Tia Graham

Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
very helpful. I'd imagine you do this fairly often, but if you can stand
it once more, please do ;-).

I've got a 7 year old boy, almost 6 year old girl, and a 3 year old boy
here. Today we began reading the book of Luke from the bible...the
miracles of Jesus Christ, straight from the bible rather than a story
book. We did another chapter of The Incredible Journey, which the kids
draw as I read, so that they end up with an illustrated version by the
end. That's coming out as a pretty hard book and I gave up going over the
vocabulary....just have to chalk it up to "great language exposure". They
are enjoying it alot more now that I'm not stopping every sentence to
tell them what a word means LOL! Sometimes we've copied a nice sentence
from the chapter onto the drawing but no one wanted to do that today so
we skipped it.

From there we played a time-telling memory kind of game and put together
a puzzle of the human body, organ side up (bones are on the other side).
My 7 year old headed out to build on his fort and my 6 year old dd got
out a sequel movie of Lady and the Tramp ( a movie I barely tolerate
because of some very annoying parts of it).

I'm thinking of making some banana pudding later today and a grilled
pizza; there's the ever constant housework to do and later this afternoon
will get interesting when the neighbor kids come home from school. We are
in a testy situation with some of them over bullying. Maybe I'll just
load everyone up and go to the library from then to dinner time!

How's your day going?

Tia in Florida

[email protected]

Well, it is still early for us. LOL. We are on the computers. Dallen is
playing Pharaoh and Phillip is playing Command and Conquer Generals. I am
answering E mail. We need to go get groceries today and think about what we want
to pack for a picnic. We are going up in the mountains tomorrow to a Cheese
Company and some site seeing in the beautiful fall mountains. Should be tons of
fun. Other than that I have no idea what the day will bring. Maybe a game
of Warhammer with my boys. They want to make stuffed shells (pasta shells) for
supper so we will do that. Otherwise it is up in the air.
Pam G


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/2003 11:26:09 AM Central Daylight Time,
genant2@... writes:

> We are on the computers. Dallen is
> playing Pharaoh

Tell me about this game...Trevor is just barely 6yo. I saw it at a garage
sale last week and considered picking it up but thought it looked a little too
hard for him.
Amy Kagey
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Join Usborne for only $29.95 in Sept!


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

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/03 12:26:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, genant2@...
writes:

> We are going up in the mountains tomorrow to a Cheese
> Company and some site seeing in the beautiful fall mountains. Should be
> tons of
> fun.

YESS.. we are! I am so excited.! My kids and I actually went up on Friday
for a "dry run" lol.. Good excuse to get the directions and such confirmed.
Actually, we are going to my mother's hometown of West Jeffereson, NC. She was
off work Friday, so she took us up there to make sure we the best ( most
scenic!) route.


Today, I have been piddling on the computer.. Posting stuff about upcoming
activities for our local homeschool group..chatting with Pam, reading email, and
I have to update the website for my church. Anna has been making some bead
jewelry in her room. Ethan and JP have alternated between watching TV,
playing N64 and playing with K'nex. We let our dog out, she just got spayed last
week.. She took the opportunity to run down to the pond.. We went after her and
corralled her back into the house. We fed the puppies and the dogs and cats.

