Sundial

We made a sundial yesterday.  It's just a piece of plywood with a nail in it.  Each hour we went out and marked where the shadow landed. 

Reading and Relevance

I had a dream about unschooling last night.  Well, it wasn't so much a dream, with pictures or things happening, as it was my mind processing some thoughts.

Something that comes up frequently in unschooling discussions is the idea that with natural learning, people will learn what they need to know when they need to know it.  That things will click in their minds when those things are relevant to their lives. 

This is a really basic unschooling concept that I've believed for a long time.  I've seen many examples of it, not only with my unschooled kids, but also with schooled kids and adults.  You can tell someone something a hundred times, but it's not going to mean a thing to them until it needs to mean something to them.  Sure, we all pick up random facts (that's how we make connections later when they have relevance to our lives) and people can master rote memorization, but truly involved, enthusiastic learning happens when we have a personal, intrinsic need to know the information or how to do the skill.

So, my dream last night was about that, but more specifically about how it applies to E.  This year of unschooling was trying for me.  I wrote about Freaking Out and how my confidence returned after that.  But it wasn't the same level of confidence as I've had in the past.

Mostly because she's still not reading fluently.  She's reading better than she was a year ago.  She sounds out words when she writes notes to people or makes lists.  She writes in her diary.  She tells me words she sees on street signs.  Sometimes, she sees a word and makes a comment indicating she has read it, even though she didn't even realize she was reading!  And occasionally, she reads books.  She slowly and painfully makes her way through one word at a time, until she's read a page or two.

So she can do it, but it's slow, occasional, sporadic, frustrating, and never in front of anyone outside our family.

In my dream, I put two and two together.

She's not reading fluently or frequently yet, because it's not relevant to her yet.

And there are a TON of other things that ARE relevant to her.  Every moment I spend concerned about her reading ability, I am missing out on sharing those things with her instead.

It's the school system that says reading "should" be relevant to her at this age, and that survival skills (her latest interest) "should" be relevant to her at age.... well.... actually that never comes up in a public school curriculum.   

The other part of my dream was my mind reminding me that I always have choices.

I could put her in school, and she could be shamed and teased, or tested and found to be a failure or have some sort of problem, because of her reading ability.  And maybe she'd start reading better.... or not.   

I could go buy a curriculum and have her sit down every day and try to read through tears of frustration.   And maybe she'd start reading better.... or not.

Those are legitimate options that many parents choose to make.

They are not ones I can seriously consider.

Every moment that she spent in school or crying over a reading lesson at home, would be time she could be spending learning survival skills that would never even be touched on in school.  She'd be missing out on bonding with her grandpa over emergency bags, and learning money management while comparing pocket knife prices with me on Amazon.  She'd be missing out on learning real skills that could save her life.

She'd even be missing out on writing lists of survival gear which she did last week.

E with her BoB and camping knife/fork/spoon

Yep, tears over reading lessons could cause her to not have the time or desire to spend actually writing and reading for reasons that are truly, intrinsically her own.  How ironic.







Update:  I wrote this several days ago, but hadn't posted it yet, and right after that, we got E and L a phone.  They started using their dad's old phone, which is a better phone than my bottom-of-the-line flip phone.  That doesn't bother me one bit, because I had a feeling they'd want to text, and that is much easier with a keyboard.  Sure enough, reading and writing have much more relevance to her on a daily basis for the last few days.


 


 

Happy Birthday Z!

Z turned 3 today!  She is such a fun kid!  She is always saying or doing something that cracks us up, and she loves getting that reaction.  When she's not passionately being funny, she's passionately expressing urgency over whatever it is she is trying to say. Which she says very well!  She has a huge vocabulary, and it's so fun to see what 2/3 year olds think about, expressed so articulately.

She spends most of her days tagging along with her sisters playing whatever they are playing.  They both play really well with her, including her in their games and helping her.  Some of her favorite things to do are painting, drawing and playing with clay and playdough.  She recently started drawing people with actual arms, legs, eyes, and mouths, instead of scribbles.  She's trying to write some letters like "Z" for her name.  She always asks us how to spell things, and then pretends to write down what we tell her.

She loves taking baths and helping me with dishes and laundry.  She's totally figured out Netflix and is getting the hang of a few video games and computer games.  She loves swinging at the park and playing in the dirt.  My mom commented the other day that rock collecting must be genetic, because we all do it, and Z has started too!

Some favorite movies/shows are Tangled, Peep, and Strawberry Shortcake.  Some favorite books are Llama Llama Mad at Mama, I Am Hercules and Let's Get a Pup.      

Happy Birthday Baby Z!

Would You Let Her Quit? Part 2

Almost 2 years ago, I wrote a post called Would You Let Her Quit?  I thought at the time, and I've thought a few times since then, that undoubtably a few people read that and thought, "Well, yah, that's easy to say you'd let her quit when in the end she didn't quit.  What if she really had quit?"

So I wanted to share some of the quitting and near quitting that has happened in the last 2 years.

L did gymnastics for a little while right around the same time as that post.  After a few months, she decided that she liked it, but didn't want to do it anymore.  The class was really awfully long and structured for such young kids.  So she stopped doing gymnastics.

Earlier this year, L did Taekwondo.  She chose it after trying out two classes and also trying out ballet.  She liked the taekwondo because the classes were only half an hour instead of an hour, and I also think the activity is more fitting to her personality than ballet.  I signed her up for 8 weeks rather than doing a 6 month contract, so it would be easier on us financially if she quit.  She lasted the whole 8 weeks, but she did skip a few classes just because she didn't feel like going, and then made them up later in the week.  When the 8 weeks was over, she didn't want to continue, even though overall she said she'd enjoyed the classes.

Then in November, both girls performed in the Nutcracker ballet with professional dancers from another city doing an outreach program.  The dance company was strict about no parents being in the rehearsals or backstage.  So they did the rehearsals with me in the building, but not in the room, and they had lots of fun.  When it came time to do the show, however, L was nervous.  I packed her a bag with things to do, made sure she knew the adult in the room she could ask to call me if she needed me, and dropped her off at the last possible minute.

They called me after half an hour or so during the first show because she was crying.  So I picked her up and took her home.  Before the next show, I told her it was ok if she didn't want to do the show at all.  At first she said that she didn't, and that was ok.  Then as I got E ready to go, L decided she did want to do it after all.  So I spent the half an hour doing her hair and make up again, knowing she might not really do it, but wanting to support her either way.

They called me again after not too long, saying that she had hid under a table and cried that she wanted to go home.  So I picked her up and took her home again.

Before the last show, I told her that this was the last chance to do this show, but that if she didn't want to it was ok.  There would be other shows when she was older.  When we were getting ready to go, we realized her tights had a hole in them.  I dropped E off and told the dance company volunteers that I had to run to the store to get L tights.  I took her with me and got her back just in time for her part of the performance.  I think that helped a lot, that she didn't have to wait in a strange, noisy place with strange people until it was time for her to go on stage.  And she did it!

But if she hadn't done it, that would be ok too!

It's great that E seems to have found her niche at such a young age.  She loves performing and dancing. She's now done Best of Broadway for 2 years and auditioned again for the show in March.  She's done a pop concert and the Nutcracker ballet, and she is in her second year of ballet classes with several performances a year.  She loves it and says she wants to dance for a professional dance company when she is older.  If she stops dancing tomorrow and never dances again, that will be ok too, but for now, she seems to have found her thing.

