Year: 2005
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Math again
Unschooling or not, I took the bull by the horns. Erin had written “completion of Singapore ‘New Math Counts’ Level 1” into her Self-Design learning plan, quite voluntarily, back at the end of the summer. A term went by and we were encouraged to revisit the plan and what’s happened, learning-wise. Erin had not opened […]
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Fionisms
Me: “Fiona, you’re playing in the pantry with the door closed. Are you sneaking treats?”Fi: [while scarfing Christmas toffee] “Yes. … I mean no. I’m sneaking snacks. I mean no. Not sneaking, just eating. Healthy snacks.” … Me: “Fiona, no running, okay.”Fi: “I’m not running, I’m prancing.” … [while bouncing rhythmically on the couch]Fi: “Please! […]
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Fiona
Fiona is growing up, and I’m looking at her moving out of toddlerhood with a certain wistfulness. She will be three soon and she’s grown up faster than her older siblings, I think, because she drags herself relentlessly forward trying to keep up with them. She’s also more verbal than any of them were, and […]
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The mother of invention
Noah has been hankering after a webcam for use with his viola club of friends on MSN. He’s made a few noises about wanting to buy one, but hasn’t done the research yet, and I confess I haven’t been in a big hurry to facilitate this for him. But last week he managed to tweak […]
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A Patchwork Weekend
I spent the weekend fitting together colourful squares in patterns. First, I got a good start on tiling the kitchen backsplash (finally). Paradoxically it takes a lot of organizing and trial and error to make something look random! Fiona passed me the right size and the right colour squares upon request. This project yielded pretty […]
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It’s alive!!!
We are new sourdough addicts. A week ago, based on my request many months ago, my friend offered to help me learn to bake sourdough. We ground some fresh rye wheat into flour. To a pinch of commercial yeast we added water and rye flour. Each day on four subsequent days we added another dose […]
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Radio Free KitchenTable
For the past couple of weeks we’ve been getting together with another unschooling family to plan a radio show. It will be part of a 16-week half-hour series on Kootenay Co-op Radio devoted to “Homeschooling Families: Pursuing our Passions.” We’re slated to do two shows, one, collaborating with this other family, about GRUBS and one […]
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Time to quit
Here’s a letter I wrote to Noah’s piano teacher last weekend. It explains where we were at and what we did. Noah read most of what I wrote over my shoulder and felt okay about it. After much discussion over many weeks, and a few long heart-to-hearts this weekend, we’ve decided that Noah will not […]
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A fall rhythm
I suppose I haven’t blogged in a while because things are just ticking along. I actually feel like we’ve got the overscheduling under control for the first time in many years. I have time to think about what we/I should be doing at home. It’s a great feeling. I have to resist the urge to […]
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An hour in the life
Something got me thinking today about the little tiny details that creep into our lives just as we live them. I looked at my “Day in the Life” posts and realized that although they seem very detailed, they don’t do the various and sundry unschooling moments justice. So for about an hour this afternoon I […]
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Renovations
When we started the kitchen renovation I had visions of involving the kids in the process, getting them to help install cabinets, mud drywall, paint and so on. They did a little of that, and a lot of adapting and contributing to coping with the mess and inconvenience, but it turns out that the most […]
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Day in the Life — Saturday again
Today we all had a lazy start to the day. Erin was up at 7 (late for her) and the rest of us around 9. Chuck installed his new weather monitoring system, so the kids were curious about that … the barometer, the windspeed and wind direction measurements, the rain guage, humidity and temperature sensors, […]
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Day in the Life — Friday again
Friday was a good day for music. Everyone did lots of good practising, and both Erin and Noah did some entertaining / showing off on the piano during the evening. The kids had decided that they were going to work double-hard at their practising today, and they did just that. Piano lessons start next Monday, […]
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Day in the Life — Thursday again
Dreary unproductive day. Last night after I logged off and went to brush my teeth, Chuck realized the water pump was cycling, and cycling. There were no taps open. He couldn’t figure out where the problem was. He eventually flipped the breaker to shut it off. This morning I woke up knowing we had no […]
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Day in the Life — Wednesday again
I got up early-ish (6:30 am) with Fiona, and Erin was already up. The middle two kids slept another hour and a half. So we seem to be reverting to our usual sleep-wake cycles. Erin likes to be up before everyone else (this after years of being the night-owl to end all night-owls) so she […]