Category: Education

I CU

Intensive Care for the Christian Unschooler– this will be a weekly meme (you post the questions to your blog each Wednesday that you are able, using one of the buttons to link back here, and hop over here and add your site to the linky at the bottom.)

“This week we want to…” do a whole list of things, literally. The kids made a list at roughly midnight Sunday night. It is long and includes a slew of foods they want to make (on the GAPS diet, learning lots of new recipes so much of learning is focused on that.) For instance today we kicked crossed 2 things from the list– making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (made almond/banana bread) and had ice cream for breakfast (homemade raw milk with honey). Also made the kids lunch meat and hot dogs– two other things on the list. To aid them in this endeavor I made a list of links on delicious specifically for them, so we can quickly look up all the recipes I am finding.

“The kids are…” playing a lot of Roblox and thus learning about bullying and other behaviors.

“I am learning….” to make kombucha! Made my first batch from a scoby I made from bought kombucha. Very exciting. Just bottled my first batch!

“I am struggling with…” too much social interaction. Need to walk away from the computer more often now that so much is going on on the Christian Unschooling group. I get super moody and wiped out if I over interact– it literally drains me. Also need to find some way NOT to be leaving the house EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Too much is enough. I am working on saying yes more often to the kids (not yes you can do something evil but yes lets find a creative way that you can do what you want if not now in the future.) It is adding to the peaceful-ness of the household, and the kids are helping get creative with solutions– great for problem solving skills.
A great example is that the kids love Larabars. They want to eat them all but at $1.25 per bar even for the bulk ones I got so we would have them on hand when we left the house, well, I just can’t let them. These have to last us a long time. So we talked about solutions. I told them that they can eat as many as they want as long as they paid me for them so I could replace them (they have money– gifts and money they earn). Then I said that I would MAKE my own version so they had something similar when they wanted, which they could eat the rest of the time. They loved the idea and all are happy now. (I make them anyway, and they like them, but those packaged ones have wrappers and that makes them appealing.) Here is a link to all sorts of homemade larabar recipes, in case you want to make your own too.

“This week is the first time….” I made my own kombucha and made my own salami-like lunch meat. I have made roast beef lunch meat before but Rach really wanted lunch meat and I couldn’t afford a grassfed roast but I did have plenty of hamburger. This is also the first time Shamus and I have worked together to fix something. I ADORE fixing broken things and problem solving and usually get together with my brother and have tons of fun seeing what will fix random broken things around the house. Shamus….not so much. He just gets angry. This time we had fun tearing apart the mower and applying all sorts of internet and book knowledge and it was the advice of one of his readers that did it! YAH!

May 25, 2011
3 Comments
Heather
A Day in the Life, Community, Day to Day, Education, Educational play, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

Plank Pullin’: Packrat edition

It’s Plank Pullin’ time! The one day a week that we strongly resolve to ignore the multitude of specks and sawdust around us and pull one bona fide plank from our own eye. Matthew 7:3-5, style.

So, I have been talking a lot about this new adventure where we don’t tell my kids to do chores anymore and they actually step in and do stuff around the house when asked (once only) or even, get this, without being asked! A lot? It is the ONLY thing I have been talking about lately but that is because it is HUGE for us and it is taking up a lot of my thinky brain– you all will be TOTALLY SICK OF IT by the time I am finished, trust me. It is almost as if this whole “unschoooling” thing actually works when applied to other areas of life– who knew (and those of you who did, hush up– you have one a beautiful job not saying I told you so and I would appreciate it if you continued NOT saying I told you so. :))

So, it is still on my mind because I am still working through it so of course this week’s Plank Pullin’ is totally about that.

