10th June, 2015 : SB277 protests- at the State Capitol , Sacramento

Yesterday's experience at the Capitol was unique and a living history experience for our family. We were there to protest against SB 277 that requires mandatory vaccinations for public education in the State of California. So initially there was the actually rally with many speakers coming in to say why something like this is so wrong.
Chellu and Kunju certainly found it very interesting initially to experience the whole atmosphere. They keenly listened to the speeches, flaunted their message boards and intently soaked in everything in the scene. Then they eventually joined the Biesmeyer children to play in the grounds since the speech and all the protests was getting too loud for them.
After the rally we decided to go into the Capitol building to at least check it out and when we saw scores of folks waiting in the line to testify in front of the law makers, we decided to jump in too. Interestingly before that when the girls were hesitant about wanting to go in, we got to talk about why it's important to sometimes do stuff for a cause or for the the sake of others. There was also this other family that talked about how it came from the south of California sitting for 8 hrs in a bus . And how sometimes even if we are bored we must pursue a cause for ourselves as well as for others. I think that piece of conversation really helped in to convince the girls that it's at least worth checking out.
As soon as we got in they were much at ease because of the AC and the restrooms. Once we joined the lines ,we and the girls spent our time eating at the cafeteria, watching stuff online, sleeping and of course playing and doing workbooks with a girl standing next to us.
Im so proud of my girls to have waited with us for 5 hrs in the line so that we can testify in front of the lawmakers in addition to two hrs of the rally.  It gave them a glimpse into how a government works, how we as citizens have a say in everything, the power of community and how sometimes have
to set aside our personal comforts for others or for a cause. It also led to talks on how courageous leaders like Gandhi, MLK wuld have been to dedicate their lives for a purpose. Thr girls can now relate to what a peaceful protest is.
We also remembered our dear friends like Manish Jain, Vidhi Jain, Sachin Desai, Meenal Desai , Shammi Nanda and so many others who have the guts to go against senseless main stream thought process and work for they truly beleive in.
So much learning even in the midst of all that anger and frustration . And guess what? The Capitol floors resembled a massive playground with all the kids deciding to play with each other! There were some 900 folks in the line!!
Im so glad we decided to stay back and participate in the testifying process. Im sure we will all talk about this unique day for many years to come. 

Thank you notes for the MSI visit - lessons in collaboration and intimacy

After the MSI visit, each child was asked to express themselves about their experience to the Institute since the station programs are all sponsored.
Yesterday we sat down to work on our thank you notes. I do not know if it's all the break from any sort of academic work or whether it's the fact that they could relate the activity to a real life experience they had, the girls worked on their samples with so much enthusiasm and joy.
Shruthkirti wrote a full blown essay with my help about her experience. I'm always surprised by how she gets her spellings all right without ever doing a spelling drill. I think it's the photographic memory from all the reading. I also liked her thought process, her logical way of writing rather than following a set pattern. I would suggest something and she would refute it giving explicit reasons. Prior to this essay she made a rainbow colored fish with its mouth open. The idea is to put the easy into the mouth with a piece of paper saying PULL , to pull the essay out! We had arrived at this idea together and she improvised on it and executed it beautifully. Way better than my initial imagination!! Of course ..it's a given now right? Chellu and design...they go together.
She later on worked on a Learning Chain idea- mine originally and intended for Shreedhari. But later opted for a real food chain and so Chellu took it up. It was such fun talking with her through the project and coming up with the finished project. I'm starting to see that the girls are very willing to work on something when they see it as a collaborative project with me rather than as a being dictated to type of thing. It also changes my attitude towards them . The finished learning chain project was awesome . I really liked what created together.
Shreedhari made a drawing a colorful fish and of the MSI itself. Asking her if she would like to work on something else led to interesting conversations. She felt like she wasn't good enough and always did sloppy work unlike her sister. I'm so glad she expressed her diffidence because I got to talk I don't detail with her about how none of that is true. She was smiling and ready to go at the end of the conversation. She then beautifully did the food chain with me out of her own accord.
When we finally went to the post office to mail all of the samples, all of us had a happy, satisfied smile on us. This has got to be true learning - where one feels not only happy , curious, interested doing something but also has the satisfaction of finishing it.
And on days like these I also know that the real learning was the conversation with Kunju about her abilities, the real learning was the collaboration with Chellu. The finished project was only a side effect really.
As always thankful for an experience like this. The best part of Hsing is the intimacy in learning. Infact it's the intimacy that's the TRUE learning! 

