest, happiest memories out in the wild, then they will be motivated to protect it.

Understanding impermanence cultivates a sense of appreciation and presence. Knowing that each path we walk will never be the same twice, we learn to make the most of each experience, we savour the temporary nature of a field of wildflowers, the leaves on the trees. Through experiences like these I hope to keep alive that sense of living in the moment that children are born with. Our innate mindfulness. Our innate presence.

Understanding embededness is key too. Spending time in nature, in the wild, we learn about the abundance of life outside our own. We, more intimately, understand our connection – our embededness – to the systems of life on this planet. We are part of nature. Nature is not out there. We are nature. While I don’t think we should be self-motivated to protect wildlife, if understanding our own precarity through connection is what motivates an interest in conservation and protection, then that’s a good thing.  The more children (and we adults) have life experiences with living plants and animals, the more we can empathize with them, the more we feel a part of their world, and us a part of theirs. Our interconnectedness becomes embodied.

Perhaps most importantly, spending most of our time in a natural setting, we are keeping our impact on the planet light, developing a deeper connection to it, and fostering a sense of protection and compassion for the earth and its inhabitants. All this while making memories and strengthening our family bonds.

What would one piece of advice be to families who want to make the shift to a slow, minimalist lifestyle?

Just start. Make one change a day. And go slowly! There is no sense in rushing toward slow, minimal living.

***

Update, November 2018: In re-reading this interview, I can see that we have evolved and changed somewhat from this way of life. Matt has been totally won over by minimalist meals and now thrives on this approach! We aren’t perfect about avoiding single use plastic, still. And our children do sometimes get gifts, like a new toy or book, on occasions other than Christmas and birthdays. I guess that’s a reflection of our financial situation, we can actually afford these things now. But, we continue to be very limited in the amount of new things our children bring into their life and us into our home.

Happy Earth Day: Free Zero Waste Magazine for Children

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Family Travel Victoria BC Canada Petits Villains Red Wood

Sen in a giant redwood in Victoria BC { Organic clothing by Petits Vilains }

Happy Earth Day!

In our household, we try our best to make it Earth Day every day. We aren’t perfect. But we keep trying to do better!

This year to help celebrate Earth Day, I’ve partnered with the Global Guardian Project, a non-profit NGO, to give FREE access to their digital magazine all about Zero Waste Living. This is a super fun, educational, interactive magazine that children LOVE! There are colouring sheets to download, compost infographics, basics about recycling, and lots more. My children have used more than a few of the Global Guardian Project educational digital learning packets (see their library of resources here) to do school projects about endangered species, climate change, and lots more.

Global Guardian Project Litterless Zero Waste

To help promote lighter, more sustainable living on this planet that *literally* sustains us by giving us air, food and water, the Global Guardian Project developed an issue called “Litterless” and it’s all about things we can do as individuals and families to make less garbage and to live closer to a “zero waste lifestyle”. Normally the issue costs $9.99 USD but you can’t get it for free here.

Here are some of the articles and activities you’ll find inside:

-What does litterless mean?

-Why is recycling important?

-How to start going litterless

-Compost infographic activity (this has been super popular with homeschoolers and children!)

-How to make litterless lunches

-Recipe: Zero Waste Cookies

-Art projects with recycled materials

-Digital download art work / wall poster about

If you’d like to get your free digital copy of the magazine just click here. And please tell all your friends, family and educators in your life about this! The more people make sustainable changes and live closer to a litterless life the better it is for everyone and the greater an impact we can have.

By the way, this Litterless issue was developed by the fabulous zero waste blogger, Celia, who I interviewed here for my blog. Read all about her zero waste lifestyle and get inspired!

For more plastic free and zero waste resources read my blog post here. Or search “plastic free” and “zero waste” in my blog search bar, there are lots of articles for you there — more than I can list here.

You can read more about the Global Guardian Project on their website or in a few posts on my blog. Full disclosure: Global Guardian Project in a non-profit NGO in the sector of environmental education, I am a writer and researcher for the GGP.

You can read about the amazing founder of the Global Guardian Project, Rebecca Lane, here.

