First Slingshot Lesson – 10 and 12 year olds
We would come home hungry if we were hunters! Is 10 too young for a slingshot? I know as soon as I got mine as a 12yo, I wanted to break windows. Holy eff did I break a lot of windows – I could do it from far away! You can’t really blame me for […]
Teachers Don’t Need Training. They Can Even Be Five.
“What I like the most about playing dino doctor is teaching her the dino names like you taught me ” – Aidan, 5
I wondered, very briefly, when we had our second kid, isn’t it going to be a lot harder trying to manage two kids learning at different ‘grade levels’? That was quickly replaced with, ‘well, I guess she’ll have two teachers, and he’ll be a teacher of things he learns.’
Obstacles. Three Year Olds are Free. This One Should Be Paying!
What a great place for kids of all ages, even for the adults who bring them! Disclaimer: Most adults come prepared to sit and wait, and the cousins we brought came prepared to hate it, so did 🙂 )
The catchphrase I’ve been hearing lately is ‘soft play’. Let the kids go do whatever they want in the safety of their injury-free environment. I suggest hard play for every child.
Unicycling : Getting Closer and Closer!
We had a ‘big’ dose of unicycle lessons recently. By big dose, I mean about 20 minutes of practice over a few days. It was a push to see if he could get it before he turned six. He’s not there yet, but it will only be a few more tries…he’ll get it next month for sure…if he wants to…I don’t actually care if he does or not…as long as he keeps practicing whenever…there’s so many other ways they are both being active, it’s low on everyone’s list.
Can you stay back, dad? I’m going to do this.
A perfect example of unschooling? I think so!
The five year old was watching youtube. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t about some lady opening toys! He asked if we could do a science experiment…but we needed a syringe and we didn’t have that.
I let him know Walmart probably had them, and I knew of the general area where they might be.
“We need to ask someone if we don’t know where something is,” he reminded me.
Birthday Terrarium From Gramma
Here’s a fun little activity for the kids…let them grow their own life in a container…Well, actually, let them follow the instructions, give or take, to make their own life in a container…I guess we’ll see in a few days if it worked.
Raising Monarch Butterflies
So it turns out we butterfly! Did you ever hear that as a verb before? Right now we have two little caterpillars (we can find out if they are male or female once they are butterflies) much smaller than a dime.
Preparing for unPreschool: Insects-Ed
Insects-Ed! Hahahha! Well anyways, kids love learning about the things they love. Kids love bugs. Unless they are taught not to 🙂
Graveyard Deer On Halloween
Halloween was just the day we happened to go there. We were told there were lots of deer living in there who didn’t really care about people all that much. So we went. And it didn’t disappoint!
[video] Hill Climbing With Kettlebells
What a great addition to all the fun of hill climbs (and descents)…add kettlebells!
When the 6yo told me the weights weren’t heavy enough to make him tired, I first thought of getting him more weights. I didn’t think about
Almost-Winter is Upon Us
Well, the days of almost winter are upon us. Snowsuits one day, riding scooters the next. Wet mitts, wet boots, happy, tired kids. The days start dark. Dark enough for the 4yo to call it ‘night’ and stand her ground when being corrected.
Unschool Experiment G2R
The six year old knew that already, it was new to the four year old. I was holding a handful of grapes, one a little more wrinkled than the others and other than being brushed off as ‘disgusting’ I offered up an experiment idea.
Are the deer still there in the winter? I don’t know. Let’s go see!
She asked me, ‘do you think the deer are still there in the winter? I figured they probably were but didn’t know for sure. There was only one thing to do. Well, two things. Get the camera, and go to the graveyard. It was a beautiful winter day and we didn’t even need coats for […]
The Dandelion Games
Earlier in the day, some lady asked me about the kids not being in school. She said homeschooling sounded like a good idea because of bullying. I told her bullying was just another point on a long list of why schools aren’t an ideal place for kids to be.