Marine Science Institute Visit - real life , hands on learning

Sometime back on May 27th we had attended the two station program in the MSI? I had arranged this field trip with fellow Hsers. While the whole arranging the trip was quite frustrating with constantly looking for people to join to reduce the per head cost and then remainders for payment etc etc...the field trip itself was very educational and fun. Myself and Chellu had attended Kayla's birthday party there and really loved it. I was feeling so guilty for Kunju missing out on it since she was sick that day and decided to arrange a field trip to make it up for it.
While Chellu seemed a little bored cause everything was sort of a repetition for her, Kunju while initially resisting it eventually started to delve in it and enjoy it as well.
What a lovely idea ! The kids did a two station program - the beach seine station  and the fish/ shark station. To kick it off, the docents introduced the idea of a bay, what it means to the kids.
In the beach seine station, they got to use a seine to catch fish from the bay and hold it in their hands and examine it . Eventually the fishes are returned back to the bay. It was tons of fun for them. While elder caught a Topsmelt Silverside, younger caught a jelly fish. Some of the other children caught bigger fishes , crabs and even snails. I never knew before that snails lived in areas like the bay!
In the fish station they went around and examined many different types of fishes like Diamond Tubot, Yellowfin agony, Topsmelt Silverside , Bay Pipefish, Northern Anchovy to name a few ..they also were introduced in detail the body structure of a fish.
The shark station was super fun. The kids got to watch baby leopard sharks in a tank while being told about the fishes. They also got to touch it. At the end they sat in a small circle where each got to examine variety of shark bones and jaws. We learnt that sharks have 1000s of teeth and replace the, throughout their life unlike humans! What fun!
At the very end the kids were introduced to a marine food chain through a puppet show. The importance of conservation and marine care was emphasised.
Wow! What a day. So much learning for all of us. I love the Bay Area for this - the amount of learning opportunities for kids outside the school is enormous. It's indeed a Hsers's paradise! Very grateful to be able to experience this.

Physical activity burst for Shreedhari

Shreedhari is into some kind of physical activity milestone over achievement. Today she has spent almost the entire day skipping, jogging, swimming and biking. When I asked her why she was exercising so much she told me excitedly that she has taken upon herself a 20 day fitness challenge! Imagine that - Kunju and a fitness challenge! The other day she excitedly told me in the pool that when she grows up she would like to be a swimming coach for little children!
She is definitely loving the physical phase of hers. So glad and so surprised to see her of all the people in this phase. As always I trust that this too has a reason and a huge learning for her. Making her mentally and physically strong , making her more determined, more challenged and most importantly embarking on a path of learning that comes from within.
As always the joys of witnessing it as a parent from a space of non- interference is unlimited!!

Lovely summer day - Shreedhari's swimming eagerness, Shruthkirti's diving and both babysitting.

