Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unschooling. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
MUGS
Yesterday we enjoyed a fun day with our unschooling friends. We played lasertag and went to the Air and Space Museum Annex by Dulles Airport. We decided to have a monthly get together and rotate where we go and what we do. Want more info? Head over the the MidAtlantic Unschooler GatheringS page.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
My Newest Green Project - Cloth TP
Ok, so I have been thinking what new things I can do to reduce my impact on the Earth. I was casually reading over at The Organic Sister and came across the idea of cloth bathroom wipes. Of course! When I had babies, they wore cloth diapers and I washed them. No problem and no trash. I use a Keeper instead of disposable feminine products. No trash created there. So why do I use toilet paper which get flushed, sits in the septic tank, and then goes to the landfill? Because I never thought about it. Now that I have, I am using cloth there too!
Step 1: I got a kick in the rear to begin this new project when someone offered a cloth diaper pail on freecycle. Having given my pail away a while ago, I thought I needed it for my bathroom again. So even though it had been days since the offer was posted, I emailed and got it. Score!
Step 2: I have stacks of old clothing waiting for a new purpose. I had always assumed I would make cleaning rags, but my rag bin is pretty full right now. However, the specific item of unwanted clothing I had sitting around is kids underwear from Hanna Andersson. They were so well worn that I can't pass them on to another user but they cut up into cloth wipes just fine!
Step 3: I cut the fabric into the wipes the size of my hand. They are double or triple layered and serged on the edges (in red for identification). A pretty basket holds them on the vanity right beside the toilet.
I did the sewing and set everything up yesterday. I was so excited to try the cloth wipes out. The next time I had to use the toilet, I forgot! I was so sad. Dear Daughter helped me remember next time by hiding the toilet paper and giving me no choice. By that time rolled around though, she had already pronounced the new goods a success. Yea for us and the Earth!
Step 1: I got a kick in the rear to begin this new project when someone offered a cloth diaper pail on freecycle. Having given my pail away a while ago, I thought I needed it for my bathroom again. So even though it had been days since the offer was posted, I emailed and got it. Score!
Step 2: I have stacks of old clothing waiting for a new purpose. I had always assumed I would make cleaning rags, but my rag bin is pretty full right now. However, the specific item of unwanted clothing I had sitting around is kids underwear from Hanna Andersson. They were so well worn that I can't pass them on to another user but they cut up into cloth wipes just fine!
Step 3: I cut the fabric into the wipes the size of my hand. They are double or triple layered and serged on the edges (in red for identification). A pretty basket holds them on the vanity right beside the toilet.
I did the sewing and set everything up yesterday. I was so excited to try the cloth wipes out. The next time I had to use the toilet, I forgot! I was so sad. Dear Daughter helped me remember next time by hiding the toilet paper and giving me no choice. By that time rolled around though, she had already pronounced the new goods a success. Yea for us and the Earth!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Parent Job Description
Your Job as a Parent of an Unschooled Child
The article below was written by Anne Ohman of the Shine With Unschooling group.
We have always unschooled. Unschooling came easily to me and my family, because I learned early on to trust my heart and my children. But for those for whom unschooling does not come easily, I try to give them the guidelines you may be asking for here. If your question is “Please define my role as an unschooling parent,” here’s what I’ve come up with this morning:
I believe that your role as an unschooling parent is to show your children as much of the world as you can, and let them choose from it what they love and want to further explore. You accomplish this by expanding their worlds with interesting objects and places and people and events and tools and books and magazines and television shows and…(this list could go on for quite awhile).
It is your job to answer their questions, without shame or sarcasm, because all questions are valuable. If you don’t know an answer, it is your job to say, “I don’t know,” and offer to look it up with your child (I tend to say, “Hmmm…I *think* it’s this…but I’ll check to make sure…).
It is your job to be interested in the world. It is your job to ask your own questions about the world. I believe it’s an unschooling parent’s job to be excited themselves about learning the incredibly cool stuff there is to learn about the world. Learn from your own children how to be curious, aware and interested.
It is your job to pursue your own passions in life. This has numerous benefits, not only to yourSelf and your Spirit, but to your child as well.
