Home Learners Tuesday Pods

At the lyceum we believe in the adage that “mistakes are merely opportunities to learn”. We talk about this a lot in the realm of art and writing, but it was suggested by our home learners last year that taking it to the kitchen could produce some delicious results. 

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For our first term of the academic year, we’ll examine our relationship with food, how it shaped both culture and art, and the underlying influence it has on how we connect with others.

During the first 3 weeks students will explore how staple foods have played an essential part in how their related cultures evolve. Christianne will guide the group through stories that explore our intrinsic connection to food using the Lyceum’s unique library. 

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For the active learning portion of the class, we’ll take one of the staple foods each session (choosing from rice, potato and corn), and prepare it in three different ways. We will hold a taste test to quantify and measure the deliciousness of our labours. 

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For the latter half of the term we’ll dive into the light heartedness of baking disasters that ultimately became delicious successes. The value of developing children's culinary confidence can never be underestimated. To be able to feed ourselves and others is a lifelong skill from which you can continue to reap the rewards across years, decades, and generations.

Becoming someone else, even for a brief period of time, is one of the most freeing parts of childhood. The swoop of a cape, the anonymity of a mask, the power of the sword (not real of course), and the regality of a crown; you can be anyone you want, in any storyline or plot. 

 

We will begin this session by investigating the different roles community members took on to make a medieval village sustainable. We take time to appreciate the importance of each role. Then we’ll harness the magic of role play by encouraging students to create and step into a world of their creation. We’ll work through a carefully curated series of stories that focus on the significance of clothing/regalia in medieval times, before moving on to make our own. 

  

There’ll be enough time to search and seek materials from the Lyceum’s expansive stores, letting students take the lead on the number of layers and accessories.. 

 

So many intricate garments found their genesis on medieval stages. Heavy draping provided much needed warmth, chain mail protection, and natural fibres, a display of wealth. 

 

After bringing each student’s creation to life, the group will look at re-enacting different medieval scenarios, with roots firmly planted in the past. Our game master will announce the approach of invaders to the coastline, rousing villagers and protrectorates to come up with a plan that both protects their citizens and removes the threat of attack.

From as far back as we have records, humans have adorned themselves with gems and metals harvested from the earth. In this class, we’ll look at how different cultures value precious elements, the way they use them in dress, and the significance they hold spiritually and culturally. 

 

From heavily bejewelled crowns to woven cedar bark bracelets, we’ll look at it all. Materials were traditionally organic in nature, ranging from the unusual and exotic (elephant tail hairs and fossilised bones), to the more commonly recognised metals and ores.

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After time spent exploring stories that capture the power and beauty of traditional jewelry and armour, we’ll dive into a cornucopia of materials to create some of our own creations, both sculptural and as personal adornments. We’ll use wire as our base adding gems, shells, harvested animal teeth and thrifted treasures to take the form of either an amulet or a small free-standing piece. 

 

As a special, and unique experience, towards the end of the term, Kristal Viñas Diaz will lead the group through a session of hammered brass or copper bracelets (and rings if time permits). Kristal has been teaching youth and adults how to make jewellery for decades now and knows just the right words to guide inexperience to prideful accomplishment. Students will take home jewelry that’s been crafted with their own hands; something that in a time of relative impermanence, will last a lifetime.

Music is intrinsically linked to the human experience. Whether it’s the song playing in the background as you wait in the doctor’s office, or the distant hum of a car radio as you wait at the next red light, we attach memories to melodies at every intersection of life. People develop a specific taste for genres, soloists and bands, and sharing our music loves with others is one of the easiest ways in which we forge connections. 

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We’ll encourage participants to share their preferences for music, instruments, and artists. At the same time we’ll examine the unique compositional techniques used by the musicians they gravitate towards, and how performance styles influence their enjoyment of certain musicians over others. Students will be encouraged to make connections through their own sense of style and how that compares with the musicians they favour. No doubt this will culminate in persuasive presentations on the strengths, values and evolution of chosen artists. 

 

We’ll then translate what we have learned into something tangible, making musical instruments of our own, upcycling castaway objects at the same time. The sky is the limit when it comes to producing sound through our home made vessels. 

We’ll do a couple of jam sessions before presenting to parents, and with sharpies at the ready, you may have to allow extra time for autographs before heading on home with new tunes in your head.

Board games have made an incredible resurgence as a way for people to socialise without screens getting in the way. Whether it’s a carefully curated home party, or an outing to the newest board game cafe, activities like this transport us to a world where anything is possible and the realities of our troubled world melt away (lowering cortisol levels and releasing endorphins). 

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In this study pod, students will choose a game or two and research the history of their origins, before sharing these exciting findings with the group. To warm up each week, we’ll begin by playing a selection of games with individual participants bringing in their favourites to share with the group.

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As we study different boardgames and how they’ve evolved, we’ll start isolating what makes a game exciting and what makes it pass muster with a broad group of people. Is it the immersive experience of navigating new worlds (Catan, Wingspan, Lost Cities), or the almost meditative rhythm of play (Ticket to Ride, Battleship, Checkers)? We’ll glean insights from a new generation’s perspective before using these findings to build our own board game. 

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Every student will get the chance to try their own hand at creating a board game based around a subject they are interested in. With pretty much any building material at their disposal, and a thrifting trip to augment their stores, there are no limits on the form their game can take. 

In the last session, students will enjoy a Lyceum game cafe where they’ll try a rotation of the board games created, before taking home their own to play with friends and family for years to come.   

The history of reading, writing and bookmaking underpins every form of modern communication. Whether we’re aware of origin stories or not, we must at some point acknowledge the vast bank of intellect that has contributed to the written word of the 21st century. 

 

We’ll use these 6 weeks together to familiarise ourselves with history, starting with the seminal work from Douglas Crawford McMurtrie, The Book - The Story of Printing & Bookmaking. 

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Studying everything from stone tablets to Egyptian papyrus scrolls, the group will get to grips with the earliest forms of the book. 

 

Christianne will also guide the group through Johann Gutenberg’s journey to creating the first printing press. Before his invention, books and other written works were copied by hand, with hundreds of pages transcribed by monks and other scribes. Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press revolutionized the way information was disseminated and led to the printed volumes we leaf through today.

 

We’ll create a different form of book each week capturing the meaningful experiences of our students. Participants will leave with a compilation Zine that documents their experience with book making, incorporating the rich history they have come to know, love and appreciate. 

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Long term Lyceum community members will know that we are synonymous with small scale publishing, so expect professional results that you’ll want to have autographed.