Homeschooling Piper

Did you know that we always pull an ottoman up for Piper when we sit at the table to do school? Math is his favorite subject:

keep it natural....keep it fun!

As part of our homeschool day, I asked the girls to write a 1-2 page short story....any topic, their choice. I'm a firm believer, since we have the luxury as homeschoolers, to let skills unfold as naturally as possible. Reading readiness, math readiness, writing readiness, etc.

The writer in mama is ready to help engage their creative writing muses, as they both seem more interested now, than they have been previously. Just like with reading, it is my intention for writing to always be a joy and a pleasure...and it is my hope that this creative process and outpouring will flow naturally for them.

We've done mini writing "exercises" here and there in the past...we started out a few years ago with the girls and I writing short stories together, and the girls illustrating the stories (you know how adorable children's art is!).

Over the last few years we focused more on the "mechanics" of the English language, in conjunction with literature-based teachings. It felt more natural to let the girls spend more time with pleasure reading (and they do spend a LOT of time reading for fun....mission accomplished!). Aside from the obvious, I intentionally used books (mostly of their choice), to be their English Teachers. I have a very vivid awareness of grammar and writing and spelling coming to me quite naturally, because of the magic of books; it was so easy for me, it sometimes felt like I was cheating in my English classes:)

Further, when my daughters do write creatively, I spend very little time correcting their grammar and punctuation because I do not want to disrupt the creative process! Like with math, when their numbers used to be written backwards, I chose to ignore that and focus on the content. And yes, it really did work itself out. I trust the same thing will happen with their writing. I do teach grammar, etc, but I will not correct their grammar in their stories. (Not yet anyway). I'm just thrilled that Katie is (finally) finding joy in writing stories, as it took awhile...she wasn't ready. I'm certain this had nothing to do with the stories not flowing, but more to do with the physical readiness of handwriting or keyboarding.

(Writing has come very naturally for Karina, and her English grammar and spelling skills are at a high school level...because she is an avid reader ...I majored in English and I can't tell you how many times I've been consulting her for spelling questions since she was nine:)

Anyway, my younger daughter created a mini book, with the intention of a short story series, as this will be continued. It's called "Think Before You Speak." There are almost no periods or paragraphs, but I have to tell you, the story is very imaginative, engaging, and well-written! It involves two sisters, the older eating ALL the food in the family, not sharing with the younger sister, who basically is melting away. And then, bam, younger sister wonders what life would be like without older sister, and instant manifestation...older sister vanishes in thin air....and because the parents don't have to spend so much Money on food now, the family is living large, In a mansion:)

(Hmmmm, stream of consciousness; sister themes;)

And the illustrations are so cute!

I'm looking forward to the next story in her new series:)

I'm sorry for the long post; I guess I just wrote my own little short story too 🤓

The End:)

homeschooling and college

My girls asked me a question this morning. Their (traditionally schooled) friends asked them how they will be able to get into college if they are homeschooled and don't have "report cards:)"
I explained to the girls that you generally need a high school diploma and transcript (which they will have...though many colleges have other application opportunities for homeschoolers) and that if they choose the college path, nothing will stop them.

I thought this was a very interesting topic amongst the girls and their friends. I don't think it was brought up out of malice, but genuine curiosity.

Btw...Little Angel's  been telling me for two years now that she plans on going to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design...majoring in Fashion). I think that's impressive for a 10 year old to be thinking about this and to already have a plan!
I also think I better find somebody to teach her to sew

I have to tell you that even by my senior year in high school I had no clue where I wanted to go to college (I literally went to the college my parents suggested for me .... Not too far, not too close...not too big , not too small ... UWW was the perfect fit for me (and the only college I applied to) and I loved it there!!! thankfully I knew what I wanted to major in;)

Ancient Egyptian History and Anatomy of the Human Ear:)

Homeschooling at its best:)

Taking a day off from Ancient Egyptian history to play with the anatomy of the human ear:). I know it somehow relates to The Great Pyramids;) (and somehow I forgot to bring the kit out on our unit study of Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell;)

funny girl

we're doing a study on Ancient Egyptian Civilization.....there are some questions about comparing natural resources for some of the basic needs back then, vs. today....for food, Little Angel wrote that the natural resources for food today are: Burger King and Taco Bell (She's a funny girl )

freeschooling!

Freeschooling is a term I first heard yesterday...I like it...this is what we do!

