Maisha Khalfani

So....my kids are bored already. They are tired of going to the playground and the library. Without a car we are pretty limited.
When we were unschooling before we had a car - and we were living at my sister's house....an actual house......and they played out in the backyard a bit. Not so much here in the complex

I need suggestions of what we can do that's entertaining. I'm at a loss.

Maisha
http://khalfanifamilyadventures.blogspot.com/<http://khalfanifamilyadventures.blogspot.com/>
http://www.geocities.com/maitai373/EarthSpirit.html<http://www.geocities.com/maitai373/EarthSpirit.html>
"Don't be afraid of showing affection. Be warm and tender, thoughtful and affectionate. Mankind is more helped by sympathy than by service. Love is more than money, and a kind word will give more pleasure than a present."
~ Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

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Marie Pressman

I know this feeling! I don't know how old your kids are but mine love
concoctions and experiements. We get books out of the library and play in
the kitchen. It's fun for them as long as I don't try to turn it into a
lesson.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Maisha Khalfani
Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2006 11:32 PM
To: Unschooling_Basics
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] boredom


So....my kids are bored already. They are tired of going to the
playground and the library. Without a car we are pretty limited.
When we were unschooling before we had a car - and we were living at my
sister's house....an actual house......and they played out in the backyard a
bit. Not so much here in the complex

I need suggestions of what we can do that's entertaining. I'm at a loss.

Maisha
http://khalfanifamilyadventures.blogspot.com/<http://khalfanifamilyadventu
res.blogspot.com/>
http://www.geocities.com/maitai373/EarthSpirit.html<http://www.geocities.c
om/maitai373/EarthSpirit.html>
"Don't be afraid of showing affection. Be warm and tender, thoughtful and
affectionate. Mankind is more helped by sympathy than by service. Love is
more than money, and a kind word will give more pleasure than a present."
~ Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deb

--- In [email protected], "Maisha Khalfani"
<earthspirit393@...> wrote:
>
> So....my kids are bored already. They are tired of going to the
>playground and the library. Without a car we are pretty limited.
> When we were unschooling before we had a car - and we were living
>at >my sister's house....an actual house......and they played out
>in the >backyard a bit. Not so much here in the complex
>
> I need suggestions of what we can do that's entertaining. I'm at
>a >loss.
>
> Maisha
What, if anything, is within walking distance? Sounds like the park
and the library are - and often where the library is, there are
other 'amenities' like cafes or markets. What kinds of stuff do they
like to do? Can you make kites to fly at the park? Water rockets to
shoot over at the park? Is sidewalk chalk okay where you are or are
they really picky about the sidewalks and parking areas? If you have
no car and you are in an apartment type complex, odds are the space
assigned to your unit is empty (since you don't have a car
available). Get out the sidewalk chalk and draw in your space. What
about bubbles? (Sorry don't remember the kids' ages) - get outside
and start blowing bubbles and if there are -any- kids around,
they'll start coming out of the woodwork. Are there buslines with
stops within walking distance?

--Deb

Pampered Chef Michelle

On 5/1/06, Deb <soggyboysmom@...> wrote:
>
>
> What, if anything, is within walking distance? Sounds like the park
> and the library are - and often where the library is, there are
> other 'amenities' like cafes or markets. What kinds of stuff do they
> like to do?


Also, what kind of public transportation is availble in your area? Why not
make a day of riding the bus to see where you can go? Don't plan anything
that requires a time schedule unless you know how timely your buses are.
Just hop on board and see where you end up. Our bus routes are very badly
laid out at the moment and irregular in timeliness - but that is supposed to
change here soon. I'm hoping after they get the new routes in place (they
are going from a circumnavigating route plan to a hub plan) that we are
going to take a ride on the bus just to see where it goes. I'm hoping it
will expand our imagination of places to go.

Why not dig out the yellow pages and see what all there is to do and how far
it is from where you live. Look up directions on MapQuest to see what is
the quickest, shortest, and easiest routes. Make an all day adventure out
of taking a walk. Walk to the mall or a different park and pack a lunch to
go. Make notes of all the places you are passing. Is there a wildlife
rescue center in your town? Maybe a bowling alley that will give discounts
to homeschooling groups? A bookstore that would host a "homeschooling
reading group"? What homeschooling activities are going on in your area?
Even if you are unschooling it doesn't mean that you can't join them on
field trips if they are of interest to you.





--
Michelle
Independent Kitchen Consultant #413652
The Pampered Chef
850-474-0817
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/michellelr
Ask me how you can save 60% on some of our most favorite products!


