Open Day :: Imbolc

We'll be holding our very first open day at co-op on Thursday, August 21st and we'd love it if you'd join us! Seasonal celebrations have always been such a wonderful way to bring our families together to mark the nature and abundance around us, so we'll be creating seasonal celebrations for each of our open days going forward.

Our first winter open day will be a belated celebration of Imbolc. Traditionally, Imbolc is a time when we first start noticing the stirrings of spring. It's a celebration of the passing of winter,  the lengthening days and stirring seeds give us hope for the warmer seasons ahead. Imbolc is a wonderful time to mark new beginnings and to set plans into action. It's a time of reawakening and a beautiful time to welcome our friends to co-op.

Open day activities will include:

* Yarn bombing our beloved tree with colour and love. Sadly, the tree we gathered under was pruned to a tall stump a few weeks ago, so we saw fit to nurture it and create some new happy memories with it. We'd love contributions of hand knitted or crocheted squares, blankets or lengths of fabric or yarn to cover what's left of our tree on the day.

* Making seed bombs to plant in the co-op grounds or take home and plant in your garden at home. A little guerrilla gardening and seasonal observance all in one…

* Beeswax candle rolling and decorating - for lighting the remaining days of winter through to spring!  There will be a small additional cost for this.

We've discovered some public barbecues in from of the hall, so we intend to make use of these on the day, so bring along anything you'd like to cook up for your family or to share.

The open day will cost $4 per family. All are welcome to come along and join in, both old and new friends! We hope to see you there! xx

Our Tree...

Quite shockingly, one day we arrived at co-op to find our beloved tree severely pruned back to a tall stump. You can read more about it here.

We hadn't realised just how much of the magic of our little co-op had been wrapped up in that beautiful, shady tree. But it's something we've come to realise in the weeks since.

We'll be planning a yarn bombing project for the tree, to make it a cheerier place to be and to honour what was. We're hoping friends from our wider community might feel moved to join in and celebrate with us and look forward with us...

Fungi Walking

One of the fantastic things about co-op is the sharing of knowledge, within the group and across generations. By learning together, we share skills and new ideas and parents learn alongside children, meaning information can be delved into more deeply away from co-op as more questions arise… And it keeps us adults inspired to learn new things too!

One of our parents is an avid fungi enthusiast and offered to lead a fungi walk in some bushland just down the road from our cottage. We were a bit amazed by the diversity so close to town! Highlights included seeing a number of earth star fungi and some beautiful early orchids hiding along the bank, beside a creek. So much beauty around us everywhere and it's wonderful to slow down and acknowledge it together, if only fleetingly.

Co-op Highlights

We've had such a wonderful time watching our co-op grow and for families within our community forge friendships. We've celebrated the seasons, tended our garden, played in the sunshine and our very first camp. Here are a few highlights of the past year or so…

The neighbourhood garden...

We began tending our neighbourhood garden plot in earnest in February and we've been astounded at what a small group of enthusiastic children can do in such a short time! Working together, they've weeded...




Dug and composted...




And prepared our garden for planting. In just the last half hour of each co-op day we've managed to prepare a beautiful plot. The children have learnt lots already about soil, water and weeds... Last week they noticed that the compost felt warm under their feet and so discussion of the composting process, bacteria and soil began... But not only that, they're discovering the beauty of working together and all mucking in to create something co-operatively to be proud of... Tomorrow we plant our first seeds and watch our little garden grow food for us to share! Our hope is that each family will have some food to take home, and that we might harvest enough for a cooking day in the hall. So much to look forward to and share... we're looking forward to watching this tiny co-op grow and flourish too!

A little catch up...

Our co-op has been back in full swing this year, after a little break over the summer. Activities since last year have included ice-cream making, using an old wooden churn, Christmas crafts, spy club, art workshops and loads and loads of play in the playground and the open field.




Our meets are now weekly, every Tuesday afternoon from 12pm. The hope is that with continuity, or numbers will grow and a solid group of regulars will form and a strong little community will grow from it. Activities tend to be fairly low-key these days, with families bringing along interesting things for the children to participate in if they like. If a larger venue is required, the main hall is available to us and with this set-up our options are really without limit.

We now have a plot at the local neighbourhood garden, just behind the cottage. We've also started a small book-swap library where we can bring good quality used books that we've finished reading and read them at co-op, or take them home if they are useful or loved. No need to return the book, just replace it with another that you've finished with.

Do pop along and join in the fun. All are welcome and we look forward to spending some time with you!

Activities for co-op

We have lots of exciting new things happening at co-op over the next few months! I'm looking forward to the sunshine bringing people out of hibernation too and having a fab time together. So, here's what we have to look forward to - besides spring!...

After speaking with most of the group, it's been agreed that a better time to go to the Marine Discovery Centre will be the 20th of November... Lots of time to put it in our calendars and hopefully the weather will be sunny and warm, so we can potter on the beach nearby.