Left to their own devices,continued....my girls love to play Club Penguin. Little Angel recently discovered that it is available in many languages and has recently decided she wants to learn some Russian. She's been playing Club Penguin in the Russian format...listening to it In Russian, and using a Russian to English translator she found in a google search to further her learning process. I couldn't come up with this stuff for them....eclectic-freeschooling at its best

I confess....I do NOT give my children spelling "tests."

Period. 

 I personally despised spelling tests in my school days (even though I did well on them). I never understood the point, for the very reasons mentioned in this article. This is how my children are learning to spell...they read....and they read a LOT! And guess what books are comprised of? words...even "spelling" words. I would venture to say that my 10 year old is an extraordinarily strong speller....possibly even stronger than her mom (who is an English Major:), and I sincerely mean that. Spelling words correctly may not come quite as naturally for my 8 year old (yet), but guess what? She recognizes when something doesn't look right, and she asks questions or looks it up herself, to verify the spelling.

So, there you have it folks, I do not, and have no intentions of ever giving my children "spelling tests" (or vocabulary tests, and again, as my girls are reading or as we are conversing, or if they hear a word on tv, (you get my point, words are always available to learn and grow from in a very natural setting;), if they don't know the meaning of something....they ask...and then they remember, because it holds meaning for them).

Now, this may change as they get older, and we get into more science, etc....."scientific" words may not come quite as naturally.....but we'll certainly make it as natural and interesting and fun as possible!)

The End:) 

here's a homeschool article that triggered my post (in addition to a parent's recent post about how his son is struggling with spelling in school): 

http://theconversation.com/why-some-kids-cant-spell-and-why-spelling-tests-wont-help-20497

article about kindergarteners from the Washington Post

(**please note: I'm posting this article for my own personal reference...this in no way indicates that I am against public/traditional schooling....homeschooling is a choice we make for our family, and I greatly respect everybody's rights to make the choices that are right for their families**)   That said, it's an interesting read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/02/06/a-really-scary-headline-about-kindergarteners/  

(By Matt McClain / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

Rob Saxton is Oregon’s deputy superintendent of public instruction. Jada Rupley is the early learning system director within the state Department of Education. Together they wrote an op-ed in The Oregonian that was published online with this headline: 

Kindergarten test results a ‘sobering snapshot’

What could possibly be sobering about test results from kindergarteners?  What kind of tests are they giving to kindergarteners anyway?

It turns out that every public school kindergartener in Oregon was given a kindergarten readiness test last September to see how many numbers, letters and sounds they knew. The Oregonian reported that kids on average entered kindergarten knowing 19 capital and lower-case letters and seven letter sounds of at least 100 possible correct answers.

Kindergarten readiness tests are nothing new. What is in the ever-increasing focus on turning kindergarten, and now preschool, into academic environments with the aim of ensuring that children can read by the time they are in first grade. In fact, kindergarten is the new first grade when it comes to academics.

Saxton and Rupley wrote in their piece that the results of the testing of the kindergarteners in Oregon “provide a sobering snapshot of the skills our children possess as they enter kindergarten.”
A working paper called “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade? The Changing Nature of Kindergarten in the Age of Accountability,” by Daphna Bassok and Anna Rorem of the University of Virginia’s EdPolicyWorks, a center on education policy and competitiveness, notes that kindergarten has been transformed over the last decade, with academic skill-being taking center stage.

For some kids, learning to read in kindergarten is just fine. For many others, it isn’t. They just aren’t ready. In years gone by, kids were given time to develop and learn to read in the early grades without being seen as failures. Even kids who took time learning how to read were able to excel. 

Today kids aren’t given time and space to learn at their own speed.

Writer Alfie Kohn wrote in this post about concerns he has about the new calls for universal early childhood education. Why? Because when people talk about “high-quality programs,” they often mean academic programs, meaning the academic focus is being pushed down to younger and younger kids.

Very few people are talking about the kind of education that would be offered — other than declaring it should be “high quality.” And that phrase is often interpreted to mean “high intensity”: an accelerated version of skills-based teaching that most early-childhood experts regard as terrible. Poor children, as usual, tend to get the worst of this….

