Library Reading Programs

Oh how, I do not like them. I don't really care for them because I don't think kids need rewards to read and sometimes these programs backfire. Kids will read to get the reward then after that they don't read for the rest of the summer. That's what happened the first year we did the summer reading program. However,the next year we did it, it did not seem to make a difference either way.

Jade is in her room right now with a load of books to read for the winter reading program so she can get a silly prize. Well, I think the prizes are silly like erasers, stickers etc. Maybe she won't reach the goal of 10 books or maybe she will. She's doing it on her own. I'm not making her do it. We talked a bit about the programs and why I don't like them. She came up with the idea that she can set her own goals and maybe her own reward for reading.

The cool thing is she is excited to read and to challenge herself. So that's not a bad thing. I told her if she really wants some fun pencils or note pads then please let's go the dollar store. I don't see them helping my son love reading more. He's enjoying books because we've found some stories he likes me to read to him.

The not so cool thing about the summer reading programs is if the kids do them then they get coupons. Often the are coupons are to fast food restaurants that I need to buy a meal as well. Sometimes this doesn't fit into the family budget or I don't want to eat there. So I make no promises to help them use the coupons. If I don't want to eat there too we don't go. I'm just sayin' I'd much rather eat at Rudy's pizza in town than Cici's Pizza. Depending on the coupon offerings I'm willing to busget and plan for all kinds of cool things to do for the summer so we don't need the rewards anyway. I tell them read because you want to not because you will get something.


PS I wrote this but never published it sometime last year. I liked it so I decided to post it after all.

I love wikipedia!

If you haven not heard of Wikipedia you should it's the best homeschooling tool on the market and not only that it's free! It can answer questions about Star Trek episodes to impromptu questions from your son.

***warning possible spew alert***

"Mom, it's like I have two balls in my scrotum. What's that all about it?" So what do we do? We look it up on Wikipedia.

So I had to....

check on my daughter today to see if she was actually alive and well. I had said good morning to her and we chatted for a bit. Then later in the day I realized I had hardly seen her and her room was strangely quiet.

She was to my relief just fine and about 3/4 of the way through the first volume of Buddha, a manga by the author of Astoboy. She read the whole thing herself. She told me she decided to not read the exclamations so as to not slow herself down and after a while she decided to read to herself as opposed to reading the story aloud with appropriate voices.

Is that cool or what! I think so. One down and one more to go reading. Someday, I will breath more fully. Really, I will.

Oh my so much...

Today has been, still is as I am writing this the most amazing day.

It started with Jade wanting to celebrate Molly's birthday, her most favorite doll. There was a bit of confusion when her doll was born but we managed to get that figured out and Jade is now in the kitchen baking a carrot cake.

Speaking of birthdays, that reminded me to find the birthday calculator that tells how old you are in seconds, minutes etc. Corbin wanted to know that last night.

With Jade making a cake and celebrating a Molly's birthday, Corbin wanted to know what he could celebrate? So we looked up on the earth on a calendar here, to see what we could celebrate today. Today is the Independence Day for Burkina Faso. This led to Corbin writing a a song.

Independence Day
By Corbin Figgins

Oh, breaking down the walls
Oh, breaking down the walls
Oh, breaking down the walls

We will be FREE
We can’t live en captured
We want to be FREE

Our independence is strong
We can’t fall down again
We are independent in ourselves

We are trying to break down the walls, break down the walls!

So we can be FREE……

Then Corbin decided to make a Gate to Independence out of popsicle sticks. He wants to make a cake too. If you read a bit more on the Burkina Faso page you might find that January 3rd is one of many "independence days" of that country.

Jade found some music appropriate for an Independence holiday too. We are listening to a song by Sarah Pirtle called Walls and Bridges:

"Why do we make walls? These walls divide us.
Why do we make walls? These walls just hide us.
Why do we make a fist? We could reach out our hands.
I want to make a start building a bridge from heart to heart.
building a bridge from heart to heart."