Anna, JP and I ( Ethan was engrossed in making a garage out of k'nex)
went to the store and picked up a few items. We ordered lunch to go at the
adjoining grill. JP didnt have any shoes on.. There was a lady and 3 children
eating in the restaurant. Two of the kids looked early school age. ( say, 6-9)..
the other looked preschool age. My first thought was "OH, more
homeschoolers!.. But, they looked so unapproachable,I did not say anything to them. We
ordered our lunch, and the kids did not speak one word, but they all stared at
JP's feet!.. lol. We went outside to sit on a bench on the porch wait for our
food. Anna said as soon as we were out of earshot.. "What is wrong with those
kids?, they were sitting like zombies!" I said, "I know, they didnt make a
peep" Anna was just overly interested in why they were so still and quiet..
But, we had only been in there a few minutes, I didn't think much of it. We
went back inside to see if our food was ready, it wasn't, so we sat down at an
empty table to wait. JP had a hot wheels car and he was "driving" it all over
the table, making car noises, while we waited. The "zombie" kids kept staring
at him. The mother gave us a few furtive glances. She was reading a book, I
think it was a bible, (not sure though.. she was taking notes ) Their food
came.. They got it, and started eating, after the Mother said the blessing
They never said a word. When we left, Anna was even more perplexed. She
thinks they were being "controlled" by thier mother.. threatened to not say a word,
maybe being punished. I said, "Well, Anna, not all kids make a lot of noise
and commotion when they go out to eat. She said, "Yes, Mom, I know, kids
can eat quietly, but they were not even talking to each other.. AT ALL!" Then
she started talking like the thought the mother would sound. "You better not
say one word, you hear me? I said QUIET! I don't want to hear a peep out you!"
She said, "She probably does homeschool them for religious reasons. I bet
they kept staring at JP because he didn't have any shoes on and he was driving
the car on the table. I bet they would get a spanking for that" Sometimes
it does take a stark opposite of what one is accustomed to to see how much
"different" we live our lives.

This is funny, as I was writing this, Anna came in and turned on the TV..
Riki Lake was on. I couldnt see, but I could hear the TV. Riki said something
like" Why do you want to live this way" The guest gave some lame answer..
Anna said.. "That girl has braces" ( she is 13 and just go her braces off a
couple of weeks ago) Then Riki said to the guest.. "So, you go to these
parties, and there are usually about 40 people there" Guest - "yeah"
Riki continues.. "and at these parties you give oral sex to about 10-15 guys"
Anna was standing right in front of the TV.. She said.. "Yuck, I dont want
to watch that.. and she turned the TV off" Then she said.. "That girl still
had braces" I had to laugh. I don't know if the braces thing struck Anna so
much because the girl was obviously young, or because of the idea of giving
oral sex with braces on.. LOL. She went out of the room to finish her
bracelet.

Ethan brought me his finished gargage. It was a spectacular creation. He
came up with a design of yellow and gray peices that made a solid wall. It was
totally cool.

Pretty typical day

Teresa


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/03 9:34:31 AM, sixredheads@... writes:

<< That's coming out as a pretty hard book and I gave up going over the
vocabulary....just have to chalk it up to "great language exposure". >>

The second or third time they hear a word in context, they'll pick up its
meaning. Let it flow!

Today so far is a sleep day. Kirby got up and went to work. I'm glad he had
set an alarm, because though I told him I'd check at 10:30 to make sure he
was up, I forgot. Today's the last day of his learner's permit, so I still have
to be with him, but I think for work I'll still bring the car back because
he's there eight hours sometimes (like Mondays).
Starting tomorrow, though, he can take himelf to karate, which will be really
helpful.

Marty (14) camped all weekend and was really tired, so I don't expect him to
wake up soon.

Holly (11) had company yesterday, we went to Madrid (an hour or so away) and
walked all around town and up an arroyo and looked for rocks, and when we came
back she and her friend worked for three hours playing with Barbies and
organizing Barbieland (a closet under the stairs with shelves along the sides, and
the stairs turn, so it's a kid-only space).

I expect today to be laundry and story-telling and putzing.

Tomorrow Kirby gets his license and then goes to karate for two hours, and a
staff meeting at work after that. Marty is either going to help work election
reminders or pamphlets or something and get paid $40, or he's going to a
gaming day with other homeschoolers, He's still thinking about it. Holly is
unscheduled for Tuesday.

