Monthly Archives: November 2014

unschooling

Thursday

They worked a  bit on computer coding this morning with Scratch on Hour of Code.

Then there was Lego building and imagining.

Lilah read me an Elephant and Piggie book and Gavin read me Pete The Cat And His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin.

We went to the aquarium.  On the way we listened to a bit more of the Howl’s Moving Castle audio book.  One of the river otters was awake so we watched him swimming.  We saw sharks, shark eggs, shark teeth, crabs and urchins being fed.  We saw lots of cuttle fish, some swimming, some hiding, some almost invisible in the sand.  The octopus was awake but quiet.  We got to see an octopus beak today, from a deceased octopus.  It was only the size of the tip of my thumb but the person sharing with us said it came from an octopus bigger than the one they have now.  She showed us shark eggs and said that they lay them every day.  After that we looked closely and spotted the eggs in the tank with the sharks!

 

There was a huge blue crab who was jumping and dancing.

There were tiny black and white fish who’d just been released from their dad’s mouth after being kept safe inside for 21 days!

We visited the penguins and learned about what they eat and why their feathers looks more like fur.

I learned wood ducks are native to Utah and that they are called wood ducks because they nest in holes in tree trunks instead of on the ground.

We marveled at the huge river fish with scales that are inches across.  We watched the African Grey parrot preen himself and chatter, then squawk raucously when left alone.  While the kids crossed the rope bridge several times, I spotted as many rainbow colored frogs as I could.  Here are two: a  beautiful yellow one the size of a baby’s hand and a striped one the size of the tip of my finger.

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When we got home, we worked out a few puzzles in Chocolate Fix, our sudoku puzzle set.

Then it was time for Gavin and Chris to drive to soccer and Lilah and I to do some salsa dancing at home.

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unschooling

Wednesday

They watched an episode of Peg + Cat and played with the train set first thing today.

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The kids had a doctor appointment this morning so we hurried through breakfast (and I did my best not to knock over any train track that was meandering under the table and my chair) and took some books to read with us while we waited.  We started a new book: Matilda by Roald Dahl, one of my favorites.  The kids did well with getting immunizations, even though they were both nervous.  The nurse was fantastic at being fast and distracting them so they barely noticed.  I was quite possibly more grateful for her skill than the kids as it’s been really scary for them in the past and there have been many tears and pleadings on their part and worries on my part about having to just hold them down and get through it by force, rather than support and encouragement.

When we got home we finished the first chapter of Matilda.

They made pendants out of Legos to fit on the chains they got at the doctors’ office.

We watched an episode of Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey and learned about plants.

There was more train track building and loading the cargo containers up.

Lilah read me How To Babysit A Grandpa by Jean Reagan.

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We drew together.  We took turns adding one thing (a shape, line, pattern, concept) to the paper until we felt done.  Maybe tomorrow we’ll add color!

The kids asked to play Spanish games so they both took turns doing that.  They’re working on color names and days of the week still.

Gavin and Chris and I played a game of Magic the Gathering and Lilah was my consultant and die keeper.

Then it was time to pop some popcorn for Spiral Scouts.

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The three of them headed off to learn about computer coding (well, Chris probably won’t be learning too much, since it’s what he does for a living) while I stayed home to have a little time to myself and do some yoga.

Here they are coding!

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While they were away I put out their pajamas, but I dressed a stuffed pony in Lilah’s and a stuffed panda in Gavin’s.  Lilah had made a sweet request the other day that I put their pajamas on their animals sometime soon (It’s something I’ve done a few times before to amuse us all) so I thought tonight was a perfect opportunity.  When they went into their room there was lots of giggling.

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unschooling

Monday

They began with computer play time and watching Pound Puppies and Wild Crats.

We headed out for a grocery trip.  “Mama, can we get flowers?  I like these daaaark purple roses.”  “What’s the (bulk bin) number for the lentils?”  “Where is the yogurt?”  “Let’s get rainbow carrots!”  “Hey kids, did you see these tiny apples?”  “Ooooh, we could have tiny apple slices!”

After putting groceries away and lunch there was play with Legos and ponies.

We did some Spanish practice together – days of the week, colors, months today.  The kids did some more Spanish word matching games on their own while I started a stew in the slow cooker.

Gavin read several stories from the National Geographic Kids magazine.  After we read about a big cat researcher in Tanzania, we got down our globe and found where she is and talked about what we know about that part of Africa.

We all headed out – to gymnastics for Lilah and soccer practice for Gavin.  They both got a few minutes to watch the other too!

We came home and the kids and I read some library books and a chapter of Searching For Dragons while Chris escorted another mouse we caught to it’s new home in the canyon.  Then we had dinner together, and cuddles and songs and bed.

 

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unschooling

Friday

They began with playing coolmathgames.com.

Then they moved on to Lego play, interspersed with a game they made up with one of them as puppeteer and controls the other one’s movements.

We made some mini donuts for breakfast.

We played a few games of Chess an Lilah did some gymnastics.

After that we headed off to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  Here they are watching themselves appear on a screen in front of them.

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They climbed and slid.  They put on puppet shows and made stop motion animation movies.  They explored the Magic Shop.  They spun and zip-lined.