It is your job to know your children and get to know them again and again as they grow and change. Get to know what it is they love, what it is that interests them. A big part of my job involves spending time looking for various resources in the area of my children’s passions – books, tools, people, events, classes, gatherings, websites, lists – and offer them up to my children. This is how I encourage my children to pursue what they love in life, by feeding them things that they may be interested in until they’re not interested in it anymore. (They are also quite capable of *feeding* themselves in the areas of their passions, or anything else that may be new and interesting to them…but right now we re just talking about the unschooling parent’s job…).
It is your job to learn about how children learn, by reading about unschooling, by un-learning everything you once believed to be true about forced learning.
It’s your job to sometimes think out loud, to initiate interesting conversations, and to be open for discussion where you may have just shut the door before. It’s your job to realize that your child will have different opinions and thoughts than you do, and to respect that and perhaps even broaden your own world from it.
It is your job to Trust the Children. Trust that they Love to Learn, and when they have a need and or desire for information, they will get it. Trust that learning isn’t separated into subjects as school would have us believe.
It’s your job to see the world through your child’s eyes. Understand where they’re coming from, and when conflict arises, it’s your job to stop and really think about if the resolve lies within the child, or within yourself. It’s usually within ourselves.
It’s your job to see Learning in places that you’re not used to seeing learning. I was even able to find it in Ed, Edd & Eddy cartoons…it’s there if you look. It’s everywhere if you look. And once you start seeing it, the world will open up to you and your child.
It’s your job to Love your child, and to Learn from your child. It’s your job to go into each day with an open mind and heart, trusting in the fact that you may not know where the day will end up, but that you began it from that magnificent place that is a child’s curiosity.
The article below was written by Anne Ohman of the Shine With Unschooling group.
We have always unschooled. Unschooling came easily to me and my family, because I learned early on to trust my heart and my children. But for those for whom unschooling does not come easily, I try to give them the guidelines you may be asking for here. If your question is “Please define my role as an unschooling parent,” here’s what I’ve come up with this morning:
I believe that your role as an unschooling parent is to show your children as much of the world as you can, and let them choose from it what they love and want to further explore. You accomplish this by expanding their worlds with interesting objects and places and people and events and tools and books and magazines and television shows and…(this list could go on for quite awhile).
It is your job to answer their questions, without shame or sarcasm, because all questions are valuable. If you don’t know an answer, it is your job to say, “I don’t know,” and offer to look it up with your child (I tend to say, “Hmmm…I *think* it’s this…but I’ll check to make sure…).
It is your job to be interested in the world. It is your job to ask your own questions about the world. I believe it’s an unschooling parent’s job to be excited themselves about learning the incredibly cool stuff there is to learn about the world. Learn from your own children how to be curious, aware and interested.
It is your job to pursue your own passions in life. This has numerous benefits, not only to yourSelf and your Spirit, but to your child as well.
It is your job to know your children and get to know them again and again as they grow and change. Get to know what it is they love, what it is that interests them. A big part of my job involves spending time looking for various resources in the area of my children’s passions – books, tools, people, events, classes, gatherings, websites, lists – and offer them up to my children. This is how I encourage my children to pursue what they love in life, by feeding them things that they may be interested in until they’re not interested in it anymore. (They are also quite capable of *feeding* themselves in the areas of their passions, or anything else that may be new and interesting to them…but right now we re just talking about the unschooling parent’s job…).
It is your job to learn about how children learn, by reading about unschooling, by un-learning everything you once believed to be true about forced learning.
It’s your job to sometimes think out loud, to initiate interesting conversations, and to be open for discussion where you may have just shut the door before. It’s your job to realize that your child will have different opinions and thoughts than you do, and to respect that and perhaps even broaden your own world from it.
It is your job to Trust the Children. Trust that they Love to Learn, and when they have a need and or desire for information, they will get it. Trust that learning isn’t separated into subjects as school would have us believe.
It’s your job to see the world through your child’s eyes. Understand where they’re coming from, and when conflict arises, it’s your job to stop and really think about if the resolve lies within the child, or within yourself. It’s usually within ourselves.
It’s your job to see Learning in places that you’re not used to seeing learning. I was even able to find it in Ed, Edd & Eddy cartoons…it’s there if you look. It’s everywhere if you look. And once you start seeing it, the world will open up to you and your child.