L hasn't found her niche yet, and that's ok.  I'm happy to let her try out a dozen or two dozen things until one sticks. Or maybe she'll be a woman of many talents and never pick one thing. That's ok too.  She's talked about doing gymnastics and taekwondo again, so we'll see.  She's going to do Best of Broadway this year, but it remains to be seen if she loves it as much as E does.  She's doing entomology and cooking projects in 4H.  Maybe one of those will spark a life long interest or maybe not.  Maybe she'll try out some sports.  Whatever she chooses to do, I will support her in trying, practicing, struggling, deciding, sticking with it or quitting. 

UPDATE: Well, it's true that everything changes!  Just a few days after writing this, E decided to stop ballet classes.  She hadn't been as interested in practicing for the recital as she was last year.  The class after the recital came up and she didn't want to go.  We discussed her switching to jazz or hip hop, but ultimately she decided to just take the spring off and maybe go back in the fall.  So we shall see...

Making Acorn Flour

A few days ago, D took the girls on a hike and they gathered acorns. He hasn't had a chance to prepare them yet, so the girls and I did it today. We shelled them, ground them into flour, rinsed it to get all of the tannic acid off, and now the flour is drying. We're going to use it in our pancakes tomorrow. We are all really glad we don't have to prepare them like the Native Americans used to. It's a lot easier with a food processor than it would be with a mortar and pestle! 

Picture from http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Acorn-Flour

 
This led to discussing a lot of different things while we shelled the acorns.  We talked about where our ancestors came from (England, France, Italy, Ireland and many other places), and I showed them on the globe.  We talked about how there were already people living here when our ancestors came.  While discussing how they wouldn't be able to just go to the store to buy food, but that grinding acorns like this would be a matter of either having food or not, we talked about other things they ate, like fish and deer.  E mentioned that sometimes hunting deer is illegal, which led to talking about government, and how there was no government then to say that hunting was illegal.  We talked about what the Native Americans wore, and looked up pictures of their clothes.  Then I told them that we see Native Americans every time we leave the house (there is a Rancheria in our town), and that they don't wear the traditional clothes very often anymore, but dress and look just like us.  

Mine Craft Statue

So today, E and I started making a statue of a person on minecraft that has an anatomically correct skeleton inside it's skin. Well, as correct as you can get with everything being square blocks.  We started with a foot and used an anatomy book to look at the bones- phalanges, tarsals, metatarsals, tibia, fibula, patella and femur- and worked our way up. The skin is glass, so we can see through to the bones.

Then we discovered that we were going to end up making it taller than minecraft will allow, so dh suggested that we build it in pieces scattered around and place TNT near it so it looks like we blew the person up. I think he's been playing too many first person shooters. 

So we started building a heart near the leg.  Using lava for blood. *


*wrote on message board May 6

Goal Setting

I discussed goal setting with my 7 year old the other day, because she has several things that she is involved in that she needs to practice.

She's doing 3 songs in this concert that she's doing. The rehearsals are twice a week, and the show is in 3 weeks, and her dancing is still pretty rough.

Then she has a performance with her ballet class coming up and that class is only once a week and they spend half the class doing barre work.

And she does dog club with 4-H once a month and they are doing a demonstration of their skills at the fair grounds soon.

Also, last year she did this one mile kids' fun run that is part of the larger 5k and 10k for adults. She said that this year she wanted to win, but since it is for kids 12 and under, I told her that might be pretty hard to compete against the 12 year olds, BUT that she could "beat herself." Last year she ran a little, then stopped, ran a little, then stopped. This year she wants to run the whole mile without stopping.

So, I suggested to her that we work on each of these things for a just a few minutes each day. Do each of the concert songs and the ballet songs once, walk the dog up and down the street once and have her sit/stay a few times, and run progressively further each day, starting with one time down the street and back, then two, then three and so on.

She liked that idea, so we've been doing all of those things every day for the last few days.*

*wrote on message board April 19

Building a Dollhouse

This is a project that is going very slowly.  We did a blue print on graph paper, went to the lumber store and bought the wood, measured and cut out most of the pieces and painted some of it, over the course of the last year or so.  I'm going to try to help them finish it before winter! 

Typical Day

I woke up at 7 and took a bath (shower head broke!). L woke up a few minutes later, and she told me that last night she found a great recipe (maybe she dreamed it?) for strawberry muffins. So we made strawberry muffins for breakfast. I wanted something raw for me, but the cinnamon strussel on the muffins was good, so I made banana "icecream" with strawberries in it, and an oatmeal strussel on top.

We are trying a 30 day free trial of ABC Mouse (online game that E saw on a tv commercial and asked for), and L played that in the kitchen with me while I made breakfast, and we talked and hung out.

Then E and Z woke up. E played ABC Mouse for a while, and L and Z watched Barbie and The Magic Shoes off and on while playing and going outside. Meanwhile, I did yoga, called the insurance company, added the muffin recipe to my recipe collection, took a call from one of the other board members of the non-profit we are starting, and checked facebook and GCM.

E ate a peach and broke open the pit to find a smaller, almond looking part inside. She had discovered the pits have that inside part before, but this time she wanted to find out more about it. So we looked it up and found out it is the part with the embryo and endosperm. We couldn't find quite what we were looking for before it was time to get ready to go, so I posted on the "My Unschooler is Interested In..." facebook page to see if we could get some resources.

E found a frog in the yard, and we put it in a bowl with some water and a rock for it to sit on. It hung out with us while we got dressed and teeth/hair brushed. Then she released it.

E fed the dog, we left the house, and we went to the car wash to vacuum out the car. Then we went to the library's preschool story time. We picked out some books on flowers (for L who wanted to know about roses) and dinosaurs (for E who gets dinosaur books often) and a board book (for Z who liked the picture of the puppy on it), and we had to put some back because our library has a limit of 15 and we already had 8 out.

E had asked me in the car as we were going into the library why her schooled friend had asked me what day we were starting home school. I had told the friend that we home school all year. As E reflected on that, she said, "I'm glad we home school all year. I'm always learning something! I would get bored in the summer if I wasn't learning!" Then the story time was a school theme, with books about going to school. It didn't seem to faze the girls at all though, and the mom who read the stories at least said, "I know there are some home schooled kids here too!"

After the library, we went home and had lunch. L and E played while I sat in the bathroom with Z while she took a bath and I played on the computer. Then L played more ABC Mouse, while I read to E from an American Girl book about Josephina (it's the first chapter book series she has gotten in to). Then E played ABC Mouse, while L and I brushed each other's hair and I read her and Z a book about how trees grow.

A neighbor girl came over and they all played while I did dishes, picked up dog poop, filled out some paperwork to mail, and made half a dozen phone calls for the non-profit. Then it started to rain and the girls all wanted to come in and watch a movie. So I put on Cars, and that lasted about 15 minutes before they were outside playing in the rain. I played in the rain with them for a few minutes, then started making dinner.

L was full of meal ideas today. She had asked for pizza for lunch, but I said I'd make it for dinner. I made the dough and then realized that I was out of cheese. So I told girls we needed to run to the store and we got dressed again and headed out. We picked up a few things and sang "It's raining, it's pouring..." on the way through the parking lot. L cracks me up with her infectious laugh about that kind of stuff!

We came home and I got the chicken cooking. The girls all took a bath and then we ate dinner. I wrote most of this while eating dinner and right after. Which looked like writing, helping kids, writing, putting another pizza in the over, writing, calling my mom back, helping kids, writing, pulling the pizza out of the oven, writing, dressing the baby to go outside, writing, posting about today on facebook, writing, turning the piano on for Z, writing, turning music on for Z, writing, and so on.