… The top-down, test-driven regimen of Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” and Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiatives in K-12 education is now in the process of being nationalized with those Common Core standards championed by the Times — an enterprise largely funded, and relentlessly promoted, by corporate groups. That same version of school reform, driven by an emphasis on global competitiveness and a determination to teach future workers as much as possible as soon as possible, would now be expanded to children who are barely out of diapers.
That doesn’t leave much time for play. But even to the extent we want to promote meaningful learning in young children, the methods are likely to be counterproductive, featuring an emphasis on the direct instruction of skills and rote rehearsal of facts. This is the legacy of behaviorism: Children are treated as passive receptacles of knowledge, with few opportunities to investigate topics and pose questions that they find intriguing. In place of discovery and exploration, tots are trained to sit still and listen, to memorize lists of letters, numbers, and colors. Their success or failure is relentlessly monitored and quantified, and they’re “reinforced” with stickers or praise for producing right answers and being compliant.
This dreary version of early-childhood education isn’t just disrespectful of children; decades of research show it simply doesn’t work well — and may even be damaging.

Bassok, one of the authors of the research paper mentioned above, noted that while there are fun and engaging ways to teach young kids academic material, she worries that so much emphasis will be put on learning to read that other things, like play and social interactions, will be lost.

It’s already been happening for years, and it appears to be getting worse. The end result will be kids who hate school even earlier than they do now.

Kids like to play. Kids learn from play. Why it doesn’t make sense to just let them play is beyond me.

–

Here’s a position paper on the testing of young children by Defending the Early Years, a non – profit project of the Survival Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) tax – exempt educational organization based in Watertown, Massachusetts. (Find more information at deyproject.org or write to geralynbywater@gmail.com.)

What is the problem?
Today, the majority of classrooms for preschool, kindergarten and primary age children are required to address content standards that prescribe what children are expected to learn. These standards are intended to insure that worthwhile subject matter is taught. Performance standards have been developed to find out if children have learned the prescribed content.
While standards are helpful for identifying valuable content, they can also have a negative impact on children and programs. Some of the problems with standards are that they are not always based on knowledge of how children grow and learn, and often do not take into account children’s needs, capacities, cultures, and unique characteristics. Standards can lead to teaching of skills in ways that are not effective or meaningful, to the narrowing of the curriculum, and to less time for play and hands-on learning experiences that are important foundations for later school success.
It is useful to find out if children have learned the prescribed content, but the way this is most often done is through testing – which also can have a negative impact on children and programs. One of the major problems with the tests is that they are often not based on knowledge of child development and are therefore not suited to the developmental abilities of young children. Another problem is that tests can only measure a narrow range of knowledge and skills, so they often miss important objectives of early childhood education like creativity, problem-solving, and social and emotional development. Teachers who want children to do well on tests may eliminate worthwhile learning experiences, introduce skills too early, or narrow the curriculum in order to “teach to the test”.
Research shows that children learn best when they have hands-on learning experiences, engage in structured play, experience facts within meaningful contexts, invent their own problems to explore and solve, and share their own solutions. The current emphasis on standards and testing has led many schools to over-focus on assessment at the expense of meeting children’s developmental needs and teaching meaningful content. Play and activity-based learning have been disappearing from many early childhood classrooms, and – along with them – children’s natural motivation and love of learning.
What could be done to address this problem?
Program practices:
1. Promote programs that are based on current research on how young children learn best.
2. Promote meaningful, hands-on learning experiences in classrooms for young children.
3. Work to ensure that teachers provide well-thought out educational experiences that demonstrate knowledge and respect for each child.
4. Work to ensure that children have literacy experiences that include storytelling, quality children’s literature, and acting out stories rather than activities that isolate and drill discrete skills.
5. Help teachers skillfully build curriculum from what children can do and understand instead of direct teaching skills that are disconnected from children’s understanding.
6. Encourage schools to respect the language and culture of children and their families, to encourage families to take ownership and to make sure that their history and experiences are included and valued.
7. Encourage schools to design schedules that provide ample time for families and school personnel to meet and work together.
8. Work to ensure that teachers who have specialized training in early childhood education are placed in classrooms for young children.

Assessment practices:
1. Encourage policies that protect children from undue pressure and stress and from judgments that will have a negative impact on their lives in the present and in the future.
2. Promote the use of assessments that are based on observations of children, their development and learning.
3. Work to ensure that classroom assessments are used for the purpose of improving instruction.
4. Support efforts to eliminate testing of young children that is not intended to improve classroom practice.
5. Eliminate labeling and ranking of children based on standardized tests.