It’s your job to Love your child, and to Learn from your child. It’s your job to go into each day with an open mind and heart, trusting in the fact that you may not know where the day will end up, but that you began it from that magnificent place that is a child’s curiosity.
Unschooling Passions Article
Pam Laricchia does a fantastic job of sharing the learning and connections made by her children(s) passions. This article is a great read.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
What's Better Than Public School? The Library...
I adore this commentary about public schools and public libraries. So true.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Free-Range Kids
One of my favorite people right now (that I'm not married to) is Lenore Skenazy. You might know her "America's Worst Mom" because last year, after her 9 year old begged her to, she let him take the NYC subway home by himself. It took some time for her and her husband to both agree with their son that he was ready, but they did. Mom and son went to Bloomingdale's together. She gave him $20, the subway map, and quarters for phone calls then said "see ya at home"!. She did not follow him. She did not ask a friend to go with him. She trusted him to use his brain to get home safely. She also trusted that the world is primarily a good, safe place. It took him one hour to get home with the hugest grin on his face and quite a sense of accomplishment. Yeah for both of them!
But, people around the world world went crazy. They accused her of all sorts of mean things - putting her child in mortal danger, not caring what happened to her child, etc. All a bunch of hogwash. She knew her child so well, trusted in the good in the world, and knew accurate violent crime statistics that she did the right thing by facilitating her son's independence and confidence in himself. To bring a reality check to parents, she started Free-Range Kids. I love it. I also am reading the book right now. Its hilariously fabulous.
The only thing missing from the web site (but on its way I understand) is a way to connect with other free-ranging parents. Care to join me in Southern Maryland Free-Range Kids group?
But, people around the world world went crazy. They accused her of all sorts of mean things - putting her child in mortal danger, not caring what happened to her child, etc. All a bunch of hogwash. She knew her child so well, trusted in the good in the world, and knew accurate violent crime statistics that she did the right thing by facilitating her son's independence and confidence in himself. To bring a reality check to parents, she started Free-Range Kids. I love it. I also am reading the book right now. Its hilariously fabulous.
The only thing missing from the web site (but on its way I understand) is a way to connect with other free-ranging parents. Care to join me in Southern Maryland Free-Range Kids group?
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Dangerous Things
My daughter loves to do Dangerous Things. She is referring of course to things that in HER mind are dangerous and crazy. So I loved this TED talk by Gever Tulley about 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.
So how am I doing? Let's see.
1. Play with fire: Son (11) is normally our fire tender. I recently dug a fire pit in our backyard so we could play with fire more often.
2. Own a pocketknife: Son (11) has several and has had one since the age of 6 or 7. Daughter (6) owns and regularly uses two pocketknives and an all-in-one tool.
3. Throw a spear: I am afraid I am deficient in this. I don't own a spear either. So I am going to have to substitute a stick. Oh woe is me.
4. Deconstruct appliances: We can do this more often than once a year ... Kids do a lot of fixing of things but not so much in the taking apart realm. I think the last thing we took apart was a printer. Luckily, I have a CD player and various other electronics waiting patiently in the basement.
5a. Break the Digital Media Copyright Agreement: We've certainly done this but haven't talked about it in terms of breaking laws. That could be fun!
5b. Drive a car: Ok, Son backed our car out of the garage and through the baby trees into the neighbors yard when he was younger. He also loves to drive go karts and other vehicles. But Daughter has never expressed an interest. Hmm. The wheels are turning ...
Ok, I have my homework now!
So how am I doing? Let's see.
1. Play with fire: Son (11) is normally our fire tender. I recently dug a fire pit in our backyard so we could play with fire more often.
2. Own a pocketknife: Son (11) has several and has had one since the age of 6 or 7. Daughter (6) owns and regularly uses two pocketknives and an all-in-one tool.
3. Throw a spear: I am afraid I am deficient in this. I don't own a spear either. So I am going to have to substitute a stick. Oh woe is me.
4. Deconstruct appliances: We can do this more often than once a year ... Kids do a lot of fixing of things but not so much in the taking apart realm. I think the last thing we took apart was a printer. Luckily, I have a CD player and various other electronics waiting patiently in the basement.