At some point in there, the girls were getting snippy with each other and I tried to distract with a fun race of "Let's see who can pick up stuff in your room the fastest!" That one often works, but it floated like a lead balloon tonight.

E and L played outside for a long time, while Z alternated between playing outside, nursing and dancing to worship music. I cleared the counter, put food away, put away the clothes (dress up and regular) in the girls room, put away a load of laundry and started another load.

I found a spider in a jar that they asked me to catch earlier and they set it free outside. A few minutes later I heard squeals that were somewhere between being grossed out and fascinated. The spider lost a leg and the leg was still twitching. They asked me why and I told them it was reflexes/the nervous system. We'll have to look that one up later, because I have no idea how to explain it beyond that!

I sat in the bathroom with Z, reading my Bible while she took a bath. Then E and L came in from playing and took a bath too (Yes another one!), while I posted an interesting verse on GCM. They brushed their teeth and I put on a movie for them. They watched about half of it, Z nursed to sleep, and then I put my tv show on, and E and L fell asleep.

Was the day perfect? No! Most moments were good ones, but there were some bumps along the way. Z, who has been using the toilet since 17 months, peed on a chair at dinner and on the bed right before we laid down. I ended up apologizing to L for being cranky about her being slow getting dressed when we went to the store. After trying to problem solve with E and L (who were hungry right before dinner) over the space they were fighting over in the bath, I ended up pulling them both out so no one got hurt. I probably growled at the grabby handed 2 year old to "stop touching me!" when she was needing my boobs while nursing for the 3 thousandth time today.

 Overall, though, it was a wonderful day!

First Day of School (aka Catching Lizards)

Kids all across the country are starting school today (does that seem early to you?!  Yah, me too!), but we went about doing what we do every day.  Living and learning.  

On Saturday, the girls' cousins were visiting and we went for a swim at the river.  E caught a little, tiny blue belly lizard, about an inch long.  She really wanted to keep it, but I was afraid it was going to get squished.  We had 6 kids ages 8 and under all clammoring to hold it and pet it.  On top of that, I was thinking how sad it would be if it died, as wild animals are likely to do in captivity.  Also, we were headed back to her grandma's house and had nothing in which to transport it.  So I said no, but she was really sad. 

Later that day, I realized we could have kept it and just let it go the next day so it wouldn't die on us.  I told her that we'd make a special trip back to the river to find another lizard.  So today, while millions of kids started school, we packed a picnic lunch and walked along the trail to the river very slowly, looking for lizards.  We saw about half a dozen on the way there, then we hung out at the river for a while and nearly caught a crawdad.  L and I watched some little tiny fish that looked like they were feeding on something on a rock.   On the way back, E almost caught 2 more adult lizards, but they got away.   

As we were getting in the car, L saw another baby lizard, and she and I tried to get it.  It scurried under a log, and E jumped out of the car and went after it.  After several minutes of chasing it back and forth, E finally just yanked the log up, shoved her hand under it, grabbed a handful of dirt and got the lizard in the process. She scratched up her arm, but she had her lizard!

My camera is broken and E's doesn't take good pictures, so the lizard is hard to see, but the picture at least shows how tiny it is.  That's a nickel behind it in the first picture and to the left in the second picture.   

We watched some videos of lizards laying eggs, and we found out how to tell if it is a boy or a girl.  This one was a girl.  We also found out that lizards help keep Lyme disease from spreading.  Apparently, when a tick feeds on the blood of a lizard, it becomes inoculated against Lyme disease.  Then it doesn't spread Lyme disease to other animals or people when it bites them. 

Unfortunately, even on day in captivity was too much for Lizzie/Rose (depending on which kid you asked about her name).  She died this evening. Next time, we'll do a much quicker catch and release. 

Pop Concert

Both girls had their first rehearsal for a local pop concert they will be in. The oldest has done a musical theater production with Broadway songs for the last two years, so this will be different for her. It's the first thing my 4 year old has been old enough for. The rehearsal was 3 hours long!  I wasn't sure how my 4 year old would do, having never done anything like this before, but she did great.   *wrote March 24


 E and L had their first pop concert performance tonight! They did an amazing job!
I can't even believe my 4 year old! She is SO little and the rehearsals were so long sometimes and she'd get tired. I told her a bunch of times that it's ok if she doesn't want to do it, she could always do it when she's bigger if she wants to or not at all. I thought maybe she was just doing it because her sister was and that it might be too much for her, so I made sure to let her know that she didn't have to do it. But she did it! And she can be really reserved around people until she warms up and gets to know them, but she had NO fear in front of that audience tonight.

My 7 year old worked so hard on her dancing and she nailed it!  This is the third performance like this that she has been in (the other two were shows with Broadway show tunes) and she's getting better every time.   *wrote on message board on May 11


The sound isn't great because the performance was a in a gym and my videography leaves a lot to be desired.  They are next to each other in pink and black.  L is the littlest one in the hoodie and E is next to her.  




I was so busy trying to get good shots of my girls (nearly impossible in the semi dark) on this one that the video totally misses what everyone is cheering about.  They were throwing a teenager girl in the air cheerleader style and she was doing all kinds of flips and stunts.  This is the song Diamonds by Rhianna.


Here's another one of that song.


They were in another song too and the finale, but I don't have videos of those.

Ballet

Christmas Spectacular Performance

I can't seem to find the pictures/videos of the actual performance.


Here's the year end performance that was in May.  She is on the left (of the screen), sitting down in the front in the beginning.  There is a boy and an older girl to the left, then E, then another girl sitting to the right.  She LOVES ballet and will probably do it again next year.  She dances every day!

What L does during E's ballet class

L dancing

E's First Official Not-School Year

I have posted one thing in the entire 8 months of 2013.  One!  I keep thinking that I want to get back to blogging, but then catching up seems like such a BIG JOB that I put it off.  And the months tick by.  And I think of something I'd love to write about, but it will seem so weird coming on the heels of nothing.  So, I put it off.

But here I am!  I'm going to do a summary of E's first official not-school year, then get back to regular writing.

__________________________________

In order to comply with state regulations (and just because I like to remember these things) I write down the things we do every day that are educational.  More accurately, I write down the things that I show state acceptable proof of education, and many, many things that the kids learn that I can't quantify or qualify or see exactly how their gears are turning figuring that thing out or saving that bit of information for later, don't get written down.  So this is the bare minimum facts and timeline, yet missing lots of intricate details, stories, pictures, and conversations.  I do have some of those, but I'll post them separately.  This is from the middle of October until now.  These are all things that came up in the course of real life, no curriculum, no guide of what she "should" be learning.  Just living life, following interests, doing things, going places, bringing the world to them and them to the world, having conversations, asking questions, observing, playing, thinking, being. 

I think around 80% of what is here, L was doing with us.  She was either just observing/listening or actively participating.  Some of it she understood just as well as E and some of it I did with her more on her level.  I don't have to officially register her with the state until next year, but I am going to writing down more of what she does this year anyway just for my own records. 

