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.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
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?
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?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
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
Friday, August 7, 2009
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
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
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)