Thought I would share what we did today.
DS, 9, decided he didn't want to go to homeschool group again, so we decided to use our free entry for homeschoolers pass to get into Raglan Castle.
The weather was lovely, and we enjoyed clambering over walls,up spiral stairs and down dark holes.DD noticed swallows nesting in the stone work. We knew they were swallows because they had the same song as a toy swallow we had.
Lovely picnic. We talked about how we could make flapjacks-"Yours are not like these, these are lovely and moist!"
A school party was there at the same time. I was struck by the rigidity-they had to go where the teacher wanted to go, they had "educational" worksheets they had to fill in.
My children were delighted to get £1 each to spend in the gift shop-they spent many minutes deciding what they could get for that.
DD12 decided on the chocolate castle, dd6 and ds 9 both bought a pen and eraser.
All of the children took lots of photos. They loved the koi in the pond. We noticed these particular small birds landing on just leaves floating on the pond.
On the way home we popped into a garden centre to buy some trailing plants to go in our "new" watering can, which we rescued from the recycling centre yesterday.Ate ice cream as the weather was nice. ~ Catrin
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Typical Days 5
Not necessarily in chronoligical order...
Oldest son wrote a letter to Suzanne Collins. (author of Gregor the Overlander books). I helped him find her address, and he addressed the envelope. He played with Legos. He helped me serve lunch to the other kids outside. He helped his Dad put a new net on the trampoline. He finished one Gregor book and started the next one. He unpacked and put away his backpack from the Cub Scout campout.
Second son did a few pages in his Kumon math book. (Dad has promised a new Wii game when his book is finished) He researched how to defeat a character in one of his video games. He read a wikipedia article of how to escape from quicksand. He helped with the trampoline net.
Both boys read the parks and recreation brochure to identify which gymnastics class they want to take next.
5 year old daughter practiced writing some numbers. (She just picked up the book and started doing it!!) She asked me to take the training wheels off of her bike. She tried to teach herself to ride the bike. Oldest brother gave her some really useful tips. I lowered her seat and she tried some more. Dad told her to stop trying, that she needed an adult to help her and wouldn't be able to do it herself. (!!!! He obviously is not well read on the whole child-led learning, unschooling, John Holt, etc, concepts) She helped me cut out some fabric for aprons I'm going to sew. She helped me take care of the baby.
2 year old did some coloring and played outside with the neighbors dog. She also made pee pee in her underwear twice, and spread the coloring books all over the living room floor.
The baby mostly just smiled, laughed, slept and nursed. ~ Anja
Oldest son wrote a letter to Suzanne Collins. (author of Gregor the Overlander books). I helped him find her address, and he addressed the envelope. He played with Legos. He helped me serve lunch to the other kids outside. He helped his Dad put a new net on the trampoline. He finished one Gregor book and started the next one. He unpacked and put away his backpack from the Cub Scout campout.
Second son did a few pages in his Kumon math book. (Dad has promised a new Wii game when his book is finished) He researched how to defeat a character in one of his video games. He read a wikipedia article of how to escape from quicksand. He helped with the trampoline net.
Both boys read the parks and recreation brochure to identify which gymnastics class they want to take next.
5 year old daughter practiced writing some numbers. (She just picked up the book and started doing it!!) She asked me to take the training wheels off of her bike. She tried to teach herself to ride the bike. Oldest brother gave her some really useful tips. I lowered her seat and she tried some more. Dad told her to stop trying, that she needed an adult to help her and wouldn't be able to do it herself. (!!!! He obviously is not well read on the whole child-led learning, unschooling, John Holt, etc, concepts) She helped me cut out some fabric for aprons I'm going to sew. She helped me take care of the baby.
2 year old did some coloring and played outside with the neighbors dog. She also made pee pee in her underwear twice, and spread the coloring books all over the living room floor.
