Slices of Life

This was our first day of unschooling where we really had nothing planned.    They floundered a bit here and there.  We played a lot of games and I heard a lot of "can I play DS?  Can I watch TV?, etc."  But I held firm and they eventually found something to do.   All in all I think it went really well though.  We're happy, settled, and calm so that's a great start.  I know there will be times when they are bored but I do think it's good for them to be bored now and then.  Often that boredom sparks a bout of creativity.   However I do have a few ideas on hand to offer as suggestions for them when they start to complain.  Suggestions like: Read a book Use a crafting kit Tackle a science experiment or kit Build something using the may different types of building blocks we have Put together a puzzle Play with character or animal toys  Go outside Color or write a story Play with play dough or make some sensory dough Make a track for the cars or race R/C

"The kids aren't learning, they're just playing." Oh, how wrong we are! Kids learn so much by playing! We went,to the Providence Children's Museum to meet my sister and her two boys.  We hadn't seen them in a while and the boys couldn't wait to get there. We ended up staying and playing for 6 hours. I loved the museum and so did the boys! I loved all the signs they had up about the benefits of play. Here are our photos from today with sign quotes all about play.   Enjoy! Play is about the process of discovery Play encourages independence Play helps us learn about ourselves Play is imagining possibilities ("Watch out; we're gonna crash!") Trying things over and over again is how kids master new skills and form new ideas (Ian must have made 4 or 5 different  dams today to hold back the water-- changing the design a bit each time)