Here is the thing: I am messy. I like to have things look neat and deliberately get rid of clutter so it is easier to keep things neat (used to be a total pack rat–took 6 moves to make me stop)– when we have a lot of stuff I stash things and pile all the stuff I don’t know what to do with in one corner/drawer/cupboard/out of site. My husband is fairly messy as well– he likes things neat and clean (no bugs) and will keep his desktop clean (well he declutters a lot more often than I do– you do NOT get to see my desktop but just know that as long as I have a spot for my water bottle I am happy) and if something starts bugging him he will do something about it, not complain to me about it. He is also my absent minded professor– so when someone asks who left the cheese out, it was probably him. 🙂

So WHY am I surprised that my kids are packrats and tend to leave things behind when they are doing something (my oldest especially.) They get it from US! And my biggest pet peeve, the stufing and putting off doing something? ME! ME! ME! They get it from ME!

Oops.

You see, this week I helped my oldest rearrange her room (so she had a “wall” between her and her younger sister’s bed) and whilst doing that helped her clean the pile of junk she shoved into the closet when she was having company. I was angry and irritated about that pile. REALLY irritated. I had been asking her to clean it up for over a month. This time I stopped asking and just helped because I knew she hated the mess and was overwhelmed by it. I was also upset that she still had a laundry basket full of clean clothes sitting on the floor. She gave me all sorts of excuses and I just got cranky about it.

The things is? I have a similar pile in my bedroom. Several similar piles. Sure they aren’t full of garbage like hers (well the bottom of my closet might be since that is where presents get stashed and all those little wrappers and tags end up there, and there might be packing materials and random bits of stuff mixed in with the big pile but…..) I also have a pile of clothes that I can’t be bothered to hang up (because I forget what I have if I hang it up–the closet door closes and I can’t see through it :)) and a huge pile of things that I have move from other parts of the house as we cleaned– because I didn’t know what to do with this stuff.

Did you see the excuses?

Yeah.

See God keeps showing me that MY attitude and actions are what the kids are seeing and copying (also that some of this stuff is just hereditary–you should see all the stuff my brother’s collect, and my dad, and my grandparents:)). So whether I choose to clean up my own act I REALLY need to remember that I have my own messes to deal with first, THEN I can help them clean up theirs.

I have also found that when something really doesn’t work for them I need to adapt things so they WILL work for them. Which is why my kids don’t have drawers– they, like me, stash things in drawers then forget about them (every drawer in our house is a junk drawer except those in the kitchen cabinets that hold designated items). They used to dump their drawers on the floor every time they got dressed. So we got rid of the drawers and put in shelves. We find that having too many clothes leads to mess–they get overwhelmed looking for things that actually fit/feel right, so we go through and get rid of what doesn’t fit or feel right. If a certain type of storage doesn’t work for me, I get rid of it and move to something that does, so we do the same thing for them. 🙂

Just had some tea with my oldest and discussed all the things that we have in common, that drive each other crazy– the messes, staying up all night playing video games, the interrupting, the… you get the idea. And she pointed out how angry she used to get when I would yell at her for something that I do. Yeah. Working on it.

May 12, 2011
4 Comments
Heather
A Day in the Life, Community, Day to Day, Education, God's Fingerprints, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

Plank Pullin’: Crying into the Dishwater

For the first time in several years (at least–can’t remember the last time honestly) I am joining in a weekly meme: Jessica’s Plank Pullin’. Hop on over and read hers (which I totally identify with, or would if we actually had people randomly stopping by– in our case we still have all elderly neighbors and my kids are the ones going visiting.)

So, if you have been paying attention you know we are doing an experiment this week. In case you don’t have the energy to read through my wall of words here’s a run down:

This week I am fasting from telling the kids to do chores or insisting they do what I ask in general (the fast policy is ask once then let it go–it is not required obedience because I am asking not insisting). They are 13, 11, and 9. They know how the house runs. There have been nightly fights since we instituted the “kids are in charge of the dishes” rule 6 months ago and I have had enough as have they–thus the fast (which may extend to all the time–usually my character fasts do in the end).

The problem is, my attitude about it stinks, as does theirs. I can’t fix theirs but I CAN fix mine, which is where this week’s plank pullin’ comes in.