The baby mostly just smiled, laughed, slept and nursed. ~ Anja
Monday, April 20, 2009
Typical Days 4
Betsy
Yesterday our day looked like this:
I woke up and prayed (or tried to with my 2 year old.) He senses whenever I get out of the bed and jumps up! I went to workout for an hour and was back by 8:30. Isabel, who is almost six, goes to a little homeschool preschool. It is all girls and she has all brothers. She really enjoys the girl time, Dh dropped her off on the way to work. I checked my email and messed around on the computer for awhile. Coffee is definitely happening at this time.
Jack (13), Luke (11) and Max (8) did the breakfast dishes and then backed a weekend bag. We are going to visit my sister in Syracuse. She is having a baby and is dying to have her bathroom finished. My dh is pretty handy and really likes her hubby, so we are heading up. Jack finished his mathbook he is working on. He did a little handwriting and worked on his annotated bibliography and Latin for the Homeschool Coop. He would like to go to high school and is motivated to do the work needed to get there. I REALLY hope he changes his mind. We are considering a Community College class next year.
I played Zelda for a little while with Max. He is my consultant. He really enjoys being on my team. He can't read yet, but is really quick with math and puzzles. It was Jack's turn to play and I went to pick up Isabel. It is about 45 minute round trip.
I made lunch for anyone who was hungry. The kids continued playing Wii. They gave it up for Lent, so I am pretty loose this week. Luke and I did the Barton Method for Reading and Spelling. It is a program for dyslexia. I think he has a mild case and he helps me practice. He then worked on some schoolwork on the computer. We are in a coop and he has a short story due next Wednesday.
Declan (2) went down for a nap. Max, who has severe dyslexia, and I did Barton.
Luke, Max and Isabel went out to play. Jack continued Zelda. Isabel and I played Zelda and then went outside.
We prayed the Divine Mercy Novena.
I went out for Indian food with friends, this doesn't happen very often and Paul had dinner with the kids.
This morning, dh worked out and went to Mass. Max has speech therapy and the rest of us are goofing off waiting to head to Syracuse. Luke has been out playing basketball. The weather here is finally nice.
I sometimes question what we are doing, mostly in the middle of the night! :-) I think Jack made unschooling easy. He loves to read and has on his own passed "grade level." The next two make me a little nervous. I know they are happy and kind. They are involved in baseball and are very popular with the coaches. They make eye contact when speaking with adults. That is an uncommon skill around here.
Yesterday our day looked like this:
I woke up and prayed (or tried to with my 2 year old.) He senses whenever I get out of the bed and jumps up! I went to workout for an hour and was back by 8:30. Isabel, who is almost six, goes to a little homeschool preschool. It is all girls and she has all brothers. She really enjoys the girl time, Dh dropped her off on the way to work. I checked my email and messed around on the computer for awhile. Coffee is definitely happening at this time.
Jack (13), Luke (11) and Max (8) did the breakfast dishes and then backed a weekend bag. We are going to visit my sister in Syracuse. She is having a baby and is dying to have her bathroom finished. My dh is pretty handy and really likes her hubby, so we are heading up. Jack finished his mathbook he is working on. He did a little handwriting and worked on his annotated bibliography and Latin for the Homeschool Coop. He would like to go to high school and is motivated to do the work needed to get there. I REALLY hope he changes his mind. We are considering a Community College class next year.
I played Zelda for a little while with Max. He is my consultant. He really enjoys being on my team. He can't read yet, but is really quick with math and puzzles. It was Jack's turn to play and I went to pick up Isabel. It is about 45 minute round trip.
I made lunch for anyone who was hungry. The kids continued playing Wii. They gave it up for Lent, so I am pretty loose this week. Luke and I did the Barton Method for Reading and Spelling. It is a program for dyslexia. I think he has a mild case and he helps me practice. He then worked on some schoolwork on the computer. We are in a coop and he has a short story due next Wednesday.
Declan (2) went down for a nap. Max, who has severe dyslexia, and I did Barton.