Wow what a lovely day we had today. It was in the 90s and suddenly it's like summer has hit us with full force. The girls worked on their thank you notes to the Marine Science Institute for their field trip in the morning. And then after lunch, we left for Shoup park date with the PLL group. It was really hot and the girls played a bit with water play with the rest of the children. They seemed to enjoy it but we're rest less to get into the pool.
We came back home and immediately hit the pool. Shreedhari has been in a swimming frenzy since the past one week or so ever since the temp has raised. She is also in some huge swimming milestone conquering phase and has been so keen on swimming.
We had such a lovely time at the pool. Shreedhari swam from 4 feet right up till 8 feet with intermittent breaks along the wall. She was also diving in the lower depth to touch the floor. She seems so ready to go the entire length! Wow such a treat to watch learning when the readiness is there. To watch learning when it comes from within. During the same time Shruthkirti also urged me to come play diving with her and it was like as though life had come full circle today. It just felt like yesterday when I stood next to her in the pool encouraging her to swim a little more and today she teaches me how to dive. Watching her dive in the 8 feet depth to pick her goggles from the pool floor was really such a pleasure to the eyes. She was just like a fish- nothing other than that. So smooth, so effortless ! I on the other hand was gasping for breath and couldn't do more that 7 feet!
Wow...to have witnessed Shruthkirti diving is in itself a blessing. Swimming has really taught me the benefits and beauty of unschooling. To trust , to let go, to just be . And then learning be it swimming or anything else happens at its own space!
We came home from swimming and next door two yr old Aamir joined us to play with the girls when his mom left to pick up his elder brother. Again my heart filled with such love watching the girls play with Aamir. So natural, so kind..like they were born to be elder sisters. Just watching the three of them evoked in me feelings of wanting another one again. They played with him puzzles and ball , fed him, talked to him...so beautiful to see this nurturing.
Such an amazing day. Simple yet profound learning. The joy of watching from a space of non interference , from a space of letting be , from a space of letting learning happen is just so beautiful. I'm so thankful for a day like this. These are the days that let me know for sure that I'm on the right path.

Swimming playdate with friends from Spain

Today we spent the afternoon with Hsing friends Maria and her sons Lucas and baby Ikel. They are a part of our AWL park date and we have started to really enjoy each others' company off late . Myself and Maria and the children too. Chellu and Kunju love playing with seven yr old Lucas and also seem to really enjoy the baby! They played a lot pushing each other in an old play wagon, collecting huge amounts of what looked like some kind of seed in their dresses , checking out insects and finally hitting the pool even though it wasn't planned and they didn't have their swimsuits!

It was a miracle of sorts watching  Shreedhari swim today. She was not only swimming extremely confidently with prolonged amounts of time under the water but also diving and even touching the swimming pool floor! A bunch of other kids were playing diving to fish out plastic rockets and Shreedhari got really inspired and joined them too. It felt like she had dude lay caught up on years of swimming training in a day. Maybe I've been missing out on her swimming milestones or something but suddenly she seems so ready. She has been asking to go to the pool for the past few days whenever the temp is right ..the eagerness is suddenly there. Like she really wants to do it and her swimming also shows it off. How amazing it is to witness learning when it comes from within , when it comes from being totally ready for it!!

What a lovely day! The lunch, the conversations, the playing with the baby, the friendly , loving atmosphere of interested adults ....my kids thrive in such environments. In that sense it's not at all surprising that Shreedhari's swimming progressed by leaps and bounds. It was bound to happen.

As an individual I'm always so delighted to have friends from different parts of the world but with such similar ideologies and outlook towards life.  This is certainly one of the blessings of being in the Hsing community! 😀

06/03/2015 : Sports Co- op party

Today we celebrated the end of our sport co- op with a party. Our family was requested to get sweets and the girls totally voted in to bake. They chose to bake banana banana bread and vanilla mini muffins with icing.
The girls worked hard on it starting last night and continuing into today morning. Chellu was the chief chef which Kunju pitching in enthusiastically. They also piped in Tariq for a little bit of time coaching him on how to use the Vitamix etc..
The end product was awesome and a everyone seemed to really like it at the party. Needless to say Chellu was glowing like a queen and Kunju seemed very happy too. Always such a pleasure to watch the initiative, motivation, the happiness, the enthusiasm , the interest, the focus, the commitement and just the pure joy of doing something that comes from the heart. No amount of work is hard when it comes to cooking for Chellu. Her commitement to precision and perfection is really something. Glad this happened today and glad it turned out great!
Another amazing HS day!! Yay! Proud mama..😀