We have been doing pretty well– I had been making sure I asked for help only when the kids weren’t actively busy with something. So if I said, “Hey, could someone run down and check the laundry” someone usually would. But last night my attitude with a healthy dose of hormones reared its ugly head and when you live in a house with pre-/teen girls, THEIR hormones are also raging.

We had spent all day out shopping– the exhausting sort– and I was exhausted, wiped out, and REALLY didn’t want to do dishes.

See, growing up my parents didn’t get a dishwasher until I moved out– why should they when my brother and I made perfectly good dishwashers. They got it when I moved out because my middle brother was busy with all sorts of after school activities and was never home to DO dishes, my other brother being a baby. I’m not bitter. So I grew up hating doing dishes even though when my brother helped it was kind of fun. Despite how we acted around our parents we really enjoyed each other’s company and made doing dishes fun. The result of this is I hate doing dishes but don’t mind so much if it gives me a chance to hang out with someone.

When I asked for help last night everyone decided they would rather do something else. So I sobbed into the soapy water instead of yelling (because if I am on a fast and call it that then I rememberand I refused to yell–though BOY was it tempting.) This led to a big wet, whiny talk with God about how I hated doing dishes alone and why was I the one who had to pick up all the slack and do all the extra work that needs done and how the kids know my love language is service and not one of them could be bothered to even offer to help and waaaaaaaahhhh.

Now remember, part of this experiment is that I want my kids to get a better attitude about work and not go about bossing each other and to quit looking at work as something to be avoided and foisted off on others. Here I was whining about how I wanted my kids to come in and naturally offer to help without even being asked and that they wouldn’t even do it if I asked gently. Meanwhile God often has to kick me in the rear (or shut down my computer) to get me going in the proper direction even though I should know what He wants me to do (I do have a conscience and the Holy Spirit uses it liberally) and even when He straight out asks I tend to balk. So my love language is service and here I am whining about serving because I want others to serve me instead meanwhile I don’t pay near enough attention to the service that God is asking me to do. Hmmm. Big ol’ plank there.

And then, after all my whining and fussing I realized there really weren’t that many dishes after all (a little over a sink full) and suddenly I was done and I remembered that doing dishes isn’t really that bad and I was just really pulling the same stunt as my kids (why do I have to be the one to do it, why can’t someone else.)

A few minutes later, though still disappointed in my kids, my attitude had recovered. I walked into the office and my boy ran up to me and said, “I know I didn’t help with the dishes but look, I cleaned up your desk for you!” And he did, my desk looked really nice (and everything was where I usually put it so I could find it– and yes, it did make me feel loved–I have a very silly heart. :)) A few minutes later Rach asked, “Didn’t anyone help you with the dishes?” I replied that no one had and why would she expect someone else to if she wouldn’t (okay, a bit of attitude lingering but her younger sister is the one who usually steps in and helps and Rach knows it).

Obviously I have some personal heart issues/attitude to address before I attempt to address those in my children. So I consider it temporarily adjusted– I know I will have more adjusting to do but that is really what a fast is usually about (for me anyway) and fasts tend to bring out the big heart issues God wants to work on right now and this one is a doozy.

May 5, 2011
6 Comments
Heather
Community, Education, God's Fingerprints, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

Randomly random post title here

And now he is 9. He has had an awesome birthday, except that in his excitement he woke 4 hrs earlier than usual and thus is a major crank today. Otherwise he has had a great birthday, actually getting presents that were exactly what he wanted, and was saving for. Which is nice.

And today after a near panic (in my head) about how certain monetary needs would be met in the future, we received an extra last check from my husband’s old company, which is nice and which will fill the final gap in the cost of the half of a steer we were saving for. This will save a great deal of money in the future, unless our deep freeze dies– every time I walk into the store that I have to go to to buy the hormone/antibiotic free beef that is the only sort we can eat I walk out having spent at least $50, only a portion of which was on the beef. The half a steer is also MUCH cheaper for the meat itself, which is also good. The fact that we don’t eat pork, are allergic to poultry (anaphylaxis to the cheapest meat is just lovely, thank you), and I am sad to say several of my children have inherited my complete hatred of most fish means that grass fed, organic beef is about our only meat source. Sigh. Good thing we all like beef.

