heather mclean

> <Could everyone tell me how old their children are,
> how long you have been unschooling, and what a
> typical day is like?>

My dh, Chris, and I have two children. Quentin is 7
and Sierra is 4. We've been unschooling since May
2000 when we "discovered" it at an unschooling
conference in TX. It changed our life.

our weekend in tucson:

It was actually HOT here last week. I even packed up
our winter sweaters. Felt a little foolish
remembering that we were complaining about the cold
just the week before at the park. So we are glad for
some more rain today. It is supposed to be COLD again
starting tomorrow [for those of you who live where it
actually GETS cold, I should clarify that this means
below 65F LOL] & lasting all week. I think we'll
appreciate it a little more this time around. Maybe
we'll get another chance to drive up the mountain and
play in the snow. Chris & Sierra are both sick, so
we'd have to get them well first.

Yesterday, I took the kids to the Buenos Aires
National Wildlife Refuge, which we had never been to
before. It was about an hour drive south, to almost
Mexico (really!). They were celebrating the 100th
birthday of the National Wildlife Refuge system & it
was so much fun. Lot of stuff for the kids - they got
to pet snakes & a skink & see a legless lizard from
the phoenix zoo & color bat masks & make butterfly
rings & clay tablet etchings. I imagined us taking
little hikes around the preserve to see birds &
creatures (we all had our binoculars), but we never
got around to doing any actual hiking. We did manage
to get 3 helium balloons, one which made it all the
way back to our home in Tucson intact! On the way
home, Quentin asked if we could go again next year. I
said sure! (maybe they'll have a 101 celebration?)

When we got home Quentin's friend, Stephanie, came
over to play. Actually she got there before we did,
because it took me 2 hours to get home from the
refuge, although it only took 1 hr to get there. The
police had roads closed so I kept trying different
routes, which were also closed. It was very
irritating. Chris finally found the news - a guy was
barricaded in his apt (apparently with a gun?) and
police had evacuated the entire area. Which wasn't
near our home, but I needed to drive by the apts to
get home. So we did finally make it home (big sigh of
relief) & the kids played. Stephanie's parents &
little sister rode their bike (singular) by later &
Chris & I tried out their tandem bike. It was cool,
except Chris was in front so all I could see was his
back which was weird. Later we drove over to see
their new home which they are moving into next
weekend.

I helped teach "Moses & the Burning Bush" to the kids
at church (UU) this morning & then I took Quentin &
Sierra to the Tucson Art Museum for Family art day.
It was the 1st time we'd been & it was fun too
(mostly). There was a little tour with the guide
telling us & the other families a little about the
featured artist & she got the kids to participate by
asking what things they saw in his abstract paintings,
etc. Sierra liked to jump up & contribute something
each time LOL She pointed out a person's body and a
square shape.

However, Sierra was mostly interested in running down
he loooooooong ramps that go down the center of the
museum, so I'd have to hike down the loooong ramps &
walk her back up (several times). Then we did family
poems based on paintings, which turned out better than
you might have expected. Then we had to run through
the rain to the next building for snack time. Which
was a big hit with my kids - running in the rain
followed by cookies & soda & pretzels. Then each
family did a family art project based on the art we
had seen. We had a giant board onto which we glued
plastic bags, sign vinyl, popsicle sticks, cloth,
cardboard, etc. Then we got to carry our creations
into the next room & paint the whole thing. Quentin
wants to know where we are going to hang ours up LOL.
It is covering about half of our kitchen table at the
moment.

Lets see, after the museum event, we went to Luby's.

I had bribed Sierra after one of our long ramp
excursions that if she would behave I would let her
pick a place for lunch afterwards. She's her father's
daughter. She picked Luby's. Quentin & I tried to
talk her out of it because it is on the other side of
town, but to no avail. We did bring Chris a roast
beef dinner to his great delight.

Tonight Quentin & I went to a local peace vigil and
held candles in the dark from 7 - 8 p.m. with a lot of
other folks, many from our church. He loved it. I was
actually thinking about skipping it, because I was
tired, but then he came in & asked if kids were
allowed to go. I was surprised, because when I had
discussed it earlier in the day, he pronounced it
would be "BORING". [He had participated once last
fall at a vigil at the local mosque which was getting
lots of hate press & mail after 9-11.] Quentin was
fascinated with watching the candles burn. He liked
blowing it out & re-lighting it. We had little paper
cups around the flame to prevent the wind from blowing
them out. At one point, he was trying to get the
smoke to "go the other way" and his cup caught fire &
it started a huge blaze. So I had him drop it on the
bricks & he sat down & was mesmerized with the burning
cup & the melting candle and it took quite awhile for
the whole thing to disappear.

Now we are home. Chris & Sierra are sleeping in the
master bedroom. Quentin is building K'nex creations -
6-shooter spaceships & things. While I'm getting to
write a few emails :)


Happy st. patricks's day,
heather in tucson az



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