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Hi,
I've been happily immersed in the Harry Potter books my seventy-something
mother loaned me. They were recommended to her by my sister, who has an
eight year old son. We all love them. Anyway, I came up for air after
number three, and checked my email to discover several hundred messages from
this group. I'd like to add my two cents to some recent discussions.
TV: My son is six and he watches what he wants. Even though the tv was on
when he woke up yesterday, he walked right past it to ask me to take him to
the park. We got dressed and spent most of the day, until the rain came,
outside.
POOP: This fascinates my son. He knows which yards in the neighborhood are
most likely to have dog poop, and always stops our walks to check it out. He
recognizes rabbit poop, too, and it's easy to spot in the snow. Day before
yesterday he found some in the field on last autumn's leaves. He's got a
good eye. I googled "animal poop" and "animal scat" and got these two sites.
Although I don't expect to step in any exotic poop anytime soon, you never
know.
<A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/e_break/poo_quiz/spot_poo_quiz.shtml">BBC - Cambridgeshire E-break - Spot the Poop Quiz - Test your animal poo
knowledge</A>
<A HREF="http://www.bear-tracker.com/animalscat.html">Tracking and Trailing - Animal Scat</A>
OUR DAILY SCHEDULE: We don't have one. The weather just changed for the
better, three days ago, so we've been out a lot. Walks around the block, to
the field, to the playground. Looking for bugs (he found something that
looked like a small copper colored worm, but had lots of legs), chasing
robins, observing which flowers are coming up. Walking to the tracks to see
if any cars are parked on the siding. When we get lucky, a train goes by. I
was saddened to see how much trash has been dumped since last year, and
commented on it. Noticed the doves are back. They made a nest last year on
the shelfing unit on our porch that my husband keeps his trusty rusty stuff
on. Mother dove stares right through you, and acts like she's invisible. I
can reach right out and grab her, but she totally ignores us.
Indoors, my son discovered that his computer games have demos on them, and
enjoys playing around with them. He watches tv sometimes, but mostly has a
few videos he watches over and over. Mostly Thomas, Blues Clues and Sesame
Street. (We also like Steve better.) My grandson brought over a Zoobily
Zoo tape, and my son has watched that MANY times since it's been here. He
plays with his Thomas trains every day. I bought Sweet Streets dollhouses so
I could play with him when he plays trains, now he plays with the little
people and houses too. Visits from and to relatives. Paint. Lots of games,
but he doesn't follow the rules. He just plays with the pieces how he wants.
Notebooks and markers. We read "a really great book", usually several,
before bed each night. We listen to classical music to help us doze off. I
recently found a book on tape of one of his favorites, Franklin. I thought
he was going to pop when he heard it was read by Franklin himself. So we
listen to that before the music, after the books.
I probably forgot half of what I wanted to comment on.
Night before last, we were going for one last walk, and looked up at the
stars. I was about to say that I'd like to go to the observatory, when he
sighed and said, "I can't fly." I said I couldn't either. He said, "Sorry,
pal."
Mary J
(another one of those great unschooling names)


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