why we choose to homeschool

The following articles greatly articulate why we've chosen to go the homeschooling route.  I am in no way, shape, or form putting down other people's choices...I am highly respective of people having the right to make their choice to suit their particular family's needs.  And just because I feel this is the right route for my family, it doesn't mean that I feel that more traditional schooling methods are wrong for others.  That's the beauty of diversity!  However, I personally want a record of this article, and my blog is a "record keeping" system for me:)   But it's still a great article and worth taking the time to read.  There are so many ways to incorporate "freedom" into your family life....homeschooling is just one way we choose.

http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/american-school-system-damaging-kids/

Parents send their children to school with the best of intentions, believing that formal education is what kids need to become productive, happy adults. Many parents do have qualms about how well schools are performing, but the conventional wisdom is that these issues can be resolved with more money, better teachers, more challenging curricula, or more rigorous tests. But what if the real problem is school itself?
The unfortunate fact is that one of our most cherished institutions is, by its very nature, failing our children and our society.
Children are required to be in school, where their freedom is greatly restricted, far more than most adults would tolerate in their workplaces. In recent decades, we’ve been compelling them to spend ever more time in this kind of setting, and there’s strong evidence that this is causing psychological damage to many of them. And as scientists have investigated how children naturally learn, they’ve realized that kids do so most deeply and fully, and with greatest enthusiasm, in conditions that are almost opposite to those of school.
Compulsory education has been a fixture of our culture now for several generations. President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are so enamored of it that they want even longer school days and years. Most people assume that the basic design of today’s schools emerged from scientific evidence about how children learn. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Schools as we know them today are a product of history, not of research. The blueprint for them was developed during the Protestant Reformation, when schools were created to teach children to read the Bible, to believe Scripture without questioning it, and to obey authority figures without questioning them.
When schools were taken over by the state, made compulsory, and directed toward secular ends, the basic structure and methods of teaching remained unchanged. Subsequent attempts at reform have failed because they haven’t altered the basic blueprint. The top-down, teach-and-test method, in which learning is motivated by a system of rewards and punishments rather than by curiosity or by any real desire to know, is well designed for indoctrination and obedience training but not much else. It’s no wonder that many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and innovators either left school early (like Thomas Edison) or said they hated school and learned despite it, not because of it (like Albert Einstein).
Most students—whether A students, C students, or failing ones—have lost their zest for learning by the time they’ve reached middle school or high school. In a telling research study, professors Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeremy Hunter fitted more than 800 sixth through 12th graders, from 33 different schools across the country, with special wristwatches that emitted a signal at random times of day. Each time they received a signal, the students filled out a questionnaire indicating where they were, what they were doing, and how happy or unhappy they felt at the moment. The lowest levels of happiness, by far, were reported when the children were in school, where they were often bored, anxious, or both. Other researchers have shown that, with each successive grade, students develop increasingly negative attitudes toward the subjects taught, especially math and science.
As a society, we tend to shrug off such findings. We’re not surprised that kids are unhappy in school. Some people even believe that the very unpleasantness of school is good for children, so they will learn to tolerate unpleasantness as preparation for real life. But there are plenty of opportunities to learn to tolerate unpleasantness without adding unpleasant schooling to the mix. Research has shown that people of all ages learn best when they are self-motivated, pursuing answers to questions that reflect their personal interests and achieving goals that they’ve set for themselves. Under such conditions, learning is usually joyful.
The evidence for all of this is obvious to anyone who’s watched a child grow from infancy to school age. Through their own efforts, children figure out how to walk, run, jump, and climb. They learn from scratch their native language, and with that, they learn to assert their will, argue, amuse, annoy, befriend, charm, and ask questions. Through questioning and exploring, they acquire an enormous amount of knowledge about the physical and social world around them, and in their play, they practice skills that promote their physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development. They do all of this before anyone, in any systematic way, tries to teach them anything.
This amazing drive and capacity to learn does not turn itself off when children reach five or six. But we turn it off with our coercive system of schooling. The biggest, most enduring lesson of our system is that learning is work, to be avoided when possible.
The focus of my own research—I’m a psychology professor at Boston College—has been on learning in children who are of “school age” but who aren’t sent to school, or not to school as conventionally understood. I’ve examined how children learn in cultures that don’t have schools, especially hunter-gatherer societies, the kind in which our species evolved. I’ve also studied learning in our culture by students who are trusted to take charge of their education. In these settings, children’s natural curiosity and zest for learning persist all the way through adolescence into adulthood.
Another researcher who has documented the power of self-directed learning is Sugata Mitra. He set up outdoor computers in very poor neighborhoods in India, where many children were illiterate and most did not go to school. Wherever he placed such a computer, dozens of kids would gather around and, with no help from adults, figure out how to use it. Those who could not read began to do so by interacting with the computer and with other children around it. The computers gave these young people access to the whole world’s knowledge—in one remote village, children who previously knew nothing about microorganisms learned about bacteria and viruses through their interactions with the computer and began to use this new knowledge appropriately in conversations.
Mitra’s experiments illustrate how three core aspects of human nature—curiosity, playfulness, and sociability—can combine beautifully to serve the purpose of education. Curiosity drew the kids to the computer and motivated them to explore it; playfulness motivated them to practice many computer skills; and sociability allowed each child’s learning to spread like wildfire to dozens of other children.

