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Hello, poor little neglected blog. The weekend was much too full of living to leave time for chronicling. And now I could sleep for a week!
The Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference was a blast. Such a fun crowd! Here are a few of the things we got to do this weekend:
*knights and chivalry (Beanie and Jane)
* board-breaking (ditto)
* needlefelting (Beanie learned how and made a lovely new friend)
* drop-spindle spinning (Jane learned how, so AT LONG LAST the spindle I bought for research when I was writing the first Martha book is seeing some use)
* painting and drawing (nearly everyone—there was a wonderful art room set up and you could go create to your heart’s content any time of day)
* “Rock Star Drama Camp” (Beanie attended this most excellent funshop led by the ebullient Amy Steinberg. Later, Amy flagged me down in the hall to tell me Bean’s a natural actress. No surprise to this proud mama who directed her as Feste in scenes from Twelfth Night last spring!)
That’s just a small sample. Flo Gascon, the conference organizer, did an amazing job of putting together a seamless, merry, stimulating weekend—and gracefully weathering the big excitement of the San Diego Blackout.
Some of the talks I attended:
“Zero Tuition College” by Blake Boles, about which I shall have MUCH TO SAY either here or at GeekMom. Fantastic talk. (Rose and Jane also went to a college pros and cons session moderated by Blake. Much food for discussion later.)
“Artodidact” by Brenna McBroom, an inspiring young woman who described her decision to leave college and focus on her pottery with apprenticeships and mentorships. I loved this talk. So did Jane and Rose, especially Rose, who was captivated by Brenna’s pottery (we’d been oohing and ahhing over it in the conference lounge all day, and right before Brenna’s talk, Rose talked me into buying the lovely little pot I kept returning to over and over—I’m so glad I did) and is now burning to take a ceramics class herself. We’ve spent this morning looking at possibilities around town.
“Good Ideas and Bad Ideas” by Holly Dodd, daughter of Sandra Dodd. Holly shared some of her insights gleaned from visiting and/or nannying for many different families around the world.
“Unschooling Lifestyle Q & A”—four veteran unschooling parents answered audience questions. Most of the questions were parenting-focused, and to be honest I always feel a little outside that discussion when it’s from the radical unschooling end of the unschooling/alternative education continuum. I live at a different spot on that continuum and am happy with the way things work in our family. But this talk was lively and enjoyable, even if I didn’t agree with every point made. Heck, the panelists didn’t always agree with one another—that was part of the point, the reason organizer Flo Gascon had structured the panel the way she did: to give a range of viewpoints to common concerns.
Of course the best part of any conference is meeting new people and reconnecting with friends. The hotel had provided a nice big sunny room as a lounge area, and there was always a lot bubbling there. People crafti
15 Minutes Outside: 365 ways to get out of the house and connect with your kids
by Rebecca P. Cohen
There is probably a guide for just about everything with 365 ideas. Usually they don't interest me very much.
This title caught my eye, though, because who doesn't want to spend more time with their kids outside?
Unlike most 365 idea guides I've seen, I pretty much read this one straight through. It is packed with motivation for getting the family out into the sunshine (or rain or snow).
Rebecca Cohen decided to take her children outdoors every day for a year. The results were better than she expected. They created hundreds of positive family memories and the kids learned to get along better.
Her ideas are simple and easy and done with things most people have around the house. They are organized by month and day. The book is geared toward parents with young children.
A few of the ideas that stood out include...
January 21st: "Stage a Flashlight Drama Outside. If you have flashlights and glow sticks at home, your kids can stage a fantastic outdoor display after the sun goes down."
September 18th: "Make Time for Reflection. On occasion, I will suddenly notice a beautiful reflection of puffy clouds in a window I pass by on the street, or my kids will notice their reflection in my sunglasses. Raindrops, puddles, or a nearby pond or a creek offer beautiful reflections too. Play a game where you count how many reflections you can see...The kids can draw pictures of their favorite reflections."