E's First Grade Year:

Animals:
Eyewitness Explorer's Bird Book
Discovery Channel Prehistoric Oceans
Looked up info on mustangs
Discovery Channel Tiny Creatures
Discovery Channel monitor lizards
Looked up info on beta fish and cat fish
Dogs don't see in color
Looked up spiders we found
Rabbit's babies are called kittens
LIFE documentary on flying fish
Looked up info on dolphins, sharks and horses and piranhas
Discovery Channel Deep Sea Creatures
Looked up Asian vs. African elephants- videos, pictures
Dinosaurs- apatosaur, t-rex, tricerotops
Read article on wolf with GPS- lone wolf wandering around CA
National Geographic Flying Snakes
Other snake videos
Videos of whale sharks
Videos of great white sharks
Dinosaurs book
Saw tarantula, cockroaches, stick bugs, rabbits, turtle, frogs, porcupine and more at Discovery Museum
Looked up sheep herding dogs- videos, info
Videos of trick riding and dressage
Hike- saw/discussed gopher holes which led to discussing rattle snakes
Book and videos on baboons
4-H presentation on bees, bee hives, life cycle of bees, drones, workers, benefits of honey, pollination, saw bee hive up close. 
Hike- saw/discussed beaver dam, trees cut by beavers, size of beavers, tails, how they swim
Found rollie pollie, made habitat, looked up food and how to care for it, fed it, kept it for days
Dinosaur book
Fed rollie pollie, looked up more info, extoskeletons
Turtles- indoskeleton, saw pictures of skeleton
Discovery documentary on anacondas- tortoise, vipers vs. constrictors, kaiman, baby anacondas, tree snakes,
Discovery documentary on rattle snakes
Gilah monsters- venomous,eat eggs and small animals
Komodo dragon vs King Cobra book
Looked up wolf spiders
National Geographic documentary on tarantulas and other spiders
Found false black widow, looked up black widows- nat geo short videos
Took online spider quiz
National Geographic video on bird eating spiders
Meerkat Manor
Looked up lady bugs- different colors, eat aphids
Books on fossils, dinosaurs
Saw horse behind mechanics shop- talked with owner about gender, foal, chestnuts, horse's eyesight, what they eat
Austin Stevens show King Cobras
Austin Stevens show Snake that killed Cleopatra
Austin Stevens show Komodo Dragons
Caught small bull snake, discussed vipers vs constrictors, tongue sensing heat
Caught wooly bear caterpillar, looked up what they eat, cacooning, life cycle, difference between moths and butterflies.
Watched part of monarch butterfly documentary
Crossword puzzle on endangered species- discussed why they are endangered, where they live- wolf, blue whale, komodo dragon, tiger, polar bear, gorilla, black rhinoceeros, dolphin, crocodile, giant panda
Word search on animals that are extinct, discussed extinction
Hike- saw horses, discussed pony vs. foal
Development of chicken egg- pictures of real eggs and video animation
Queensland Heelers- how they got name, why they were bred, genetics of mixed breeds, what dogs teach their puppies
Anatomy of owl's necks- can turn heads 270 degrees
Lion prides- videos of lion's hunting, females hunt
Saw chicks and turkeys at feed store
Grandma gave booklet to identify reptiles and amphibians in North America- she wondered why there were no cobras in book, Grandma showed her North America, South America, Africa, India on map.
Wooly Bear caterpillar emerged from cacoon, released tiger moth into yard
Books on great white sharks
Noticed dog shedding winter coat
Frequently play with frogs in yard
Saw shells at library, got book on shells, identified different ones, discussed pearls/oysters
Saw goats at library summer reading program on farm animals
Video on snakes
Found neighbor's pet hedgehog in the yard- looked up what they eat, pictures, domestic vs. wild, protection from predators, nocturnal
Found eggs in dirt- looked them up, determined probably earthworm eggs
Looked up rollie pollies, what they eat, hermaphrodites, keep eggs in pouch
Looked up earthworms- body in segments, band near head, hermaphrodites
Looked up slugs- hermaphrodites, create slime
Video of sea slug that eats man-o-war tentacles
Wild Krats show on butterflies
Wild Krats show on earthworms
Wild Krats show on lizards


Anatomy/Medicine:
Discussed blood clotting to make scabs
Discussed dental fillings, infections
Human Body book- blood cells, immune system, bones, breaks, being paralyzed, nervous system, spinal cord, heart chambers, microscopes to see cells
Pretending to use anti venom for snake bite
Poser in doctor's office- identified galbladder, liver, stomach, small/large intestine, rectum.  Discussed job of gallbladder, red/white blood cells, oxygen, immune system, iron in blood, foods with iron, cast iron pan transferring iron to foods,
Discussed ear infection- causes, white blood cells, how ear works, looked at pictures/videos of anatomy of ear, watched ear drum repair surgery and cochlea replacement surgery, learned about euschin tube and how blockage causes ear infection.  Connected diamond mining on minecraft to diamond tipped tools used in surgery.
Played surgery squad- dental surgery, lasik eye surgery
Asked about layer of skin peeling off- explained/showed with paper, layers of skin dermis and epidermis
Looked up pictures of bones/cartilage in nose
Looked up difference between male and female pelvises
Made mine craft statue of skeleton inside skin 
Asked what happens to roots of baby teeth when they fall out- looked it up and learned about resorption, watched video of wisdom teeth being extracted
Read human anatomy books- bones, muscles, cells, genetics, reproduction
Ed Heads game- knee replacement surgery, femur, tibia, patella, sterilization, anesthetic, cauterize, pictures of real knee surgery
Saw L get tooth filled, saw model of tooth with roots, veins, gums with gum disease
Played online game about x-rays, CT scans, MRIs
Magic Schoolhouse book- bus goes into Ralphie's body, blood, job of white blood cells, bacteria
Nobel Prize blood typing game- which blood types can give to and receive from other types


Astronomy:
Looked up solar system, nasa, rocket launch videos
Meteor Showers- watched it and identified north star, big dipper, north, south, east and west, big dipper, little dipper, Orion's belt, Cygnus, watched Swan Lake barbie movie which talks about constellation in special features.
Black holes- looked up what causes them, mass, gravity, played online Nasa game showing black holes, what would happen if caught in one.  Cygnus constellation next to blak hole, feeds off star's gas creating disk, time changes in black holes



Reading/Writing:
Made Welcome Home sign
Wrote note "Welcome Home Dad from Ezabella, to Dad.  I love you."
Wrote note "From Ezabella to Mom."
Thank you notes
Reading workbook- long e, long o
Dino game- typed name, entered b-day
Wrote in diary
Reading workbook-beginning sounds
Wrote grandparents names
Wrote "Incredibles"
Read "Incredibles movie, book, wallet"
Typed in website address, username, password
Read Foot Book
Read B Book
Read 1/2 easy reader book in doctor's waiting room
Wrote phone number
Read Foot Book
Read part of Big Sister Little Sister
Wrote recipe for salad she created
Typed email to cousin- sounded out most words alone
Looked for brussel sprouts in cookbook index- alphabetical order
Birthday card for Grandma- wrote "Happy Birthday Grandma. I love you. Love E...." 
Dictated 2 pages for me to write in her diary then read it back to herself
Dictated a page for me to write in her diary
Read 3 sentence note I wrote to her
Read cake recipe
Wrote a letter to a restaurant
Read rhyming words I wrote- tooth, booth, loose, moose, goose, sing, wing, swing, bring
Wrote 6 words in notebook
Read list of things to do to get ready for day
Read Green Eggs and Ham
Verbally spelled words rhyming with stop after seeing stop sign- mop, cop, shop, top
Verbally spelled words rhyming with slow after seeing slow sign- mow, row, bow, arrow, tow
Read a few words in Bible
Read 1/2 of Llama Llama Mad at Mama
Read 1/2 of Say What?
Read Foot Book to kids at library story time
Read Go Dog Go



