week twelve and thirteen: The Big Dipper and Restoring Balance
Britt Freda
The last story for our Solar System unit was about Fisher and creation myth of the constellation of The Big Dipper. For math children identified number sequences. A highlight of our main lesson time was their reports on their planets. We went on two field trips. The first was an adventure to Skeeter Creek. The second a three hour hike along the near shore and intertidal ecosystems of Maury Marine Park. I shared the true story of how the land we journeyed upon had been saved by the people of Vashon-Maury Island. It was above all a story of restoring balance. In keeping with a Homestead tradition we made beeswax candles in celebration of the returning sun at Winter Solstice. We rehearsed all the songs we have learned over the past 13 weeks in preparation for the Winter Solstice Gathering. For the gathering we sang: The Canoe Song, La Arana Pequinita, If I Were To Talk To…, Zodiac Song, Bella Ciao, I am an Animal, Galaxy Song, Trees, and Light is Returning.