Read more: http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/american-school-system-damaging-kids/#ixzz2qxD6tCuG  

In our culture today, there are many routes through which children can apply their natural drives and instincts to learn everything they need to know for a successful adulthood. More than two million children in the United States now base their education at home and in the larger community rather than at school, and an ever-increasing proportion of their families have scrapped set curricular approaches in favor of self-directed learning. These parents do not give lessons or tests, but they do provide a home environment that facilitates learning, and they help connect their kids to community activities from which they learn. Some of these families began this approach long ago and have adult sons and daughters who are now thriving. My colleague Gina Riley and I recently surveyed 232 such families. According to these families’ reports, the main benefits of this approach lie in the children’s continued curiosity, creativity, and passion for learning, and in the freedom and harmony the entire family experiences when relieved of the pressures and schedules of school and the burden of manipulating kids into doing homework that doesn’t interest them. As one parent put it, “As an educator, I see that my daughter has amazing critical thinking skills that many of my adult college students lack … My daughter lives and learns in the real world and loves it. What more could I ask for?” But not every family has the ability, means, or desire to facilitate their children’s self-directed education at home. For many, a better option is a so-called democratic school, where kids have charge of their education in a setting that optimizes their opportunities and where there are many peers with whom to socialize and learn. (Such schools should not be confused with Montessori schools or other types of “progressive” schools that permit more play and offer more choices than standard schools but nevertheless maintain a top-down, teacher-to-student system of authority and a relatively uniform curriculum that all students are expected to follow.)
Over many years, I’ve observed learning at one such place, the Sudbury Valley School, in Framingham, Massachusetts. The students, who range in age from four to about 18, are free all day to do whatever they want, as long as they don’t break any of the school rules. These regulations, which have been created democratically by the children and staff together, have nothing to do with learning; they have to do with keeping peace and order. The school currently has about 150 students and ten staff members, and it operates on a per-child budget that is less than half that of the surrounding public schools. It accepts essentially all the students who apply and whose parents agree to enroll them.
Today there are about two dozen schools in the United States that are explicitly modeled after Sudbury Valley, and still others that have most of its basic characteristics. Compared with other private institutions, these schools charge low tuitions, and some have sliding tuition scales. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds.
To people who haven’t witnessed it firsthand, it’s hard to imagine how such a school could work. Yet Sudbury Valley has been in existence for 45 years and has hundreds of graduates who are thriving in the real world.
Many years ago, my colleague David Chanoff and I conducted a follow-up study of Sudbury Valley graduates. We found that those who had pursued higher education (about 75 percent) reported no particular difficulty getting into the schools of their choice and doing well there once admitted. Some, including a few who had never previously taken a formal course, had gone on successfully to highly prestigious colleges and universities. As a group, regardless of whether or not they had pursued higher education, they were remarkably successful in finding employment. They had gone into a broad range of occupations, including business, arts, science, medicine, other service professions, and skilled trades. Most said that a major benefit of their Sudbury Valley education was that they had acquired a sense of personal responsibility and capacity for self-control that served them well in all aspects of their lives. Many also commented on the importance of the democratic values that they had acquired at the school. More recently, two larger studies of graduates have produced similar results.
Students in this setting learn to read, calculate, and use computers in the same playful ways that kids in hunter-gatherer cultures learn to hunt and gather. They also develop more specialized interests and passions, which can lead directly or indirectly to careers. For example, a highly successful machinist and inventor spent his childhood playfully building things and taking things apart to see how they worked. Another graduate, who became a professor of mathematics, had played intensively and creatively with math. And yet another, a high-fashion patternmaker, had played at making doll clothes and then clothes for herself and friends.
I’m convinced that Sudbury Valley works well because it provides the conditions that optimize children’s natural abilities to educate themselves. These include a) unlimited opportunity to play and explore, allowing them to discover and pursue their interests; b) access to caring and knowledgeable adults who are helpers, not judges; c) liberal age mixing among children and adolescents (age-mixed play is far more conducive to learning than is play among those who are all at the same level); and d) direct participation in a stable, moral, democratic community in which they acquire a sense of responsibility for others, not just for themselves. None of these conditions are present in standard schools.
I don’t mean to paint self-directed education as a panacea. Life is not always smooth, no matter what the conditions. But research in these settings—both mine and others’—has convinced me that the natural drives and abilities of young people to learn are fully sufficient to motivate their entire education. We don’t have to force them to learn; all we need to do is provide them with the freedom and opportunities to do so.
Of course, not everyone will learn the same things, in the same way, or at the same time. That’s good. Our society thrives on diversity. We need people with different skills, interests, and personalities. Most of all, we need people who pursue life with passion and who take responsibility for themselves throughout life.
This article covers research and ideas that are developed more fully in the author’s book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (Basic Books, 2013).