Also in the household news, lessons have been learned about triggers of outbursts and depression for certain children, which led to lessons in redemption and forgiveness, and in doing ones homework (for for outside lessons) so one does not feel stressed and then depressed because one has not done ones homework. (This is a lesson that unschooled children do not learn as quickly as public schooled ones–though I have known many such children who never did learn said lesson.)

Also, earlier this week I punctured my ear drum, again. Long story short: used course see salt and too much of it in my neti pot, which led to huge pieces of salt up my nose, which led to burning, which led to sudden and extreme nose blowing (STOP the BURNING), which led to right ear drum popping and a whole day lying down on a hot pack. Anyway, so now I am going around with a silicone ear plug to block the ear so it doesn’t hurt so much and answering way too many questions about the neon orange thing in my ear. So, that has been fun.

October 12, 2010
1 Comment
Heather
A Day in the Life, Day to Day, Education, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

On the Road Again: part 3

Finally, the rest of the post so I can move on to all the stuff that has been happening since August.

After spending several hours at the Maryland Science Center (and $15 poorer due to the cost of parking), we were off again, this time to spend the night a bloggy friend’s house for the night before heading to another bloggy friend’s house on the way home the next day. I have known Deb for several years now (initially through the web and later through a previous stop on the way home from our semiannual trip to visit another friend.) Her kids are in a similar age range to my own and they all thoroughly enjoy each other. Also Deb is full of awesome ideas and I love to absorb as much as I can while visiting. 🙂

There was a lot of mommy talk (poor Deb barely got any quiet I am afraid), dress-up and costumes (mostly the girls though they have plenty of awesome boy costumes and the boys got in on it),

quite a few practical jokes, light-saber and Nerf gun battles galore with some Lego’s thrown in the mix, and of course lots of swimming.

We had a lovely time and the kids had a hard time leaving.

Though I suspect poor Deb, who keeps a gorgeous, amazingly decorated, (and CLEAN) house despite having 4 kids and has an awful lot on her plate, was ready for a break. And isn’t this a beautiful picture of her and her youngest (okay, not a great picture but I love the mommy love going on in it.) So thank you again, Deb, for opening your home to us and your wonderful hospitality. You were such a blessing to us (and my house loves you– you are such an inspiration and it is much better organized and all those little things that I put off have happened since our last visit. I swear, one of these days I am going to kidnap you so you can help me make my house look nice.)

We then hopped in the car (it melting out and the one downside of our lovely, wonderful, blessing of a Toyota Sienna is that the air conditioning is meh if anything so 100 degrees was a bit much.) We headed north, back to PA, were we spent several wonderful hours visiting this wonderful family (I have known Beth online for as long as I have known Deb but as they only just moved to PA from Tennessee and I have never been to Tennessee this was our first time meeting. )

We spent so much time busy and talking and talking and talking, well, we forgot to take pictures. Where Deb is an inspiration (I always come home full of awesome ideas and my house spends the next month getting much more organized :)), Beth is a kindred spirit. So mostly we talked books, books, art, books, books, kids, books, books, Christianity, books, cooking, books, unschooling, books, and possibly, books. Her oldest gave his Lego collection over to Issac for the day (who relished some much needed alone time playing), the girls hit it off like that (and are bugging and bugging for another visit), and all the kids headed down to the creek for a long wade and some crayfish catching. I came home with several amazing books to read (Nourishing Traditions I bought myself having seen it at Beth’s and discussed it with her), Restoration: Returning the Torah of God to the Disciples of Jesus she gave me (it has changed our lives and our relationship with God– heartily recommend it), plus a creation dinosaur book (Dinosaurs by Design) that we didn’t have for Essie to read due to her sudden fascination with all things dinosaur (we had this one and this one. Oh, and she sent me home with some raw milk, which we tried, love, (can DRINK!!!), and which immediately spawned a search for a raw milk producer in the area (52 minutes away is the closest but what a blessing!) I can’t wait to go back and pick her brain about a multitude of things (and as I mentioned my oldest especially reminds me daily that we need to go back for a visit.. Of course now that both families have weekly activities it has been tricky to find the time but God’s timing is perfect and I am looking forward to the next visit (and can’t wait till they can get here to visit us!)