Then Corbin shifted gears and decided to decorate one of his sweatshirts with a spider so he did a prototype drawing then he had me draw it on his shirt. Now back to making the gate. While he was working on the gate, I read him a bit about where Berkina Faso is and "sang" their national anthem to him.

All this while Jade has been making her cake. When it was all done we sang Happy Birthday to Molly and had some cake. Jades carrot cake turned out to be enough celebrating. Maybe tomorrow Corbin and I will finish our Independence Day celebration. When do we ever finish celebrating our Independence, our freedom.

Christmas math!

We've been doing some decorating and origami for the last few days. Jade's been making lots of stars using the klutz star kit, very fun. I bought it last year around the holidays and we finally got to it. Perfect timing I think.



Corbin's made some hats and a lobster. Today he made a paper coin purse. Then Jade picked up a piece of origami paper and said something like this: "How do I make this piece paper like a full sheet of paper but smaller?"

I told her we would need find the proportion of the short side of the paper to the long side the larger sheet of paper and measure the small sheet of paper which we got 4.25 inches. I did the calculations out loud using the calculator on the computer.

We know that the longest side of the paper is 2.5 inches longer than the short side.
so I divided that by 11 and got 22.7%
then I multiplied 22.7% by 4.25inch sheet of paper and got of .96 which is almost 1inch so she estimated a little less than one inch and trimmed the paper to size, 3.29inches for the short side.


another way to have done it:
8.5 divided by 11 equals 77.3%
77.3% multiplies by 4.25 gives us 3.28

Why did she want to do this? She wanted to make a mini origami coin purse.



Will the information click? I think so. The coolest part is she already could see that it was a proportional thing but just didn't know the words. The next coolest thing is it was inspired by living our life, celebrating the holidays. The learning was a side effect.

Before I forget - Our Thanksgiving

We had a relaxing thanksgiving. We had planned to hang out and eat some turkey at my moms. Mom wasn't feeling to well so we canceled. It was a good thing because Corbin and I were still recovering from our colds too. So we had a quiet day at home.

The kids did some Thanksgiving drawings:




(Yes, those are guns coming out of the turkey. Maybe it's a turkey revolt)

Corbin dressed up for the occasion:





We did not cook up a big holiday meal but Stephen did make a quiche and some apple pie (my favorite.) Jade made a pumpkin pie to take with us. We packed up the car the next day to go visit the in-laws.

Thursday Thirteen#3 - NaBloPoMo#30

Thirteen Books that have inspired and influenced me:

1. The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development) by Jean Liedloff
2. Learning All the Time by John Holt
3. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
4. Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher
5. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with by Rosenberg Marshall
6. Parent Effectiveness Training : The Proven Program for Raising Responsible Children by Thomas Gordon
7. Buddha Never Raised Kids & Jesus Didn't Drive Carpool: Seven Principles for Parenting with Soul by Vickie Falcone
8. Hold On to Your Kids : Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers by Gordon Neufeld
9. Unconditional Parenting : Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn
10. Spiral Dance Starhawk
11. When God Was a Woman Merlin Stone
12. The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman's Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in Key Relationships Harriet Lerner
13. The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education Grace Llewellyn

This is how we learn... - NaBloPoMo#13

I'm entering a drawing for Kansas unschoolers and borrowing heavily from the post that inspired it all. Check out How We learn on Thoze Amazing Crazy Dayz. You don't need to post it on your blog but I am.

We learn from all this .....

• Watching Star Wars all snuggled under a warm blanket. Pondering how they did this and that to make the movie. Mom sharing how they added new things the movie.
• Putting together a K'nex Roller Coaster

• Feeding the ducks

• Playing Violin

• Playing made up games: adding points, determining strategies and rules.
• Playing Chess

• Listening to audio books and talking about them
  
• Planning birthday parties trying to balance the fun with the costs.
• Dressing up for the Harry Potter book release party

• Making wish lists and looking up the reviews on amazon to see if the toys or games are worth it.
• Cooking

• Playing with friends
• Asking mom questions about a book she is reading.
  