October 7th: "Create then Hide Pumpkin Faces...Each child pains a face on her pumpkin. Then, take and print photos of each face or draw quick renditions on paper. While the kids are busy with snacks, hide the pumpkins. Give each child the picture of their pumpkin that they need to find."
By: Homespun Emily,
on 8/25/2010
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You are probably familiar with Usborne Books. Have you seen their Science Encyclopedia
? It is a beautiful book that has gotten lots of love around here. It's basically a textbook, but one that is pretty enough and interesting enough to just sit down and read.
This book covers the basic topics of Materials, Mixtures & Compounds, Energy/Forces/Motion, Earth & Space, Light/Sound/Electricity, Plants, Animals, and the Human Body in a friendly way that will appeal to elementary age students. Then, when one of the topics strikes your child's interest, he can visit the websites recommended to go along with the topic or try one of the experiments.
We recently grew our own crystals out of alum, based on an experiment in this book.
After letting them grow for a few days, we chose the biggest one, and using it as a 'seed crystal', put it in the jar and watched it grow some more.
It was a fun experiment, and though the
Usborne Science Encyclopedia
3 Comments on
The Usborne Science Encyclopedia, last added: 8/28/2010
This summer (which is insanely almost over!!!), the boys (excluding Y) went on their yearly backpacking/fishing trip. It looks like a lot of fun, doesn't it? On the way home, Robby called, and when I asked how it went, he said, "Ohhhh. It couldn't have been a more perfect trip."
I'm glad they had such a fun bonding experience.
Next up, I get to bond with Robby. He's planning to take me on a backpacking/fishing trip sometime soon. I'm excited (and a little nervous....) He says I have to leave my books at home because we are going to be doing some serious fly fishing.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sneak one in, though.
I'll let you know how it goes.
We took a field trip last week to Daddy's work, because the Y-Y--that boy LOVES trucks. He pretty much said, Oh Wowowowowowowowowow! the entire time (except when Daddy pulled the big horn...oops.)
Daddy's a salesman...a good (and not-annoying) one. BUT, sometimes he likes to refer to himself as Crazy Bob, the Used Car Salesman.
The other night, we were all talking about Crazy Bob, when Y-Y got in on the action and started saying, "Bob, Bob, Bob". We were all highly amused, so Y calls everything Bob now to make us giggle.
The convo usually goes like this...
Mom: What's you name, Y?
Y: Bob.
Mom: Who are you calling?
Y: Bob.
Everyone: Snicker. Snicker.
Today turned into a wonderful home school day. I didn't have a single thing planned, but it was a perfect example of life-led learning.
First thing this morning, I hung the American flag in the front yard. The kids, seeing that I was outside, quickly got dressed and joined me.
We recited the Pledge of Allegiance, placing our hands over our hearts. Saying the words with the kids, I realized that they might not understand some of it, so we sat there in the grass and had a big discussion about the words of the Pledge and the purpose of Memorial Day.
Then, we came inside and read
Holes by Louis Sachar
for hours. (A review is forthcoming...) When we finished, the kids (all on their own) decided to make their own books. Bub's is about animals, and Welly's is about princesses. Shocking.
Next, our home schooling neighbors came to play. They played for a little while, and then my kids went and had lunch and quiet reading time at their house.
Finally, we took a walk, delivering birthday invitations for Welly's upcoming Tea Party.
And that brings us to late afternoon. The kids are still playing, and I'm sure they will until I call them in to go BBQing at Grandma and Grandpa's.
Just a normal (but wonderful) day.
Hope yours was great, too.
My little (but growing bigger) Welly-girl loves to help me in the kitchen. Last time I went grocery shopping, I had both of the (big) kids choose a recipe for my dinner menu. They helped figure out what we needed at the store, checked the items off the list as we found them, and helped prepare the meals.
Welly chose a yummy (if fattening) "Totally Awesome Tortellini Alfredo" that turned out to be a big hit. Bubs words were, "That cook book IS kid-friendly" when he tasted it. The dinner was quick to make, and the kids enjoyed helping. The illustrations and recipe titles are fun, too. The recipe is from the
Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cook Book
. We've only used it a couple times, but so far, so good.
