We have done quite a few shows now, through the years we have been homeschooling. First we did a Shakespeare play, then “Jack and the bean stalk” as a play, then we did a Circus performance and then a musical that my oldest child wrote.
Around a year ago we met a Minstrel, who inspired us to do a Minstrel Show. He even agreed to take part in our show, which we greatly appreciated. Another homeschooling family also took part in the show and we trained together for 8 months.
It is always a great way to make new friends and bond with other like-minded people, working on these projects.
The children and the adults all worked together on writing the individual parts of the show and then on making the costumes, scenery, props.
When you homeschool you decide for yourself what you want to use your time on. You can plan your own day, week, month and year. You have the opportunity to be impulsive and take the chances that pass you by.
You can dive into the children’s interests and offer an interest based learning that turns on their enthusiasm. Most interest based learning brings around multiple areas of learning and often touches basic areas such as math, reading, writing and languages.
In our homeschool, the pupils are very creative, artistic, physical and likes to perform. When we met a doctor who is fighting against censorship in the media, we were offered a chance to be a part of a new TV channel called “Danmarks Frie Fjernsyn” and create our own channel on that TV channel.
The TV channel set up a studio for recording and streaming live TV from Nytorv in Copenhagen (the studio has now moved to Israels Plads). At that studio (which is called “Cuben”) we have performed live 3 times now.
It has involved a lot of learning. Our goal is to spread a positive idea with children and youths, that learning is fun and what makes people grow. There is too much focus on fear and negative news in the media and no solutions offered. We want to focus on how wonderful a gift life is and how grateful we can be every day that we are alive and experiencing this wonderful world.
If you want to see more, have a look at Danmarks Frie Fjernsyns website:
We prefer cash to digital money, when it comes to teaching the kids about money. The hand to brain connection is so much easier for children to grasp, that the imaginary world of digital money.
When you hold coins or notes in your hand, it is so much easier to get a realistic idea of how much you own. When you have spend your money physically with cash, they are gone. You cannot see them anymore. Much easier for children to take in.
Using cash instead of digital money will also help your kid (and most adults :)) to save money. It is much harder to give away cash in your pocket, than virtual money on the internet. So you will start saving, when you go back to using cash.
We did this little creative project with our 7 year old, when he was to make a present for his friend. We are so lucky in Denmark to have coins with holes in them. That made this project possible. A cash necklace.
“Mum, there is an exhibition at the museum Glyptoteket I REALLY want to see, and it is ending in a few days. We have to go soon!” So of we went. The exhibition was an excellent introduction to the history of Syria and the Middle East in general.
It was also very well explained how archaeology has evolved over time and how different areas of the planet earth has had the most interest on and off in the history of mankind.
The growth of the population, culture and art in certain areas of the world and the rise of wealth from trade, was also the subject of the exhibition. The decline of a city and its decent into oblivion, gave food for thought.
You can never grow tired of Glyptoteket. There is just so much classical art and history packed into that place. And what a wrapping! The whole place is a beautiful piece of art, with Mosaic floors, huge plants, a fountain and statues.
To make history come alive, we enjoy visiting museums. At the moment we are really fond of visiting museums with focus on one particular memorable historical person. We try to relate to that time when that person lived and understand how their lives has been. We get inspired and find energy from the strength and quirkiness of that person.
I have never really liked Karen Blixen. But the more we came across her in our studies and just what we were talking about at home, I more and more felt we had to go see her museum. I had seen the movie “Out of Africa” and I hated it. But as she was on our list to read on the public recommended list for primary school, I thought it was a good idea to give her a chance and keep an open mind. The kids should make up their own mind.
It is a very beautiful museum and lies in a very beautiful part of Denmark. The museum is in her old childhood home and it is also the place she spent most of her life. The museum staff was friendly and we felt were welcome. The museum has a sponsorship for fresh flowers to use for flower decorations around the museum. So the whole museum is full of beautiful fresh flower decorations and that together with Karen Blixens old furniture and stylish decor gives an all together peaceful setting.
There was so much that we didn’t know about her. That she was a brilliant painter. That she was an excellent storyteller. That she had made a pact with the devil. That she suffered from syphilis and a stomach disorder. That she had to struggle really hard to get her books published and was rejected many times. That she was first published in the USA. That she had met Marilyn Monroe.
The museum also had worksheets for the children to complete, which helped us get around and see the whole museum and not miss anything. The staff was also very helpfull with information.
Karen Blixen had a great advice for the next generation – The most important in life is to have courage, humour and love.