Read more: http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/american-school-system-damaging-kids/2/#ixzz2qxDIr4iY

why we homeschool....

my girls love their playtime....and believe me, it's very creative and "constructive." Not only are they having fun playing Barbies, but they have been in the process of writing a script , for a few days now....for a Barbie TV show.....they are using Word for this, complete with setting, character development, and dialogue. Amazing what kids come up with when you give them freedom to create on their terms! 



I've always been the mom who swore she would never over schedule my kiddos. Yet, as a homeschooling mom, you tend to feel somewhat obligated to get them out and about in the world....in group activities. Yet my girls have confessed that although they enjoy a park day here and there, they miss having our "own" field trips. The energy of having a group timetable takes away their freedom to learn and explore at their own pace....they don't like feeling rushed, etc.

That said, we have an open and respectful family/homeschool environment....we all agree , less is more! Once or twice a month for a group trip, at most works best for us....nature-oriented! Homeschooling is not just about fostering a natural and creative learning environment for us, but most importantly, it's about self-discovery, freedom, and family closeness.
 

somedays we homeschool.....

and many days we have turned into total unschoolers....and I can't even begin to tell you just how wonderful that is!  It is all flowing so very naturally now; and these girls are really, and I mean REALLY flourishing in learning and creativity.  Yesterday I received two unexpected custom bracelet orders.  And our printer had run out of ink (We need the ink to print our project pages for "Moving Beyond the Page")....yes, the two are related, as they both led to my decision to let the girls BE yesterday.  This is happening more and more...not out of laziness, but because it really works for all of us.  They are both reading very well now...and they both LOVE to read....because our house has always been surrounded by books, and because I never "forced" them to read (other than quick little phonics books when I was teaching them...but they enjoyed that).

We will never be total unschoolers, I'm much more comfortable with an eclectic approach...it's all about balance.  I want them to be strong readers and more importantly, to have a love of reading...always.  I want their natural curiosity to never be diminished.  I want their natural creative drive to always be fun and to carry them through life.  I want them to have a good solid foundation in math.  I want them to be good at expressing themselves, both verbally and written.  And most importantly, I want learning to always be natural and fun!  I think we've got an excellent start!

So, as I was saying, yesterday turned into an unschooling day.  I completely left them alone, while I worked in the bling studio, etc.  And this is some of what transpired.  They decided to play school :)  Yep, that's right, school:)

This is what they've decided to do today..... Thus far, they have used our online version of our math curriculum (Math U See) to help quiz themselves and memorize their multiplication facts (not because I'm "forcing" it...because they are choosing it!)...and in this photo they are reading all about Shetland ponies, and their origination and history (I don't even know what book that's in, but they found it).  I can honestly say, that in the 18 plus years that they will be here, many of which we'll be homeschooling, I don't think it EVER would have occurred to me to talk about Shetland ponies with them! 
 
And now they are painting fruit bowls (or something) that they sketched.
 
 

Later, I heard them writing a story or a report together, about the stars:)

We aren't unschool purists, I balance it out with carefully chosen materials, that we all love....but when left to their own devices, they continue to create, learn, and thrive!  I've actually come to realize that balancing in creative/unschooling days is a VITAL part of our homeschooling experience; it will carry them MUCH farther than me directing their every day!  THIS is how they will discover their own true passions in life!  I think it's a lot harder to do, when you are busy cramming in school work and homework and activities all the time.  BE time and CREATE time are a vital part of life.....and in my eyes, they are probably MORE vital than the academics!  Kids want to learn, and they DO...when they are given the opportunity and given the gift of freedom to choose!

got ourselves organized

again:)  Fairy Girl organized the art supplies; didn't she do a GREAT job!!!