Raising Global Guardians: Ecologically Conscious, Positive and Kind Children

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Shaadee Mae Hippie in Disguise Plant dyed organic clothing

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project in now a completely FREE online resource available to everyone.

***

I have avoided writing this post, because I had hoped the Global Guardian Project would get the funding it needed without having to ask my loyal blog readers for help. But I need it, I need your help. We are now in the last 16 hours of our crowdfunding campaign and are not at our fundraising goal. We need your help to get there. Every dollar donated is invested into the project to create global sustainable education capsules and curricula for families and educators.

You can donate as little as $1 dollar. Starting at $5 you get a reward gift sent to you. Gifts include things like beautiful original art prints, world maps and digital magazines (you pick what gift you want). Please help sustain the work of the Global Guardian Project so we can keep our research and outreach going, in our collective effort to raise a generation of children who will be ecologically conscious, sustainable minded, kind leaders and positive changemakers.

I have written a lot about the Global Guardian Project on this blog, in the interest of keeping this post short I won’t go into more detail. I recommend you visit the Indiegogo page for our crowdfunding and watch the video we put together.

If you want to know more about the Global Guardian Project, please read my posts here, or ask me a question in the comments:

You can also learn more at the Global Guardian Project website.

Please help fund this project. If you don’t have $1 to spare, please share the link to the Crowdfunding campaign with friends.

Thank you very much.

Giveaway: Global Guardian Project Subscription and Wall Art

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Hippie in Disguise Global Guardian Project Wild and Free Children

One year ago, my friend Rebecca launched the Global Guardian Project, a not-for-profit organization committed to helping parents and educators raise ecologically conscious, environmentally educated children. GGP is involved in a number of education and outreach activities, but a main component of their work is producing a monthly interactive e-magazine (‘capsule’) for parents and children that teaches how to respect and protect the planet.  The e-magazine is interactive, because in addition to articles, lessons, interviews, recipes and other written content, there are also videos, podcasts, art project downloads and worksheets for homeschoolers; in total every capsule has over 50-pages of activities and educational content. Although the e-magazine is aimed at educating children, many adults have said they love to read the capsules and have learned way more than they expected from them. With each capsule focusing on a different country, worldschoolers have found the capsules really helpful for digging into local learning while travelling.

Here are a few sample pages from the Israel capsule (click to see an enlarged image):

In addition to the monthly capsules, GGP also publishes special topic capsules that can be bought individually, for example: global recipes, zero waste living, honey bees, American National Parks and more.

This week, to help Rebecca celebrate the Global Guardian Project’s first birthday, I’ve teamed up with her to *giveaway* a 6-month subscription to the Global Guardian Learning Capsules and your choice of a beautiful 24×18 world map wall art print from the Global Guardian shop. All Global Guardian maps are original art work by Rebecca and are amazing to use in combination with the learning capsules, as children learn about countries, plants and animals from all around the world, and see and learn how to locate them on the map.

global guardian project world map homeschool curriculum

You can read more about Global Guardian Project *learning capsules* in my post here. In a nutshell, the Global Guardian Project creates educational materials focused on global stewardship for families and children, home educators and anyone who loves to learn about the world and help make it a better place. Each month subscribers receive a learning capsule by email focused on a country and its wild life. To date, 12 capsules have been published covering: Brazil, Rwanda, India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, Israel, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Thailand. Future capsules will feature other countries including Egypt, Japan, Australia, England and many more. Each capsule includes beautiful photography, facts and information about the country, it’s wildlife, global change makers, young activists and inspiring people, recipes, vocabulary and much more. There are also art projects and free digital downloads, podcasts, videos and guided meditation recordings.

Join the Global Guardian movement and raise more ecologically conscious, compassionate children. If you don’t win the subscription, please consider buying a subscription and support global education and outreach related to sustainable, peaceful living.

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project in now a completely FREE online resource available to everyone

To enter the giveaway:

  • Subscribe to the Global Guardian Project email list here, you’ll get no more than one email a week, often less
  • Leave me a comment on this blog post, on my Facebook post or my Instagram post about the giveaway, to let me know you added your name to the email list
  • For a bonus entry: “Like” and comment on the Instagram giveaway photo
  • For a bonus entry: Share this blog post
  • For a bonus entry: Share my Facebook post about this
  • For a bonus entry: Repost my Instagram post about this with hashtag #ggpXhippieindisguise

Contest closes Sunday August 13, 2017 at midnight (Pacific Standard Timezone) and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

UPDATE: The winning name was drawn and the winner contacted for their prize. Congratulations Rhiannon!

