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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

unschooling

Tuesday

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

There was Lego play.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We finished Wise Child.

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.

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!

unschooling

Tuesday

There was Pokemon watching.

Gavin built with Magformers while Lilah and I made waffles.

After breakfast there was a game where they walked round and round the room while going imaginary places.

We read a few articles about the eruption of Mount Ontake in Japan. Then we looked at a video of a fish with a transparent head on National Geographic’s website. “I can see it’s brain! And it’s eyeballs are moving!”

There were baths and cuddling followed by several sudoku Chocolate Fix challenges together.

A lego garden was built with poison berry plants which grow berries that are red before they are ripe so people might think they are apples and eat them, then they have tiny black spots and then, when they are ripe they turn black.

We read an article for kids about Ebola and talked about what it is, where it is and how scary the outbreak is for Africa. We looked at our globe at the part of Africa where it is now.

There was more lego play.

I read a chapter of Wise Child to them and then we did some Spanish practice – animal words today.

We made some popcorn with our air popper (always fun to watch!) and read Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride by Stephen Krensky.

We listened to and danced to Ella Fitzgerald.

We enjoyed all of it.

unschooling

Wednesday

There was computer play for Gavin and part of a Garfield movie for Lilah before the three of us baked muffins for breakfast.

We read a chapter of Wise Child. This book has some great issues to explore for us at 9 and 6, like being scared of differences in other people, peer pressure, fear of being alone, improving skills through practice and needing to do things you don’t like.

There was lego play and reading some newly borrowed library books.

We did more Spanish on Duolingo and Mindsnacks Spanish numbers.

I brought out our And Then… story starters and we each chose a story starter, then wrote the next part. The story starters are a box of beginnings of stories, each with a charming picture on it. It’s a fun way of inviting the kids to write imaginatively. Lilah dictated her story to me and I wrote it out for her and then she illustrated it. Gavin wrote his out and then illustrated. We’ve found that lined paper makes a huge difference in his confidence and quality of writing as he gets so easily frustrated and overwhelmed when trying to write. After we finished we each read our story aloud and enjoyed them.

There were handstands and arabesques and hula hooping.

Lilah decided she was tired and asked me to read her a book and then she lay down down for a bit. The fact that she recognized her need and acted on it without worrying about missing something makes me happy.

I wrote out a scavenger hunt for the kids to do around the house full of things like something blue, something fuzzy, something that smells good, something funny to do while I did yoga.

Gavin made map hunts for Lilah and I to decode.

Lilah and I headed out to a Spiral Scouts meeting and Gavin and Dad headed to his soccer game to finish off our day.

unschooling

Tuesday

They began with computer play and Pokemon watching.

We watched the construction right outside our house and its’ progress, wondering about what would happen next.

Then we learned how to say good morning in German and Spanish: guten morgen and buenos dias. And how to say and: und and y. We decided to try an app to learn Spanish together on my phone.

There was lego play and we read another chapter of Wise Child.

We looked at flowers and plants and animals and talked about different kinds of symmetry. Lilah drew a flower, with radial symmetry.

I asked the kids if they’d like to do some math and they said yes, so each of them answered a few questions on the whiteboard. I was wondering if Gavin would remember the greater than, less than symbols. He did. He enjoys math very much. It’s a language that makes sense to him and he especially loves story problems so I try to throw a few his way regularly. I enjoyed watching his process of division drawn out. It’s fascinating to see what way a kid approaches a puzzle that can be solved in so many different ways. Lilah enjoys math puzzling too, especially patterns.

After lunch we looked up the weather on wunderground.com and Gavin wrote down info in his weather journal. Then we discovered it’s a new moon so we took name suggestions and voted as a family on this moon’s name, inspired by our beloved teacher Leslee’s class the last two years. Suggestions included: Kitten moon, Owl moon, Hoot hoot moon, Magical moon, Starlight moon, Magic moon, Meow meow moon, Squirrel moon, Woof moon. We settled on Meow meow moon. Some stuffed animals got in on the voting.