• Playing catch
• Telling jokes
• Building with legos

• Changing the colors of a dolls eyes

• Bowling with our homeschool group
• Skate boarding
• Planning our own skate board ramps inspired by some friends
• Impromptu Parties

• Saving up for a skateboard
• Watching Astroboy in Japanese
  
• Learning Japanese words and phrases from Dad
• Festivals

Throwing Tomohawks at the Lewis and Clark Festival

Checking out the Hogan too


Sculpted Candy Jade bought at the Japanese Festival

• Drawing and other crafts

• Working through disagreements
  
• Watching birds at the bird feeder
• Catching butterflies and letting them go
• Celebrating the holidays
  

• Observing the changes of a monarch chrysalis and the crazy squirrels
• Planning the weekend: when to shop, what to buy, what to cook for the week
• Watching Good Eats and Unwrapped
  
• Playing in the sandbox

Best of all we do it together

The Solar System

Sorry to inform everyone but I now own the a Solar System and it only cost me 50 cents to boot! I account the good deal because the Solar System isn't worth much since the Pluto fiasco. If you didn't already know there is debate whether Pluto is a planet. Apparently he or she is now considered a "dwarf planet." I think that is just to apease the people and not hurt Pluto's feelings. The kids seemed genuinely sorry for Pluto when I told them about the fiasco.

They had lots of-fun putting it together. I enjoyed it as much as they did as I have always wanted a Solar System to control to explore.

In Honor of Halloween

I wrote this last year on my Confessions' blog and It's appropriate now.

I want be happy and I know I will be but it IS awful cold, wet, and dreary outside right now.

In honor of Halloween my son wrote a song. I'm kind of torn about the song he wrote. It's very dark but I also value his creativity, the joy he had singing it, and seeing his pride in his work. I added his picture to remind myself that he is a very sweet loving boy who is processing life,death, what he's heard about heaven and hell, and having some fun with the dark side of Halloween.

Bloody skull and bloody eyeballs
Death, death
Death, death, death
The after life

The grave, the grave
The after life
Die, die, today

Bloody gravestone, in the grave
Death, death
Death, death, death
The after life

Zombies, skeletons, ghosts
And much, much more
The after life, the after life
Heaven, hell
Each kid sorted out


Happy Halloween

A Love Note - It's great to be a Mom

A Love Note

Life is just fun and learning happens

Recently, I read on an unschooling blog that to get unschooling you need to stop thinking about learning and focus on living. I realize I do think about unschooling and learning alot. Part of why I do is that it helps some that are new to unschooling get unschooling a little better to see how to unearth the learning that happens without teaching or school.

Yet, I can see that gets in the way of me posting here because I want to share how I see what they are doing as learning and sometimes I don't see it. I want to get away from that and just celebrate what they love to do and what they do.

So here's my practice at just sharing without trying to translate it into what they MIGHT be learning.

Corbin and I played a the park for a bit today and we did tricks on the swings. We also talked about his desire to jump off the slide platform with a rope tied around him. I told him I was afraid he might hit his head on the metal bars. He thinks it will fun :) We are still in the talking stages about this.

He's now in the living room playing with some pattern blocks and telling a story as he lays them out.

Jade is in her room listening to Harry Potter and playing with her dolls. She's come in every few minutes to share some insight she has about the book or something that she finds interesting.

Corbin also played in the Fort he built last night and that Jade helped him make improvements on this morning. He got out some sciencey typoe things we had and played with the magnets and also made a potion.

They both watched a few morning cartoons but the TV has been off for the rest of the day. Corbin did play some of the gamecube games we rented friday night.

I did some weeding in in the garden and watered in the some of the seeds the kids planted a week or so ago. We should have some home grown lettuce soon.

I spent a good portion of my day emailing on my local homeschooling list too Oop! on how or better what can help kids learn to read.

I set out the Art Trading Card Craft supplies to make some cards. Jade made some note cards instead. I made one card and Corbin made a few too.

