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 […]
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.
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.
Getting Around : We Now Convoy :D
Razor E90 Electric Scooter : Unicycle Stroller Speed Getting Around : We Now Convoy 😀 i can put heavier stuff up on the roof rack and still push it with one hand while filming with the other now that one of the kids pushes their own weight 🙂 walkie-talkie installed to handlebar so i can […]
Dam Fun. Dad & Son.
Our second T-shirt day of the season – our first was a month or so ago. (Let’s get with Spring, ammiright?) The great part this time was the high winds. Strangely enough, he seemed to benefit from the wind BOTH ways! When does THAT happen? Sure we have adventures that are enjoyable for both kids, […]
Homeschool : Where You Can Hit Your Students With Bats
I came here to smash you with a bat and feed some geese and I’m all out of birdseed…Strange Math Was Afoot –
Usually when by the river in London, two geese plus birdseed…
Mortal Kombat, Green Screen, Scootering, & Swimming : A Week of Unschool : Episode 4
How fun is unschooling? How beneficial is screen time? How comical is ‘video game violence = violent kids’?
Another great week of education and excitement!
The five year old beat Mortal Kombat Armageddon on the Wii. Leading up to this, and since this happened, there have been several dad-son ‘real life’ battles. They mostly end with me getting to his tickle spot (ribcage) but one, in particular, ended much differently. An accidental headbutt and a bloody lip on dad. He officially Finished me! His little sister is also getting on board. She threw a frisbee at me outside. She said it wasn’t a frisbee, but Kung Lao’s hat! (I haven’t caught on video the super cute way she mimics Scorpion’s ‘GET OVER HERE!’)
Welcome to Parks But No Bathrooms Season
Here in Ontario, parks (at least their bathrooms) are closed in the winter. And into the Spring. No matter if it’s hot for several weeks before the opening date, like it always is.
Remember how convenient that was anyways during diaper years?
You can’t beat this time of year for the park-things to kids ratio, but having some bathrooms around, well, that’s just handy!
A Day of Pool Firsts
Swimming lessons?? Unschoolers call it ‘swimming’.
Before heading over to gramma’s for another swim (and snack from gramma’s snack drawer) I reminded the new goggler how little time he spent under the water on his trips under the surface. I figured it was because he was fighting buoyancy and had not learned how to keep himself down.
I then realized he probably had no idea how long he could hold his breath for…
Five Year Old’s Unicycle Progress Report : Leany. Having Fun.
When cardio is leaning on a wall for a few minutes
When One Kid Is Done Exploring and One Isn’t
So clearly I couldn’t leave one kid on the bench on the bike path and continue on another adventure trail into the woods with the other one. So what’s a dad to do?
There’s a whole bunch of sticks to slow him down…send him into the woods (which you know look a whole lot bigger to him)
This was an exciting opportunity for me to just send him off to be alone on his own. (I could always hear him and could see him from time to time)
But if you look in the video, you can see
A Week of Unschool : Episode 3
Another great week of learning! He learned how to more properly navigate a giant ice pile that used to be a snow pile. They even got to climb up and slide down it when it was a snow pile again.
We were on the DIY kick after our homemade playdoh, so we made up some homemade puffy paint. Just self-rising flour, salt, water, and food colour, but oh no, we didn’t have any self-rising flour.
Treading Water
Down to one kid in waterwings! Many hours have been spent in gramma’s pool between now and the time he was wearing swimming diapers. Swims with gramma, or grampa, or mom or dad, or his aunt, uncle, and cousins, or any combination thereof.
Just recently he mastered ‘goggles and nose holding’ for new underwater adventures and was excited to show me. (I got him to dip down sans-nose holding a few times, but it didn’t last long)
It’s Been Super Cold. Out to the Snow Pile!
Sometimes the time it takes you to get the kids dressed up and undressed is longer than the time you were outside playing.
Here are some great ways to maximize their enjoyment while being exposed to some pretty harsh conditions.
A Week of Unschooling : Episode 1 – Mythology, Health & Fitness, Physics, Writing, and Biology
In our introductory weekly episode, the three and five year old visited a skatepark, play-drew Greek Mythology, and they experienced a variety of cutting tools that so far only dad and mom have been using.
There are many ways kids can learn but fun is always better. Let them play; when you’ve shown them how fun knowledge can be, what’s stopping them?
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.
Same Place, Different Discoveries
Our plan was to climb ‘Big Hilly Climby’ and go for a scooter ride through the forest – well, at least if I was making a lesson plan for the day, it would have only had those two bullet points.
Unschool Obstacles
Do you know if your city has an indoor obstacle course or climbing-type place? I just happened to see a post in a facebook group…I would never have known about this little gem!
CTC Obstacles is in London, Ontario. An old warehouse turned climbing/swinging/playing facility!
I’m So Glad We Found Out About Skateparks! (for non-skateboarding kids)
We’ve been to three different skate parks in our city so far. (London, Ontario) There looks to be siz or seven that we will be sure to check out. (they call Victoria Park one, but meh…it’s mostly just some concrete blocks and broken glass)
The kids just get there and play. Scooters, little bikes, and just running…we’ll be back often. Whatever risks the kids are comfortable with (or are almost comfortable with) are right there. Have you heard about Parkour? (Where people jump from building to building and do crazy flips and things off of structures). Skateparks offer a great introduction to
Advantage Unschool : Skate Parks During School Hours
We didn’t even come here to run, we came to scooter. I had to ask them if they were ready to put their gear on and ride yet..before they tired themselves out!
During school hours, no one is there. Kids as young as brand new crawlers can have a blast here with so many slopes and angles and risk levels.