You'll probably think I'm a hippy, but
I love this.
When Bubs and his friend, Ben, wanted to cook up some weed paint in my kitchen, my knee-jerk reaction was to say no. And I almost did. But then I remembered that I want to say yes when possible.
I'm so glad I did. It turned out to be a wonderful little homeschool project.
Here's their process...
1. Collect weeds that leave marks on the sidewalk when you rub them there. Mash up the pieces.
2. Boil in a small amount of water, stirring frequently.
3. Use a collander to separate the chunks from the paint.
4. Paint!
Here's a sample. It turned out like watercolor paint. They made yellow out of dandelions, too which made me sneeze like a maniac...but still...
I'm glad I decided to swallow the 'no' and go for 'yes' instead.
One day last week, My Bebe said that he didn't have that much work to do. Hallelujah! I said. Let's do something fun in the morning. Then I told the kids, and Bubs, in an unusually sarcastic tone, said, What? Like go to the store and not buy anything?
We're certainly feeling the pinch of the economy like most of you probably are. I wracked my brain in frustration for a free place to go in freezing weather, other than, you know, the store...and came up empty.
BUT, the next morning we woke up to snow. Not a whole lot. Just enough for a free family activity.
Thanks, Mother Nature.
Who needs an expensive doll house when you can make mansions out of books?
On Saturday, we went back to the apple orchard for harvesting and pressing apple cider. Work doesn't get more fun than this! First, we picked apples. Bubs preferred climbing the trees and plucking apples one at a time.
The rest of us shook the apples out of the trees and placed them in buckets.
Carrying the buckets to the press was apparently a 4-kid job.
This orchard was heaven. I loved this horse tire swing.
After the apples were hosed off, they were dropped down the chute into a chopper that cut them up into small pieces...peel, seeds, and all.
Then, the pieces were dumped into a press and the juice was squeezed out. So yummy! We came home with several gallons of fresh, unsweetened (but amazingly sweet) cider.
We went to this gorgeous apple orchard. Usually the family sells their apples. This year, they have decided to let anyone have them for free because of the hard economic times. They should go straight to heaven when they die. They are angels.
I'm sure I'll be posting some apple projects and recipes soon!
One of the great side-effects of homeschooling/having an entrepreneurial husband is that you can wake up one day and say, "Let's go to the beach."
Laguna Beach, CA to be exact. Ahhhhhh. Beautiful. Rejuvenating. Warm. Peaceful.
Perfect.
(More about our trip to come.)
With a bit of
inspiration from Family Fun (and a whole lot of newspapers), we built this fort...and I've been thinking. Sometimes making a fort is about having a small place to hide away, but most of the time, it is all about the
process.
This project involved math, cooperation, shapes, dexterity, creativity, and a whole lot of jumping around and loving life...
Having kids around is such a joy, isn't it? Of course there are hard times...but, man, there are great times too, aren't there?
We were thrilled when Uncle Terry and Aunt Marissa invited us to go raspberry and blackberry picking with them. We made the short drive over to McBride Berry Patch in Mapleton. You can find the info here at PickYourOwn.org.
The day was cold and rainy, but we were all way to excited to be deterred.
I told Welly to wear long pants, so she asked, "Can I at least wear a skirt over my pants?" :)
Anyway, we picked tons of berries at 3 bucks/pound. (Anyone have a great recipe they want to share?)
Then (while I fed Why-Why in the car), the troops ventured into other parts of McBride farm. The McBrides (who I totally adored, by the way) told them to help themselves to some tomatoes and onions.
Don't these look awesome? Oh yeah, the onions, too.
We had such a lovely time. Truly. That was one of my favorite family outings EVER. Go check out McBride Berry Patch if you're local.
I'm sure we'll be going back!