October 8, 2010
3 Comments
Heather
Community, Day to Day, Education, Photos, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

I’m that Mom

Joining in on an awesome, impromptu blog carnival over here.

(I am deliberately not reading everyone else’s until I have finished writing mine, except for the 2 I saw that made me realize that this is a cool thing that I actually want to join in on because I suspect a lot of us overlap and I want to share who I am without worrying about that it may be a “YEAH, ME TOO.”)

I am that mom who, when the kids ask if we can please go visit our friends 5 hours away tomorrow, says yes, starts packing, and goes.

I am that mom who upon finding out the the oldest’s best friend (who lives 2 days away) might be able to come stay for a week says YES.

I am that mom who on 4th of July goes fireworks chasing with the kids, driving all over tarnation looking at everyone’s awesome displays, instead of taking them to sit in a huge crowd and watching one display.

I am that mom who would rather take the kids to the pond to swim or sit and watch hours upon hours of anime, Dr. Who, favorite movies, or As Time Goes By with the crazy, wonderful kids than worry about what the neighbors think of her children’s nearly dead flower/veggie garden and too tall grass.
I am that mom who when the kids decide to build a tent/tree house/whatever in the back yard says nothing or helps them find the needed materials, knowing that again the neighbors will wonder about the people next door ruining the view from their perfect yards.

I am that mom who runs outside with the kids in the pouring rain to look for rainbows.

I am that mom who, when the kids find their long lost roller blades and ask if they can go somewhere to roller blade, suggests they roller blade in the house on our fake hard wood floors and allow them to continue to wear them for everything for the next week.

I am that mom who lets her kids turn her entire kitchen into a restaurant for days at a time and play with their food.

I am that mom who, when her son asks to take all the blankets from all over the house and use them to jump on, says yes.

I am that mom who takes a camera wherever her kids go and takes pictures of all the awesome things they do.

I am that mom who, when her kids want to mow the grass says yes and then says nothing about the stripes of extra tall grass left behind and the odd, rather like a maze, style of cutting grass her oldest prefers.

I am that mom who, when a kid says “come see this cool thing” stops what she is doing to go see (and it always IS really cool!)

I am that mom who realizes that her middle child loves the stage and when she asks signs her up and takes her to a performing arts camp the very next week.

I am that mom who still loses her cool, who still gets frustrated when the kids have totally trashed the place (not a problem) and then don’t clean it up (a problem), who has bad days and does not cope so well when the kids are fighting, again.

I am that mom who still has a long way to go but loves where her kids are exactly where they are regardless of the stage they are in, loves being with them, and thinks they are totally awesome and fun.

Yes, this is an extended version, I got started and kept going (which anyone who knows me in person knows this is VERY typical.)

July 27, 2010
7 Comments
Heather
A Day in the Life, Books, Community, Day to Day, Education, Educational play, Movies, Photos, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

Rhythm to our days

Our family does not live by a schedule in any way shape or form. None of us like them– our whole family gets horribly stressed with a schedule. I know there are people out there who NEED a list or schedule, who thrive if they know what is going to happen today, tomorrow, next week. We are not those people. Knowing I have to do something at a specific time next week stresses me out for the whole time preceding that activity and I find it impossible to focus on the other things I need to get done in that time.

However, we do seek patterns, rhythms that help us discern what comes next depending on the season we are in. The times change as does the order but there is a general idea in everyone’s head as to what is likely to happen on any given day.

