Author Archives: erin

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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unschooling

Friday

There was computer play and Strawberry Shortcake watching.

Gavin rebuilt his Lego game, with new pieces and new directions.  They played with that after he was done setting it up.

Then we began painting the costume again!  Gavin and Lilah set to work painting the entire torso piece blue while I put some more brown on the hair and painted the mask/bandana blue.  We cut and glued some black mesh behind the holes for Gavin to see out of and then painted blue over the exposed bits.

We admired a tomatillo husk from the garden that has weathered and is now just the fibrous bits, like a ball of lace.  It made a beautiful shadow in the autumn sunlight.

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Soon the torso piece was ready for us to draw the details on in pencil and begin painting them.

I painted the white, black and dark blue and the kids worked on the gold.

While we were waiting for those to dry we went to the park.

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Gavin rode his bike and Lilah and I walked.  We brought some hotwheels to race around.

There was monkey bar crossing and hanging upside down.

We looked at how objects make crisp, clear shadows down low to the ground but vague, soft-edged shadows up higher.

And more car racing.

When we got home it was time to put the finishing touches on the costume.  We added the second coat of gold because it was not very opaque the first time and then I painted the lightning on and did various other touch-ups.  Gavin tried it on and it looks great!  He’s very excited!  I am very happy it’s ready to go!

Lilah put on her skates and played tag with Gavin around the house until dinner was ready.

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unschooling

Thursday

There was computer play to begin the day.

They got out Lilah’s Lego Creator set that builds either a cat, dog or rabbit and put the rabbit together.  They carefully read the instructions, found the right pieces and negotiated who did which parts of the building.

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We worked on Gavin’s costume more after breakfast.

A few more holes were cut and then more paper mache was added.  When we finally finished the paper mache process, Lilah disappeared into their room to read for a while and Gavin designed and built a Lego game.  After breakfast, they played his new game together.  There was lots of giggling and explaining.

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Here’s a close-up of the game board, all set up.  As a player, you choose a character who navigates around the board, rolling a dice to decide the outcome of various challenges.

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After lunch we practiced some Spanish and then painted a little bit on the parts of the costume that were dry enough and that needed the colors of paint we had in the house already.  Brown for the hair and yellow for the face.

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There was more Lego play for the kids while I painted the eyes and eyebrows black on Gavin’s costume.

We happened upon a really fun science video: http://themetapicture.com/refraction-magic/ showing refraction.  We all want to try this out!

Then we headed to the roller skating rink.  It was crowded today because the district has off for UEA weekend, but still plenty of room for us.  The kids started without the supports, then skated with them and afterward, both of them skated free and happy and even begged to stay later to skate more on their own!  They are getting better and better and it’s really fun to watch them enjoy it.  They always like to try things too on the rink, like skating backward or turning around in circles.  Today it was skating in a crouch.  I practiced my slowing and stopping and bringing my skates together and apart without lifting off the ground.

 

When we got home it was time to paint the eye highlights white while Lilah put on her skates and skated around the living room and then it was dinner time.

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Chris headed to the craft store to get lots of blue paint while I read and sang to and cuddled with the kids before bed.

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unschooling

Wednesday

Gavin began with the new Lego Creator game on the computer.  Lilah played a princess Lego game.

There was Lego play off the computer, with our blocks.  “Up, up and awaaaaaay!”

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There was a disagreement about playing girl characters in their lego play so we had a long conversation about boys and girls and what the difference is, in real life and in tv and movies.  Gavin and I talked about how he likes actual girls, but not girl characters most of the time.  Many girl characters from tv shows and movies are not very appealing to me either.  I hope he and sister can grow to see the difference between actual girls, who are strong and funny and powerful and silly and smart and talented and awesome just like boys are, and caricatures of femininity that are so often full of inability to act or make decisions, and who inevitably need rescuing.  Ugh!

We dug out some good books we own that we haven’t enjoyed in a while and read together and separately:  Monster Hug by David Ezra Stein and Polka Bats and Octopus Slacks by Calef Brown.  I also read to them from Searching For Dragons by Patricia Wrede while they finished up their lunch.

There was Lego store making for  buying spaghetti dinner supplies, with cashiers and costs and change and bags.

Lilah did some drawing.

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We did some Spanish practice together – clothes and question words this time.

We measured, cut and glued the torso for Gavin’s costume together, glued on some scrunched up newspaper for hair on the head and then we cut newspaper strips and began paper mache on the head and a tiny bit on the edges of the torso.  We still need to cut eye holes, arm holes, do a second round of paper mache, paint it and find a shirt and pants that will work with our color scheme!!  I don’t have any photos of the paper mache process because Chris wasn’t home at the time.  Maybe tomorrow we can get some when we do another round.

After de-gluing ourselves, there was dinner and books and songs and cuddles.

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unschooling

Tuesday

There was Pokemon watching and Dora The Explorer playing on the computer.  (Spanish practice!)

There was Lego play.

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We read a picture book about riots and racial division from a kids perspective called Smoky Night by Eve Bunting.  It’s a beautiful book, story and illustrations both.

We went to the library to return an armful of books and to check out new interesting ones.  We came home with quite a few kids poetry books – Yay!  I am really enjoying taking the kids to pick out books in the kids non-fiction sections as well as fun picture books.