***

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Raising Compassionate, Globally Conscious Children

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Hippie in Disguise ro and sen Chassin Rideau Canal

Environmental Consciousness. Social Change. Mindfulness. Global Compassion. Minimalism. Holistic Living. Arts. Adventure. Education. Inspiration.

These are words that drive me, that I try to knit together in the way I live and in the way I raise my children. They are also words that perfectly describe the Global Guardian Project.

Last August I wrote about my friend Rebecca‘s new idea: The Global Guardian Project, a digital multimedia capsule for children and families that teaches about the world, global stewardship, sustainability, plants, animals, social and environmental activists, and lots more. The capsule is basically an interactive digital magazine for families to help learn more about the planet, country by country.

The intent of the Global Guardian Project is to expose ourselves and our children to the wide world of not just nature, but the intricate connections between human cultures and the ecosystems that support us, with the ultimate goal of helping us raise the next generation as global guardians, stewards of the planet.

Hippie in Disguise Rideau River Ottawa

With this in mind, the capsules are designed to educate, but also to inspire action. That is, to cultivate a greater caring for the earth and all its inhabitants and to inspire us to take small (and big) actions to improve the health of our planet for the collective good. The capsules were initially very popular with homeschooling and worldschooling families, as they cover a lot of science, geography, art and language curriculum, but they have also become popular with families seeking more enriching digital (“screen”) time and others just interested in learning more about the world. I should mention that while the capsules are digital, they can easily be printed, so if you are not keen on screen time then you can read the capsules the old fashioned way: on paper.

  • What is a learning capsule? Picture a digital magazine that is interactive, with videos to click and watch, art and activity downloads, links to TED talks and other resources, as well as beautiful photography, original art and lots of educational facts and information, interviews and more.

After receiving my first capsule I got even more excited about the project, there is really no resource like the Global Guardian Project out there. The multimedia format is unique and engaging. The content is interesting and inspiring. But most importantly, the core mission of the project: to raise a generation of global change makers by teaching children about how to care for the earth is so critical and close to my heart that I knew I wanted to be involved in helping the project grow. As the weeks and months passed I found myself suggesting ideas, writing content, working with contributors and generally being an all-around cheerleader for the project.

After noting my enthusiasm and my tendency to write a lot (sorry, for this long introduction, by the way..) Rebecca asked if I would like to be the Guest Editor for the upcoming capsule on Canada. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I said yes, though I invited my trusted writing (and life) partner, Matt, to plan and edit the issue with me. I invited some great thinkers, artists and friends to help out too: artist Erin Wetzel, nutritionist Kylah Dobson and permaculture farmer Zach Loeks. Together, with the team of Global Guardian Project regulars, we put together an amazing interactive digital magazine.

Global guardian Project Homeschool Curriculum Canada Animals Plants

And….the issue is now available for purchase from Global Guardian Project’s website either as a single issue (“a la carte”) or as part of their monthly subscription program. If you subscribe, you save considerably, and you get the advantage of building on learning each month, especially with the world map activities. As well, you can cancel at any time, even after one issue.

Here’s a little preview:

Each capsule is comprised of:

  • Over 60 pages of facts and information covering the country basics like size and geography, endangered animals and how we can help them, indigenous plants, related vocabulary and definitions for new words like (fossil, aerodynamic, habitat and so on), book reviews, and much more.
  • Videos showing children taking action in their local communities, for example by helping turtles.
  • Healthy, local recipes and demonstration videos
  • Profiles of activists, ecological leaders and inspiring people from the featured country to inspire action
  • A podcast guided meditation appropriate (and fun) for children and families
  • Art projects and downloads, such as colouring sheets
  • Map projects and other interactive activities
  • Lots more!