Luke, Max and Isabel went out to play. Jack continued Zelda. Isabel and I played Zelda and then went outside.
We prayed the Divine Mercy Novena.
I went out for Indian food with friends, this doesn't happen very often and Paul had dinner with the kids.
This morning, dh worked out and went to Mass. Max has speech therapy and the rest of us are goofing off waiting to head to Syracuse. Luke has been out playing basketball. The weather here is finally nice.
I sometimes question what we are doing, mostly in the middle of the night! :-) I think Jack made unschooling easy. He loves to read and has on his own passed "grade level." The next two make me a little nervous. I know they are happy and kind. They are involved in baseball and are very popular with the coaches. They make eye contact when speaking with adults. That is an uncommon skill around here.
Typical Days 3
Willa
My 3 oldest kids are graduated. My oldest son is finishing his senior year in college, he composes music for the fun of it, plays a little classical guitar, writes stories, and programs games on the computer. My second son is still at home, interested in football statistics and history, Church history, and a knowledgeable naturalist. My daughter is going to college next year -- she writes in a group blog, plays several musical instruments, is spending quite a lot of time learning to cook and sew these days, and loves to look through thrift stores and other places to put together her own vintage design outfits.... she's also very interested in old movies and in GK Chesterton and apologetics.
My son who is going to high school this year is an athlete -- he loves football -- he's 16. The next one down is 13. Right now the thing that occupies most of his interest is computer games, though he loves logic puzzles and science projects and reads a lot too. He plays a little recorder.
The last two are ages 9 and 6. The 9 year old is special needs -- he had a liver transplant when he was an infant. The 6 year old is a livewire, very extroverted. I worry about him a bit because there are no real playmates up here for him. We are talking about moving closer down to the Fresno/Clovis area.
Yesterday wasn't a typical day because Sean, the highschooler, was sick and had to go to the doctor. Then toward afternoon Aidan got sick and by evening we were all feeling pretty bad.
We spent most of the afternoon watching videos.
Our unschooling is sort of different from some peoples'. I read a description on a blog of a mom who called their family's homeschooling style "unrelaxed unschooling" and that probably fits us. When I'm too relaxed I drift into my own world. In my "nature" I'm like CS Lewis who described the perfect life as studying all morning, taking a long brisk walk in the afternoon, and hanging out with friends and family in the evening conversing and sharing thoughts and ideas. But I have seven kids. I have to actually be quite intentional to interact with them in a learning atmosphere.
Hmm, maybe that IS a description of unschooling, come to think of it.
My 3 oldest kids are graduated. My oldest son is finishing his senior year in college, he composes music for the fun of it, plays a little classical guitar, writes stories, and programs games on the computer. My second son is still at home, interested in football statistics and history, Church history, and a knowledgeable naturalist. My daughter is going to college next year -- she writes in a group blog, plays several musical instruments, is spending quite a lot of time learning to cook and sew these days, and loves to look through thrift stores and other places to put together her own vintage design outfits.... she's also very interested in old movies and in GK Chesterton and apologetics.
My son who is going to high school this year is an athlete -- he loves football -- he's 16. The next one down is 13. Right now the thing that occupies most of his interest is computer games, though he loves logic puzzles and science projects and reads a lot too. He plays a little recorder.
The last two are ages 9 and 6. The 9 year old is special needs -- he had a liver transplant when he was an infant. The 6 year old is a livewire, very extroverted. I worry about him a bit because there are no real playmates up here for him. We are talking about moving closer down to the Fresno/Clovis area.
Yesterday wasn't a typical day because Sean, the highschooler, was sick and had to go to the doctor. Then toward afternoon Aidan got sick and by evening we were all feeling pretty bad.
We spent most of the afternoon watching videos.