Sandra

Mary

From: <SandraDodd@...>

<< Tomorrow Kirby gets his license and then goes to karate for two hours,
and a
staff meeting at work after that. Marty is either going to help work
election
reminders or pamphlets or something and get paid $40, or he's going to a
gaming day with other homeschoolers, He's still thinking about it. Holly
is
unscheduled for Tuesday.>>


Just curious about the laws there. You say Kirby is getting his license
tomorrow and it sounds like he will just get it without having to do
anything. Is there a test or did he already take one and has to have a
permit for so long? Just wondering how that works where you are.


Mary B.
http://www.homeschoolingtshirts.com

[email protected]

> Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
> very helpful

I answered some of this in another message. We're sick here today, or at
least two of us are.

Got up at 8 or so and watched tv in bed while having breathing treatments.
Breakfast with Superman when they were ready. The kids (5 and 4) held a
birthday party for Nemo with a lot of their animal friends while I did an
archeological dig in the kitchen. They put their friends down for a nap and then went
upstairs to play with their fire station. A short break for making cookies,
rolling them out with cookie cutters and then the animals were awakened for the
pinata at the birthday party.

Right now they are rolling around on my bed and I am contemplating providing
some kind of protein for lunch. Because we've been sick, they are really only
interested in toast and, today, cookies. Aside from my lack of voice, we're
having a pretty typical and fun day.

I've got the easel up, so they might paint while I tie on a warp this
afternoon. Or they might decide to watch a movie and sleep. We got the brio stuff
out last night for the first time in months, so that's pretty inviting too.

Oh, and Nathan read the word Vanilla, or guessed it, on the bottle. Julia
instructed Nathan to put his cookie cutters at the edges so that they could make
more cookies in one roll. So, we got math and reading in!

Elizabeth, trying to avoid pneumonia with this pregnancy. That would be a
first!


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/03 12:31:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
amycats2@... writes:

> Tell me about this game
This is a description of Pharaoh from Dallen
It is an Egyptian City building game. You are the position of Pharaoh, you
have to manage money, keep people happy, fed and entertained. Some maps in the
custom games menu have no military activity, others have minor skirmishes to
the city is going to be besieged. You also have to please the gods. If you
do they will give you blessings. If you don't they will curse your city. Some
maps have only two gods available, some have many. There are also natural
resources such as gold. You can earn money this way or collecting taxes. There
are animals to hunt such as antelope and birds. And you can farm. There are
also monuments and pyramids to build. Over all it is a very good game.
From Dallen and Pam G.


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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/03 2:07:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
TeresaBnNC@... writes:

> Ethan brought me his finished gargage. It was a spectacular creation. He
>
> came up with a design of yellow and gray peices that made a solid wall. It
> was
> totally cool.
>
>

After we talked about Kinex stuff with you guys last Thursday my boys have
been playing with the Kinex too. Making all kinds of stuff to show JP the next
time you guys come over. It is amazing to see what they can create. I don't
like the stuff. They are too hard for me to snap together and pull apart. I
prefer LEGOs although LEGOs are not as flexible. But I have Kinex stuff
everywhere.
LOL
Pam G


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

Kelli Traaseth

----- Original Message -----
From: Tia Graham

**Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
very helpful.**

Remember, you asked for it <g> (sorry its so long, I tried to condense it)

This was our morning...

First one up, my dh, out the door at 7:00.

Second one up, me, shortly after I hear the door shut (it woke me up). I like to have my morning tea/coffee at the computer, reading through e-mail and news tidbits.

Third one up, Kyra dd(6), 9:00. Sits with me a bit at the computer, decides she wants a ginger snap for breakfast, but loves them warm. Pulls the chair over to microwave, asks how long, "um, about 20 seconds", I say. She asks "what does 20 look like again?" "2 and a 0" I tell her. "Oh yeah" she says. Punches it in, hits start. She likes to sit and watch the time click down from the start time. She can also do this with just the clock portion, using the timer.

As she is eating her cookie, she sees on Blues Clues that they have made some cars from cardboard boxes. Ones that can hang on you and drive around, with you inside the box. We go find a big box to make into a car. I help her cut off some of the cardboard. She takes it downstairs to start making it into a car. I go back to the computer and finish up.