I hope you’ll consider buying one for yourself or someone in your life. While the capsules are geared to children (ages 3 and up), homeschoolers and teachers, lots of adults have been saying they enjoy them and have learned a lot from reading them. If you know Matt, then you know he has a knack for finding really cool facts and stories about natural phenomena. Keep in mind, the capsules make a great last minute gift for any occasion, since there is no delivery time.

  • You can buy the Canada edition ($16.99) or subscribe to the series for $13.49 per month, using my discount code HIPPIEINDISGUISE.
  • If you subscribe by January 14th, 2017 you will receive the Canada capsule, if you subscribe after you will get the Sri Lanka capsule, since a new capsule is released to subscribers on the 15th of each month.

You can read more about the Global Guardian Project here, you can visit their website here, find them on Instagram @globalguardianproject. If you sign up for their email list you’ll get a free mini capsule about Ocean Life. Why not try it out?!

Any questions, please leave a comment below.

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project is currently crowdfunding to support the project. Please consider supporting the work, as little as $1 will help! Crowdfunding ends October 20th, 2017!

***

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Global Guardian Learning Capsules Giveaway

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Hippie in Disguise Rideau River Ottawa Canada

I’ve teamed up with my friend Rebecca to *giveaway* a 6-month subscription to the new Global Guardian Learning Capsules. You can read all about them in my post here.

In a nutshell, the Global Guardian Project is a monthly online subscription focused on global stewardship for families and children, home educators and anyone who loves to learn about the world and help make it a better place. Each month subscribers receive a learning capsule by email focused on a country and its wild life. The first capsule was Brazil (released August 2016), in two weeks the Rwanda capsule will be released. Future capsules will feature other countries including India, Australia, England and many more. Each capsule includes beautiful photography, facts and information about the country, it’s wildlife, global change makers and inspiring people, recipes, vocabulary and much more. There are also art projects and free digital downloads, podcasts, videos and guided meditation recordings.
Global Guardian Project Rwanda Capsule Homeschool

The capsules are both informative and inspiring, helping us understand how simple, small actions can make a big difference. Most importantly, the capsules highlight some of the things children are doing around the world to make a difference, showing us that there is no need to wait to for adulthood to make a positive impact.

To enter the giveaway, visit my Instagram account (rules are explained there too) and look for the giveaway photo, and make sure to:

  • Sign up by email for the FREE sample capsule by visiting this link 
  • Like and comment on the giveaway photo to let me know you signed up for the free capsule
  • Tag a friend in the comments who is a fellow global guardian, and if they sign up for the free capsule and follow @globalguardianproject too, then you’ll both win a subscription if your name is drawn the winner. Pay it forward!
  • For an extra entry: Share my Facebook post about this
  • For an extra entry: Repost my Instagram post about this with hashtag #ggpgiveaway

Contest closes Thursday September 8, 2016 at midnight (Pacific Standard Timezone) and is open worldwide. Good luck friends!

Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places:

Global Guardian Project Hippie in Disguise Fouremki

The Global Guardian Project: Home Learning

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Global Guardian Project Hippie in Disguise Fouremki

Raising kind, caring, responsible humans is really important to me. I know I’m not alone in this. My goal as a mother is to raise my children to not only care for other humans, but to care for plants, animals and the planet. It’s not just about human survival, it’s about doing the right thing, and to me that means caring for all life.

Since January I’ve been working with my friend Rebecca on an idea she called the Global Guardian Project. Rebecca’s dream was to launch a global stewardship learning capsule for children, families and educators. The capsule would contain facts and information, activities, art projects, challenges, and inspiration for children to learn about the planet and how to take better care of it. Each month a new capsule would focus on a different country, it’s flora and fauna, endangered species, local advocacy organizations and so on. The goal is to educate children and inspire them to become little change makers: Global Guardians.

I’m excited to tell you that this idea has come to life! The first learning capsule on Brazil will start going out to inboxes tomorrow!

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise brazil learning capsule

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise brazil learning capsule

While my children attend public school, there are always subjects they take a special interest in or that I want to expose them to, so I’m happy to have these monthly capsules to feed their inquiring minds about all the beautiful places around the world and how our actions can affect the whole planet in a positive way. I imagine that homeschooling families will also find these very useful in their home education. While the capsules are intended for children roughly aged 4-8, my children are 5 and 11 (and quite brilliant if you ask me!) and they’ve enjoyed the capsules start to finish.