The kids worked on assembling our vacuum. On a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day last week our old vacuum broke beyond repair, so we were very excited to have and try our new one.

We tried out the Spanish app, Duolingo. It was fun, though I’m not thoroughly sold on it being fantastic for young kids. If we do it together it’s pretty accessible.

We took a trip to the library to return books and find new ones to read and came home with three armfuls, one for each of us.

Gavin immediately dove into a map book where you find treasure by using mapping skills. After he finished he read about the other related books and requested we try to find them. Lilah was very interested too and asked to read it on her own as soon as he finished.

We played with density using water, vegetable oil and coins, legos, plastic animals and rubber bands.

Lilah and I went to her gymnastics class where she practiced candlesticks, arabesques, cartwheels and handstands while Gavin played Civilization with Dad and then helped him with dinner.

unschooling

Monday

There was coolmathgames.com and lego building.

We met my sister for a tour of her roommates beehives and then a walk along the Jordan River.

Then we read a chapter of Wise Child.

We found a mouse in the house so we set up a humane trap to catch it and relocate it. We listened to it’s scritchings and scrappings behind our microwave as we waited for it to check out the yummy peanut butter and cracker we put out for it.

We played with stuffed animals and legos more, then Lilah and I headed off to pick up her friend.

When we got home the three kids made up their own version of The Lego Movie, then played mom and kids, then played with our marble maze.

There was some gymnastics practice and giant ball play.

I enjoyed listening to an explanation of what being unconscious means and then enjoyed a demonstration more.

“What would you like for dinner tonight, kids?” “Come dance with me and I’ll tell you.” “Okay.” “Now spin me around three times. Okay, I’ll have rice and tofu and apples.” “Dance with me too, Mama and I’ll tell you what I want.”

We watched this video about a knot:

Then we wanted to watch (and dance and sing to!) another favorite by Ylvis before bed:

It was a good day.

art, unschooling

Thursday

They began by building with train tracks. A whole village filled the floor!

I read from Wise Child to them over breakfast.

Then there was K’nex play and stuffed animal adventures.

Gavin read from The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem to us; Sea Story.

We made self portraits from tangram blocks.

Then we drew self portraits and added crayon, paint, oil pastels.

There was tumbling practice.

After lunch we headed off to The Museum of Natural Curiosity where we climbed, directed water through pipes and hoses, tested structures in earthquakes, played music, measured our heart rates, built with giant blocks, played on a zipline and on swings.

We came home, ate together and watched an episode of The Cosmos, which fascinated both kids and spurred all sorts of questions at bedtime.

unschooling

Wednesday

Today I cleaned the house because we had guests coming and between you and I, I’m one of those people who believes a clean house is a sign of a misspent life, so there was a lot of cleaning to do. The kids helped by organizing, picking up here and there. I had to spend a lot of time cleaning though. The kids played legos together happily for a long time and then went in their room to play a newly invented game with stuffed animal real ninjago battle!

They missed out on doing more active things together though and missed spending quality time with me. They were both incredibly grumpy and disregulated by the time I was through. So I sat down with them and tried to reconnect. I picked up Gavin’s foot and pretended it was a phone, held it to my ear. I pretended I could hear people on the other end, and answered all kinds of silly questions and then kept hanging up. “Hello, hello? ….. No, I don’t need any chickens. …. No, not even one. …. I don’t need any ducks either! …. Please stop calling here! Good bye!” Gavin then would laugh, go back to looking grumpy and then hold his foot up for me to answer it again. Eventually Lilah came and requested I talk on her foot phone too. We ended up giggling a lot and then the kids were more able to figure out something fun we could all do together afterward.

We read some Wise Child by Monica Furlong.

We played Hanabi together, a fun collaborative game where you have to play without knowing the cards you’re holding and have to rely on your team mates to help you know what to play and what to discard.

We watched:

And then we went for a walk to the park to swing and race cars down the slides, then dinner with family from out of town and across town and then home and songs and cuddles and bed.

Yes is a World

Tag Archives: reading now

Monday

Wednesday

Tuesday

Thursday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday

Thursday

Wednesday