Thanks to our good friends, The Hausers, we enjoyed a quiet evening at the river...chatting, roasting marshmallows, enjoying the summer night, and fishing, always fishing.
Don't you wish you could follow this little path to the water? It looks like such a treasure, doesn't it? What dreams couldn't come true, right here in this quiet little spot?
How to Make a Feather Quill Pen and Ink...
To make the quill pen, all you have to do is find a large hollow feather (we found one in the fly-tying aisle of the local sport store), and cut the end at an angle with strong scissors to form a point.
At first, we made our "ink" by watering down some Crayola paints. That worked very well, until Bubs (always thinking) said something to the effect of...surely the pioneers didn't have crayola paints with them when they crossed the plains...
So, after some thought about what they did have (and remembering the great and abominable stain Welly-Bells got on her dress earlier in the day), we concluded that our dark red cherries would make excellent ink.
Bubs placed them on this strainer and mashed the juice through, and into a bowl. We used six cherries and added a little water. However, more cherries and less water would have worked better.
Welly wanted to do her project a little differently. She attached her feather to a pen
a la Fancy Nancy, instead. And, you know what? I was okay with that. I hate when people tell kids exactly how to do art projects. I mean, isn't art all about creativity and doing things the way that speaks to you?
One of the ideas from my
huge list of things to do, was to have the kids plan a meal, help shop for the items, and prepare the meal.
We did this for our special Sunday dinner with Aunt Marissa and Uncle Terry.
First, the kids brainstormed some of their favorite dinner ideas (chicken fingers, peas, pot pie...) and wrote them down. They settled on shrimp tacos. I know. What kids love shrimp tacos? Mine, apparently. They made out a menu. Shrimp tacos, corn, Spanish rice, and strawberries, with brownies and ice cream for dessert.
We all looked at the recipes and made a shopping list.
Going to Smith's and pushing around the mini carts was definitely their favorite part of the adventure. (They may or may not have had a couple shopping cart races...and they may or may not have made a couple old people glare at their mother.)
The dinner plans got fancier and fancier. Soon enough, they were writing name cards and pulling out our (rarely-used) napkin rings. The table was lovely. The food...tasty. The company...splendid. The lessons learned...fun and useful.
Wanna-Be Cafe Rio Shrimp Tacos (If you like breaded shrimp and cilantro, you have to try these...)
Ingredients:
frozen popcorn shrimp
tortillas (the home-cooked ones are yummiest)
cilantro to taste
Green sauce ingredients:
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet prepared according to package
2 tomatillos
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice from 1 lime
1/2 jalapeno
1. Cook the popcorn shrimp according to the package directions.
2. Prepare the green sauce by placing all the ingredients in a blender and blending until smooth.
3. Cut remaining cilantro, leaving it in large pieces.
4. Warm (or cook, if necessary) the tortillas.
5. I'm sure you can figure out the rest...Place shrimp, green sauce, and cilantro onto a tortilla. Roll it up, and enjoy!
Easy and delicious. The kids love it, as long as I don't make it too spicy.
In yesterday's post on natural learning, I mentioned that we lost steam in some areas this year and picked up in others. So what have we been doing this year?Consistently, we have been reading aloud in the mornings, as I described in this post: the Bible story book and a chapter book every day, and most days I also read poetry or the Shakespeare stories. Occasionally we'll add in a picture
I mentioned natural learning, interest-led learning and unschooling in a previous post. As you may recall, this year we have been experimenting with a slower pace of homeschooling.A New ApproachUnschooling UpdateOh Yeah...Homeschooling...If you read or recall these posts, you may wonder how our year is ending up? Well, we have lost steam in some areas and picked up in others. But overall, our
Blogging about one's teenagers can be a little tricky. When I met up with Megan and Summer recently, I confided about difficulties we've had with one of our teenagers, and Megan said, "Oh, from your blog, you'd never guess!" For the record and in the interests of FULL disclosure, let me state that no member of our family is as one-sidedly positive as they may appear in this blog. (Including me!
