Well, after this weekend at the herb conference, so much has happened. First, I brought some of my products to one of the natural food stores here, Greenlife, and they are interested in some of my stuff. Yay! After my meeting at Greenlife, I went to another meeting with some other area herbalists. The North Carolina Chapter of the American Herbalist Guild has just been started here and I am now an official member. It’s very exciting! The conference this weekend really helped me see what an amazing area this is for herbalism. I am very lucky to be here in the middle of this ‘herbal revolution’! Then, just today, I got a call from the directer of the Southeast School for Herbal Healing and was asked to become a teacher with them!! I am extremely excited!!! Of course, being me, I am also very intimidated, it gives me heart palpitations 🙂 Well, my first classes will be on herb/drug interactions and running an herb business (this will be for the 2nd year students). Then in the spring, I will be teaching some basic courses (materia medica, medicine making…) to the first year students. Cool eh!! She (the director) and I met this weekend at the conference, but I am going out to the school next week for an official tour and stuff. AND, as if that weren’t enough. I just found out about this fantastic course (distance ed.) that Aviva Romm (very well known herbalist!) is teaching in which I could get certified as a Women’s Herbal Educator. I emailed her about it and she said I would “make a wonderful student”. So, I will probably start the course this fall (if I can find the funds!)! It will be a great refresher of basics, as well as lots of advanced herbalism that I need. The only thing that is lacking is actual clinical experience, which I hope to get with one of the local school this coming spring! WOW! I am feeling very blessed and a little overwhelmed. Now… when am I supposed to start homeschooling???
Congrats! Sounds delightful.
that’s awesome! homeschooling will just be part of your herbal teachings…she’ll be your apprentice! 😀
Wonderful! And congratulations on all fronts. The nice thing about homeschooling, I think, is the flexibility in terms of time. You’re not bound to an 8 to 3 M to F schedule with regimented lunch and recess and etc. times. With all this on your plate, it may take a bit more planning, but I’m sure that you and Kaia will find the time to fit in all kinds of educational fun — and I agree with Stella that herbs will likely figure prominently in the curriculum! I can think of so many possibilities — learning biology through experiments in the herb garden, learning math helping you measure herbs for a tincture, learning art as she draws what she sees in nature, learning writing by writing a poem about what the aroma of an herb reminds her of or writing an informative brochure about an herbal product and why it works, learning social studies as she comes to understand how the herb has been used over time and by different people in different places and cultures…the possibilities are everywhere!
Thanks! I have to keep reminding myself that homeschooling a 5 or 10 year old will be a whole different ball game than a 2 year old! She needs a lot more direction and watching over right now, so it is hard to imagine having a time when we can both sit down and read or when she will occupy herself without needing me beside her.
You know, I also struggle to remind myself that there will come a time when my daughter won’t need me to sit right with her all the time and guide her activities. I know from working with 3 year olds in the past that the time will be here before we know it!
I don’t want to push her faster than she is ready, but I know once she learns the basics of reading she will be very happy! She loves to sit down with books, but gets frustrated when she can’t “read” the story. I keep telling her to tell the story of the pictures, and she is getting better at that.