unschooling

the modern era (or this week)

The kids played My Little Pony Life.

Lilah read a whole stack of Elephant and Piggie books under an umbrella. Because it’s cozy, I think.

We made designs out of pipe cleaners and then mixed up some borax solution to grow crystals on our ornaments.

The borax crystals are especially enjoyable because they grow in mere hours and are ready to take out the same day or at latest the next day.

The kids often ask about how healing happens so I found this video and shared it with them.

We picked up a friend and the kids played all afternoon with playmobil castles and people and animals.

On our way out to the car today, Lilah kissed our tree. She said, “I love you, Whomping Willow.” It’s Harry Potter all the time, around here. And it’s such fun!

There was a hike up by Jeremy Ranch, muddy and snowy and beautiful.

Gavin and I played No Stress Chess. The kids played alone as well.

Lilah and I made some oatmeal chocolate cranberry cookies, changing our old vegan but not gluten free to vegan and gluten free. Yummy!

We watched the first bit of the 6th Harry Potter movie, as well as listening to the 4th book on our drives around town.

In the evening Chris took the kids to scouts for their service project meeting and I stayed home. Alone. It was good. I’d been feeling itchy to have some time with my own thoughts.

When they got back we read some more Wizard of Oz in bed.

There was letter writing and card making. The kids enjoyed using some new stationery with owls on it.

Many games of Carcassonne were played, some with new rules negotiated.

We visited the natural history museum to see a new Extreme Mammals exhibit. There were some fun things to look at but mostly it was information to read. We saw what baleen look like, which was great because we were just talking about that a week or two back. We saw an animal with lower teeth that looked and functioned like a shovel.

Gavin took a special interest this visit in reading all of the signposts leading into the museum, each one focusing on one era… jurassic, triassic, etc. We decided that the furthest ones from the museum are longer ago and then the closer ones are less long ago until the one right outside the entrance is the current time, Holocene, if I remember correctly.

Lilah drew this. It’s she and I as mermaids. She is wearing a purple sweater dress.

unschooling

Wizards, Origami and the joy of Movement

There were games of Wildcraft, a cooperative herbology game.

We listened to the beginning of the third Harry Potter book in the car.

We went up to Red Butte Garden again, for a shorter visit this time.

The chickadees were flitting everywhere and the squirrels were doing acrobatics. The snowdrops were dropping open.

The kids loved exploring the paths and finding new ways around. They ended the visit by rolling down the long hill near the entrance, always a favorite activity.

Lilah played with her paper dolls.

Gavin got out the marble maze and invited Lilah to join in.

There was some tag around the house.

Lilah and I worked on origami with her paper and books from the holidays.

In the evening we went to a special short performance by the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera Company. It was wonderful and we even got to sit by some friends we ran into by chance. Lilah loved the opera bits.

Gavin sat next to his buddy and they were both pretty still throughout the performance. It started at the kids’ bedtime, really, so Gavin especially was tired as his internal clock gets him up at 6 or earlier most days.

Lilah was bouncing, kneeling, clapping with the rest of the audience, swaying. She just can’t keep still. I’ve slowly come to understand that movement is part of how she listens and thinks. She reads on her back, swirling her feet around. She tells stories while running around the table. It’s part of who she is. She had such a hard time in school last year with that. We ask her to be still when we are concerned about it and she tries hard, but then she’s involved in whatever is going on and her body starts moving. I’m so glad we can let her move as she needs now, rather than constantly cajoling and pleading and what occasionally happened at school last year, threatening her to be a statue.

She didn’t bother anyone aside from me occasionally worrying (because that’s what’s expected rather than because I actually thought there was a problem). A few times I reached over and asked her to sit down a bit so she wasn’t blocking others’ view and she would sit down and then look at me, to check if I was upset with her. I am glad to be in a place where I am smiling back when she checks.

Here’s a picture Lilah drew and cut of a bird about to eat a fish (sticker).

unschooling

New Year’s Eve 2014

We went to the Museum of Natural History for their kid friendly Noon Year’s Eve event. We stopped first at a dry ice bubbles station. They even got to see what happened when too much dry ice was put in the bottle… the lid popped off and it tipped over while spouting bubbles all over!

Next Lilah drew on shrinky dink paper while Gavin roped cattle. Gavin eventually decided to create a shrinky dink too.

They looked at snowflakes through a microscope.

Lilah is explaining to me what she observed in the melting snow through the scope. I’ve used some Christmas money the kids got on a new microscope for them to use at home. I’m so excited to try it out with them soon!

Lilah waiting in line for ten or fifteen minutes to get her face painted. The artists were quite good.

After we got home and had lunch we heated up the oven and watched their shrinky dinks shrink. Lilah’s is a cat. It’s her favorite thing to draw for as long as I can remember. Gavin’s is a sea serpent saying ‘Happy New Year’.

We tidied up a bit before Grandma and Grandpa from California arrived and we spent the rest of the day catching up with them. There was a game of Chess, a game of Wildcraft, Lilah read a new favorite book If… by Sarah Perry to Grandma.

unschooling

Monday

The kids set up a lego restaurant with dishes, tables, customers and a menu.

We watched a crew clean our street and then cover the cracks with tar. I asked the kids why they thought they cleaned the street first. Lilah said, “To get rid of the dirt”. Gavin added, “Because it wouldn’t stick with the dirt on it”. Then we talked about what happens if water from snow gets in cracks in the road and then freezes (and expands).

We worked on some Makit plate designs for holiday gifts. They will make plates with the designs the kids draw and color. The ones from years past are some of our favorite plates to use around here! Gavin drew an owl with wind, tornado, crown and jewels. Lilah drew several cats. They both have a particular interest in those animals right now, which is fun.

Gavin and I solved a sudoku puzzle with his Chocolate Fixx set while Lilah was still working on her drawings.

When she finished we played a game of Magic The Gathering. It’s a very complicated game and not really something Lilah can grasp fully, or even Gavin for that matter, but they enjoy playing it at the stage they are at now and it has so much to think about: math, strategy, order of phases in your turn, lots of new vocabulary, art on the cards.

Lilah and I drove over to her gymnastics class

while Gavin stayed home and built a lego spaceship and watched an episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

unschooling

Wednesday

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

Yes is a World

Tag Archives: drawing

the modern era (or this week)

Wizards, Origami and the joy of Movement

New Year’s Eve 2014

Monday

Wednesday