5a. Break the Digital Media Copyright Agreement: We've certainly done this but haven't talked about it in terms of breaking laws. That could be fun!
5b. Drive a car: Ok, Son backed our car out of the garage and through the baby trees into the neighbors yard when he was younger. He also loves to drive go karts and other vehicles. But Daughter has never expressed an interest. Hmm. The wheels are turning ...
Ok, I have my homework now!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Unschooling newspaper article
Yesterday's local newspaper has a very positive article about our unschooling family. A few parts of it are pretty funny but it overall made me smile. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Learning Bucaneers
I just read this book review about James Marcus Bach, a self educated guy who used to excel while working for Apple. He describes himself an a great unschooler: one who is concerned about learning, succeeding on ones own merits, working his butt off for something he is passionate about and actually caring about his work. Can't wait to read the whole book!
Friday, September 4, 2009
A Great List of Unschooling Blogs
Need some new pleasure reading from some way cool folks? Check out the bloggers on the 50 Eye-Opening Unschooling Blogs List. Many are friends or acquaintances of mine and I love to read their stuff. The category assignments are a bit on the creative side, but no matter.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Unschooling Article in Baltimore Sun
I was interviewed and contributed some quotes to today's article about unschooling in the Baltimore Sun. I thought the article was balanced and pretty good. Thanks Joe! But go further than the article. Read the comments. Wow, the comments are amusing, scary, and just encourage me gather like-minded folks around me a bit closer for protection.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Teens and How We Treat Them
I love, love, love this article about teens and society. Read it! Think about what life was like when you grew up and what life is like for today's teens. I hope you will agree that life for 21st century teens is not great.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Enjoy Life Unschooling Conference!
Have you heard of the Enjoy Life Unschooling Conference yet? This September for a cool 2 days, come and Enjoy Life with unschoolers of all ages in the mountains near Frederick, Maryland. We will have fabulous speakers, chat sessions, and funshops to fill your days. In the evening, there will be a campfire with music, s'mores, and storytelling while inside our coffeehouse will feature an open mic, a service project to help animals enjoy their lives, henna to decorate your body, crafts, and games. Registration is quite inexpensive for a conference, so come on and join us!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My Problem
So I had my homeschool review a while back. I was told I had a problem. Wanna guess what it is? Go ahead, I'll give you a minute ....
Nope, that's not it. Not that either! My problem is that I am learning centered in my approach to homeschooling. Yes, you read that right. Being learning centered is a problem.
My reviewer said he was teaching centered. He had to be because of his job. I was learning centered and that was very different. We agree on that. He did suggest we meet in the middle so he could do his job easier. Could be worse!
Ok, so I didn't bring the samples of my kid's work. Bad me. They will get over it though. I brought two of those calendars which look like books - one for each kid. They have at least 5 different things on each DAY (and way more than 180 of them) which the kids did for learning purposes. I was told "Anyone can bring this in, we need to see what your kids actually did". Hmmm. This was the proof of my instruction. It seems a little silly that they truely want to see 5 pieces of paper from my kid. That is how we got into discussion about My Problem.
You are wondering what I have to do now, aren't you. I have to bring in samples of my kids' work to my next review - next year. That sure showed me, huh?! Yes, I might remember to bring the samples next time. Or I might join an umbrella group and not have to see them again. There are probable a whole host of fun ways to handle this situation, but a 12 step program for My Problem is not one of them :-) I like my problem.
Oh, my kids did start blogs however. We'll see how that goes...
Nope, that's not it. Not that either! My problem is that I am learning centered in my approach to homeschooling. Yes, you read that right. Being learning centered is a problem.
My reviewer said he was teaching centered. He had to be because of his job. I was learning centered and that was very different. We agree on that. He did suggest we meet in the middle so he could do his job easier. Could be worse!
Ok, so I didn't bring the samples of my kid's work. Bad me. They will get over it though. I brought two of those calendars which look like books - one for each kid. They have at least 5 different things on each DAY (and way more than 180 of them) which the kids did for learning purposes. I was told "Anyone can bring this in, we need to see what your kids actually did". Hmmm. This was the proof of my instruction. It seems a little silly that they truely want to see 5 pieces of paper from my kid. That is how we got into discussion about My Problem.
