Origins: Holistic Learning & Regenerative Practice by Originateve

Back in 2018, Garris almost joined ranks with the menace-making Originateve certified mentors set to stir up the right kind of trouble at the brand new MasterTree kindergarten in Shishi, China. His journey, however, would take him into a deep dive into the ESL world where he, thankfully, hit a great wall of sorts in 2021 when president Xi Jinping said, "enough is enough" and shut down, a...

Puppeteer Zach Stock joins us to discus his regenerative lifestyle in craft and action.

How does understanding and supporting neurodivergent learning benefit all students? In this episode we are joined by David Dolezal, a friend and father who brings us insights on his journey raising a neurodivergent child. We explore the benefits of nature play for being the catalyst for expression. David walks us through his process of learning the unique lens with which his son sees the world and...

In this episode we interview Sleepy and Mitch from Blackbird Renaissance, a movement to bring forth creative, regenerative and authentic community networks. The conversation covers the challenges of creating a parallel system to the current paradigm where participants can drive meaningful change. Learn more about the Blackbird Renaissance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0856RlA0ClU

This is a rich conversation with seasoned Ecological Educator Peter Kindfield. Peter reveals his insights on moving from an "All Children Left Behind" system to educational environments that mutually "leak value" between the participants. Highlights include: Home School Learning Communities Synthesis through Integrating Dualities (chaos: domesticity) Assessment Feedback Loops E...

In this episode we digest some of the nuances and challenges of working with calendars and revisit the origins of how we developed a cyclical leveling system for assessing development by connecting with the Mayan sacred calendar. A big shout out to antimoon.com for their content that helped provide direction and reassurance in fluid language learning. Thanks guys!

Carl and Ron reflect on how their time abroad has changed the way they consider their relationship to country.

Music is a fundamental part of early literacy. Engaging old folk songs employs rich language and allusions that inform critical thinking and cultural development. In this episode, Pete Best-Hall joins us to discuss our journey with song and early childhood instruction.

In this episode we continue the conversation of plants as mentors and draw out the analogies to holistic education. Rudionna Garza joins us to share her journey and insights as a regenerative gardener and lead mentor of FLORA: the Forest Laboratory of Regenerative Arts.

This week we had the fortune to speak with Nathan Hastler Brooks of Tine and Toil Farm in Pottstown, PA. Nathan walks us through how he came to community based agriculture, the leap to running his own operation, and his relationships with plants and the soil. Learn more about Tine and Toil Farm at: https://www.tineandtoilfarm.com

Where do you get your wild harvest processed? In this episode we speak with Chester Emmons and Justin Howard of Chester's Wild Meat and Game Processing in Kalamazoo Michigan. Chester Emmons (yes, Carl's brother) describes his journey as an independent butcher and how he has grown a successful, community-oriented deer processing business. https://chesterswildmeat.com/

In this final episode of season 3 (Calli), we review the essay by Thomas Moore "Educating for the Soul" which appears in Holistic Learning And Spirituality In Education: Breaking New Ground (2005), edited by John P. Miller and more. We discuss the idea of breaking from the path of secular/conventional education that is not designed to teach for the soul. Why is the soul important? How mi...

Kristina Flint, Mama Chief of Children of the Wild forest school in Casco, Maine joins the podcast this week to discuss her venture into an in-home early learning business. We address challenges to launching into a solo endeavor and the people who inspire us to tale the leap.

How do we allow space for the unexpected to drive learning? How do we suppress our need for control in order to see the never-before-seen moments germinate into authentic relationships that build trust and fruits of development for all participants in the learning environment? In this episode: Herman Hesse- Beneath the Wheel- What is the aim of conventional education? Penetrating our little boxes...

How does the design of a Learning Environment propel or limit learning potential? In this episode: Designing a learning environment to move beyond utilitarian function and secular aesthetics to exalt something greater than us. How does the design of a learning environment (and sometimes the adults themselves) limit growth? Rant on why children should be able to eat snow. Learning Pods and Forest S...

Kevin Smith is a renowned drummer based in Denver, Colorado. In this episode Kevin walks us through his journey as a drummer over more than six decades of music evolution. Kevin grew up mingling with high profile celebrities and musicians being the son of Kenny Smith, co-founder of Taylor's Supper Club, a popular venue on West Colfax through the 50s and 60s. He recounts the grief of losing his you...

How do our resources define our relationship with our ecology and creativity? In this episode Carl and Ron discuss the evolution and process of developing a creative eye for seeing the possibilities in turning refuse into resources for holistic learning environments.

Buzzing this week . . . Jenn Bonilla reminisces about her process of learning English in an immersive, hands-on environment of anything-goes learning with los Gringos Locos at Studio 1 (Amerikanoestudios) in Esparza, Costa Rica. She describes her process of adopting two children within the Costa Rican social system. Jenn also emphasizes the importance that hearing stories and myths at the studio h...

Matthias Zimmerlin is a vice principal at the Peter Thumb School in southern Germany. Matthias and Carl met when Carl's punk band was touring Germany in the mid 2000s. Now they reconnect having both ventured into education. We dig into School Development through Change Concept of Performance and look for shared insights between the current education qualities of Germany and the U.S. A question we...

Put the wild back in education! More crazy holistic education stories as we discuss deepening relationships with animals. In this episode we discuss some ways that animals (dead or alive) help add enrichment to education. We share ways that we have used road kill, sudden death of class pets, and hunting byproducts as (inexpensive) class resources. We explore these practices as veneration for the a...

This episode kicks off season 3 (Calli) and explores the practice of exchange that happen and in many ways dictate the ways relationships are built and maintained within communities. How do we build relationships and educational leverage without grades? Where is value expressed that goes beyond the cash transaction?

How do we give a gift to something bigger than us?  How can education include service, celebration, and veneration to non-human elements responsible for life?  Carl talks about corporate culture: contradictions, exploitations, and immature leadership.  What constitutes a gift for the divine? Why investing in local relationships is more regenerative than mining exotic cultures of tou...

Educator, coach, father, writer Micah Sturr joins us this week where we discuss a shift of focus from merit to virtue in instruction. Micah brings his positions as a high school girls basketball coach and English teacher to frame what works on the court that doesn't happen in the classroom.   

Andrew Culp takes Carl and Ron through his journey as an educator from fourth grade teacher to principle to educational entrepreneur. He reflects upon the keystone events that guided him to founding Anvil Academy, an adventure hybrid school for boys in their middle school years. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-culp-51667823/ https://theanvilacademy.org/ #homeschooling #educationReform #holistic...

Ron and Carl bring in special guest Dr. Paul Darvasi who is an educator, game designer, and researcher who keynotes, lectures, writes and consults on the intersection of digital games, simulations, narrative, social justice, culture and learning and happened to be Carl's high school teacher of English in Santiago de Chile. Carl and Paul revisit those early years and hash out life as a game touchin...