(before shot)

dragonflies and butterflies are free to fly

that's what we decided to call our homeschool two years ago.  

Somedays I incorporate a light curriculum; somedays are pure unschooling.  You'd be (ok maybe not, but I am;) amazed at the amount of creativity that comes out of these (and I'm sure any child) girls who are free to be and create.   When left on their own to choose, you will see them go about their day, something like this: wake up, somewhere around 8-ish (sometimes earlier).  Usually Angel Girl will lie in bed for quite awhile reading (sounds like her grandma;), and Fairy Girl will come downstairs and wake up to a cartoon or netflix show (we only have Netflix and an antenna, and we LOVE it!).  Then after I make my way downstairs, she willingly gives up the tv so I can do my Kundalini yoga (which I'm now doing four days a week, Monday-Thursday) instead of the seven that I had started out doing the first month.  It does take up at least 1-1.5 hours, and well, I'm just NOT an early person....I tried for awhile there; I really did;)  (you know, for about a week:D)  At that point Fairy Girl heads over to the computer, or just yesterday decided to pick up the first book in the "Harry Potter" series (seriously, just a few months ago she was still reading "CAT" from her basic phonics series!  How did this happen!!?   These girls love to read!  Probably because I've always surrounded our house with books, taken them to thrift shops or Half Price Books to pick out their own books, and I've NEVER "scheduled" reading time (other than sitting with them to help them learn to read..and that was kept to a minimum and stopped the second they weren't enjoying it).  And just like that...age 7 for both of them, the reading clicked.  Reading is freedom....freedom to create even further...freedom to bake in the kitchen (Angel Girl started reading recipes and baking from scratch just after she turned 8....she got bored with the box mix stuff very quickly, like after the first week, which is a good thing:) (I started her out with box mixes, only to help her feel more comfortable in the kitchen...she LOVES to bake!)  I also had put a "meal ideas" list on the fridge for the girls to draw from, you know, when they want to work in the kitchen!  (i.e. mommy hasn't gotten around to feeding them yet;).  Seriously though, it's not a bad thing....I can literally lock myself in a room all day (no worries, I don't), and know that my girls can completely occupy themselves, feed themselves, and are safe.  I KNOW this because I am with them all the time (and know they will almost always make good decisions), but still give them their freedom to think and create and choose. 

 

And today, while I was sitting outside in the most perfect weather in the world, really NOT wanting to come in....dragonflies and butterflies were everywhere, and a beautiful doe even hopped the fence to my side, while I was there, and she stood there looking at me...it was such a beautiful moment...until Piper (who was otherwise occupied elsewhere in the backyard on the lizard hunt), discovered the visitor and chased her right out;).....anyway, while I was doing "my thing," the girls took it upon themselves to start creating a website.  Fairy Girl came out with paper and pen, looking for ideas (I googled free kids' websites from my iphone and wrote ideas for them to try)...and they found one that they are working with.  And they are even creating business cards:)  I think they have some sort of princess fashion line in the works.  



Finally, after being driven in by the out of control mosquito population (they are worse at night, not so bad during the day), I fed them a noon breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit, proceeded to make banana nut bread (because those over ripe bananas were just begging me to;), and assemble and half bake a black bean lasagna for dinner.  Soon, I will get dressed (really, I am in yoga clothing, NOT jammies...I'm not THAT bad;) and work on some bracelet orders.  The girls continue to sit pleasantly together, working on their website, they are SO excited about their newest project!



Does this sound like school? The way most of us have been conditioned to believe school should look like?  probably not?  Are they learning, absolutely!  Are they on the same time-table as their traditionally-schooled peers?  In some areas yes, in many areas no.  Am I concerned about this....I probably was a few years ago, but now, absolutely not!  Can they read, write, articulate, multiply by hundreds and even thousands?  Yes!  Do they have all of their multiplcation facts memorized, NO...do I care, no...that will come in time, as needed, when they are ready, as they choose.  Those are just examples, but my point is.....yes, we have a "schedule".....mostly for the sake of giving them time to create, or time for us to work together some days.....our "schedule" is year round....other days we just go on our girls' day outings.....hit the beach or pool, go on a field trip....and some days we stay home and create! 