You are wondering what I have to do now, aren't you. I have to bring in samples of my kids' work to my next review - next year. That sure showed me, huh?! Yes, I might remember to bring the samples next time. Or I might join an umbrella group and not have to see them again. There are probable a whole host of fun ways to handle this situation, but a 12 step program for My Problem is not one of them :-) I like my problem.
Oh, my kids did start blogs however. We'll see how that goes...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Evolution of Today's Learning
Daughter asked to learn about China today. We got out a book about China and started reading. It is one of those that goes through the alphabet and talks about something related to China for every letter. Page one of the book took us to the globe to see China's location. Talk changed to Daughter saying " It must be summer in China because it is winter here". To the globe we go with a laser pointer. She sees the different spot sizes depending on where the laser pointer shines - northern hemisphere, equatorial region, or southern hemisphere. She decides that winter in Maryland happens at the same time as summer in Chile, but China has the same season as we do.
But what about Antarctica? Ever since Live Earth, we have had a fascination with Antarctica (did you see the super cool video of the band playing on the 7th continent - the research scientists that were wintering over made really cool music for Live Earth!). So what is winter like in Antarctica? And how do you get there? Luckily I know folks that have done the many leg trip to Antarctica so I can share that info! We talk about most folks going during the summer and how unique it is to winter over at the research stations there. Daughter says "What do you mean you can't leave during the winter?" Oh, well there was the Dr who needed her chemotherapy medicine air dropped to her so she could treat herself. Unfortunately the movie Ice Storm is not available at our library. And just last year there was someone who had to be flown out during winter because of a broken jaw (from a Christmas brawl?!). Wow, that medical evacuation cost over $200,000 Australian dollars!
Then we researched the airplane that did the evacuation using an ice strip - an Air Force C-130 Hercules. Tomorrow we are supposed to build a LEGO helicopter and see if we can get it into the playmobil cargo plane's aft hatch -- just like a C-130.
We went back to the China book and read A through M without stopping and then took a break to make a stir fry for dinner. In a wok not walk. She thought it was hilarious that those two words sounded the same and yet looked so different.
Pretty cool learning for a five year old on a saturday , eh?
But what about Antarctica? Ever since Live Earth, we have had a fascination with Antarctica (did you see the super cool video of the band playing on the 7th continent - the research scientists that were wintering over made really cool music for Live Earth!). So what is winter like in Antarctica? And how do you get there? Luckily I know folks that have done the many leg trip to Antarctica so I can share that info! We talk about most folks going during the summer and how unique it is to winter over at the research stations there. Daughter says "What do you mean you can't leave during the winter?" Oh, well there was the Dr who needed her chemotherapy medicine air dropped to her so she could treat herself. Unfortunately the movie Ice Storm is not available at our library. And just last year there was someone who had to be flown out during winter because of a broken jaw (from a Christmas brawl?!). Wow, that medical evacuation cost over $200,000 Australian dollars!
Then we researched the airplane that did the evacuation using an ice strip - an Air Force C-130 Hercules. Tomorrow we are supposed to build a LEGO helicopter and see if we can get it into the playmobil cargo plane's aft hatch -- just like a C-130.
We went back to the China book and read A through M without stopping and then took a break to make a stir fry for dinner. In a wok not walk. She thought it was hilarious that those two words sounded the same and yet looked so different.
Pretty cool learning for a five year old on a saturday , eh?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bye Bye Go Kart
Remember when I posted about purchasing a go kart for Son? He has enjoyed his go kart very much. He figured out how to prevent the go kart from stalling by finessing the gas and brake. He learned about loans, compounding interest, and choosing to purchase one object over another. He experimented with turning radius, acceleration up a hill, and stopping distance. He experienced its not so great handling, the bumpiness of the ride, and the smell of the exhaust. We paid for and did the work to replace the bearings and the clutch. He got grassy from driving right after mowing. He paid for gas and filled up the tank for his joy ride. He loved his go kart.
Yesterday it left our house. We sold it. Son had driven it long enough to satisfy his need. He had not driven it in weeks. It was his idea to sell the go kart. He sucked the life out of the go kart and then passed it on for another boy and his cousins to love. Enjoy the ride!