Here's Butterfly Blue my ATC :


One of Jade's collage cards she made:


Here's Corbin's Drgon Card:



I LOVE having a scanner.

She can read!

I was worried , not much but a little, that my daughter would read VERY late. My worry stemmed mostly for Jade (now 10) because she was starting to be concerned herself that she wasn't reading yet since so many of the kids she knew did read. I'm not worried any more and neither is she, because she can read! She really can. In the last few weeks it seems to have really clicked for her. She picks up her favorite cook books and figures out most of the recipes on her own.

A few days ago I realized she made cookies with a new cook book (a new one for her ) and did not ask me once for help to make the cookies or to read the recipe. Another day she walked into the the living room reading a book, 101 Bunny Jokes.

So how did this all happen? I think she learned on her own with my help. Sometimes I hear unschoolers saying their children learned to read "on their own." Sometimes this is true. There are the kids who just follow along when you read and figure it out without any help or so its seems. Yet even that child might not have learned to read (or might likely have learned to read much later) if they did not have parents who read to them. Children who are bathed in print will learn how to read. Some will want you to read words to them over and over again before they learn to read. Some will figure it out as you read to them. Some might like to understand how to sound words out and some like to learn how to spell words.

Jade was VERY particular at how she wanted my help. When she was very serious about figuring out the words she ONLY wanted me to read the word she didn't know. She would get very mad at me if told her words she knew or wanted to figure out on her own. She asks me over and over again a word she doesn't know and eventually she recognizes the word. She also write notes and asks me how to spell the words. When she reads aloud I have noticed she does sound out some words but that is NOT how she likes me to help her. When she doesn't know a word she just wants me to read it.

Learning to read is a process. Some kids learn it quickly and some learn it over time. Jade learned to read over the last 2 years. It's not like she worked on it everyday for the last 2 years. It was more like a little bit her and a little bit there. She might a spent a month here and there reading some books or reading stories on starfall. Then other times she isn't doing much reading but she is writing bit. Some it she is writing herself while asking me to spell the words she doesn't know and sometimes I'm transcribing stories for her.

I think the best part of her owning the experience and me there as support is her excitement when she has read something on her own. She exclaims: "I read it on my own! I can read!"

Falling down at the job as an Unschooling mom or am I?

I worry sometimes that my passions sometimes eclipse the kid’s passions. In the summer I am often distracted with the garden. In the winter it's crocheting or some other kind of craft not to mention that I often have a book going that’s hard for me to put down. Then there's trying to blog, write, dream little, eating AND laundry.

Yet, it’s important for Unschooling parents to have interests and love learning new things. Unschooling my kids has inspired my current passion for learning. I know I am much more willing to take a risk and see well how does that crochet stitch work? I try it…fail…try it again…fail again…then maybe ask for help or I can just let it go and try again in a few months.

Unschooling has given me the freedom to dream big. I just changed my blog description to say I’m an amateur fiber artist. I like the sound of that. I might teach classes some day or my work will displayed in bragged up worldwide.

My big dreams are catching because whenever I'm inspired my kids get inspired too. Sometimes they want to learn what I’m learning. When I was messing around with drop spinning I had to go out and get things to make the kids drop spindles so they could do it with me or I wasn’t going to get to use my drop spindle. Every time I got out my spindle the kids showed up to give it try. Sometimes it inspires something else entirely like getting out the colored pencils to draw or sewing something. Or they want me to play a game with them or help them write up a post for their blog.

The trouble is when I’m in my creative groove and the kids are asking for my help I hear myself say things like “Just a minute or maybe later” when that “Just a minute” turns into tomorrow I feel guilty because the kids still need my help. So there is a balance that I’d like to seek. Maybe the balance is observing that I have said “Just a minute” too many times and the just minute has turned into tomorrow too many time in the last week or so. (Not to mention I have been neglecting this blog)

So it’s time to seek the kids out, find out what they want to do and help them get done what they want to get done. We will make a plan. I know Jade wants to write up a bit about AstroBoy. Corbin wants to see the pictures he took with of his Ninja Turtles. I’ll put some crocheting time for me on that plan too.