Math in Real Life:
Multiplication with chocolate chips
Math workbook- adding
Weighing/measuring baby doll- 16oz in a pound, measuring with ruler, inches
Fractions with burritos
Sorted Uno cards by number
Math flash cards
Days to BoB show- 20-2=18
Counted to 213 by 2s odd numbers
Odd numbers vs. even numbers
Boiled eggs 2x4=8
If we have 4 cups and 1 breaks=3, then figured out 3-1, 2-1, 1-1
Recited various addition facts
Considered looming hat to sell for $10- figured out 2 would be $20, 3=$30, 4=$40, 10=$100, 20=$200, 30=$300
Halves/wholes
Figured out 2+2+2=6, then I asked what 2x4 and 2x5 are and she figured those out
E helped L make signs on minecraft from 1 to 39- told her which numbers were next and how to write them
Used illustrations on paper to figure out $10=40 quarters
Workbook on counting money- used real coins and abacus to count/add
Adding with popscile sticks- 10+10, 20+20, 40+40, ways to add group of 5, 2+3, 4+1, 5+0, ways to add group of 16, 10+6, 8+8, 7+9
Math on paper 20+20, 40+40, 80+80
Used abacus to solve 10*10, 2*5, 2+5, 2*3, 2*1
Used abacus to solve 86+14, 100-14, 100-86
Math on paper while driving home from trip- added two digit numbers, added numbers requiring carrying
Verbal math problems while rolling ball back and forth on floor
Math on paper 14+13, 18+23, 27+45 had to carry numbers



Cooking/Food:
Made/canned apple sauce
Used lemon juice to preserve pears apples after cutting
Made canoli- watched instructional videos, found recipe, shopped for ingredients
Wrote recipe for salad she created- Debbie salad
Steak/beef from cow
Made pine needle tea from pine needles picked on hike- good source of calcium/vitamin C, grandma discussed scurvy in sailors from lack of vitamin C
Used nutrition data website to look up nutrition information on olives, apples, bananas, tortillas. Discussed calories, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals.
Agave syrup- watched video on how it's made
Maple syrup- watched video on how it's made
Used nutrition data website to looke up nutrition information on beans, avacado and lettuce
Made cookies shaped like fossils
Sugar- watched video of how it is processed from sugar cane
Wanted to create own cookie recipe- discussed purpose of each ingredient and possible substitutions.  Ended up with Chocolate Chip Cookies with Strawberry Jam.  Used fractions/measurements while cooking.
Baked cake
Monstanto- discussion on GMO's, genetics, DNA, watched part of Monstanto documentary
Made apple pie- fractions, had 27 apples, needed 16, she wanted to know how many would be left over to eat, she solved
Discussed liquid vs. solid vs. steam
Library summer program- different kinds of seeds, how seeds grow, spouts,watched wheat ground into flour, planted own seeds
Library reading program- nutrition, skit on healthy eating, made slime
Directly helped several times with meal planning and grocery shopping, always involved in both
Cooked chicken in crockpot
Made pancakes with no hand on help- I was giving directions/measurements verbally from other room
Makes food herself- french toast, pb&j, fruit salad, quesadilla,
Saves recipes she finds on Stumble Upon


Vocabulary/Definitions:
Plains vs. deserts
Def. host, guest
Policy vs. law
Def. aristocrat, influential
Def. orchestra, composer, conductor, torch
Def. bay (3 different meanings)
Def. prize, awards, competition, judging
Def. rows, collumns
Contest vs. concert
Def. on par- she used in multiple sentences right away
Def. might, bask
Borrowing vs. buying, borrowing and paying interest
Def. revolutions (turns per minute)
Def. fertilizer
Desert vs. tundra
Low desert vs. high desert
E used the word "diagonal" correctly in a sentence when I couldn't think of it.  Learned it from D while playing minecraft.
Def. tunic, cavalry
Def. martial arts
Def. nature
Def. repelent
Def. historical fiction
fiction vs. non-fiction
Def. courtyard, caravan
mule vs. horse vs. donkey
monologue vs. conversation
Def. invincible


Time/Space:
Gregorian vs. Hebrew calendar
Monthly observance of new moon and full moon- what makes moon wax and wane, names of Biblical months
First day of fall, winter, spring, summer- noticed, discussed season changes
Many instances over year of reading clock- when to leave, when activity is happening, when to come home from playing.  Can read digital clock, is close to reading analog clock
Many instances of looking at calendar- days to birthday, what day is today, days till event, days until trip, days until holiday.
GPS- watched in car on trip- map, hours, minutes, seconds, counting down time/miles.  
Daylight Savings
Microwave- minutes, seconds, seconds as fractions
Map of town at head of hike- where we were, where we were hiking, where our house is

 
Money:
Counting change- many times during year, went from not knowing names of coins to knowing names/values.  Used abacus to add.
Saving money- saved for beta fish, saved for hair chalk, saved for baby doll, saved for rides at county fair.  Many discussions/choices made about saving vs. spending now.
Purchasing- used own money to buy many things throughout year, added costs of items, saw value of cheaper things vs. more expensive things.
Trading game with Monopoly money- counting, adding, making change



Projects/Experiments/Crafts::
Home made bird feeders
4-H Favorite Foods Day practice presentation and actual presentation- made french toast, presented to judge how to make it, ingredients used, choice of toppings
4-H practice presentation and actual presentation- Debbie Salad.  Made salad in front of audience, explained steps, ingredients and answered questions
Used loom to make hat, entered in County Fair and won 1st place
Mixed cornstarch and water- polymer
Recorded radio spot for non-profit- memorized lines, saw radio station and saw how voice editing equipment works.
Gravity experiment- cup of water covered by piece of cardboard turned upside down.  Cardboard defies gravity due to air pressure
Used Movie Maker software together to make video of her doing "magic"
Camping trip with 4-H- lit fire with flint and steel, canoeing/kayaking, saw pioneer cabin- discussed building with logs by hand,cattle ranching, churning butter.  Made survival bracelet from paracord- discussed uses such as fishing, making shelter and stitching wound.  
Wrote secret codes with lemon juice- inspired by section on real female spies in Daring Girls book
Did fundraisers for 4-H and Best of Broadway- knocked on neighbors doors, took orders, took money, delivered products
Best of Broadway auditions, rehearsals and 6 shows.  Performed 3 song/dance routines plus finale.
Pop Concert auditions, rehearsals and 2 shows.  Performed 3 song/dance routines plus finale.
Geology experiment- made sugar glass, searched for various types of minerals in household items
Beading-art, patterns
Breaking rocks to see insides- geology
Message in a bottle-reading, writing
Body Trace- traced shape of body on butcher paper, made body parts out of construction paper, yarn, etc. skull, intestines, radius, heart done so far
4-H Box Social- bidding, counting quarters
Made home made play dough- used food coloring, mixed colors to make new colors
Made pretend boat from basket, broom handle for mast, cloth for sail, toys for anchor- vocab. mast, sail,anchor
Mock trial with family playing parts- vocab. witness, jury, judge, prosecutor, defense, misdemeanor, trial
Made home made bird feeders
Oragami- made butterflies and wallets- halves, diagonal, measuring, inches, folding
Began building doll house-  made blue print on graph paper, bought wood, measured, watched me cut it, painted some pieces, still more work to do before finished. 
Helped with bake sale for non-profit- community service, customer service
Made "Welcome Home" sign
Memorized 4-H pledge
Microscope- looked at fabric, bug, blood, dog intestine, finger, pine leaf wrapper, pen, Popsicle stick, milk, avacado, pepper