Yesterday it left our house. We sold it. Son had driven it long enough to satisfy his need. He had not driven it in weeks. It was his idea to sell the go kart. He sucked the life out of the go kart and then passed it on for another boy and his cousins to love. Enjoy the ride!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Picture of Unschooling
This post is for my friend Christine. What do my kids do all day when we are unschoolers? Here's what we are doing:
7:20 am Daughter wakes up and eats breakfast
7:40 am Son wakes up
7:41 am Son and Daughter argue, have energizing time, then go get dressed
7:50 am Daughter plays little cars in her room
7:50 am Son reads one of the 5 Ripley's Believe it or Not books we got from the library yesterday
8:00 am Daughter and I play a backgammon game
8:20 am Daughter and I clean up her work table and assemble books and containers for her new project box on China
9:00 am Daughter takes out recycling with me
9:00 am Son asks me for help assembling this lego robot/transformer toy that a friend asked us to repair after her two year old whirlwind destructed it
9:30 am Son eats more breakfast
10:30 am Son watches Inside Edition on tv
10:30 am Daughter makes up math problems for me, 25+5+25+5=?, 100+36=?, 100-69=?, 6-10=?, 6-10=?, 11+80=?, for Son 51+22=?, 60+70=?. Daughter is making up the problems, using the hundred board to mark off the numbers in the problem, writing down the sign for the math function (+, -, etc), then writing the number which is the answer.
10:55 am Son and Daughter argue, screech, and move on
11:00 am S sets up the VCR and tapes the Price is Right
11:05 am S and D have snack, change clothes, and grab snacks/water to take with them
11:30 am sit in car while it takes S and D to Waldorf
12:00-1:33 pm Open Gym at Unique Sports Academy
1:30 pm sit in car and snack
2:00 pm watch the tapes Price is Right while waiting for LEGO Robotics team to appear
2:15 pm S and D have ice cream while I tell Son no one is coming for robotics today
2:25 pm S plays video games while I try and convince him to do robotics with his new teammate - me!
3:30 pm Son and I are trying to fix the laser aiming light on his nerf gun, Daughter is being alone
4:00 pm Son puts the gun back together
5:00 pm Daughter types names on the computer, augmenting with pictures from clipart
5:30 pm Daughter check outside weather and determines that it is very warm. She is thinking of something to do outside
5:40 pm Son is upstairs reading, Daughter is getting her nerf guns ready for going outside
7:20 am Daughter wakes up and eats breakfast
7:40 am Son wakes up
7:41 am Son and Daughter argue, have energizing time, then go get dressed
7:50 am Daughter plays little cars in her room
7:50 am Son reads one of the 5 Ripley's Believe it or Not books we got from the library yesterday
8:00 am Daughter and I play a backgammon game
8:20 am Daughter and I clean up her work table and assemble books and containers for her new project box on China
9:00 am Daughter takes out recycling with me
9:00 am Son asks me for help assembling this lego robot/transformer toy that a friend asked us to repair after her two year old whirlwind destructed it
9:30 am Son eats more breakfast
10:30 am Son watches Inside Edition on tv
10:30 am Daughter makes up math problems for me, 25+5+25+5=?, 100+36=?, 100-69=?, 6-10=?, 6-10=?, 11+80=?, for Son 51+22=?, 60+70=?. Daughter is making up the problems, using the hundred board to mark off the numbers in the problem, writing down the sign for the math function (+, -, etc), then writing the number which is the answer.
10:55 am Son and Daughter argue, screech, and move on
11:00 am S sets up the VCR and tapes the Price is Right
11:05 am S and D have snack, change clothes, and grab snacks/water to take with them
11:30 am sit in car while it takes S and D to Waldorf
12:00-1:33 pm Open Gym at Unique Sports Academy
1:30 pm sit in car and snack
2:00 pm watch the tapes Price is Right while waiting for LEGO Robotics team to appear
2:15 pm S and D have ice cream while I tell Son no one is coming for robotics today
2:25 pm S plays video games while I try and convince him to do robotics with his new teammate - me!