Our unschooling is sort of different from some peoples'. I read a description on a blog of a mom who called their family's homeschooling style "unrelaxed unschooling" and that probably fits us. When I'm too relaxed I drift into my own world. In my "nature" I'm like CS Lewis who described the perfect life as studying all morning, taking a long brisk walk in the afternoon, and hanging out with friends and family in the evening conversing and sharing thoughts and ideas. But I have seven kids. I have to actually be quite intentional to interact with them in a learning atmosphere.
Hmm, maybe that IS a description of unschooling, come to think of it.
Typical Days 2
Dee
We have 5 kids that range in age from 1 to 17. Our days have been spent building a chicken coop. We have 39 baby chicks that are ready to go outside!!
We have numerous projects going on right now! The kids are helping with them all.
We are redoing two bathrooms, building a coop and getting the garden ready. We are also planning for a month long visit from my MIL and FIL. My MIL has dementia.
Yesterday, most of the day was spent outside with the chicken coop.
My 14yr ds is finishing up a physics course at the local nature center.
My 17 yr spent most of yesterday watching a dvd on "how to change the needle on her sewing machine" LOL .
My 10 yr dd is very happy reading upstairs in her room. I am very happy about that one as I was sweating when or if she would be bitten by the reading bug.
My 6 year old is very happy doing some workbook type stuff. He does it in between other stuff. My littlest in very happy just to be the center of attention.
Throughout our day we stopped and talked about many different things that ran the gamut from politics to soil erosion.
Our day is really never typical. We kind of go with the flow.
We have 5 kids that range in age from 1 to 17. Our days have been spent building a chicken coop. We have 39 baby chicks that are ready to go outside!!
We have numerous projects going on right now! The kids are helping with them all.
We are redoing two bathrooms, building a coop and getting the garden ready. We are also planning for a month long visit from my MIL and FIL. My MIL has dementia.
Yesterday, most of the day was spent outside with the chicken coop.
My 14yr ds is finishing up a physics course at the local nature center.
My 17 yr spent most of yesterday watching a dvd on "how to change the needle on her sewing machine" LOL .
My 10 yr dd is very happy reading upstairs in her room. I am very happy about that one as I was sweating when or if she would be bitten by the reading bug.
My 6 year old is very happy doing some workbook type stuff. He does it in between other stuff. My littlest in very happy just to be the center of attention.
Throughout our day we stopped and talked about many different things that ran the gamut from politics to soil erosion.
Our day is really never typical. We kind of go with the flow.
Typical Days 1
Leonie
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter. And what did we do?
I got up early to work out with two sons, others were woken up around 7.30 or 8.00 am as we were going out.Kids tidied bedrooms ( kinda), got their own breakfast, played computer games, played guitar and piano, I briefly checked email and Facebook and blogs, did some computer work for my Kumon centre, prepared food for a shared lunch at Catholic Homeschoolers group. One son made me some porridge to make sure I'd eat breakfast! Gotta love these kids!
Eventually, I changed from workout clothes, too and we looked at the saint of the day, missal readings and plans for the day. Started laundry. Left to pick up a priest who was visiting our homeschool group, then off to Catholic homeschoolers, kids reading novels in the car along the way. And chatting to Fr.
At Catholic homeschoolers, my kids were disappointed to find no other teens turning up. But they listened to the talk about St Gemma Galgani and mysticism while I did crafts with the little ones. We prayed the chaplet of divine mercy, shared lunch, drove home, dropped Fr off at the friary – with listening to music and a discussion on relationship and covenant on the way!
Home to find two other sons had two friends over – so a big game developed with nerf guns in and out of the house. I washed up, cleaned the oven from the morning cooking, did laundry – then took one son to part time work at another Kumon centre. I stayed there for two hours, doing volunteer work for the other Supervisor, kids at home continued games and playing guitar and computer/video games.
Came home, chatted to boys and friends who were still playing, paid bills online, did some Kumon work on the computer, did the minutes of a parish meeting, cleaned up the house. One son made me some tea, friends were picked up, one son went to pick up another from work, we got ready for Mass.