A lot of our rhythm focuses on my husband and where he is in his odd 26 hour day wake/sleep cycle. When he is sleeping from 4am to 12pm our rhythm as a family is different than when he is sleeping from 4pm to 12am. It also focuses on how many hours he is working. When he is working 40 hr weeks (almost never) our family rhythm is different than when he is working 60 or 80 hr weeks (as he has been for the last 12 months.)

There are also certain elements that are always included in our family rhythm while others are seasonal. Always included of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack. Always included is a daily reading of the Bible as a family. Those are givens though sometimes breakfast is the big meal while in other seasons snack is and in some seasons we read just 1 chapter of the Bible quickly with little discussion and others we read many and discuss every few seconds of reading. Of course one other given is sleep. We all need a lot of sleep (with the RA I need about 10 hrs) so sleep is always a given. On a weekly basis our rhythm nearly always includes a trip to the library, a trip to my grandmother’s (1/2 hr drive away and takes most of the afternoon evening), a trip to the thrift shop (or three), an hour of everyone cleaning up the house so that we can all move without stumbling on things left behind, and a trip to the grocery store.

Right now we are in a season and look to be shifting to a new one because of changes in weather and hubby’s sleep and changes in which days he has “off” (from his programming job so he can work on his writing which is his other job–he only takes 1 day off completely a week– Saturday which he jealously guards). It is also changing because I am working about 20+ hours a week on various projects.

For the past week our rhythm has included me making all meals (because of re-instituting the Candida diet), driving to the pond to swim twice a day (because the afternoons are way too hot and one hour swimming in the morning and one in the evening have been working well for the kids), a quiet time in the afternoon so I can work and run errands because the kids are worn out after all that swimming, and an evening reading of the Bible before we head back to the pond.

Right now we are in a state of flux. Hubby’s sleep has shifted again, I have work to get done, the weather has cooled a bit so that an afternoon swim is probably the best choice, we would like to fit a trip to one of the Pittsburgh museums in on a weekly or at least biweekly basis, Rachel is going to be working on piano with a friends daughter, and Essie wants to go to a performing arts camp next week (I am praying they have an opening–have to call today and find out), and the kids are settling into the Candida diet and getting comfortable so I don’t have to fix their every meal. It will be interesting to find the next pattern, to see the next rhythm.

Already the kids are staying up later and sleeping in longer so they have more time with Daddy while he is awake but I happen to know there is a game on his computer that ONLY works on his computer that we are all aching to play and that some of the time he is asleep is going to be spent playing it. Already they are asking less to go to the pond for a swim and instead are spending lots and lots of time drawing or playing with Legos (Issac is trying to design a robot that utilizes water in its design– inspired by Falling Waters and a water works plant that has a huge built in waterfall on the side on the way to the Science Center.) The girls are spending a lot of time playing with friends on Build-a-bear and Skype and reading.

And so we will see where it leads and what God has planned for us next. Regardless, it won’t be boring which is great because I hate too much repetition and adore change and the good Lord knew that when He gave me this wonderful, ever changing family.

July 12, 2010
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Heather
A Day in the Life, Day to Day, Education, Educational play, Photos, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

The Fireworks Chasers

So yesterday the kids heard firecrackers in the neighborhood and went outside to see if they could find them. A few minutes later I joined them.

After a few minutes of attempting to watch them through the trees we decided to take a walk and see what we could see.

And a few minutes after that, we were on the way to the car to see if we could find even better fireworks.

*This is rural Western PA here. Lots of hills, mountains, trees, and LOTS of fireworks, even though they are illegal.

Within 5 minutes we had tracked down a huge party with professional fireworks and a farmtrack where we could park to watch them.

The kids had a great time and I decided that it isn’t that I don’t like fireworks, its that I hate sitting in a hot parking lot waiting for an hour (so you get a decent spot to watch) to watch an hours worth of fireworks and afterwards sit for an hour and a half in a hot car, in a huge line of cars, with hungry, needing to use the restroom kids in the back trying to LEAVE said parking lot.

