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’!
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!
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.
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!
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?
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’
Instant Exercise with a Side of Science : Slacklining
Slacklining allows a person to quickly and consistently experience and work against a range of stresses and forces that our bodies are fighting against all the time…without the advantage of the ground’s stability! One of the reasons you don’t really pay attention to all these forces throughout your day is because the ground you are walking on or the chair you are sitting in is stable. The ground is pushing up on the chair with the same force you are pushing down on it…but on a slackline, what you are pushing down against is flexible. And wobbly.
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
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.
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!
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!)
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.
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.
Five Year Old Explains What a Fossil Is
He’s been watching a lot of youtube videos. He noticed that they always ask to subscribe to their channels and asking the kids to comment. It’s pretty funny watching it in real life!
What we are doing though, it building ‘speaking in front of camera comfort’ which will translate easily to ‘speaking in front of people’ comfort.
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.
Multitasking: Taking Toys & Things Outside
Little kids love (well, whatever you teach them to love, in this case, toys and instruments) toys and instruments. They also love the playing down by the river. (The nitrate-heavy, city-gross, unswimmable river) Dad loves to unicycle. Sounds like a plan!
Why Is It Called a Blow Fly and how does it eat?
A few more fly facts: With an incredible sense of smell, blow flies can smell their food over a mile away and their eggs play a crucial role in helping crime scene investigators determine time of death.
A Walking Stick For Climbing in the Forest?
The toddler must have seen walking sticks on youtube or something. During one of her hill climbs, she picked it up and started using it like it would help her 🙂
It’s funny, she knows not to throw sticks, to play with sticks, and to run with sticks.
Thin Strip of Forest and a Lake in a City After the Rain
We had a great little adventure in a neat place we found on our way to pick up mom from work…so we go a little early and get some ‘great outdoors’. I didn’t think about bringing the bug spray as it has usually been pretty ‘annoying bug-free’ the times we went.