3:30 pm Son and I are trying to fix the laser aiming light on his nerf gun, Daughter is being alone
4:00 pm Son puts the gun back together
5:00 pm Daughter types names on the computer, augmenting with pictures from clipart
5:30 pm Daughter check outside weather and determines that it is very warm. She is thinking of something to do outside
5:40 pm Son is upstairs reading, Daughter is getting her nerf guns ready for going outside
Monday, September 29, 2008
Boats, Guns, and Secret Service
Son has been interested in boats for a while now. He has gone on a row boat and paddle boats. He loved the idea of powerboating. He was browsing Craig's List one time and asked if we could buy a $15,000 boat. Umm, no.
After weeks (and more weeks) of putting him off about purchasing a power boat (we said no for gas, cost, and interest reasons), I was able to shift into trying to help him get what he wanted. I suggested we walk down the street to our powerboating neighbors and ask to go out when they are going anyway. They of course said sure but not today. They said they'd call. Waiting is so hard. Last weekend, they finally called and Son and Husband got to go out on the Potomac River in a power boat. At first, he didn't want to go. I shifted and reframed the opportunity with the excitement I knew he would have. He quickly packed his bag and headed off. First time out on a power boat for Son. He came home tired, a bit windblown, and joyous. He enjoyed the boating, he enjoyed the company (bit older girl to talk to), but boy was he hungry! Apparently going on top of the water at 70 mph was a bit more interesting than eating his sandwich :-) I was so happy to have helped him Shine on that day.
That was over a week ago. This past weekend, we watched the movie Sentinel. We enjoyed Michael Douglas as a Secret Service agent. Now my kids are Shining with their new nerf guns and cool sunglasses and doing lots of secret missions. Madame president frequently needs the house sweeped for bad guys. The First Man's arrival home from a busy day at the office is an anticipated and well planned out event now :-) I do sometimes wish we had guns that shoot love or peace instead of guns with toy bullets. But I suppose I need to work on my pretending a bit more too!
After weeks (and more weeks) of putting him off about purchasing a power boat (we said no for gas, cost, and interest reasons), I was able to shift into trying to help him get what he wanted. I suggested we walk down the street to our powerboating neighbors and ask to go out when they are going anyway. They of course said sure but not today. They said they'd call. Waiting is so hard. Last weekend, they finally called and Son and Husband got to go out on the Potomac River in a power boat. At first, he didn't want to go. I shifted and reframed the opportunity with the excitement I knew he would have. He quickly packed his bag and headed off. First time out on a power boat for Son. He came home tired, a bit windblown, and joyous. He enjoyed the boating, he enjoyed the company (bit older girl to talk to), but boy was he hungry! Apparently going on top of the water at 70 mph was a bit more interesting than eating his sandwich :-) I was so happy to have helped him Shine on that day.
That was over a week ago. This past weekend, we watched the movie Sentinel. We enjoyed Michael Douglas as a Secret Service agent. Now my kids are Shining with their new nerf guns and cool sunglasses and doing lots of secret missions. Madame president frequently needs the house sweeped for bad guys. The First Man's arrival home from a busy day at the office is an anticipated and well planned out event now :-) I do sometimes wish we had guns that shoot love or peace instead of guns with toy bullets. But I suppose I need to work on my pretending a bit more too!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Live and Learn - Wow!
Ok, so I haven't managed to write every day or even every other. But that's ok. I am relieving myself of that duty.
So we got back a few days ago from the Live and Learn Conference near Asheville, NC. It was fantastic for so many reasons. First of all, Son connected with a friend on the first day and we rarely saw him for the rest of the conference. He played, partied, and had a great time. He sometimes had a hard time getting food he wanted at the cafeteria, but he neglected to mention that until the last day. He also stayed in said friend's room one night. That was his first night away from us - a milestone. His new friend Pavi thought Son was great as did Pavi's parents (I had never met a stay at home unschooling dad before - how cool!).
Second of all, Husband attended talks and watched the people around him and has come home Changed (in my observation). He is much more committed to unschooling. Maybe it was seeing how happy and terrific Son can be when he truly getting his needs AND wants met. Maybe it was Beth's sparkly talk on Peaceful Partnerships. Maybe it was seeing all those grown and almost grown unschoolers in real life and seeing how confident, well-spoken, and darned interesting they are. Whatever it was about the conference, I am thankful:-)
Daughter, Son, and Husband challenged themselves with the climbing tower and the giant swing. Wow, they were impressive - especially Daughter since she is only 5. The swing was so high!
