Scedule this year

So unschoolers and schedules don't mix. But like i said we are moving towards an unschooling way of life, we aren't there yet.
Sop the schedule is like this before 9:30am there's normal everyday chores to do. Get dressed, eat, take out compost, tidy room. that would be done every morning even if he went to regular school.
From 10:00-11:00 he does math....That can be anything. Internet games, workbooks, manipulative's, whatever...as long as its math related. If wants to walk around with a tape measure and measure stuff....go for it.

From 11:00-11:30 its dictation. ALL the homeschool moms I've talked to, every one, says writing is the biggest challenge when they hit high school so he copies out a bird book in his book in his best printing and then he types it out on the computer.

11:30-12:00- Computer Chess Time- He plays in tournaments so he wants to keep sharp and I am no competition for him.

Shakespeare In The Park

Today he did a read through of Macbeth for drama club. We went early and played for awhile. Got to have a great talk with my ultra crunchy locavore galpal Jen about all stuff eco.
The read through wen tfine. N doesn't really care for acting, but he loves palying before an dafter drama with his friends so he puts up with drama, the drawback of this is thaqt I get stuck wioth some HUGE job to do for the presentation...

This time around...Stage Manager....sigh...

LEGO Robotics

So today was the kick-off for our Jr. FLL team.
We found our challenge for the 2009 year Smart Moves. The team has to pick an object and find out all the modes of transportation it takes to get it from nothing to us here at home.

We have 2 new boys this year and full team of 6. It looks like a great team and we are really going to focus on Gracious professionalism. They WILL be Gracious Professionalism...

Why I love Unschooling...

1. My kids don't know what a bully is.
2. I don't have to get up early.
3. We don't spend our nights doing homework.
4. They don't HAVE to learn the times tables in grade 3.
5. They don't get to hate their teachers...
6. My kids learn what they need to, not what they are told to learn.
7. My kids trust me.
8. My kids can read all day if they want to.
9. I can take them with me to run errands.
10. My kids can talk to anybody.
11. My kids do Shakespere plays every year.

my dilemma...

What do i do?
My son who is almost 8 want to go to high school.
How do i prepare him to go there and still reamain an unschooler?
He will need to take tests and write papers and play the game...

Since this is what he wants is it unschooling if i teach him to take tests?
Since he asked me to is it wrong to teach him?

How do i unschool and have him prepared for high school?

Because I said so...

Why do some parents think they have this kind of power...why do they think their kids should give them that kind of power...

I have a partner. I have 4. They are my husband and kids. As parents we do not have power over them. We make decisions together and explain why some things are done a certain way...like using quiet voices in a restaurant or not having freezies for breakfast...even if we have them for lunch...respect for others is our theme around here...everyday.

Take bedtime...we don't have a set bedtime...they start to get tired around 7pm, so we help them get ready for bed and by 9pm everyone under 8 years old is asleep. Our 16 year old...she's still up after we've retired for the evening....except during her school year. She 's out at around 10pm cause she knows that's what she needs to do to get up in the morning.

Leaving somewhere they clearly would never want to leave. It's a freakin' nightmare and I've seen the meltdowns some people have to deal with....like a playground or Grandma's or the beach...but it never has been for us. We sit down before we leave to figure out what time would be good to get home by....we have to prepare dinner for my husband's return from work at 4pm. but maybe there's an errand before we head home and we work back from that...we need to be home by 3:30 so we will need to leave by 2:45...They will ask what time it is or how much time they have left...around 2:30 the mad dash to get the last playtime in begins, but at 2:45 they are always ready to go...event he 3 year old...they know that we will be back another time and that they are not the centre of the universe and other things need to get done.

We don't have power struggles in our house...our teenage daughter is getting easier to be around everyday, I do see where parents make mistakes and end up frustrated and confused and angry. I've been there, but since i have started treating them like equals, its been smooth sailing.

Babcock Mill Trip

Really cool place that offers tours of a basket making factory in Odessa, Ontario all run by water. It was built in 1856, it was supposed to be a flour mill, but big cities could ship flour to smaller towns cheaper so it was used build boxes...In 1907 Herb Babcock started Babcock Baskets...

They also manufactured truck bodies at the mill until the late 60's when the J.H. Babcock & Sons Limited moved to Toronto.

In 1977 The Babcocks sold the mill to the township and in 1986 Don Babcock, an original grandson, rebuild and restore of the machinery from memory...from when he was a child...amazing.

Drive-In

We took the boys to the Drive-in lastnight for the first time. We backed the Blazer in and flipped the seats down and the lid up. Got some popcorn and M&M's and sleeping bags and watched G.I. Joe...Had a great time!

Hubby and I went to the drive-in for out first date...12 years ago. Very different this time...lol

Have You Seen This??

A head on collision between a van and a train....the van has a baby in it....Its over 7 minutes long andf you will cry...but this is why you buy and install GOOD carseats, not cheap Walmart ones. This is why you don't say you can't afford a good carseat, when you can afford internet, cell phones, liquor and cable.
This is why 7 year olds are still 5-point harnessed.
This is why you rear face your child until he reaches 35 pounds.
This is why you get your carseats checked by a Certified Technician


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOelrDX8Fjk

Hi!

So this is my attempt at blogging our "school year"...I want to do this for myself. I want to look back in a month or 6 or 20 and say...."look at all the stuff our family did" .

We are homeschoolers trying to go full unschooled...

We are a family of 5. My husband and I have 3 kids, Britt who is 16 and publicily schooled - (her choice - not mine), Nolan who is 7 and at home and Evan who is 3.

Join us on our journey.

What's Unschooling?

Well it's a million different things to a million different people...

Mirriam-Webster calls it (noun) : a system of child-led learning.

To us its kids being kids while they are able to. If they want to know about the solar system they do, if they want to know about basket weaving they do...if they want to climb trees - they do.