Fourth one up, Alec ds(10),10:30. Sits down at the computer. He had been playing the Lego backlot game on lego.com. this weekend, so continues that. We find out that on movie making lots, cafeterias are called Commissaries. I had to look that up. :) Finishes the three levels, beats the game. He then goes into the Bionicle of Lego.com and finds the form to send in for his entry to "Searching for the 7th Toa". This is a contest that has been going on for about the last year. Clues are given out each month through Lego magazine(free subscription). The clues are written in the Bionicle language using their Matoran alphabet, so you have to decipher them. He's been doing this for months and now has the answer. We print out the entry form. Alec then goes downstairs to build some Bionicles.

On a Bionicle tangent-- the Bionicle movie just came out, "The Mask of Light" and for a Lego type movie, its actually pretty cool. Pretty good story. So, we've also been building Bionicles like crazy. This has been really neat because all of us have been getting into building and playing with them. We've been reenacting the movie, making new adventures, using stuffed animals and other things, and creating other creatures to play with, out of other lego pieces. Fun!

Fifth and final family member up, Abbi dd(8),11:00. Abbi goes downstairs, watches TV for a bit.

Meanwhile, Kyra and I have been working on her car. She figures out how to make a steering wheel, and attach it; a window out of aluminum foil; headlights; and how she's going to be able to steer the car and not hold the car up. Her plan: pulls out yarn, is going to tie it to each side of the top of box(car) and then the car will hang around her neck. She is then free to steer her car :) This works, but the string digs into her neck! Ouch! So I go and grab an old sock to put between the string and her neck. This works for a while, but the sock keeps falling out.

"We could sew it on?" I say hesitantly because I am not a good sewer. <-- (Eww, don't like the way that word looks!<g>)

Abbi is a good sewer though, so she would be glad to help. She sews the sock together, on the yarn and Kyra has a pain free way of hanging her car on herself.

After sewing, Abbi and Alec start playing Crash Bash, a PS2 game.

Kyra then wants to make a stop sign to put up in the house, so she can park her car. Abbi stops playing PS2 for a minute, we talk about octagons, she helps to make a stop sign.
Kyra attaches the stop sign to her bedroom door, this is the parking lot for her car. She then comes to me and wants the stairs up to the bedrooms to be a toll road. We make a sign, a box to hold the toll and money to pay for the toll.

Now, since there is a toll road in our house, the kids have all decided that they need occupations to earn money. They start making some money and credit cards (out of paper). Each have decided on an occupation. Kyra is a cab driver (with her car :)). Abbi is an inn keeper with a restaurant, movie theater and store. Alec is a hotel owner with an arcade(game systems), restaurant, and store. I am the banker (at my computer screen) and I have to keep track of their credit card balances, they only get to charge $1000 on it. <g>

Eventually, we are going to go into town and order an icecream cake, Abbi's birthday is this week. Meet up with another family for Alec to sleep over at their house. And run some other errands.

These were all things that they thought up on their own. I feel so lucky that I get to go along for the ride!


Kelli~






.

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[email protected]

In a message dated 9/22/03 3:52:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time, genant2@...
writes:

> They are too hard for me to snap together and pull apart. I
> prefer LEGOs although LEGOs are not as flexible. But I have Kinex stuff
> everywhere.
> LOL
> Pam G
>

I like K'nex better. I dont know why. To me K'nex are like a cross between
tinker toys (LOVED those) and legos .

Teresa


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

catherine aceto

I love reading threads about what people do each day.

