This Week in Unschooling

We have fallen into a different flow since we have been taking the girl to school in the mornings (this ride always brings up the Littering discussion....AND...the Why is Cassidy so Mean discussion). We come home, and the boys can do anything they want...Wii, DS, TV, play outside, Legos (wow we have constructed some impressive structures this week), etc...usually we gravitate to running around like wild men and wrestling...then we have a nutritious breakfast and talk about what we are eating and it's benefits...then we go do whatever we want again, then we get bored. The boys will either approach me with their own ideas, or I will offer to play a game, etc., then we just naturally move into our home-schooling. At about 2pm, we usually take a nap, the nap preceded by reading a book or books and talking about the books...or not...until we nod off. I am reading Room by Emma Donoghue, and the cover is very...appealing to a child. Sam took notice, and asked what my book was about. I told him, and he became super-interested...so I read him most of the first chapter...wow..that led to tons of discussion. (You would have to read it to understand! Awesome book! It is actually giving me some creative ideas for Unschooling!)

My favorite cure for The Meltdown, when and if it occurs...is WATER. A soak in a tub full of warm water with one scoop of Epsom Salts and one cup of Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Then a massage with Coconut Oil (we have yet to tire of observing Cohesive Force). This week we had one Meltdown that we took to the tub. I actually read a meditation book (The Angry Octopus by Lori Lite) to them while they were soaking, and we practiced meditation techniques. We talk about listening to our bodies. I have never had a kid come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode. *I* have never come out of the tub still in Meltdown Mode.
 
We read the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. George Washington's Birthday was Monday. What do you know, ole George had a moral effect on the boys...the very next day after we read our story...I received a call from Maw-Maw Pam who was in a tizzy about her missing cuckoo clock hands..The boys immediately told the truth about what "happened" to the hands on Maw-Maw's cuckoo clock. Josiah ~ "One is behind the couch........and the other...... is stuffed down in the couch." Sam ~ "Yeah...We wanted to hear the cuckoo cuckoo, so we made them spin round real fast...but they fell off! We tried to tell Paw-Paw, but he was way up there in the field...So we hid them." When I told them thank you and that they were honest and brave, Josiah said, "Yeah! Just like that guy, George...that chopped down that cherry tree!"

Josiah wanted to hear Don't Rant and Rave on Wednesdays (a book I bought for the girl long ago)...on Tuesday night...lol....He usually cuddles in the bed with me with a book, but Sam loves to bond over the Idiot Box with the husband. Most of the time, husband at least makes it a documentary.

We walked to the dentist Wednesday, and taking a walk is Talk About Safety time, Talk About Littering time, AND Talk About Prepositions time. You may walk beside of me or behind me, to the left of me or to the right of me, but you may not walk in front of me, we are walking across the street, etc...Josiah calls them pepper-sitions...lol! I found some too cool free printable pepper-sition flash cards online...monsters! $240 later....No cavities! This spurred a conversation of what we did and didn't do that may have contributed to no cavities (Nutrition).We always do Wing King Cafe for no cavities. I love watching the boys look over the menus...Sam is always suggesting new things and reading the descriptions to me. I love that Sam notices the prices and compares them. I love that my boys choose sweet tea even when they have free choice and could choose a soda. I love watching their interactions with the waiters, etc. 


Sam did Multiplication and Fractions this week. He asked me for Multiplication print-outs on his own, and the Fraction sheets were from his 3rd grade math book.

On his own, completely self-motivated, Sam read instructions and constructed a Crossbow from the book Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction by John Austin. He was very excited when the book suggested he use a pocketknife to cut a plastic pen shell, but he was not very excited at all when I said, um, no. I would be okay with a stick, but I don't think he is ready to cut hard plastic with a pocketknife. Or maybe he is...and I'm not.

Josiah did Addition and Subtraction. We used Cascadian Farms Organic Chocolate O's as manipulatives...fun, fun, we can eat the manipulatives as part of the Subtraction!

Josiah and I worked in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, two phonics packets, and Sight Word flash cards. It's interesting to watch...some words he is sounding out, some words he pulls from memory, and some he guesses by looking at the pictures. Of course, all of this is encouraged, because he is learning the way he chooses to learn.

We played Sum Swamp (this game ROCKS!), Addition Facts Bingo, Multiplication Bingo. Josiah is quite the bad sport when it comes to losing. He has been that way for a few months, but I feel that it is gradually getting better. He really gets wound up when he and Sam connect DSs and Sam is winning. I have tried talking him through it, but nothing matters to him except that Sam LETS him win, and I refuse to have Sam LET HIM WIN...so....I make them disconnect when he starts flipping shit...Does this sound coercive? Tough shit...I have needs too, and that squealing goes in the opposite direction of my needs being met. I always talk to him about how, if something is making you this upset, you need to walk away from it.

Sam's Dad got him a cell phone. I was slightly pissed at first, but I am beginning to not mind, because he is asking me how to spell things when he texts. I am thinking I will start texting him myself (even though I hate texting!). Better he gets tons of my grammatically correct texts than...well...you know....

The boys have really stayed on top of keeping their room, toys, and beds tidy this week.

We did lots of play with the dogs, the tree perch, and scooters, bikes, and ramps in the cul de sac. We have two neighborhood, public-schooled friends that we play with every day, for hours in the evenings.

We were so excited to spot three new backyard visitors this week: A Male House Finch, ?a Yellow-Rumped Warbler?,  AND....a woodpecker! I'm thinking maybe a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker...but he was SO HIGH and kept moving, so I don't have good pics by which to ID him.

I am reading over this, and I deserve a two thumbs up. In spite of battling something viral all week, exhausted adrenals, and getting a swift blow of super-stress, it appears that I hung in there.