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Karen Mann

On 4/30/06, Maisha Khalfani <earthspirit393@...> wrote:
>
> So....my kids are bored already. They are tired of going to the
> playground and the library. Without a car we are pretty limited.
> When we were unschooling before we had a car - and we were living at my
> sister's house....an actual house......and they played out in the backyard a
> bit. Not so much here in the complex
>
> I need suggestions of what we can do that's entertaining. I'm at a loss.
>
> we're pretty much in the same situation no car and the kid is bored. i
found this awesome google group:

http://groups.google.com/group/misc.education.home-school.misc?lnk=li

it's a public group and sorta like unschooling resources. there are over
18,000 posts with amazing ideas. today dd (11) and i are going to start
building our $1.00 microscope. (picked up the lenses from walmart
yesterday.) here is the link to the microscope for anyone who is
interested. and i'd be guessing that would be pretty much everyone =P:

http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/ucomp1/ucomp1.htm

~*~What, if anything, is within walking distance? Sounds like the park
and the library are - and often where the library is, there are
other 'amenities' like cafes or markets.~*~

there's a ton of stuff around our library and park. and she's bored with
everything except the pet store. :) we are actually within walking distance
of alot of stuff. plus we're on the bus line. last week, dd found a baby
dove that had been orphaned. we have a wildlife care center near us and
it's on the busline. so, yep, hope grabbed her change (1.00 for her and
2.00 for me) and we jumped on the bus and gave the bird a new home. when
the lady found out that hope is "homeschooled", she jumped on the chance to
recruit her as a junior volunteer. what a wonderful bonus!

i know it can be tough to figure out just what the kids are needing at the
moment of boredom. sometimes it's frustrating coming up with suggestions
and her saying nope...nah...uh-uh....to my ideas. but, then, as we're
brainstorming, the light will brighten and we'll both jump on an idea and
off we go. or off she'll go. either way, we almost always come up with
something.

ahh..there she is now. all sleepy eyed and hair amussed. she's beautiful!!

hope this helped and happy 'freeschooling' (my term for unschooling).

Karen - off to huggle and snuggle her amazing dd


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Jane

I'm not sure that this is what you're looking for, but... Some of our best days are when we stay home!!

- Have a picnic outside. Use a bedsheet, bring music, ask for help and suggestions packing food (this also works in your living room)

- Make clay from flour, water, oil and something else (I can send you the recipe we use). You can add tempera paint for color (it's usually edible) and glitter!! We've found it better than store bought.

- Give them dish soap (Palmolive, not the dishwasher sort) a few containers, and some water. Voila!! Bubble juice.

- When you go to the grocery store, get paper bags. Cut down one of the long folds to the bottom, cut around the bottom, and you have BIG paper!! You can tape it to a wall, a door, or use it on the floor.

- If you have crayon bits, melt them in a muffin tin (place tinfoil in the tin firtst) and make monster crayons.

- Do a texture walk: tree rubbings, sidewalk rubbings, a leaf perhaps.

- birdwatch, squirrel watch

- plant seeds & watch them grow

- we use vinegar, baking soda, water, salt, some oil, flour, old hair care items, etc. in yogurt containers for experiments. We use the kitchen sink or tub as a lab.

- Janice Van Cleeve has REALLY cool science experiment type books. They're in the teacher section of the library.

- make paper mache. Newspaper, and a paste of flour and water. It can dry in your storage unit, then paint.

- go to the dollar store and get balloons, sidewalk chalk, puzzles, paints, scissors, tape, glue, paper, rubber stamps, string, party blowers, and whatever else looks like fun and your budget allows. There are shells, pom poms, and LOTS of cool stuff at our dollar store.

- we use Discount School Supply for art stuff and the like. Go to the clearance section and look around there too. They have lots of non-toxic stuff and REALLY cool not to be eaten stuff too!!

- Tape things from TV. The travel channel, PBS shows (Nature, etc.). PBS also has cool things that come on LATE at night that you can tape. Your library also has a video section that may have cool things like Magic School Bus and the like.

- Books on tape!! It saves you reading!! :-)

- Save the comics section from your Sunday paper. Give them the comics, scissors, and glue.

- Make pirate hats and swords (roll up the paper long ways and tape) from newspaper.

I hope that's a start for you!! If you go to the library, find the teacher section. The are LOTS of books that can help you!! Also, there's science experiments and a kid section in the comics on Sundays. When they're this small, imo, it's easier to strew.

TTFN!!
Jane





Jane Powell
Tribe Commander

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think anything you do well matters very much." Jackie O

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed." - Sebastien-Roch Chamfort



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Karen Mann

On 5/2/06, Jane <tribecus@...> wrote:
>
> - Make clay from flour, water, oil and something else (I can send you the
> recipe we use). You can add tempera paint for color (it's usually edible)
> and glitter!! We've found it better than store bought


great ideas, 'commander'! i love that. :) we've done the picnic thing many
times and always produces the fondest memories. the clay we've always had a
problem with. we've never been able to get it right. would it be possible
for you send the recipe my way? it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
karen


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freepsgal

> - When you go to the grocery store, get paper bags. Cut down one
> of the long folds to the bottom, cut around the bottom, and you have
> BIG paper!! You can tape it to a wall, a door, or use it on the
> floor.

Another place to use it is under a table! When we were learning about
prehistoric man and cave art, I followed a suggestion from a book (not
sure which book now) that suggested we tape paper to the underside of
a coffee table or other low lying table. Then you lay on your back
and draw above your head. It was really fun and silly and we had a
blast. :)

Oh, if you crumple the paper before you tape it up, it looks more like
a cave wall.

Beth M.