We stayed with 2 families on our way to the conference - found via couchsurfing.com - my new favorite way to stay. You get to meet cool people, hang out with them in their home environment, stay overnight, then return the favor by hosting someone in your home at another time.
On our trip to NC, we rented a small sailboat and the kids sailed for the first time. That was pretty cool. We hiked around in Stone Mountain park (the most memorable - I mean infamous - vacation destination from my youth). Oh, we had a great time. I instilled a desire to travel more. We are planning already!
So we got back a few days ago from the Live and Learn Conference near Asheville, NC. It was fantastic for so many reasons. First of all, Son connected with a friend on the first day and we rarely saw him for the rest of the conference. He played, partied, and had a great time. He sometimes had a hard time getting food he wanted at the cafeteria, but he neglected to mention that until the last day. He also stayed in said friend's room one night. That was his first night away from us - a milestone. His new friend Pavi thought Son was great as did Pavi's parents (I had never met a stay at home unschooling dad before - how cool!).
Second of all, Husband attended talks and watched the people around him and has come home Changed (in my observation). He is much more committed to unschooling. Maybe it was seeing how happy and terrific Son can be when he truly getting his needs AND wants met. Maybe it was Beth's sparkly talk on Peaceful Partnerships. Maybe it was seeing all those grown and almost grown unschoolers in real life and seeing how confident, well-spoken, and darned interesting they are. Whatever it was about the conference, I am thankful:-)
Daughter, Son, and Husband challenged themselves with the climbing tower and the giant swing. Wow, they were impressive - especially Daughter since she is only 5. The swing was so high!
We stayed with 2 families on our way to the conference - found via couchsurfing.com - my new favorite way to stay. You get to meet cool people, hang out with them in their home environment, stay overnight, then return the favor by hosting someone in your home at another time.
On our trip to NC, we rented a small sailboat and the kids sailed for the first time. That was pretty cool. We hiked around in Stone Mountain park (the most memorable - I mean infamous - vacation destination from my youth). Oh, we had a great time. I instilled a desire to travel more. We are planning already!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Painting and Concrete
Wow, today I started and completed my own project and helped someone else with theirs! After a quiet, doing little tasks kind of morning, Daughter and I started prepping the kids bathroom to be painted. That went so quickly that we got out the paint which has been patiently waiting since winter. We got the entire bathroom prepared and painted in less than 4 hours. Daughter helped the entire time. What a champ. Of course, she did get to use a screwdriver, a cleaning bucket, a paint brush, masking tape, and a paint roller. What is not to love?
After we got our tools and ourselves cleaned up (tools better than us), I looked out the window and saw a concrete truck at our neighbors house. We put on our shoes and headed over there so check out the fun. They were putting in a sidewalk to their new side door and sort of new gazebo. The forms were already up and level (hence the concrete truck's arrival), but there was still plenty to watch. I got to help screed the concrete (make the surface level with the forms), use a sledgehammer to pound the stakes for the forms in further, and hang out with the guys. Hardly any woman comments except that "there aren't many women who do what you do". I took that as a compliment. I wouldn't have 10 years ago. I have grown and matured imagine that!
After a shower that felt wonderful, we had a yummy dinner, and settled down to watch The Rescuers. It is one movie that I remember enjoying as a child, so I thought I would share it with Daughter. We watched a bit of it before she was too sleepy. Maybe more tomorrow.
After we got our tools and ourselves cleaned up (tools better than us), I looked out the window and saw a concrete truck at our neighbors house. We put on our shoes and headed over there so check out the fun. They were putting in a sidewalk to their new side door and sort of new gazebo. The forms were already up and level (hence the concrete truck's arrival), but there was still plenty to watch. I got to help screed the concrete (make the surface level with the forms), use a sledgehammer to pound the stakes for the forms in further, and hang out with the guys. Hardly any woman comments except that "there aren't many women who do what you do". I took that as a compliment. I wouldn't have 10 years ago. I have grown and matured imagine that!
After a shower that felt wonderful, we had a yummy dinner, and settled down to watch The Rescuers. It is one movie that I remember enjoying as a child, so I thought I would share it with Daughter. We watched a bit of it before she was too sleepy. Maybe more tomorrow.
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