Yoga Bugs will be joining us on September 4th for a free yoga class to trial. If everyone loves it, they are also able to offer us a program of regular visits to co-op for as much yoga as we like! I'll have more details of that soon, but you can check out their website here.

Fran has kindly organised for wildlife carers Stephanie and Wayne Clarke, the Coordinators of Southern Wildlife Tasmania, to come and talk to us on September 18th. Here's a brief run down of what they might talk about:

- what we do as wildlife carers and the role of Southern Wildlife

- what you can do to help our wildlife, including dogs and cats

- what to do when you see dead wildlife on the road

- what to keep in your car to help wildlife - pillowcase, etc

- feral animals

- roadkill & roadkill prevention

- who to call

- we also talk about how special some species of wildlife are

- We also have a small flyer that we ask the children to give to mum or dad and ask them to put it in their car so that when they come across any wildlife there are instructions on the flyer to help them to help the wildlife as well as the Southern Wildlife rescue phone number."

If you think you'll be at Stephanie and Wayne's talk, please let me know by email, on facebook or in the comments section below and I'll pass that on to Fran so that they can prepare adequately for the day. 

If you feel like organising something at any time, or if you know someone with a fantastic skill they could share or talk about, please feel free to set aside a day and let me know. It's so great when we all get involved as a community in organising something mutually beneficial for our families. And it's easier than you'd think ;) 

See you at co-op! 
Lauren. xx

Gadget dissection at co-op!

It was lovely to see some new faces at co-op last week.  We all had a great time pulling apart things to see what makes them work. Some of the adults had just as much fun. Who knew destroying things could be so much fun?! You can learn so much when you pull things apart - just ask my toddler ;)



There were type writers, remote control cars, keyboards, heaters, telephones, clocks... all manner of things. All pulled apart enthusiastically. For those too small to join in, there was playdough.



The useful bits from our deconstructive fun, were swept aside for next week when we'll turn them into inventions! Lots of us are looking forward to that.



After lunch and a play and a warm cuppa, we wandered through the community garden to check out the community beds we have been invited to tend while we wait for our own plot *. We managed to stay until 3.30pm, when the sun dropped down behind the hill and it became a little too chilly for the playground. All in all, a fun day!

If you'd like to come along next week and make an amazing invention, please bring along some bits and pieces you don't need anymore, to add to the left over gadget bits. Some glue, tape, hot glue guns, scissors... anything you think might be useful. All would be appreciated! See you then. xx

* There's a working bee at the community garden in a couple of weeks. Please let me know if you're interested and I'll forward the info to you. 

Marine Discovery Centre Visit and a Community Garden Plot!

We've penciled in a visit to the Marine Discovery Centre on Tuesday 28th of August. We'll be participating in a hands on program making art, fish printing, doing a little foreshore study and exploring the touch tanks. It's pitched at K-6, so should fit our large age range nicely. Cost to attend will depend on numbers... If you're keen to come along, please email Lauren at owletmama@gmail.com

Also, we are waiting our very own co-op plot at the community garden located behind the cottage. It shouldn't be too long, but if you're keen to get involved, we've been invited to attend working bees and help tend the neighbourhood plot (which means we can help ourselves to surplus vegies too!). Let Lauren know if you are interested.

Don't forget that if you'd like an update on anything happening at co-op, make sure you subscribe to receive this blog via email (see the little subscribe button top right). Or, you could join our facebook group. Look forward to seeing you at co-op soon!

Fun for all!

One of the lovely things about a gathering of home educating families is the range of ages in children and how they all get along together. There's a certain joy in it... Before the advent of schools and spending all day with children you own age, it was the norm for children to spend their days in mixed-age and family groupings. In my home, I have three children aged 8, 5 and 18 months and they all manage to play together harmoniously for much of the day. They will spend time gravitating towards activities which are more age appropriate for a portion of the day, which we accommodate, but they always reconnect and enjoy time together as the day rolls along.

At co-op, we often see older children working studiously on a particular task, younger children working with the help of their parents... or like my middle child, playing all day and daydreaming... and the tiniest of the lot enjoy spending the day trying to catch up to the big kids, returning for reassurance and cuddles... and the odd nap. Generally there are times when they're all at play together and enjoy that space. The oldest may find themselves acting as leaders, or enjoy spending time with the adults. One of the loveliest things we can do at co-op is provide a space for all children to follow their natural rhythms. To spend some quiet, insular time indoors perhaps, or some exuberant outdoor play with the group... And as parents, we can support them, and each other, in providing that space to make the day roll along smoothly... It's what community is all about!

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If you're thinking about unschooling or home educating your children, but they are only tiny, now is a great time to reach out and find a community to support you and friends to keep the days bubbling along nicely... Eventually other friends may join the schooled ranks, but if you're fortunate, as my family have been, that community will be already strong and supportive. Start a co-op, find your tribe, or come along to ours!