Our Tuesday night mass and novena to St Anthony with veneration of the relic and blessed bread, was beautiful. Youngest son served at mass. We are very lucky to have solemn reverent masses in our parish.
Talked outside church to a few people, then went to friends, for pizza and to meet visitors from interstate and play games, talk, watch Robin Hood.
Prayed the rosary in the car and discussed relationships yet again.
In school terms we did oral language, group work, religion, society and environment, life skills, work education, computer education, social and personal development, physical education, reading and writing, music. Not bad!
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter. And what did we do?
I got up early to work out with two sons, others were woken up around 7.30 or 8.00 am as we were going out.Kids tidied bedrooms ( kinda), got their own breakfast, played computer games, played guitar and piano, I briefly checked email and Facebook and blogs, did some computer work for my Kumon centre, prepared food for a shared lunch at Catholic Homeschoolers group. One son made me some porridge to make sure I'd eat breakfast! Gotta love these kids!
Eventually, I changed from workout clothes, too and we looked at the saint of the day, missal readings and plans for the day. Started laundry. Left to pick up a priest who was visiting our homeschool group, then off to Catholic homeschoolers, kids reading novels in the car along the way. And chatting to Fr.
At Catholic homeschoolers, my kids were disappointed to find no other teens turning up. But they listened to the talk about St Gemma Galgani and mysticism while I did crafts with the little ones. We prayed the chaplet of divine mercy, shared lunch, drove home, dropped Fr off at the friary – with listening to music and a discussion on relationship and covenant on the way!
Home to find two other sons had two friends over – so a big game developed with nerf guns in and out of the house. I washed up, cleaned the oven from the morning cooking, did laundry – then took one son to part time work at another Kumon centre. I stayed there for two hours, doing volunteer work for the other Supervisor, kids at home continued games and playing guitar and computer/video games.
Came home, chatted to boys and friends who were still playing, paid bills online, did some Kumon work on the computer, did the minutes of a parish meeting, cleaned up the house. One son made me some tea, friends were picked up, one son went to pick up another from work, we got ready for Mass.
Our Tuesday night mass and novena to St Anthony with veneration of the relic and blessed bread, was beautiful. Youngest son served at mass. We are very lucky to have solemn reverent masses in our parish.
Talked outside church to a few people, then went to friends, for pizza and to meet visitors from interstate and play games, talk, watch Robin Hood.
Prayed the rosary in the car and discussed relationships yet again.
In school terms we did oral language, group work, religion, society and environment, life skills, work education, computer education, social and personal development, physical education, reading and writing, music. Not bad!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Parenting Books..
...as suggested by members of the Unschooling Catholics email list ( see sidebar for the link to the email list).
1.How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Faber and Mazlish
2.Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
3.Love and Anger by Nancy Samalin
4.Siblings without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish
5. How to Really Love Your Teenager by Ross Campbell
6. Teaching Your Children Values by the Eyres
7. Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey
8.I love you rituals by Becky Bailey
9. Parenting with Grace by Popcak
10.Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen
11.Hold on to Your Kids by Neufeld and Mate
12.The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff
13.Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn
14. Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids by Sura Hart, Victoria Kindle Hodson
15.Please Don't Sit on the Kids by Clare Cherry
16.The Hurried Child by David Elkind
2.Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
3.Love and Anger by Nancy Samalin
4.Siblings without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish
5. How to Really Love Your Teenager by Ross Campbell
6. Teaching Your Children Values by the Eyres
7. Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey
8.I love you rituals by Becky Bailey
9. Parenting with Grace by Popcak
10.Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen
11.Hold on to Your Kids by Neufeld and Mate
12.The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff
13.Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn
14. Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids by Sura Hart, Victoria Kindle Hodson
15.Please Don't Sit on the Kids by Clare Cherry
16.The Hurried Child by David Elkind
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