 
Holidays:
Purim- story of Esther- character, doing the right thing in difficult situation
Thanksgiving- history of day
Hannukah- story, audio book, books, Bible verses
New Year's- calendar
Passover- Biblical history, spiritual significance
Counting Omer- def. omer, spiritual significance, counting/writing numbers to 50


Places Visited In Person:
Discovery Museum- animals (above), planetarium, constellations, Jupiter, Orion's belt (can still find it in sky), Orion meteors, recent meteors hit earth, spiders sent to space, earth's diameter, space suits/helmets, mixing primary colors to make others, light spectrum- fragmenting light to see colors, planets
Sacramento- on drive saw train bridges, discussed.  Discussed pressure in ears during elevation changes, five senses.
Veteran's Day Parade- sparked conversation on voting, soldiers, liberty, President/Congress vs. King/Queen
Hotsprings- where water comes from, what causes it to be hot, minerals
Lakes
Hikes-  edible plants, plantain for bug bite, rails to trails, old train caboose, pollen, 
River- increased flow during spring, discussed melting snow
Campgrounds
Bowling alley- adding scores
Movie Theater
Silver Legacy casino- saw old mining equipment- tied into mining knowledge from Minecraft 
Radio Station
City where D's firefighting company is located
National Day of Dance performance in park
Home Town- navigated map of town to get to grandma's
DMV- telling time (what time is it, when do they close), worked on writing cursive and lower case letters while waiting
Fishing Derby- fishing, sunrise, worms, bait
Local history museum- saw wagon, lanterns (compared to minecraft torches, showed how wick/kerosene work), railroad tracks, history of logging in our town (connected to D's old job where they saw logging equipment/trucks), old mill (saw pictures at museum, drove by it on the way home) telegraph, volcanic rocks, hope chest, typewriter, pictures of how people dressed in earl 1900's, map of rails to trails
Grandma's garden- worms, compost, planting, harvesting, weeding


Places/Times Visited Through Books/Videos/Maps/Globe/Stories:
Colored map of Australia, looked up on globe
Looked up Peru info/on map
Mt. St. Helens/Mt. Lassen- learned about volcanoes, lava
China- Great Wall, vidoes of people/places, how they celebrate birthdays, location on globe, red eggs, Chinese dance, Year of the Rooster, movie Mulan
California- looked at map
Grand Canyon- how it was formed, pictures, location on map
Thailand- books and videos- farming, Budism, elephants, where on map, Bankok, villages.  Friend visited there so she heard stories, saw pictures and saw friend's scrapbook.
Italy- where on globe, story of great great grandparents coming to America from Italy.  Italian foods-canoli, lasagna, spaghetti.
France, Eiffel tower- saw in movie and mom pointed out

Various states/cities in US- looked at map to see where she and sisters were born, where we have lived, where we have visited, where D has gone for work
Spun globe and asked names of random countries several different times- Russia, China, Africa, Thailand, US, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, France, Congo, Egypt, England.  Connected to other knowledge about these places.
Looked at geography book- learned facts about Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, looked up all on map.  Also looked on map to find Asia, Europe and Africa
Found England on globe- discussed ancestors coming from England to America, church run government, religious freedom
Asked what is on the other side of the mountains- looked on google earth to see other side of mountains in all directions, zoomed in on local lakes, our house, D's job, nearby towns
Book of historical American art- slavery, civil war, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, sparked discussion of Barak Obama, def of President.  Also in book- days before cars, trains across county, farming, oxen, carriages, wagons, harvesting, baling hay, fire engines pulled by horses.


Games:
Zoodles- strategy, puzzles, problem solving, math, reading/phonics, Spanish, matching, spelling, counting by 10s
Brain Quest trivia
Uno
Hopscotch- turned into adding game
Spy Game- problem solving, reading
Blue's Clues Scavenger Hunt
Yatzee-math
Puzzles
Hide and Seek- counting
Action word flash cards- read word, do action
Clue-strategy, problem solving, process of elimination, adding dice, reading
Kids' Scrabble- spelling, reading
Mine craft- def. of mining, craft, gold, iron, pick axe.  Creative building, architecture, mined for iron ore/diamond to make pickaxes, planted wheat seeds, grew wheat, harvested, made bread, planted other foods, harvested, flint and steel, 
Go Fish
Typing games and typing on word document
Rummy- strategy, counting/adding score
Online geography game
Monopoly- adding money, making change,
Big Farm game- points, reading numbers over 100, planting, harvesting, sowing, selling produce/eggs, mill, silo, compost, how much things cost, smart business practices, fertilizer
Degrees game- circle on paper marked with 0, 90, 180 and 360 degrees and numbers in between, call numbers for them to turn to face.
Crossword puzzles- writing, problem solving, critical thinking
Word Search


Activities:
Weekly ballet classes and two performances
Monthly 4-H meetings and other activities
Monthly 4-H dog club meetings and year end dog show
Best of Broadway rehearsals and shows
Pop Concert rehearsals and shows
Summer baseball 1-2 times per week
Library story time nearly weekly
MOPS a few times


Movement:
Learned to do splits
Learned to do hand spring (can almost stick landing)
Learned to do backbend
Yoga often with mom/stretches for ballet
Watched Tai Chi video to learn beginner moves
Videos of tango/waltz/foxtrot/belly dance- imitated steps
Videos of gymnastics and ice skating- imitated

Languages:
Hebrew- aleph bet, avinu, abba, tanach, Torah, Adonai, 1/2 of Shema, blessings over bread/wine
Spanish- movie Barbie Mariposa in Spanish with subtitles, Dora and Deigo episodes.  From my knowledge or looked up online, counting to 10, dog, cat, cow, horse, other animals, mom, dad, sister, grandparents, other family words, various foods, rooms, clothes, basic phrases like I love you, hello, goodbye, I'm hungry, etc. Another mom at library store times speaks Spanish, did story time in Spanish, E remembered how to count to 6.  American Girl book Josephina- gracias, sala, fandango, pueblo, tia, abuelito
Thai- counting to 10, thank you
Sign Language- The Joy of Signing book and online videos- alphabet, dog, cat, cow, horse, other animals, mom, dad, sister, grandparents, other family words, various foods, rooms, clothes, basic phrases like I love you, hello, goodbye, I'm hungry, etc.