Since Carey turned me on to The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, by Grace Llewellyn, I've adopted a pretty critical stance toward formal education. (Actually, my husband would probably tell you this is a vast understatement.) Subbing in the Chicago Public Schools for six months and dealing with inane school assignments at the library for three years have not improved my opinion.*
I was very successful in school, and school did benefit me in certain ways, but I cannot say that it was a very happy experience over all or that I think my time couldn't have been spent more productively elsewhere. My real life as a teen was outside of school: Girl Scouts, art classes, camping and camp counseling, church choir, church youth group, GLBTQ youth group. Going to the theatre with my parents, riding bikes and hanging out in the woods with my friends, writing stories in my notebooks, baby-sitting, riding my bike to the library, sketching in the park, learning to cook.
I realize I was very lucky. I grew up in an area where there were lots of outside-of-school opportunities and you didn't need a car to get everywhere. I had smart, supportive parents. And I'm a pretty driven person who does well with self-directed learning and self-discipline. In other words, while unschooling may not be the right thing for every kid in every situation, I think I would have been an ideal candidate.
I think most smart adults become autodidacts once they get their diplomas—taking up a new musical instrument or developing their skill on an old one, learning a new art or craft, studying a foreign language, traveling the world, writing books, making films, reading about everything under the sun. It stretches the definition of autodidactism, but I think taking community center classes should count, too, because they're voluntary and you do most of the work independently. No one is grading you. It's all up to your own interest and self-discipline.
Don't you ever wonder what you could have done if you'd had all those hours you spent in classroom drudgery to pursue your interests? I didn't need formal schooling to become a librarian, writer, or web designer. I might even have found my path sooner without school in the way.
Anyway, enough kvetching about my misspent youth. (It's all grist for the mill, after all.) The other day Collecting Children's Books mentioned a book called The Day I Became an Autodidact and the Advice, Adventures, and Acrimonies That Befell Me Thereafter, by Kendall Hailey. It's the memoir of a teen girl who left formal schooling in high school and pursued autodidactism. Clearly I needed to read it.
I started it today and am already in love. The narrative voice is charmingly old-fashioned (though it was published in 1988), and there's so much humor to it. I've wished it wasn't a library book so I could go through with a highlighter. There are so many gems. Some snippets that have stuck out to me already...
Upon receiving a summer reading list:
I read (rarely skimming) everything school tells me to from the middle of September to the middle of June, but the summer is mine. And being told what to read during summer suddenly made me realize that I don't really like being told what to read during the fall, winter, and spring either. (foreword)
Upon reading about the life of Tolstoy:
It turns out that to be a great literary genius, not only do you not have to go to college, you don't even have to be very good at educating yourself. I always like to begin a new phase of life on a comforting note. (p. 4-5)
Upon finishing Anna Karenina:
His novel has aroused in me many doubts about how we can hope to do good things. I dreamed last night that the only way I wouldn't feel guilty spending my life being a writer would be to cure cancer first—and even then I would still feel a little guilty. (p. 5)
On sleep:
I hate sleep and I hate how much time I spend doing it, but, quite frankly, I think it is the only thing that keeps human beings from going mad: the illusion that life is not one continuous stream, but the more manageable concept of days. A day, contemplated in its entirety, is hard enough to deal with. A life, contemplated in its entirety, is an impossible concept. (p. 10)
I could go on, but you get the picture. I look forward to reading more!
*No offense intended to the teachers out there. I know you do the best you can with what you've got for curriculum, NCLB standards, etc. And there are tons of families out there that could never pull off unschooling, and those kids need you! But is school everything it could/should be? I don't think so.
I feel like I am still trying on that label, like a new coat I've brought home from the store--but haven't removed the tags from yet. I keep trying it on and deciding, again, whether it fits, whether I like it enough to keep it. The conservative part of me wants something a little less bold, like "eclectic" or "relaxed." Is it really accurate to call what we're doing "unschooling"?
Because
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That sounds like an amazing book! I need motivation to get my kids outside!