Since we read the free sample capsule on Oceans (get it here), which talks about many things, including the dangers of plastic for sea animals, Sen has become positively obsessed with picking up stray garbage. And I say positively because he feels happy and empowered by his actions. He gets excited about making a difference. While it might feel a little inconvenient when we are biking around town and he calls out “Hit the brakes! I see a plastic cup!” it’s also pretty amazing and a little action I can’t deny him and should probably do more myself.

Aside from facts and other written information, like vocabulary lists, the capsules contain videos about children who are making a difference, for example, children working to protect turtle populations. My children know about Jane Goodall and other inspiring humans, but no one inspires them more than other children, so the videos have really touched their hearts and minds in a new way.

Each capsule also contains an audio recording (with a text version too) of a meditation for children. There are art projects and printable downloads to work with. There are plans to include more in the capsules each month, so stay tuned, there will be local recipes and historical figures and much more coming soon!

If you would like to sign up for the capsules I have a discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE that will give you 10% off. However for today only (August 11, 2016) my code will give you 20% off. Click here to sign up.

  • The monthly cost is $14.99 (minus my discount) and you can cancel at anytime and will only ever pay for the capsules you received.

Bonus: Subscribers will get a gorgeous world map digital download emailed to them to use with the monthly capsules. The map is also available printed on beautiful archival art paper for purchase in the GGP shop. Below you’ll see a copy of the map with the downloadable art for the month affixed to Brazil.

Global Guardian Project Discount Code Hippie in disguise global map project

Please leave a comment if you have any questions or know of other great resources like this.

If you want to see what other parents are saying about the Global Guardian Project visit here.

UPDATE: The Global Guardian Project is currently crowdfunding to support the project. Please consider supporting the work, as little as $1 will help! Crowdfunding ends October 20th, 2017!

Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places:

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project

Interview with a Minimalist: Rebecca

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Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

How we live minimalism is very personal. Sure, when you search Pinterest you might think minimalism is all about white walls and owning less than 100 things, but this is only one version of minimalism. When I say that minimalism gives a sense of freedom, it can be hard to reconcile the word ‘freedom’ with the version of minimalism that gets the most visibility on Pinterest and in the news (because it’s the most photogenic). Minimalism, having and doing less, releasing and unburdening ourselves from unnecessary habits, thought patterns and emotions, is freeing. And with this freedom we can choose how we use our time, our energy and our money. That is, we have the opportunity to craft a life more closely aligned with our dreams, our beliefs and our values. For me, this is the real appeal of minimalism – the freedom it affords me to live in a way that is more aligned with what is most important to me: family, community, adventure and sustainable living. So, what is important to you?

Think about what you can stop doing, stop spending money and time on, and what habits do not serve you, so that you can do more of what you love and do more good for yourself, others and the world.

Rebecca Lane is a friend of mine. We first met about a year and half ago on a project to raise funds for Free2Luv, an anti-bullying organization dedicated to empowering youth, celebrating individuality and spreading kindness. I feel so fortunate that we happened to connect through this project because Rebecca is a truly amazing human, mother, artist and activist. Over the past year I have witnessed Rebecca push herself to align her way of life with her values. This meant she had to make big, scary changes – but her commitment to live true to what was, at the root, most important to her: family and global stewardship, did not shake. What was important to her were her boys and giving back to the world by raising environmentally-aware change makers.

In what follows, Rebecca explains how re-embracing minimalism helped her find a path to aligning her life with what mattered most to her. Not only this, but she was finally able to bring to life a project she’d been dreaming of for years, the Global Guardian Project, by letting go of the parts of her life that were weighing on her focus and productivity.

  • By the way, for those who want to know more, I will be making a separate post about the Global Guardian Project later this week, so come back for more details about that! In short, GGP will develop learning capsules for families about different countries and ecosystems around the world with a mind to cultivating a sense of global environmental stewardship and cross-cultural appreciation. If you’ve already heard of it and want to sign up you can use my code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off a single capsule or full subscription.