The view from the Karen Blixen MuseumCompleting the worksheetsThe beautiful roomsA young Karen BlixenWise words from Karen Blixen
Going to museums is one of our favorite things to do. We love them. Find them so inspiring. It doesn’t really matter what the subject is. Today we went to the Storm P. Museum. We had for a few years been using the ice skating ring next to the museum. Every time we had said:”We should visit that museum”. Well, today we got around to it.
Especially my oldest child was eager to go there. I knew Storm P. from my dad and remembered reading cartoons by Storm P. as a child, which we had lying around the house.
Storm P. lived from 1882-1949. He was an artist who took part in 20 movies, a comedian, a cartoonist, an author and poet. He is mainly known for his cartoons, which was used in newspapers and magazines.
The museum showed a very versatile Storm P. Many sides to Storm P. that I didn’t know. It was much more interesting that I had imagined.
There was also a temporary exhibition about the cartoon “Valhalla” which all my children knew, even though it was from the 1970-ties. We also took part in an assignment, where you should answer different questions around the museum.
We visited Ordrupgaard for the first time together as a family 2nd of September 2018. We wanted to see the installation “Geometry of Innocence”, by Mike & Doug Starn in the park.
It was a very impressive experience to see a construction in that size made out of giant bamboo. I have always loved installation art. It feels like you can explore an art piece on so many more levels, than a painting (I love paintings too, though). For children, installation art, can be a playground to explore.
The piece brings out many emotions and thoughts – this looks so fragile, will it fall apart when we enter it? Is it at all sensible to bring my beloved family to the top of it, just for entertainment? Will it fall down? How can it be so strong, when it just looks like one great organic mess?
It brought around many interesting questions. These were the children’s questions. Why have they made it? Is it dangerous? How many meters of rope have they used? How much bamboo? Why bamboo? Did they make a drawing first? Can I go up to the top again?
One thing we agreed on for sure, it was beautiful and fascinating.
We like to challenge ourselves with new projects. Challenge ourselves with stuff we are scared of, or put off, because it could be hard and uncomfortable.
Sleeping in shelters and going camping is new to us and has taken us a bit of time to get into. When we go into new areas we havn’t explored before, we do research. Loads of research.
We also find learning about geography from books and media hard to remember. It doesn’t really stick. What we have found, is that if we go somewhere it is easier for us to remember geographical locations. That can be an expensive way to learn 🙂 But we set ourselves affordable projects.
For many years we have wanted to visit Jutland, especially the Northern part. There is so much unique nature to see there, which we wanted to show the children.
As we did not have much money, we decided to sleep in shelters and go camping in out tents.
The first night we slept in a shelter in Moesgaard Forest close to Århus. We found out that there often is very far to walk to the shelters with all your stuff. So we got free exercise. We had a lovely evening with fire and singing. When the night came, we were presented with extreme weather experiences with lightning, thunder and massive rain. We are still happy to have survived.
Moesgaard forest shelter.The Moesgaard forest was right next to the sea.
During the day we visited Moesgaard Museum, which is an historical museum where you can see Gravballe man. Read about the museum here: https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/en/
Moesgaard Museum.Life and death exhibition at Moesgaard Museum.Sun ceremony at Moesgaard Museum.
We also had the opportunity to meet up with 2 other Home Schooling Families from Jutland at the museum. The museum has a lot of interactive elements in the exhibitions, which is a great way to involve you in the different time periods.
The next day we decided to stay at a Campsite, we had visited last year, and knew they had a great pool. During the day we visited “Den Gamle By i Århus” which is a large area where you can visit different time periods in Danish history: https://www.dengamleby.dk/en/den-gamle-by/
Soap shop in Den Gamle By. Ford T.1970 at Den Gamle By.Amusements at Den Gamle By.Camping by Århus.
We then drove to Skagen. On the way we stopped at the shelter and free camping site that we had read about. But the weather was very wild and rainy so we started to talk about spending a bit to rent a cabin. We walked out to the shelter and it was a beautiful place and free (not so strange in that weather 🙂 but another thunder and lightning weather was on the way and the majority vote in the family was towards renting a cabin at a campsite. The main complaint was that we would have to walk 4 km in rain out to the shelter. So we drove around a few campsites until we found a free cabin. What luxury! A roof over our heards. Come thunder and lightning, we were ready.
Crazy weather.On the way to the shelter we will come back to another time.The Cabin at Råbjerg Mile Campsite.
After having found accommodation we drove to Skagen Museum and saw the Krøyer exhibition and the main exhibition about the Danish Skagen painters.
Skagen Museum.