I have a 5, almost 6 year old girl. Today, we colored some salt with liquid watercolors and filled up babyfood jars with designs. We played our way through a book called "Gears" or something like that where you make things with gears, rack and pinions, crank and rockers, etc. (cool book, I highly recommend it). We went to Lydia's gymnastics class. In the car on the way home from gymnastics, Lydia figured out (I guess she figured it out- in any event, I didn't tell her) explained to me that you could add 4+4 by saying 1,5; 2,6;3,7,4,8. We played with Dora colorforms and she made up a story (or maybe a play -- she "closed the curtain/box lid" between the "acts") and illustrated it with the colorforms as she went along. She spelled some words with the letters from her alphabet pasta that was either an early dinner or a late lunch. Right now she has a friend over and they are playing Scooby Doo Mystery on the computer. Later we'll probably do some art/craft sort of thing (we usually do that in the evening while my husband plays with our 10month old son).

cat
----- Original Message -----
From: Tia Graham
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 11:13 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] how are ya'll spending your day today?


Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
very helpful. I'd imagine you do this fairly often, but if you can stand
it once more, please do ;-).

I've got a 7 year old boy, almost 6 year old girl, and a 3 year old boy
here. Today we began reading the book of Luke from the bible...the
miracles of Jesus Christ, straight from the bible rather than a story
book. We did another chapter of The Incredible Journey, which the kids
draw as I read, so that they end up with an illustrated version by the
end. That's coming out as a pretty hard book and I gave up going over the
vocabulary....just have to chalk it up to "great language exposure". They
are enjoying it alot more now that I'm not stopping every sentence to
tell them what a word means LOL! Sometimes we've copied a nice sentence
from the chapter onto the drawing but no one wanted to do that today so
we skipped it.

From there we played a time-telling memory kind of game and put together
a puzzle of the human body, organ side up (bones are on the other side).
My 7 year old headed out to build on his fort and my 6 year old dd got
out a sequel movie of Lady and the Tramp ( a movie I barely tolerate
because of some very annoying parts of it).

I'm thinking of making some banana pudding later today and a grilled
pizza; there's the ever constant housework to do and later this afternoon
will get interesting when the neighbor kids come home from school. We are
in a testy situation with some of them over bullying. Maybe I'll just
load everyone up and go to the library from then to dinner time!

How's your day going?

Tia in Florida

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

[email protected]

I started the day with my typical Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday phone call from
my bestfriend, at seven. I got up and went over to her house so she could
leave for work by 7:30, and I get her kids on the bus an hour later, safe with
breakfast eaten and hair done etc. I gave the usual hugs and kisses good-bye and
her little boy said; "Nancy, you don't have to wait for the bus to come." and
I told him that was all right, I liked to see that he got on safe. He asked if
it was because his mom asked me to, and I said yes, partially, but mostly be
cause I love him and his sister and would hate for something to happen when I
could have prevented it by just sticking around for five more minutes. Then his
sister said; "You always tell us you love us, do you really?" (I'm sitting in
my car wondering where all these questions are coming from!) and I told her
that yes, I do really love them both. That I love them like they are my own
kids since their mom and I grew up together like sisters, and I was in their
lives from the get go, and I would always love them. So I sent two beautiful kids
off to school happy and safe this morning, and that made me happy, but sad too.

I went home, it was almost nine. Darin took the day off after a weekend of
inventory and was still asleep. Jack was playing on the computer and watching
cartoons. Moly was asleep beside her daddy, so I kissed Jack and asked if he had
food. He did, I crawled back in bed and Moly, ever the mommy, asked me if I
had remembered to go to Penny's. <g> I had. Gotta love that kid! We all slept
for about an hour then everyone got up. Darin and Jack watched Moly train our
dog Maggie. Then they all headed out to the basketball court. I did some
laundry, made an effort at pushing the vacuum around the room and decided it was too
nice and followed the family to the court. I took a book and the dog and we
lounged on the warm court while Darin and the kids played. Then we all took
turns with Jack's new pocket knife, it has lots of cool gadgets! When we got home
about three, we ate and played some cards. The kids went outside to play,
Jack worked on his bike and got the chain on all by himself. Moly picked
cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cantaloupe. Then Moly and I sorted through all our
newest finds from the second hand store. I spent about thirty dollars the other
day and both kids have enough clothes for the winter. (Moly found a pair of
earth shoes for 2.50 and it was white tag day so she got them for half off, she
was excited.) We just need to get coats, and neither found coats they liked.
So we will keep looking. I might even break down and go to *gasp* a department
store! Moly is making tapioca right now and Jack is at the neighbors. Darin is
reading about the new Harry Potter movie to Moly. She is very disappointed
that the movie isn't coming out on my birthday this year and that she has to
wait until June of next to see it.

