Monster Jam!!!!

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to blogging about our Monster Jam Weekend. This was Seth's early birthday present, and I'll need to post about his actual birthday tomorrow! It was so much fun to take him to Toledo at the end of July to see this live monster truck show and to experience his contagious joy for something he is incredibly passionate about.




The next day we went to COSI Toledo, Seth still in his Monster Jam shirt, which he always wears backwards so he can see the truck pictures:












We finished the day at Lake Erie before heading back home:

Stories

Since it isn't something I often have pictures of, I wanted to write a little about stories. Occasionally the kids will write or type a short story, make a book, or ask me to write or type a story as they tell it to me. Most times so far, however, the most elaborate storytelling here never makes it to paper. Through play, the kids create stories inspired by something they've read or seen, experiences they've had, or new ideas. Sometimes they dress up in costumes, find all kinds of props, and act out these stories with themselves as the characters. Other times they use toy characters, setting up scenes and adventures. And sometimes, they just tell the stories they've dreamed up. Just a few evenings ago, Riley came to me and asked if we could go out for a drive, just the two of us. We did, and it turned out that he had several stories on his mind that he was anxious to tell me. Maya and Seth came across our camping lantern another evening as we were getting ready for bed, and we turned out all the lights (except the lantern) and took turns making up "scary" stories. Another recent evening as we were getting ready to go to sleep, Maya and Seth came up with a story about The Different Zoo. They played with rhyming and alliteration as they told about all the kinds of animals there that aren't at ordinary zoos, such as a spider biter, cat bat, rat cat, pigs with wigs, and chatting cheetahs.

I don't see my role in this as being to "teach" my kids to create, role play, or play and experiment with language. Instead, I see my role as being to provide a nurturing environment with *lots* of time and space for my kids to do their own things and as being available to respond, whether their need is for me to facilitate or join in their play, to help them get their ideas on paper or on the computer, or to simply listen.

Above: Play inspired by the Wizard of Oz movie

Late July

Here are some photos from the latter part of July.

We have really enjoyed the COSI on Wheels programs that Kenton County Parks & Recreation has arranged monthly this summer. There is one more program this week -- an agriculture theme, I believe. Below is a shot of the Chemistry program. The other picture is of a white-marked tussock moth caterpillar Seth found on a nearby tree. We thought it looked like something out of a fairy tale -- my picture doesn't do it justice.

The kids haven't been interested much in hiking this year. Maya, especially, is still hesitant after a hike we did last fall where the trail was just carpeted with spiders. We did enjoy a short nature walk at the Boone County Arboretum at Central Park and visited the playground and Children's Garden there.

We've been having a great time at Kings Island this summer, usually going there about once a week in the evening after Matt gets off work. Riley has been fascinated with roller coasters since he was a toddler, though he's not been crazy about riding them so far. He decided he loves the Scrambler, though, and we've ridden that many times this summer. Maya is tall enough to ride more coasters this year, which she is happy about. They love to read all about roller coasters and other rides, and we rent the Popular Mechanics for Kids videos about roller coasters every year. We're going again next week with some friends for Homeschool Days -- maybe I'll finally take my camera with me. And hopefully before it closes for the year Matt and I will get there by ourselves to ride the big rides! Here is a picture of one of the Tinker Toy versions of the rides the kids made a few weeks ago.

Delirium

"Subjects"

People often ask us how unschooling "works" for some particular school subject. I am adding tags to posts so they will be searchable by some typical school subject areas (language arts, math, science, etc.). However, in approach, we never set out to "do math" or "do spelling" as a subject separated out from any other subject. We set out to do the things we love and enjoy doing, look for new things we think we might enjoy doing, and we find that these (and more!) "subjects" are all very naturally intertwined with life and with each other. One interest or experience connects with another and another, often in very unexpected ways that we could not plan out ahead of time.

More Regular Everyday Stuff

Today we had a nice, slow afternoon swinging in the hammock. We started reading the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and looked at bugs and birds and clouds and leaves and trees.

Here are some recent pictures:

Riley excited about playing Zathura


Seth cleaning the guinea home


Matt and the kids in the front yard during a rain storm, checking the tent for leaks.


Riley, Maya, and Seth making dinner

Seth and Maya making things with Play-Doh

Enjoying the Slip and Slide

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And the new and exciting stuff: We reserved our hotel in Toledo, OH and bought tickets to Monster Jam for Friday, July 27 for an early birthday gift for Seth. He absolutely loves monster trucks and can usually be found playing with his toy ones, watching videos about them, or pretending he is one. He talks about Bigfoot, the original monster truck "built by Bob Chandler in the 1970's" (yes, we read every monster truck book in the kids' section at the library one evening, and several of them many more times at home) and is quickly figuring out who drives his favorite trucks.

Anyway, we were originally going to camp, but our tent that Matt and the kids were checking in the above picture does leak some in the rain; and we don't have good weather proofing gear for camping; and Matt found out he has enough points (from his last job where he travelled a lot more) for us to get a free night at a hotel. If the weather ends up being nice, we'll spend Saturday at a beach on Lake Erie.

I have to quit now -- Maya has been waiting and waiting to get on Club Penguin!!!!!!!!!

Unschooling: Vacation-Style Learning

Since it's summer and schools are out on break, this question, "Do you take summers off?" finds its place among the homeschool FAQs my kids and I hear. Seems like a simple question, but because people equate learning with school and all its trappings and because we don't "do school," it really isn't.

My first thought is that the truest answer is "no." We don't stop learning after we've clocked 180 6-hour days or because it's June. We aren't burnt out and in need of a break from learning because learning is not a chore when it's driven by imagination, curiosity, delight, interest, or passion sparked from real life experiences -- both the regular everyday stuff and the new and exciting stuff.

However, the question about taking summers off probably really means something more like, "do you take summers off from school work?" The answer to that is a huge "yes!" We have also taken off for the Fall, Winter, and Spring ever since we took Riley out of preschool about 3 1/2 years ago.

I suppose the most honest answer would be to say, "Well, the way we learn actually looks more like a really great summer vacation than like school." Even though the person asking is probably just making conversation, it's always fun to take any opportunity to sew a few unschooling seeds.


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In the spirit of vacation-style learning, here are a few of our vacation pictures from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. This was Seth's first trip to the ocean. Riley was 2 last time he saw the ocean and Maya was not even 1. Everything was new for them: the ocean, the bay, the beach, the dunes, the dolphins, the birds, the fish, the boats, the hermit crabs, the palm trees...

This morning we headed out early (for us) for our neighboring county's parks department program, Wild Wednesdays. Different groups that work with animals come to the park each week to talk about what they do and to show the animals. We've gone several times this summer; and we met our friends, Kelly, Jonathan, and Rebecca again this week for an equestrian-themed program by Farmer Joan.






Later, Maya and I were reading a book about animal babies that had a diagram of an unfertilized chicken egg. She decided she wanted to go crack some eggs open and "check out the parts," and we invited Riley and Seth to join us.


After we were finished with the eggs, cleanup led to water/bubbles play for Maya and Seth while Riley played his current favorite game, Guitar Hero.