We then decided to go full spending, and went out to eat at a traditional fish restaurant at Skagen Harbour. The kids said:”Now we have tried the top and the bottom of living”.
Skagen fish restaurant.
To save money, we decided the next 2 days to move into our tents again, but to stay at the same campsite. Because they had both an outdoor and an indoor pool 🙂 The children were hooked on the place.
Jacuzzi at the campsite.
From there we had a quick drive to Råbjerg Mile. A large area with sand, which moves 15 meters towards the North-East every year.
Råbjerg Mile.Råbjerg Mile.
Then we drove to see the sanded down church. We climbed the tower. We then tried to emagine the 20 meter church below the ground.
The Sanded Down Church.
Then on to see the Rugbjerg Knude Fyr, which is just about to slide into the ocean and disappear. But they will try to make an attempt to move it further into the land.
Rugbjerg Knude Fyr.
We then drove to Lønstrup to visit another friend and Home Schooler. Lovely evening with dinner, talk and play. The drive back to our campsite presented us with a magical natural phenomenon. There was sea fog all over. It looked so beautiful.
Sea Mist.Sea Mist.
When we got back to the tent our air mattresses had punctured and we had to sleep straight on the ground. Our backs really got straightened out 🙂
The next day, we tried to repair our air mattresses, but no luck, so had to go buy new ones. We then drove to Grenen and spoiled ourselves with a tractor drive out there. Some of us had a swim in the two oceans – Skagerak and Kattegat. The weather was lovely that day.
Grenen.
Our oldest daughter had brought her physics book on the holiday, so we could work a bit with it in the evenings. Today she read about center of gravity, torque and force times arm. We explored some of it by doing gymnastics.
Center of Gravity.
We then had a very rainy night and had to pack some very wet tents and other wet stuff together in the car. Then we set off towards our final goal – Farmfun at Ålbæk. We had booked a Junglehut for 1 night. We also met up with 2 more Home School families there. Farmfun is a great place with a mix of farm animals but also many exotic animals. You can got close to many of the animals and the animals are really calm and thriving. There is also obstacle courses and labyrints. You can also play in the barns and try a cable car. Frankly, despite the rain, it was a wonderful place.
White eared silk monkeys. They were so curious and cute!Playing in the barn in rainy weather.You could buy vegetables to feed the animals with.Our cabin was the highest one – the Giraf Cabin.Barbecue in the evening in one of the barns.Early morning trip around the farm feeding all the animals.Feeding the Camel named Anker.
Farmfun was a wonderful free place to be. To sleep in the Jungle Cabins was a magical adventure. Imagine sleeping in a Tree House right above an Emu, having all the animals around you, with all their special sounds and smells. When we opened the door to our cabin in the morning, 3 cats stormed into our cabin and had a party. When we got back home we really missed the animals and the spirit of Farmfun.
On this trip we confronted a lot of limits we had (mostly the mother, the kids and the husband are dead cool on that behalf 🙂 We survived heavy thunder, lightning and rain. Digged a toilet in the forest and survived using it 🙂 set up the tents and took them down most days, moved from one place to another every day, slept in a different bed every night, slepts without a mattress. Swam in the ocean without having brought a towel or swimsuit. We feel we have gained courage and confidence.
1 year ago our oldest daughter started writing a musical. After 6 months she had completed the the manuscript. During the writing, she had already knowledge of who would likely we taking part in the musical as actors.
We got a team together and started meeting up 3 hours every second week. We started out with designing the costumes, and making them. My oldest daughter wrote the lyrics for the songs and my second oldest daughter put together the choreography.
We then started practicing the songs, the acting and the dancing. We made a poster and started getting an audience together who would like to see it.
On the day, we also held a bazar with different stalls. We calculated the prices together with the children and break even for the things on sale.
It was a great learning experience for the children and the grown ups.
In a society where the main focus is on the benefits of age segregation, we focus mainly on the benefits of age integration in our home school. Learning to mix with all age groups gives you a greater tolerance and understanding of the different periods of human life. You will learn not to fear death, but accept it as a part of life, just as giving birth to little helpless babies. To see and feel that humans have different needs and abilities during a life span is a great part of learning to be a complete person. To show compassion with elders, who do not react as fast as young people, may have age handicaps, and to see them as wise experienced people that you can learn from.
Last year my mother died and left my dad on his own after more than 50 years of marriage. This has given us an opportunity to take care of him and learn all those exiting skills from him, that he knows.
Luckily, he enjoys telling about his life and about his experiences.
He has taught the children how to draw perspective:
