Juniper Heartwood

Asleep in the Barn

Last week, the kids and I were camping at Ron Boyd’s majestic farm in La Villita, New Mexico. Fields of heirloom grains. Chiles, potatoes, newborn calves. Waist deep water, tumbled and flicked and splashed on too-hot friends. We drove tractors and mowed hay. We ate over fire, got sick of oatmeal, and thinned orchards full of fuzzy little peachlings. And slept. The kids dozed in an old horse barn, while bats flickered outside snapping up mosquitoes. Dreams, like rumbling old hooves, echoed through our nights. Shortly after returning, I recorded this podcast (scroll to top to listen) to commemorate the time, the story, and the fruitful reality that education and life can be part of our days and the living world. There is a significant movement to bring learning back into our lives - urban lives, rural lives, all diverse and autonomous lives. It’s all being built around one central tenet - a child’s education no longer needs to be acquired behind closed doors. Several years ago, after a massive effort following the publication of How to Tell Stories to Children [https://howtotellstoriestochildren.com/], I let go of a lot of storytelling infrastructure - websites, social media, podcasts, etc. It was just too much to keep it all running and teach full time, especially with the devotion I like to bring. I am slowly returning to this work, coupling it to my interest in education, and I’ll be sharing more of that in audio and video format in the coming weeks and months (a high quality recording of our play War & Peace is currently in post-production). I’m using projects like these to teach skills to the kids as well. Writing, always a passion, will continue to be present. If you enjoy what we do, please share our work. I’m attending a conference in Washington, DC June 13-15 [https://velacon.vfairs.com/] where I’ll be connecting with hundreds of other educators in a watershed movement trying to bring education back into children’s and families’ lives. Two days ago, our little community of parents and families put up two yurts in a splendid new location in the mountains where I’ll be teaching and learning next fall (see photos below). This movement is for real, and it’s increasingly easy to find people and resources to tap into. I’ll be sharing a lot of that in coming months and years. Having fun. Laughing. Learning. Telling beautiful and new stories about where we’re going as people, as children, as planet. Join us. The New Yurts Photos from the Farm Support the Juniper School and outdoor education by becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Juniper Heartwood at josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Writing the Wind

Is it possible to have a discourse between our senses and the natural world as we go about our education? This episode is a brief window into how the wind, and all of nature, informs learning and writing at the Juniper School. Get full access to Juniper Heartwood at josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

What is Attention?

What’s happening in a person’s body and mind when their attention is fully given? Stanislas DeHaene, a celebrated French neuroscientist who studies learning in the brain, gives us an excellent perspective. Once we understand what we're working with, we're far better suited to support students, parents, teachers, and ourselves in a lifelong love of learning. Get full access to Juniper Heartwood at josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Educating the Senses

Animal senses diversify and expand our learning. Drawing from the work of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ed Yong, visionary biologist Jakob von Uexküll, and birder Jon Young, this episode explains how a simple study of animal senses can broaden one's appreciation of what education is - both in the body and in the world at large. The practice is simple (and joyful) at any age - from toddler to elder. Get full access to Juniper Heartwood at josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephsarosy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]