I hope that Rebecca’s story inspires you, as it did me, and that you are able to find your own path to a contented life aligned with what matters most to you.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

All photos in this post were taken by Coleen Hodges

Let’s start with a little bit about you. Who are you? What’s your background?

My name is Rebecca Lane.  I am a (very new) single mom of two lovely boys, Giovanni and Matteo. I’m an artist and the creator of a couple social businesses, including Children Inspire Design, Fresh Words Market and Kindred Sol Collective.  I’m most recently the founder of my most favorite creation (besides my children), the Global Guardian Project. I also consider myself a reborn minimalist.

What part of the world do you live in?

We currently live in Southern California, but we travel every chance we get. We split our time between the north woods of Wisconsin, where I grew up and Isla Mujeres, Mexico where I lived for 3 years during which time my first son was born.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

What are your children like?

I have two lovely, creative boys. Giovanni is 13 and Matteo is 9.  They are my inspiration for the Global Guardian Project.  I built my businesses around teaching them about the world and how they can be a positive force in global change. They are my muses.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

You have an unconventional approach to educating your children. Can you tell me more about this?

I’ve been fascinated with homeschooling and world schooling since my children were born.  I knew from my own past experiences, that traditional public schools weren’t going to be enough to help me cultivate a globally educated, well rounded child. And I knew travel restrictions would prevent us from extensive exploration.  After much thought and a few trials I realized that with my work demands straight homeschooling wouldn’t work for us.  So I found a lovely charter school in Southern California that supported and embraced education through travel and we moved from Arizona to California to enrol them in the program.  They’ve been there for four years and it’s been such a blessing.  I’m able to pull them from the on-campus program when we travel, homeschool them while abroad, then reintegrate them when we return.  It’s worked very well for us so far.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

The education my boys have received from travel has been incredible, and ended up being the seed from which the Global Guardian Project was born. Each time we travel, my boys research an environmental organization.  We tour the organization, learning as much as we can about the good work they do.  Then the boys create a video about their work and teach ways kids can help their cause in everyday life.  It’s a brilliant way for them to both learn and teach.

What is your story, how did you start on a path toward a minimalist lifestyle?

I kind of started as a minimalist, fell off track, and then recently re-centered myself. I’ve been a gypsy at heart all my life, so when I was younger minimalism was easy.  It’s not convenient to acquire a lot of things when you’re on the move.  But it became more of a challenge when we rooted ourselves back in the United States. We started to consume more, in part because we bought a home and thought we needed to fill it. We fell into the ease and convenience of US consumerism.  I have to admit, at first I didn’t see it for what it was. But there was always this ambiguous knot in my gut that reminded me that something wasn’t right.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

I believe there are many ways to be a minimalist and many forms of minimalism. What does minimalism mean to you? And, in what ways are you a minimalist?

I think my transition back to minimalism came by force when my life was flipped upside down. This past year I went through a divorce.  And, as painful and challenging as it’s been, it was also a gift.  It provided me with the opportunity to release: physical items, emotional baggage and my negative patterns. At the same time as my divorce, I also sold my business, Children Inspire Design — which was a huge part of my identity.  Within the period of a week, I filed for divorce and sold my business. I had, in a very big way, pulled the rug right out from me and stripped away my identity.  And when the dust settled, it ended up being a beautiful mess because I was able to look at everything in my life, the physical, emotional, spiritual parts of who I’d become, all the accumulation of the good and the bad, and I got to choose to pick up only the pieces that served me and my boys from that moment and into the future.  I was given the opportunity to create a new blueprint. It’s been the scariest time of my life, but also the most transformative and empowering.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

What has been the greatest benefit of minimalism?

For me, the sense of freedom is the biggest benefit.  With every thing I release, whether it physical or emotional, I feel less suffocated.  I can breathe. Pressure lifts from my chest.

Is your parenting influenced by minimalism?

Yes, in a very big way. My boys have had the experience of living on the road and in a physically rooted home. At this point, they’ve spent more time rooted than wandering, and I’ve started to see their attachment to things grow and become a problem.  This is part of the reason why I’ve decided to sell our home and homeschool for most of next year while on the road.  They are at such a critical time right now, being 13 and 9.  I have a window of opportunity to take them back to a truly minimalist lifestyle, so I’m going to take advantage of it.