Then the three of us headed up the canyon to hike.  We went to Lake Mary and then Dog Lake.  It was chilly but not miserably so.

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There was snow on the ground, though only in bits and pieces yet.  We spotted chipmunks and birds.  We even saw what I think is a grouse very close.  It didn’t mind us being in its’ space so we enjoyed a good view before heading down to Lake Mary.

The lake was very low today.  We talked about how lakes and rivers and streams change with the seasons and with the amount of snow and rain fall.

Gavin and Lilah did some experimenting by tossing snow into the stream and watching it melt and then tossing packed snow in and seeing if it did the same thing.  They decided the packed snow stayed together longer and must be colder than the unpacked snow.

We took a quick peek at Dog Lake which was more of a pool.  Then we headed back down with stops for rock climbing and puddle stirring and skiing on the snow in our shoes.

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On the way down Gavin asked if we could make lasagna for dinner.  I explained that no, we would not have time.  It takes hours and it would be dinner time when we arrived home.  He asked if we could make it tomorrow.  I said that I was concerned with getting his costume done so I would like to focus on that project for the day or days it takes to finish and if we have time after that then maybe.  He understood and was perfectly happy with my answers.  When I see how much more flexible he is able to be now that we are unschooling, I am so very grateful.  Things not happening exactly as he expected or hoped was a huge problem for us, regularly causing big upset in our house.  So, the ability to step back and feel alright with things being done in a different order or on a different schedule than he’d really prefer for his own immediate interests is such a huge success for us!  I am so excited that he’s feeling comfortable and heard and respected enough to make that jump this afternoon!  I have seen it in other conversations recently too and it makes me so happy for him and for us.

On the way down the canyon the kids read Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child we checked out of the library today.

My sister came over for dinner and then we read books and had cuddle time and talked about plans for the week before bed.

 

 

 

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unschooling

Thursday

There was Pokemon watching and Coolmathgames.com playing.

After breakfast there was more Playmobil castle play.

“Mama, will you read us a chapter of Wise Child?”  “Sure!”

We worked on the Lego costume some more.  We realized what we’d done last night wasn’t wide enough so we started over.  We cut the cardboard, added a neck piece, taped it together and then hot glued it.  We held it in place with a ball to keep it as round as possible.  Next we’ll either begin on the torso or we’ll paper mache the head.

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We finished Wise Child.

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We looked at our new vanilla extract batch, started yesterday, just starting to turn golden after being clear yesterday.  While we were in the kitchen, the kids examined the drawers in the kitchen, noticing how they roll on wheels and comparing them to the drawers in their bedroom.

We went to the skating rink and we found they open later now so we headed back home, sewed some elastic on Lilah’s wings for her hands and then it was time to return to the rink.

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We skated for almost two hours before heading home for dinner and bedtime. Every time we go, we each get a little bit better.  Gavin is now enjoying himself and getting along fast with the support.   He can also make it well along the edge or holding hands.  Lilah is able to skate on her own, though she still falls fairly often.   She enjoys using the support too, but doesn’t really need it anymore.  I am getting better at different foot patterns, slowing down and stopping which I never knew how to do.  It’s important when there’s a kid in the way and you need to avoid them or when you want to exit the rink!  So much fun!

 

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unschooling

Wednesday

Gavin played Chima Online.

There was Pokemon watching.

Then we got our our newly unearthed Playmobil toys from their closet and they went to work building castles.

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Gavin had the gray one put together in no time.  Lilah had a harder time with hers so they ended up playing together with the gray one.  Later on Gavin helped her put the white and pink one together.

After lunch we headed to several stores to shop for halloween costume making supplies: felt, paint, a floral wreath, and lots of cardboard.

When we got home we began working on the butterfly costume.  Lilah got out her old wings (We made monarch wings last year) for reference and we printed a picture of the butterfly she picked: the Utah Copper butterfly.

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With some chalk, we traced half of the old butterfly wings and then, looking at the picture of the Copper, we altered the outline.  Then I carefully cut it and then folded it in half and cut the other half.

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Next we got out red, and various blue felt colors and began making the pattern.  Lilah placed them on the butterfly and I helped her adjust them.  We plugged in the glue gun while we cut felt.  When we were done cutting all the pieces, we glued them on.  Lilah was very interested in how hot the felt was right after gluing and how quickly it cooled.  We finished making the design, but I’ll need to sew on the elastic for her to wear it another day.

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While Lilah and I worked on her costume, Gavin researched Lego minifigures on the computer and chose a character.  We printed out a picture and then he made a list of paint colors we will need.

After we finished the butterfly design, it was time for Gavin to go to his soccer game and Lilah to go to Spiral Scouts.  Lilah and Chris dropped Gavin and I off with our bikes and then headed to scouts.

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After the soccer game, Gavin and I biked home, about two miles.  It was his first real experience biking on the roads so I think he took a lot in about where to ride, where to stop and where to look for traffic.  We even went across the train tracks and had a very close view while we waited for a train to pass.

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When we got home we had a few minutes so we began measuring and cutting cardboard for Gavin’s Lego minifigure costume.  He set up the table for us and got out the ruler and box cutter and we cut a piece out for a cylindrical head.

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Then it was dinner time together and cuddles and songs.

 

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