What does Monopoly have to do with History, Math, and more...

I am often surprised but maybe I shouldn't be anymore after unschooling for almost ten years. Or maybe my surprise is just delight on how we touch upon so much from unexpected places.

I was reading the 2nd book in the Outlander series when the heroine said "Go to hell, do not pass Go, do not collect 200$ ...." The heroine at the time was in the mid 1700's in Scotland. She wasn't from that century she time traveled (quite by accident) from the mid 1900's just after WWII.

Anyway, I was curious was Monopoly that old? So looked it up and it was created in 1935. Since Monopoly is a favorite new game I shared with the kids what I was learning about the game. The history touched about WWII and the depression. Then we started surfing the Monopoly game site and found a place so you can print of your own Monopoly Money.

When Corbin found out about the money he wanted some $500 bills especially. So the money lead to counting large numbers. If you click around the site you can find out strategies to play the game and some other fun facts.

Not only that, our holiday decorating touches upon geometry and holiday stories with reading. This year Jade has gotten over a reading struggle and is mastering picture books with some ease. The origami and snowflakes is showing patterns with folding and the cutting to get the shape you want. (If you click on my categories to the right you can find some links to make snow flakes and both five pointed and 6 pointed stars.) While baking cookies Jade thought it would be fun to read the Gingerbread Man and make some Gingerbread cookies to go with it.

Homeschooling can just be all about the food and we did bake cookies today which lead to science and food coloring, baking, and reading the labels on the decorating sugars.

Have a yummy virtual holiday cookie

Now Corbin needs help writing a letter because he found some envelopes. Learnin' we can't escape it in this family not even during the holidays.

If you need something seriously silly to do here but don't hit Santa.

How does it look...Unschooling?

I keep getting this question and I keep stumbling on it. It's like I'm a deer caught in the headlights and I can't move but in my case I just can't make coherent thoughts. It was bothering me so much I woke up in the middle of the night pondering.

After lots of thought I figured it out, I'm confused because I'm still defining what "we do" as "what we don't do" and I don't want to do that anymore.

So what does a typical day look like? Well in reality there are no typical days in our house. It is ever changing related to the kids interests. The following are snippets from many days and a few years of homeschooling in our family.

1. Last night was my daughter's 10th birthday party, everyone had left and then Stephen wondered outloud. "Why do we do cakes on birthdays? When did that start?" So I googled it. Jade was curious too and listened to what we found. With this simple question we covered a bit about religion/spirituality of other cultures in history, why cakes are round, and when cakes as we know them started.
   
2. When Jade was about 5 years old Stephen took her to a library program where she learned how to make a circuit. She thought that was so cool I bought things to put together our own circuits. This exploration lead to taking apart an Operation game to retrieve a buzzer, fixing some walkie talkies we bought second hand that didn't work so we fixed the circuit, taking apart a light saber to explore how the mechanisms worked. We made our own temporary flashlight.
   
3. About a month ago I sat down to do some Art Trading Cards. As soon as I did Jade was in there making them with me. This just didn't cover art it covered reading and writing because I was putting quotes on my cards so Jade wanted to put some on hers too. Then Corbin came in and wanted to make a small book. So then I transcribed a book for him. Now he likes to read his book before bed sometimes. He wants to make more books like this. So more reading and writing.
   
4. Jade listens to lots of books on tape and often comes in to tell me about something that intrigued her. She also talks with me about the TV shows she watches and what she learns form them.
   
5. Jade learned some early American History from Liberty's Kids. She likes to do things on the website too.
6. Both of the kids enjoy watching Cyber Chase which shares math concepts through stories.
7. Jade actually likes to do flash cards and test herself with her math skills. We recently picked up some books by Greg Tang that gives hints through rhymes how to add/subtract or multiply large groups of numbers/thing more easily. Some day I will describe how Jade gets the correct answers. She thinks differently than I do.
   