And so today, on the fourth of July, we went fireworks chasing again.

This time a friend gave us a heads up and we headed towards the area she suggested. We found several great spots, especially a huge display of professionally done fireworks that was closer than we have ever seen them (safely so– when you are in a crowd it is hard to get close to the show.)

I suspect, judging from how much fun the kids had, that THIS will be our new July 4th tradition.

July 4, 2010
1 Comment
Heather
A Day in the Life, Day to Day, Education, Educational play, Photos, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living

Art Class

Once upon a time (nearly 2 years ago to the day) I posted 9 figure drawing lessons for kids (and adults if they want to join in) and people still come looking for them. You can find them all here. Please keep in mind that originally I was doing these real time and life was rather hectic. If you decide to work through them feel free to leave a comment or email me if you ahve any questions or just want to share:

May 20, 2010
2 Comments
Heather
art, classes, Education, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education

Life as We Know It

Yes, we still unschool. Yes, it is still working. Yes, we still both work from home though it has shifted even more from me working to Shamus working while I hang with the kids and keep the household running smooth so he can focus and be productive. Yes, I still love our life and wouldn’t change it for the world.

Shamus is working, a lot. Things are financially stressful but that is another post (and one I have been pondering for a while but which may or may not actually get shared. All I can say right now is that God is amazing and much more reliable than any paycheck.) On that point I want to mention mint.com– if you are having a hard time seeing the big picture of your finances, suck at budgeting, or just like seeing everything in one place then it is well worth a look. It is working great for this financially challenged family and being free helps. We had recently discussed the possibility of me taking on a part time job to fill in the current gaps, but various factors nipped that in the bud. Mostly the fact that me being here facilitating the children’s learning is key (they would learn anyway but Shamus cannot field their constant questions AND write 3 comics a week, 3 articles a week, and do 30 hrs a week programming not to mention keep up on his blog and several side projects.)

The kids are happily occupied talking to fellow unschooling friends on Skype and text chat, interacting on FamilyRUN, playing Build-a-Bear (their favorite game to play? School–“except we know most of the answers already, but we get to learn new things too”.) They are also occupied playing Plants vs. Zombies, a lot. Talk about an educational game that you don’t realize is educational. Essentially you could think of it as a fun way to learn financial planning and organizing your resources— of course you could say the same thing about Star Craft and other strategy games. Due to the snow, snow, and more snow they have been avoiding going outside (especially now that there is no ice to skate on). The kids are also very involved in a new Lego Quest weekly challenge run by a friend on Twitter. Rachel is thrilled to have made friends who can talk when she can, Essie is reading her way through multiple series of books (having read all the Gregor the Underlander books in a week and moving on to several other series I can’t remember) , Issac is building all sorts of things and intent on beating Mario Galaxy on his own. We are spending a lot of time listening to audio books together, playing games together, talking together.

Me? Aside from all the cleaning and rearranging going on (lots of re-purposing and getting rid of which I find a quick way to beat the urge to go buy something new. ) Now that the website issues have been dealt with I have been free to work on painting (trying acrylics still. It is interesting but maybe I am getting somewhere?) I am doing less reading and spending time on the computer (due to eyesight issues) and more listening to audio books which means I am being more productive– I feel like I need to be doing something if I am listening to audio books. And since the cd player is in the kitchen and we are being VERY frugal in our meals I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen cleaning, rearranging, and baking. Yesterday it was no-bake cookies (naturally sweetened, carob, peanut butter, coconut, and oatmeal), homemade granola bars (naturally sweetened with oatmeal, cranberries, peanut butter, cocoa nibs, coconut, flax seed), and lots and lots of bread dough. The day before I chopped all the raw veggies in the house, making a nice salad mix and freezing the rest. Oh, and I finished a painting–a commission by my sister-in-law for her employers.

February 4, 2010
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A Day in the Life, Commissions, Community, Day to Day, Education, Educational play, Frugal, Paintings, Uncategorized, Untraditional Education, Untraditional Living