Music:
Piano- practices occasionally (Mary had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells, Ode to Joy), knows home keys for key of C, can do simple finger exercises, composed one song that I wrote down for her and choreographed ballet to go with it. 
Nutcracker story/music/movie, recognized music on Sponge Bob episode, put on a living room play of Nutcracker
Cd of music by Bach
Listens to me play Fur Elise by Bethoveen memorized from childhood and re-learning to play other piano music
Lots of other classical and modern music of all types on cds, radio, pandora and youtube

Tv/Movies:
Too many to list and I didn't write down most because they wouldn't qualify as "educational" for the state.  However, many of the interests, activities and conversations are sparked from them as well as things learned directly from them.  Some that I made note of are:
Monk- watched a few episodes because of interest in mystery solving
Martha Speaks- lots of new vocab and lots picked up from other shows that aren't designed for that purpose
Avatar- sparked discussions/further learning on meditation, tai chi, kung fu, elements, blindness 


Books: 
Too many to list.  Most animal and anatomy books are listed in those sections.  This year I'm going to set up a Goodreads account for them so we can keep better track.  E has not found a chapter book that she really enjoys.  She regularly enjoys non-fiction books that are for older kids or adults, but not much fiction.
A few that she did like were the American Girl books about Josephina and one about frog ninjas, the name of which is escaping me.
A few others of which I made note:
Book on Annie Oakley, then looked up pictures/info about her.  Learned more about her at summer reading program.
Book on Medevil times- parts on what they wore and becoming a knight, discussed gender discrimination, later connected minecraft flaming arrows to combat portrayed in book
Almanac- US holidays, Martin Luther King Jr., money, units of measurement, shapes, odd/even numbers


Other Discussions/Interests/Things we looked up:
Importance of wearing seatbelt
Trucks shipping food to stores after seeing bread truck in store parking lot
Frequently rhyming words for fun and saying opposites
Videos of airplanes/jets- aerodynamics, lift
Drinking and driving
Visit from Smokey Bear at Library- fire safety, not to play with matches/lighters, stop, drop and roll
Intro to my book The Slight Edge- sparked interest in setting goals, set goals for ballet performance, Hollywood Vibe show, dog show
Cookies called biscuits in the UK
Intro to Robert's Rules of Order at 4-H
D showed her how to tie bowman's knot
Looked up female ship captians
Memorized address, mostly from going into internet company and city hall to pay bills for me
Discussed finger prints, detectives
Dh showed them his fire fighting gear- turn out, breathing mask, gloves, demonstrated turn out's fire resistance
Documentary on box mills- steam,gears, branding plates, connected to lumber mill, boxes with Louis Lamour stamped on them connected to D's collection of same books
Adult's conversation about Native American's sparked E's questions- led to discussing Pow Wow we went to last year, what a pow wow is, looked up video of one
Workbook with myster story and questions to help solve mystery- critical thinking, problem solving, clues, evidence
Verbs/nouns- ing on verb means doing in the present, action vs. thing
Where to find fiction/non-fiction in library
Discussed living like Josephina in American Girl book- no running water or electricity, had never seen a piano, getting water from river, not knowing how to read
Watched Happy People documentary in Russian
Video on how sand is formed from granite- wind and rain erosion take sand to beach, quartz, iron, feldspar, micah, saw minerals up close in microscope, compared to her own quartz rock
Read about several female spies, Girl Guides codes/history

Would You Let Her Quit?

E is in a local musical theater production called Best of Broadway.  After she was selected from the auditions, someone asked me "What if she wants to quit?  What if she doesn't feel like going to rehearsal one day?  Would you just let her quit?"

This person asked me this, because she has heard me voice my opinion on forcing kids to do things in which they are not interested.  So she wondered if E lost interest, what was I going to do?

I told her that, first of all, E and I would be having a discussion about commitments, and we did.  I told E what was going to be expected of her, how many days a week she would be rehearsing and I showed her on the calendar how long the rehearsals would last and when the show would take place.  I told her that if she wanted to do this, she needed to commit to doing every rehearsal.  I explained that the people who direct the show chose people from the auditions who they think will do a good job in their part, and that they are depending on each person to do their part.  If people don't show up or don't what they are supposed to do, it could ruin the show or at the very least inconvenience the directors and other actors.

E saw the show last March, so she knew somewhat what to expect the final production would look like.  When she saw it last year, she said "I want to do that!  I want to be on the stage!" and she waited for 7 months for the auditions for this year's show to roll around.  She was excited to do the auditions and be in the play.

She didn't know, however, exactly what the rehearsals would be like.  For the first rehearsal, our day worked out in such a way that we had to get there an hour early and the girls spent that time running around and playing.  It was 6 pm when the rehearsal started and she was tired.  I tried to get her to spend a few minutes taking some deep breaths and getting centered before it started, but she wouldn't.  We were all in a small room that echoed every noise and the music was LOUD.  She got totally overwhelmed with the noise after already feeling tired and out of sorts.  She tried to participate, but we had to leave the room several times for her to pull herself together.

I gave her some Rescue Remedy and let her leave the room when she needed to, but I also reminded her that this was part of practicing for the final production that she wanted to do.  I told her that I didn't think every rehearsal would be like this and that once she got into the swing of things that it would probably be easier.

The next day we were talking about it and I said, "If you don't want to do this, it's ok.  But it seems like you want to do this, but you were overwhelmed and tired last night."  She agreed that was the case.  I said, "Let's come up with some ideas that will make the next rehearsal easier so you don't feel so overwhelmed."

She agreed that just knowing what to expect the next time- the loud music and many people- would be helpful.  She was totally surprised by that the first time.  We talked about getting centered before the rehearsal started, bringing Rescue Remedy, making sure she ate immediately beforehand, bringing a water bottle, and being well rested.

We have implemented those ideas, and she has now done 5 rehearsals, and she enjoys them.  There are times in between songs for her to talk and play with new friends, and they just started adding dance choreography to the singing which she likes.  It is hard work, but so far, it is worth it to her.   Before the last rehearsal, she asked me if she could skip it because she was a little sick.  I reminded her that if she didn't do the rehearsals, she wouldn't be able to be in the play.  She said ok, and by the time it was over, she didn't want to leave!

So would I let her quit if she changed her mind?  The simple answer is yes!  I mean, seriously, all ethics and parenting philosophy aside, how DO you force a child to be in a play?  Threaten to spank them if they don't sing?  Ground them from doing anything else if they don't smile big enough?  How does one justify making a child's life miserable to try to teach them to never quit?  To me that just says "My reputation is more important than your happiness" or "I think you're such a lazy worthless bum that you'd never do anything worthwhile if I didn't force you."  

Fortunately, there is a lot of distance between forcing a child to do something in which they are not interested, and shrugging your shoulders and letting them quit when they say they don't feel like doing it today.  That distance includes:

Not forcing them to start things in which they aren't interested in the first place.

Giving them a clear picture of what will be expected and then leaving the choice up to them.

Explaining what team work means and that there are people depending on them.

Not putting a child who is too young to understand those concepts in that position.

Supporting them by providing the practical things and the emotional help they need to continue.


Ultimately, I want my children to remember that I did everything in my power to support their interests and to encourage them in the things they enjoy even when those things were hard.  I also want them to remember that no activity was more important than our relationship, and that I was supportive of them stopping an activity that they felt, for whatever reason, was no longer beneficial to them.  

The play is in March, so stay tuned for pictures!  





     

Following Interests

I think something that can be confusing for some people is when unschoolers talk about "following an interest." I think they imagine that the child comes to mom and says "I'd like to learn about baking and money today," and then they sit down together and pour over information, do worksheets, maybe a field trip. While E has told me what she wants to learn about in so many words, that is rare. Usually I pick up on her interests through our conversations and if we can't look up the answers to her questions right that minute, I write them down and we do things later. Also, I bring a lot of things into her world that she didn't know existed, because she can't possibly be interested in them if she doesn't know they exist.

For example, a few weeks ago some kids came to our door offering babysitting and dog walking services. I politely declined since we don't have a pet and I won't be leaving my kids with 8 year olds, but I told them that I was impressed with their desire to make their own money. E asked how she could make her own money like those kids were doing and we started brainstorming some ides. She settled on baking and selling apple pies. I invested $10 into her business to buy the ingredients and together E, L and I made 2 apple pies. Then we put the pieces on individual paper plates and put them in a basket. She walked around our neighborhood and sold them to our neighbors for $2 per slice. I hung back while she knocked on the doors by herself, told people what she was doing and offered them a piece for "ONLY $2 each!" which people found cute and she came up with herself, little saleswoman. After paying D and I back with slices of pie, eating a few themselves, and getting a few tips, they made out with $24.