I’ve received mixed responses when I tell those close to me about my plans. And every negative response boils down to this question: “aren’t you afraid of raising your kids without a home?”  The answer is no, not at all.  It’s so important for me that my children really understand that home is a feeling. A house is walls and a roof.  I need them to know that wherever they are in the world and in life, they are home.  I am their home. Our family is their home.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

In what ways do you struggle with keeping things minimal? What is your weakness?

I cry just about every time I have to let go of one of the boy’s art projects.  If it were up to me, I’d have a storage unit filled with finger paintings, noodle necklaces and monster doodles. { Me too, Rebecca, me too! }

Have there been any struggles with the other people you live with about living in a minimal way?

The minimalist philosophy was a challenge in our marriage.  We had very different views about acquiring physical things.  Which is, in part, why I feel now that I’m a minimalist reborn. It’s a new opportunity for me to become more true to myself.

What have been some unexpected experiences you’ve had with minimalism?

There have been moments where I’d get this overwhelming feeling of panic when I toss out an art project.  But, other than that, for me the less the better.  We recently went on a camping trip in Idyllwild, CA and I was so smitten with the very few things we had and needed to function.  I’d wake up extra early in the morning to make a pot of coffee on my tiny burner. One cup, one spoon, a thousand trees. That’s it. That’s all I needed. { Long-time readers of this blog will remember Tiffany shared a similar experience }

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

What advice can you offer to people interested in living a minimalist lifestyle?

Baby steps are great.  There’s no need to change the world in a day. That’s actually a philosophy we’re teaching with Global Guardian Project. In each monthly learning capsule, we include a family challenge for the month. A simple, sustainable change that the entire family can get on board with. In this way, each month you can build on your efforts to live more sustainably. Small acts transform the world.

You recently launched the Global Guardian Project, can you tell me more about this? Why did you start it and what does it mean to you?

Global Guardian Project (GGP) is a subscription based learning platform designed for global families who understand the importance of teaching children how to care for the Earth and all who inhabit it.

Each month, we launch a digital Learning Capsule, filled with educational stories, videos, interviews, art projects, and challenges designed to teach families how to become global stewards and changemakers in their own home and in everyday life.

GGP content focuses on  three topics:  Explore, Inspire + Challenge.

  • Explore focuses on a specific country, it’s culture, natural environment and endangered species.  
  • Inspire focuses on introducing families to important causes and individuals who are already making positive changes both in that area and globally, specifically little changemakers.
  • Challenge offers activities, or challenges, to help become a more sustainable, environmentally aware family.

Global Guardian Project has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. From the very first business I launched, I knew that my role in this world was to empower individuals to make positive changes for the Earth and all who inhabit it.

I designed GGP so that I could allow my children to be a part of the solution. They watch me dream, design and launch something with promise for positive change. That experience alone is so valuable.  They are not learning in theory.  They are watching their mama in action.  They are learning that they can do something like this too.  I intentionally incorporated travel and interviews as a way for my boys to continually learn about our world.  They get to see new places, interview changemakers, come up with videos to teach other kids how to help in everyday life.  They are an integral part of the Global Guardian Project. I feel like these opportunities are rare and important and will help form their sense of global responsibility as adults.

Rebecca Lane Global Guardian Project Minimalist Homeschool

Do you have any goals for this year or the next few that you want to share?

This year is a huge transition for us.  We’ll be renting out our home and traveling for a year beginning in January (2017).  We’ll be researching, planning, digging deeper into creating more for Global Guardian Project’s offerings.  We have plans to launch our first volunteer family retreat by the end of 2017 and also have long term plans to create the Global Guardian Foundation, where we can offer resources and programs to global youth changemakers.  We see community programs, workshops, retreats and international challenges, all for Global Guardian kids and families.  There’s never a lack of ideas when it comes to educating on how to care for the Earth!

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Thank you Rebecca for sharing your story and way of life. Readers you can follow Rebecca on Instagram @globalguardianproject on Facebook or on her site Global Guardian Project.

There is currently a free Oceans learning capsule available for download while we await the release of the first full-size capsule in mid-August. If you are interested in subscribing to the Global Guardian monthly capsules you can use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off.

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