This evening, I think we will watch some movies or maybe go for ice-cream, or
maybe both. I'm going to finish my book and Moly says she is going to finish
hers too. One of the kids who works for Darin called and said he has finished
his most recent Shoen Jump and is going to bring it by for Jack. Jack is
excited about that.

It was kind of a quiet day, but nice. Darin was home and the kids love that.
We have no plans for tomorrow.

~Nancy

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered
whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
Douglas Adams


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

Heidi

Hi Tia :)

I love "what we did today" posts, too...reminds me that my kids DON'T
spend every waking moment in front of "the screen"...Today, Robby and
I made hasbrowns and fried eggs for breakfast, and he helped dry the
dishes; everyone pitched in on straightening up a (very!!!) cluttered
living space; Katie worked on some Bible memorization, hammered some
boards together and smashed her finger, and then bandaged it up with
a thick pad of gauze and tape; Abbie sniffled and blew her nose all
day...has a cold; she also cleaned up her room and spent a couple of
hours writing in her journal. Because the local grocery store didn't
have Benadryl for colds, I bought her some medicinal tea, which she's
been drinking all day.

Everyone has played a little computer; We went rock hopping, and
everyone including the dog, found a nice cool place to kick back and
relax. My cool kick back place had neon green lichen and we wondered
why it would be such a bright green. Becaues it's always in the
shade? Also, a dead fox that we saw up there in the spring, is now
nothing but bones and bits of fur. Robby found the pelvic bone of a
teeny tiny animal, probably a mouse; I cleaned off the back deck.
We've been listening to Hank the Cow Dog books on tape all day long,
made some designs and pictures w/colored pencils, made toffee bars
(slurp!) and right now, there's some food in the kitchen for when
anyone gets hungry, to make themselves a plate. Which Abbie and Katie
did before leaving on a bike ride.

Tomorrow, it's dog-washing day. We also have a library run planned,
along with picking up a few ingredients needed for a Middle Earth
Feast to celebrate the Autumn Equinox. I'll probably also pack a few
more boxes, and get boxes sealed and labeled, that are already packed.
The other day, I bought a three pack of famous marches at the dollar
store...gonna put those in while I get busy packing...energize me!

OH! By the WAAAAY!!!

Katie is taking huge strides forward in her reading! Yippeeee!

blessings, HeidiC

p.s. I love your idea of the kids drawing pics while being read to,
and tell us more about a grilled pizza?

--- In [email protected], Tia Graham
<sixredheads@j...> wrote:
> Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier
days is
> very helpful. I'd imagine you do this fairly often, but if you can
stand
> it once more, please do ;-).
>
> I've got a 7 year old boy, almost 6 year old girl, and a 3 year old
boy
> here. Today we began reading the book of Luke from the bible...the
> miracles of Jesus Christ, straight from the bible rather than a
story
> book. We did another chapter of The Incredible Journey, which the
kids
> draw as I read, so that they end up with an illustrated version by
the
> end.

glad2bmadly

Tia Graham <sixredheads@...> wrote:
***Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
very helpful. I'd imagine you do this fairly often, but if you can stand
it once more, please do ;-).**

We had rain here in GA for the first time in about a month, which was really good for our farm. We drove 30 min away to drop off my car for a tune-up and went to Home Depot so that Nicolas could get a tool he needs to fix the irrigation. We ended up wandering around Home Depot, Gillen (6yo) looking at wood and accessories for structures he wants to build, Jesse(3yo) trying to get us to buy dinosaur room border paper that we just don't have any wall space for. It was neat seeing other school age kids there with parents or grandparents. It wasn't the zoo it is on the weekends.