8. Corbin has been challenging himself to count to fairly big numbers. A few days ago he counted to 300.
   
9. Corbin has learned some about history because of his love of knights. We have researched weapons in history and explored some physics with catapults.
   
10. Corbin explores with electric circuits using this snap circuit kit. He has been using this kit since he was 6 years old.
    
11. They both love to play Zoombinis a game that through play explores patterns and logic. They also like Math Arena.
    
12. We have made marble runs from toilet paper tubes.
13. We have made rock crystals from kits.
14. We make our own play dough. The kids explore cornstarch goo how it's hard and gooey both.
    
15. Last year the kids came home from a Magic School Bus Live show at the Lied Center to make their own silly putty. They had an easier way to do it than we had done before and spent lots of time making some. It required mixing glue, water and borax.
16. We have blown up balloons with vinegar and baking soda
17. We have played with magnets. Corbin made a screw driver magnetic with other magnets we had. He was probably inspired by Popular Mechanics for kids.
18. Both of the kids enjoy watching Zoom, Popular Mechanics for Kids, Mystery Hunters which has led to trick picture taking, magnets, biodiesal cars (Jade would like us to have a biodiesal car for a our next car), and more..
19. Corbin explores how fast his cars go down ramps he makes. He notices some cars go faster and we talk about why it could be.
20. On Halloween we talk about pumpkins, seeds, plants, growing.
21. Last year each of them planted their own gardens. We weeded and watched the seedlings grow.
22. We listen to books as a family.
23. Corbin writes songs.
    
24. We make up our own rules for games.
25. Superman has inspired Corbin to write small books.
26. A few days ago Jade picked up a homes maintenance manual and figured out how our bathroom tub drains.
27. Both of the kids like to tell jokes and riddles which leads to how words sound (phonics) and definitions of words.
28. Corbin creates robots, cars, and planes with legos which requires observation of patterns and shapes. He also makes guns with K'nex.
    
29. Jade has taken Spanish classes at the library and through parks and recreation.
30. Jade and Corbin both get an allowance which has helped learn to add, subtract, and save their money.
    
31. Jade has learned proportions and science inpired by her love of baking and sweets.
    
32. Stephen is an amature naturalist so they learn about plants and animals along with him. A few weeks ago Stephen found a racoon and Corbin watched him skin it.
    
33. I'm learning how to crochet, spin, and felt wool and the kids are learning along with me. We talk about the fibers and why they felt and why they bind together.
    

So we learn from everything, all the time, together as family.

Why Base 8? and other random thoughts...

Why base 8? Some say the Yuki Indians used base 8 because it made more sense to them to count the spaces between their fingers instead their ten fingers. But for some reason base 8 boggles my mind and I keep seeking out how it was used before computers. There is a plethora of information out there about base 8 and computers. So does this mean that computers were meant to be? I'm probably thinking too hard but I like knowing the why of things then the how of things makes more sense to me.

Number bases are like another language and my preferred number language is base 10, thank you very much. I can count by fives and tens. I can use all my fingers. Yet, some think base 12 makes the most sense. I kind of agree. Base 12 makes sense because there are 12 months in a year, 12 eggs in a dozen eggs, 12 hours in the day and 12 at night. Ultimately number bases are just a way to name the patterns we observe such as phases of the moon in the sky and the length of a day. Except base 8 doesn't make sense to me because I didn't grow up with it. I didn't live it. It's like I'm culturally clueless with numbers.

So I've decided that to be less clueless I must believe: Some things are the way they are just because they are. There is no grand scheme to it all. The Yuki Indians used base 8 because they saw the spaces between their fingers, the Mayans used base 20 because they saw all their fingers and their toes too, and "we" likely use base 10 because of the ten fingers on our hands.

Someday I will count, add and do things in base 8 to comprehend what the Yuki Indians did and maybe then it will make sense. Someday I will do this because I can, if I want to. Someday, just because.