a month of unschool

~ lots of active outdoor play when we get breaks in the rain ~ mulching and harvesting 3 kinds of kale and 2 kinds of chard from our community garden plot ~ observing and picking up beach plastic and talking about the dead seagull we saw (a lot) ~ drawing like crazy: sharks who have greenlings in their tummies,

yourself sailing on the boat moon ~ a rekindled interest in the pooh stories ~ helping mama with tie dye, bringing out your own imaginary tie dye set (your paints) and demonstrating your spatial whatever-they-are-called-skills and setting up your paints in formation exactly as they are pictured on the box ~ busting out the letters i laminated for you when you were one, and tracing them with dry erase markers ~

~ again and again… ~ going to the “children’s festibal” and building a plane, riding a pony, and making animal tracks in a bucket of sand, and getting 2 balloons with helium: green and orange; oh and deciding that smoky the bear is one of your spirit helpers ~ playing ready for math with pooh on the computer at the library ~ being a walnut-grinding, cheese-grating kitchen helper extraordinaire

~ hammering nails ~ walking around on docks ~ drawing our festibal balloons, a leopard seal, some sea urchins ~

~ yourself, mama and dada in a boat, with crabbing gear set ~ number writing practice initiated by you ~ reliving your pony riding experience by drawing us (with balloons), cutting us out, and taping us onto our ponies ~ bread baking- rolling out pitas “the size of my hand”, and enjoying the fruits of your labor with jam ~

making some potty unschooling progress (not pictured! ;)) ~ building a mast for your pirate boat with dada and sewing sails and rigging them with mama ~ painting pink and purple hearts for valentine’s day ~ stitching on an embroidery project ~ drawing lots of suns and moons, lately all your moons are purple, with rays!

~ your people now have belly buttons! ~ you wrote your name out, in order, for the first time, while my back was turned, you sneaky guy ~ making “lists” and writing “emails” at mama’s desk ~ voyaging in our box boat ~ contemplating mysteries of life and inventing stories about them, like that baby zebras don’t have stripes until they “hatch out” and your certainty that they then immediately have milk, naturally (zebras drawn by mama at quinn’s instruction, stripes drawn by quinn- don’t want him to have to take credit for my rusty drawing skills) ~

me: clinging to the last remnants of mis-spoken words. aminal, laundry detergerent (it needs one more syllable), banallion (medallion), “forget about your worries and your stripe” (from the jungle book song bare necessities), festibals …knowing i’m about to kiss them all goodbye in so short a time… i never want to stop going to festibals with you, my sweet boo.

what’s new in your unschooling journey?

9 comments to a month of unschool

  • Oh, this is so great, I love that you do this with all the pictures. Unschooling rocks! (Methinks organic homeschooling and Montessori rock, too–anything that is flexible and allows the child to follow their interests). That pirate boat rocks, and I love the laminated letters for tracing–what a good idea! And, of course, ANYTHING that gets them outside!
    Lisa C recently posted..When I had kidney failure

  • Oh how bittersweet when they start to let go of their mis-spoken words. I totally get that. It's so awesome that they are growing and learning…and yet so hard to watch sometimes. "Oh please stay my little boy forever."

    Looks like you guys had an awesome month. We've done so much and yet it just flows and I never keep track. (Aha…don't have to so I'm thankful for that.) Isaac, who taught himself to read at 3 1/2, but who never has wanted to "write" has now started to take off with writing his letters and numbers. I was blown away one morning when I looked to see that he had done 1 -100…perfectly. Awesome what they will and can do when they are ready.

    We've baked and cooked and played in the snow and composed dozens of songs…most with lyrics. Isaac (whose passion is numbers) has decided he loves division and fractions. He's also developed a great love for Bert and Ernie. Who can blame him.

    So much more. I best keep better track…just so I can remember.

    Thanks for your inspiration. xoxo ~Debbie
    Debbie recently posted..family day

  • Wow, MB, that looks like a wonderful month <3 Quinn is such a blessed boy, and you are such a blessed Mama <3 I love Quinn's pirate ship and all the drawings he has done! Wow, just wow. I can't believe he is gonna be 4 in a few days!! He has such a wonderful unschooling life <3 Awesome job, Mama <3

  • lb

    lol- my little munchkin Lachlan that i nannied for used to belt out at the top of his lungs "forget about your worries and your stripes". He's also the one i taught Boo's Wake-up song to 🙂 p.s. he is totally rockin the steggie 🙂

  • mb

    yes- i agree lisa, i'm so into following our interests, and i agree it doesn't have to be called by only one name. it's funny, i think the laminated letters aren't something i'd go out and purposely make now, but when he was a baby they seemed somehow essential, and so i did, and so i am glad they are seeing lots of good use now. 🙂
    mb recently posted..a month of unschool

  • mb

    is saw your post saying isaac was reading to you the other day (the beatrix potter stories, which made me remember i need to get those for quinn!) and wondered if he was in fact reading the words to you (sounding out or sight words or both) or telling the stories from the pictures like quinn will do with me sometimes, or all of the above… so cool. i mean, reading doesn't have only one definition, i see it on a continuum, so it's hard to even word what i was thinking, i guess it just got me curious what sort of reading isaac was up to. 🙂
    mb recently posted..a month of unschool

    • Yes…he's reading actual words – both by sight and by sounding them out. In fact he's reading at (at least) a grade 3 level which is crazy advanced…but he just loves words and books and clearly he was ready because it truly is something he did on his own. Obviously I wasn't trying to teach him at 3 1/2. His favourite stories right now are the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel. They are geared towards ages 6-8…but he reads them all with no problems.

      The thing I love about unschooling is that kids are able to develop their gifts, talents and skills at their own pace. When we as parents support and facilitate this, amazing things happen.

      Isaac and I attend an NVC meeting each Thursday afternoon which is held at our local library. It is just me and another dad. We work together to better understand how to meet Isaac's needs and I find his presence in Isaac's life has been so positive. Next door to where we meet (but still within the library) is a preschool that is run from 1-3. Today Isaac was the only kid. He only went in for the last half-hour. The preschool teacher was so insincere and I could tell Isaac was picking up on this. It made me sad for kids who spend their lives in this environment with teachers who really are only trying to pass the time. And I know not all teachers are like this…but sadly, many of them are.

      Okay…rant over. xo
      Debbie recently posted..family day

      • marybethrew

        oh man, i hear you!!! i don't see it as a rant, or maybe that's because i can be heard saying the same kinds of things. 🙂

        oh how i'd love an nvc meeting happening locally. 🙂

        we love frog and toad! i could totally see those being some of the best early reads, and i am so with you on how kids need room to develop at their own pace. how cool for isaac that he has such a supportive mama and is so clearly empowered to pick up skills he is interested in!

  • mb

    hehehe. "waaaaaay up in the sky, the big birdies fly….." and YES we are loving our steggie hat!!!!
    mb recently posted..a month of unschool

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