Nicolas dropped us off at home and went to the farm to work in the rain. Gillen and Jesse worked on an Endagered Species puzzle (it's round and very detailed with info about each animal on the back of each piece; Jesse's favorite) for about an hour. Gillen found an old animal workbook that had a game in it which we pulled out and played a bit. Really, the best part of this was that they got to cut it out and put it together after which they lost interest. Jesse then talked us into playing a dinosaur game that he made up on the spot using his dinosaur parts cards. Shortly therafter my friend came over with her 6 and 10 yo and the four of them jumped on the wet trampoline for over an hour. It was only drizzling, no lightning. This group takes turns jumping (with everyone on the tramp) and they also always end up creating scenarios (on the tramp) with one being mom, another dad and the others pets or babies. They came in, changed out of wetclothes and in pairs played Zoombinies
and Dinosaur Hunter on the computer. They played store, in their room, at one point. The big shocker was when my friend said it was time to go, we found Gillen and the 6yo girl in his bed with an early reader book. They said they were reading it. They aren't really reading much yet. Later Gillen told me they were pretending to be mommy and daddy (just as they see their parents read in bed at night). The shocker to me is not that they were "playing mommy and daddy" (although it did give me pause) but that they werechoosing reading, on their own. Not really so shocking when I read about other unschooling kids doing it. I don't think I had really known it would happen though or at least not yet. And it has been, in several ways lately! :)

Nicolas came home early which was very unusual and wonderful and we watched a movie my father had given to them, "Napolean" (about a dog's adventures in Australia) which started us talking about Australia, where my brother and his fiancee (she is from Australia) are soon to be married.

It was very unusual to have hschooling friends over - their schedules and ours don't often allow for it, unfotunately. So that was great. I love rainy days. Tommorow, they go to the farm for the afternoon while I teach a kids' theatre class at Montessori.

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

Karin

Tia Graham <sixredheads@...> wrote:

>Still green on unschooling, and hearing how others' spend thier days is
>very helpful. I'd imagine you do this fairly often, but if you can stand
>it once more, please do ;-). >>

We had a very busy weekend so I was happy that nothing was planned for our
Monday today.

I spent most of the day catching up on e-mail and reading 45 digests (I was
WAY begind - not just this list, but a lot of it was!), did a couple loads
of laundry, and made meals several times for my boys and me. Ben (12 yo) and
Jonny (10 yo) spent most of the day playing their game systems, alternating
between the Gamecube, PS2 and their PC's. Ben got his PS1 working after
believing that it was broken for over a year! He said he just plugged it in,
and it worked. He was so excited. He played some games on it for a while,
and then it stopped working again. :-/ I told him that maybe it has an
overheating problem.

I also unexpectedly found the plug-in cord for Ben's portable
stereo/cassette player, which was hidden in a box in the closet, which has
been lost since we moved (in May!). I always knew I would find it when I
least expected it. Ben and Jonny have also been watching a little TV now and
then, and they just got the (snail) mail for me, which involved a short bike
ride to our mailbox.

I have to think about what to make for dinner, soon, then DH comes home and
we'll eat. We'll probably watch a couple hours of TV, and go to bed. And
that was our day! I need these relaxing, do nothing days as much as I need
productive, on-the-go days, too.

Tomorrow I'll probably tackle some bigger projects around the house (like
looking into curtains for my boys rooms) and I also want to pick my prickly
pear cactus fruits and experiment in making *something* edible with them -
because they're just going rotten and the birds are getting them! And, my
boys will probably help me do these things, because playing computer games
and watching TV gets boring after a while. :o)

Karin
who mostly lurks but felt like posting something today