I do have to set some "boundaries" during traditionally schooled days off....they are in a much better rhythm and flow if they have these times to BE and CREATE, (or the days we choose to work together with our "curriculum.")......it's hard for others to understand, who aren't in a "homeschool" situation, that homeschooling/unschooling just doesn't look the same as traditional schooling....but believe me, it is working, it is REALLY REALLY working (thank goodness, these girls are learning despite their mama;)

Anyway, this whole post was inspired by something I saw this morning on a blog called "Time to Wake Up":


"I see the current public school system as one of cultures most effective programming stations. They sit you down, tell you whats what, and if you don't memorize it and regurgitate it, you fail and you are told that you are wrong. You feel stupid and this makes you think that the better you are at memorizing what they tell you is true, the smarter you are. It creates silent, hard working conformists. And try getting a decent job without passing these tests.

If the public school system really was designed to create critical thinkers, the teachers would tell you everyday "Question everything, especially authority."  (from the blog, these are not my words).  

But I can't say I disagree either; at least not when it comes to my own kiddos.  We choose the homeschool/unschool route, because it's the right fit for our family.  It is NOT the right fit for everybody...I'm a FIRM believer in respecting one-anothers' choices.  But, one of the top reasons why I believe in homeschooling for my family, is summarized very nicely in the quote above...for me it's all about giving them the best chance possible in keeping their natural creative drive, so they can truly have the opportunity to discover themselves and their own passions and interests; and family closeness!  I am certainly not saying that homeschooling is the only way to achieve this, or that traditional schooling will somehow impede the progress of this....I personally LOVED my school experience and thrived throughout school; and am very close to my family; and I like to think I'm still creative;)  But, this is the right choice for MY family and my girls, and my girls are having a REALLY good time along the way!  I'm very grateful we have the opportunity!

all three students are engaged:)

just another day in Paradise!

Mark this day...August 15, 2013....it was a high of about 69 degrees!  This must be some record low for this area.  Windows are open, breezes are flowing, the house smells SO good!  What a cozy October/November-like day it is!  I think I'm gonna have to bake something in honor of it...something involving pumpkin might fit the bill;)

just a couple of snapshots from our day:

homeschooling's not all fun and games you know...wait a minute...YES IT IS!!!!

more popcorn...pretty please.....I'm so cute, you can't resist this fluffy face:)

this morning the girls were playing "office" (aren't you digging the spectacles?  I am;)  the girls both begged me in the worst kind of way for glasses...they don't need glasses...but apparently it's some sort of fashion statement....so I took them to Wally world, and for $9 a piece, I was able to purchase demo frames:)  This was two years ago....they no longer require them for a fashion statement, but they do use them for engaging in such activities like: playing school, or playing office....apparently glasses make people look more intelligent, or professional or something;)

Anyway, here's how it all went down:
Playing office worker...dictionary, toddler phone, and most importantly, the candy dish:D (quote from Fairy Girl : "the community candy pot keeps workers coming back:D")  (it's true, I can personally vow for that;)

after a little while:
Now she's on the P.A. System yelling at all of her employees to stop taking two hour breaks on Thursdays:) 

and soon after that:
And now she packed up her stuff and said she got fired...."can you come to my office please, oh and bring a box:D" 



well, since she managed to get herself fired, I guess there's not much more to report on this posting;)

Oh, You Shouldn't Homeschool.... (borrowed)

Oh, you shouldn't homeschool. What if they don't have a prom? What if they never get a teacher that hates them? What if they can't march with a band? What if they expect that learning is always going to be interesting? What if they don't experience rejection? What if they don't learn how to ride the bus? What if they don't know how to do worksheets? What if they don't learn to deal with bullies? What if they miss something?

Some people are afraid of everything. And they feel better when you're afraid of everything, too. The fear of home education often comes down to this: What if you do it all wrong and it turns out badly? You won't have anyone else you can pin it on because you took responsibility.

I guess that could happen. But what if you do it mostly right, and it's all okay? And you and your child have a stronger, happier, healthier relationship because of it? What if there's nothing to be afraid of? What if there's more to be excited and interested and delighted about than there is to be afraid of? What if there's more opportunity and adventure and joy? What then? 

today, while I was making lunch...

my nine year old assisted my seven year old as she read her chapter book:

Homeschooling: Poems and Illustrations about Weather:

Fairy Girl's



Little Angel's

The Classroom....very very VERY organized!

One of my star pupils ;)

Getting the Classroom Organized....really organized