Dad, Come See My Swidda!! Introduction to Computers
I’m so glad we found the game called Slither.io, a browser-based game that has helped our three year old start to figure out how to control a computer. I wasn’t trying to find a way to ‘teach her computers’ yet; that’s just what happened. She saw her brother doing it…and well…that’s all she needed.
First Time Randomly Bumping Into Unschoolers – Six Hours Away
Turns out the hens that came in through the treeline also lived with some unschoolers! We showed them about slacklines, they showed us turkeys!
Interesting fact about city kids: They’ll pick up an axe if they see one and you’ve never said ‘don’t pick up an axe’!
Why There Is No Recess At Unschool
Why separate learning from play?
Here was a neat little impromptu climbing adventure on the way home from our adventure. The trees along our river are quite large and old. Seems one of them had gotten struck by lightning recently and had been started to be taken away. Clearly only a several-day job; we had to experience it now, if we ever..haha..wood.
Bugs: No Need For Compassion
They hadn’t gotten to interact with so many of them before, they were quite impressed; hopping things have always seemed to hop away before we could investigate. They know exactly what a frog jumping into the swamp right before we get there looks and sounds like
Unschooling? Why You Should Pull Over
It would have been great for the kids to go in and get a tour of what they do there…but also there was a sideroad that we could pull over on and let the kids out. They were pretty impressed!!
LLamas, goats, alpacas, donkeys, reindeer, sheep, pigs, horses… There’s also GIANT DANDELIONS on that side road!
Don’t Keep Your Kids Away From Things. Teach Them All You Can About Them
A month or two after my kid could reach the table, I kept my ‘fancy camera’ at the edge of it. Right next to all the computer stuff. All of which were, and still are, important to me.
All the photos and images on this site were taken with the cameras my kids could use anytime they wanted.
Don’t Run Too Fast Down a Hill, Like I’ve Been Saying For Years
I figured he understood not going too fast down a hill, I’ve told him several times throughout the years (at hills) and always made sure to keep him going slow. (just in case)
Well, today just in case happened. He outran his own legs in a couple of strides and was out of control.
Unschooling : Where Unicycling Lessons Turn Into Ballet Experience
I don’t want to make their unicycle lessons feel like ‘lessons’. So we bring them out with us to places here and there and get a minute or two more of practice.
You may or may not be a unicyclist if you are reading this. If you are, you would notice how naturally he’s picking his unicycle off the ground and placing it under him. Learning to unicycle is often compared to dropping your unicycle 1000 times then you can ride it…that’s not entirely accurate, but it’s close!)
Unsocializing? Unicycling, For Example
Among the many unschooling and life benefits that come from unicycling is the socializing. (one of the other ones is that if you can physically walk and have access to a unicycle, you have all you need to be able to do it)
What’s the first thing people think about when trying to get your kids more socializing? Sports. Sign them up for soccer or baseball, right? Not necessarily!
Surprise Spider Family
This was exciting a couple of times. At first, I showed them the dead wasp in the spider web. A whole ‘even the mighty wasp can get stuck in a tiny web’ kinda demonstration.
The five year old reached down to touch it, and a spider who we didn’t know was on it sprinted up the web way faster than any spider web travel I have seen.
Anything + Fitness
Hey, go run to that tree and back!
Wow, great job!
Hey, go run to that tree and back!
What is your favourite way to incorporate exercise into your day?
This is an example from just a 10 minute break
Nuts, Bolts, Inventions, & Toddlers
Well look who learned ‘righty tighty lefty loosey’!
My advice for people who are about to buy ‘toy tools’ for their wee ones, let them use the actual tools! A socket wrench, baggie full of nuts & bolts, and things with holes in them will go a lot farther than a ‘plastic tool bench toy’
Find Out What They Love : Do That. How They Love It.
What do you do with a toddler who loves the music time you have together, but you aren’t a music teacher and you only really have some plastic instruments and a banjo you only have because someone once asked you if you wanted a banjo or a ukelele?
Interacting With Adults: Metal Fabrication
Hey kiddos, would you rather go visit Farmer Tom in the morning when he’s working on metal, or in the afternoon when he’s working with wood?
The first thing he did when he picked up the grinder was to give the kids some helmets. And pointed them to behind a safety screen. He was already decked out in safety gear – which was great for the kids to see…he’s a very careful guy to watch!
Firestarting : Unschooling At Night
Excitement from the time he helped me move the wheelbarrow till he put it out like Marshall with a hose #pawPatrol
She was asleep on the couch. He was almost asleep beside her. He got up and got outside as fast as possible.
When Things Don’t Go According To Plan
There were several great examples of unschooling here. We went to our local dam to check it out. What would they be interested I wondered; water levels? water pressure? lake/river transition? Height? Cement and steel? I figured I’d show it to them from the road up top, and then drive them down the road to see it from the bottom.
30 Seconds of Unicycling, 20 Minutes of Unschooling
So I ask the the five and almost three year old, ‘Anyone want to make a giant unicycle shadow video out in the dark?’
I told them it would not be dark enough for 20 minutes. I thought it was going to take me 10 minutes to get ready, but it took 20, with two live shadows on me the whole time…they were excited.
Night Time Adventures
Kids tossing and turning? Just can’t get them to go to sleep? Go out and learn!
The world is a different place at night. I found a $20-$30 LED worklight, and brought it outside once when I couldn’t find one of their flashlights. It has a stand on it, and it has sparked many ‘can we do a night time adventure?’ long before they are tossing and turning!
Sidewalk Chalk In Puddles
This one is pretty straightforward…if you put sidewalk chalk into puddles, it gets sciency pretty quick… Why stay inside during the rain? They don’t mind being that wet, and even colder, at the splashpad! It runs down all your sidewalk chalk faster than you’ve ever seen, but as soon as they start colouring, they experience […]
There Are More Advantages to Pop Research than Pop Quizzes.
Here’s a nice little gem we found on our way to mom’s work, a lake surrounded by trees and a walking path, nestled near the industrial area of town.
A little section of nature that I had passed by countless times over the years. It wasn’t open to cycling, why would I ever pop in?
Because now I have kids!