On the drive to and from we listened to a recording of Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones, one of our favorite movies as well as an excellent book.

When we got home, there was just enough time for a game of Mermaid’s Island for the kids while dinner was finished up.

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unschooling

Thursday

We got up and got ready to go to Kingsbury Hall to watch the Big Bad Musical by Univ. of Utah Youth Theatre.

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It was a fun story with beautiful costumes, catchy songs and had actors as young as 8 up to 17.  The audience voted for one of three different endings, so it was fun to participate in the storyline.  The kids had a wonderful time watching and then we stopped at the playground between the theatre and our car for a few minutes on the way home.  The leaves are coming down and our feet crunched across them on our way.

When we got home there was Lego play and lunch.

We decided we wanted more park and playground time so Gavin got his bike out and we headed to our local park. There was swinging, sliding, racing, monkey bar crossing and fly observation. (The slide has been covered with tiny flying insects the last several visits.)  When we got home, they worked together to bring Gavin’s bike up the steps.  I watched as they worked out how to do it together and succeeded without any support even though the bike is quite heavy.

 

Gavin and I played a game of Chess while Lilah watched and made suggestions.

The mice have been coming in since the weather has gotten colder and our live, humane trap caught one of them.  The kids like watching them for a bit before we take them out of our neighborhood and let them go.

 

Soon it was time for Gavin’s soccer game.  The kids went with Chris to that while I stayed home to squeeze in a workout.

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unschooling

Wednesday

There was Katamino playing and building.  In Katamino you race against your opponent to fill your box completely without leaving spaces.  You each get a certain set of blocks.  It’s a bit like Tetris but with real blocks.  Plus, you can build animals out of the blocks after your game.  Lilah made a pony with mane and tail.  And then there was Mermaid Island playing, a cooperative game.

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They played in their world populated today by Lego creatures and landscapes.  They spend quite a bit of time deciding what kinds of pieces to use for what.  Here I think they are looking for parts for a dog they are going to make.

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Gavin and I played Chess.  We finished two games and then Lilah wanted to play with me.  In the game with Lilah there was lots of knocking pieces over on purpose along with explaining how different pieces move.  Gavin’s gotten a whole lot better than last year at anticipating moves and seeing possibilities, but our games are still very lopsided.  I will often point out to him that he’s moving into a dangerous position to help us both enjoy it more and give him a better chance.  I have many fond memories of playing Chess when I was younger and often feeling quite frustrated by my own abilities not being what I wanted them to be.

Gavin requested again that we get No Stress Chess which is a set of cards that levels the playing field by telling you which piece to move every turn.  I definitely think it would be fun to do that with the kids when they are just beginning to get the idea of the game.

Then it was time to go roller skating.  Today the kids both skated on their own for about a half hour before wanting the balance supports the rink offers.  They are doing great but I think they get tired and then prefer the supports because it’s more fun to worry less about falling.  Pretty soon they’ll be zooming around me out on the rink.  They’re getting close!  We like to give high fives as we skate past each other.

After skating we came home and had dinner together and then read another chapter of Searching For Dragons before bed.

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unschooling

Tuesday

There was computer play time and lots of Lego play time.

We read some poems about weather together, from a collection of many poets, all about weather.  The kids kept asking for more.  This was one of my favorites: I’ll Tell You How The Sun Rose by Emily Dickinson.

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We also looked through and talked about the book A Street Through Time by Anne Millard which illustrates a street (piece of land) in different time periods, explaining some of the differences.  It was fascinating!  Gavin especially liked the Roman town page.  We were all very interested in the different boats and how they changed.  Lilah was interested in the different kinds of shops in different time periods and couldn’t quite get her head around the idea of no shops in the very earliest time period shown.

We went to the library to return books and choose new ones.  They enjoyed the ice cavern reading room on this visit.  On the way home, Gavin read three or four new books and Lilah read one or two.

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Lilah and I picked up her friend for a playdate.  They were very excited since it had been about two weeks since they last saw each other.  There was Lego playing and dressing up as ninjas, flamingos, Green Lantern and just in fancy dresses.

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unschooling

Monday

I am finally back to blogging after a long break for a trip to California where we visited family, camped and explored beaches.

It was such a good time, but it’s good to be back at home and back to our routine.

This morning Gavin has built his own Lego iPhone and immediately got dressed so he could put it in his pocket.

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They worked on other Lego creations together.

We read a book about famous paintings and then a chapter of Searching For Dragons.

There was more Lego imagining.  Gavin read a catalog that came in the mail while Lilah spent some time loving on our cat.

Gavin worked on an email to his grandparents about Halloween fun.

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We all played several games of Phantom Society, changing who was playing as ghosts and who was playing as ghost hunters.  We’re playing this one quite a bit these days.

Before long it was time to go – Lilah and I to gymnastics and Gavin and Dad to soccer practice.  I heard that Gavin practiced headers and had a 5 on 5 mini-game.  Lilah worked on bridges, cartwheels, handstands.  She enjoys it so much!  This session there are about 9 kids and they split in two for most of the class so she gets much more attention and the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

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