Dear Kitty,

 
Today we finished our last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner (we've also read all of Winnie-the-Pooh).  It reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes.  And a childhood long gone by.  It made me think of oppressed children and their lost childhood.  And it made me think of children the ages of my sons stuck behind the school desk.  And now I think I know what the [homeschool] moms meant when they say that the worst day in homeschool is still better than the best days of school.  Although my kids are not yet reading words on their  own (oh, but they do read!  why else would they like opening books?!) and doing their math operations,  I celebrate these days of Legos and backyard explorations; and the comfort of having a brother for a constant companion; and the pretensions of being a peregrine falcon and of being a manta ray; and evolving interests, from cars to animals to dinosaurs; and of getting dirty with mud and more dirt; and the reluctance of taking a bath at the same time refusing to finish taking a bath; and the fascination with experiments without a hypothesis to prove or counter.  And as I send them off to bed, I wonder until when will your tail provide a soothing passage to sleep.  I think of your future and the days when you will turn to memory and nostalgia.  Because these, too, will pass.  But until then, I'm glad to have given them the opportunity to live their days like Christopher and Calvin in the land of enchantment and imagination. 


J

Cool to Unschool

I've been telling those who bother to ask what we've been up to that we've been on vacation for the longest time, since January, and our school year starts on September.  And that's for our 1st official year of homeschooling.  Come to  think of it, since homeschooling is not just going-to-school-only-it's-done-at-home, but more of a lifestyle, really, homeschooler's don't really go on vacation mode.  I've just realized that we're not really on vacation but just on the more unstructured extreme of homeschooling-- UNSCHOOLING!  We've taken a break from M1's textbooks, all those phonics, math, and writing.  But we continue to read.  Everyday books lie around, they scan pages, fascinated by the pictures.  At times they ask me to read, at times they don't.  They open story books and encyclopedias.  And of course, they learn from their play, from building blocks to pretend play.  They learn from the things around them.  Last week, they swam with whale sharks. When we got home we read on whale sharks, and other sharks.  We sometimes watch video clips of wild animals.  They're fans of the blue whale.  The other day, we again went to the beach.  M2 insisted we take home some sea water so he can conduct an experiment:  he wanted to see what will happen if we mix the sea water with oil.  Imagination flourish.  Today, they had their art moment (without any cue from me).

From the book, I'm reading, it says, trust that the kids are learning.  I believe they are. It's like knowing kids are growing and getting taller each day, you can't tell that everyday, but when you take their measurements, there's no denying that they've grown.  I'm not sure about M2, but M1 sure got my introversion, but engage them in a talk, you'll be amazed by the knowledge they've amassed at their age.

Meanwhile, I'm still in the middle of the book.  It gives me comfort in times when I can't sit down and be like the ideal homeschool moms blogging about their creative homeschools, that for our family we're doing just fine.

Links to Simple Solutions by Abby Sasscer (Seton)

I love homeschool mom/author Abby Sasscer's Simple Solutions series of articles.  Very helpful, and it works for us.

•  4 Simple Solutions for Teaching Our Children Calmly and Effectively.
•  The #1 Secret to Being Patient and Strong with Your Children.
•  How to Get Acceptable and Appropriate Behavior from Your Children… in Public
•  4 Tips to Teach Your Children to Obey Out of Love - Not Fear