She said that was "WAY BETTER" than waiting to get the $2 we give each of the girls every week. She spent $10 of it to buy a jewelry making kit, because she wanted to continue her business venture and sell jewelry. The rest went towards fun at the county fair.

All of this came about because she made a little comment about wanting to make money too, and I utilized my adult knowledge and resources to help her run with it.

If you think your kids have no interests besides playing, just start talking to them! I can't even keep up with all the possible interests there are to learn here. In the last two days I've written down just a few of the many things that have come up in conversation:

How deer hide their babies until they lose their spots, where deer live and what they eat
Why magnets stick to metal
What a curtsy is called and the difference between a bow and a curtsy
What security guards do
The weather in the the antarctic
The arctic, Eskimos and igloos
Where Alaska and Canada are located on the map in relation to California and Oregon
Dinosaurs, carnivores, animals hunting
Big Foot
Nerves, brain, heart and how our bones protect our vital organs

All of these things are conversations that create learning in the moment, as I answer questions and provide new information, but sometimes they are 2 minute exchanges, barely a blip on the radar of our day if I'm not paying attention. I do try to pay attention though, because they are also interests that can be explored further. I figure if my kid is asking, she's interested! Now when I provide more information or a project or related trip later on, if she no longer cares about that topic, she'll tell me and I'll respect that. But that happens very, very rarely.

I don't say "I'm going to teach you about XYZ now that you expressed an interest in it," I say, "Hey look at this video of deer that I found" or "Remember last week you asked about what security guards do? Well I just met one and he can tell you about his job."

It's all about being engaged, interested in them and open to whatever comes up.

Inventions

Today, E came and showed me pictures of some "machines" she had drawn. One was a "machine that would help people breath if they couldn't breath" and she showed me the air tank and the hose that went to the person's nose.

Then she showed me a picture of her machine to "help people get voices" if they couldn't talk. I had a harder time understanding this one, because my initial thought was that it would talk for the person, so I was asking her "how did the machine know what the person wanted to say?" But apparently I had it all wrong! I *think* it is a machine that actually *gives* people a voice if they can't talk.

Then she showed me a picture of a machine that would give people water. It also had a tank and a hose that went to the person. I asked her where the water came from and she said that "you just have to bring a big, huge bucket of water to fill up the tank." So I asked her where I would get the bucket of water, from the ocean? Or the river? Or the rain? She said the ocean, but then said "wait, you can't drink water from the ocean, can you?" and I told her no and told her about salt water dehydrating people.

Later, I got on youtube and found this while looking for oxygen tanks:

Respiratory Care- Oxygen E Tank

And this, because I was looking for videos on scuba diving tanks:

Turtle Necropolis
This one had video of dead turtles and their bones, so we talked about turtles for a while.
Then I found How To Use An Air Tank in Scuba Diving which talked about this different kinds of tanks.

That led to Nebulizers and we talked about asthma.

Then I found her videos of babies in the NICU using oxygen .

Which led to her wanting to see homebirth videos

Glass Fusing

A while ago I took the girls to an art show and the thing that really caught E's eye was the jewelry and trinkets made out of glass. The artist explained to us that they are made by taking small pieces of glass and heating them in a kiln until they melt together. I love how connections are made: as soon as I mentioned it on facebook, a friend let me know that a local homeschooling group was doing a glass fusing workshop for kids!

We went to that workshop on Monday and learned a ton. The artist first had the kids all sit down and she told them about the history of glass fusing and blowing. She showed them pieces that had been made by the first process used by ancient Egyptians to pieces that had been made using more modern technology. She talked about the natural ways glass is made, like by lightening, meteor strikes and volcanoes. She showed them the difference between opaque and transparent glass. She talked about the elements of glass and how all those elements have to come together just right, with enough heat, to create glass.

Then the kids broke up into groups to look at bags full of colored glass, sort them according to whether they were opaque or transparent and see which ones had been heated at higher temperatures (as could be determined by how rounded the edges were and how blended the colors were). Then next table was where they learned how to cut glass, which was surprisingly safe. They used a knife that was a small, circular blade that would not cut their hands, but put a scrape in the glass when they pushed hard enough and rolled it across the piece. Then they took a clamp and squeezed it right on the line they had made with the knife and the glass broke cleanly along the line. Finally, they got to pick out pieces of glass in all shapes and sizes to put together to make a pendant. E made one for herself and I made one for L since she wasn't there. The artist took them home, attached a loop for the string and heated them in her kiln. We just got them in the mail today and they turned out beautifully!

E is so excited to have a necklace that she made herself!

Chinese Dance and Dragon Boats

About a week ago, we were watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and E was really fascinated by the dragon boat that they take down the chocolate river. She's seen the movie dozens of times, but this time that just jumped out at her. "Why does it look like that? Why are they drumming? Why is it a dragon?" I told her that it was similar to boats in China and that's probably where they got the idea. I was planning on looking them up on youtube for her the next day, but forgot about it.

Then the other day, she bought herself an umbrella. She had it open and was kneeling down and spinning it in front of her and it reminded me of Chinese dance. I told her about that and when we got home I looked up Chinese dance and dragon boats. That led to fan dances and ribbon dances as well.

We found videos like these:

Dragon Boat Festival

Silkworm Chinese Dance

Korean Fan Dance

Chinese Umbrella Dance

The umbrellas all looked like parasols to me, so I explained the difference to her. Now she wants a parasol, a fan, and some ribbons too. This girl loves to dance!

Interests

I've been talking to my sister about our kids' recent interests, and I sent this to her. Just some things that Ezabella likes lately, and how I've been helping her explore those interests or things that I would like to do soon to help her.

Horses- She has some horse books that she likes. She watches a cartoon called Horseland and has learned a lot of terminology from it. She's now talking about lateral steps, jumping competitions, reins, the difference between an English and Western saddle, etc. We go to the carousel every time we are in Salem, which she LOVES. Her first riding lesson is on Sunday. For now I can only afford once a month, but I'm going to try to find a way to do more.

Dragons- she's always talking about them and pretending to be one. I don't have many ideas for this except to find one of those Chinese parades where they have the people dressed up like dragons. She watches a video on youtube of someone speed painting a dragon. I should try to find some more dragon art and stories.

Belly Dancing- we watch belly dancing videos and dance together. I'd like to take her to a belly dancing show, but it might be hard to find one that is kid friendly. I'm going to try though.

Pretty much any kind of animal- she likes the vidoes on the national geographics website. We read books about animals, too. We need to get outside more often to see some real animals, but between the constant rain and living in the city, it's hard. We should spend more time at the river behind our house-there's a little wildlife back there. We go to the zoo every few months.

Cooking/ food- she's always pretending to cook/eat/make food. We play a lot of pretend restaurant games. She helps me cook, but I don't do it very often. Damien cooks more often, but she isn't as interested in helping him. I need to cook more.

Car racing- she loves the movie Cars. I would like to take her to an actual race.

Art- she's really loving all the art supplies everyone got her for her birthday. I need to get her more crafty things.

Any ideas for me? Ways to expand on her current interests or things to strew that she might like?