Weekend Unschooling Opportunities
Since we began homeschooling and I started reading and learning about unschooling, I find that we learn at all times of the day and night, every day of the year.
All kids have a way of teaching themselves and learning more about the world around them every single day.
If you look for it you can see and hear new ways in which they develop they skills.
Sometimes it's something as simple as a child asking what a new (to them) word means, sometimes it's a skill they've been working on and have finally mastered, and sometimes it's something more subtle that you only notice as time has passed and you look back thinking about how much they have changed.
We started our weekend with another Karate class. Alec and Evan wanted to head back to the dojang on Saturday and participate in another class.
On the way they brought their DS games which had Alec working on vocabulary words since his Pokémon game asked him to pick a work that best describes himself he could choose between words like diligent, adamant, naughty, serious, etc. He asked me which one I thought best described him but I put the question back on him and asked him what HE thought. There was a list of 20 words or so and he slowly went through them all stopping now and then to ask what a word meant. He decided to pick serious since he's "serious about his Pokémon game!"
Once at karate they participated in an obstacle course and attempted to do pull-ups using a bar. Alec was able to do a pull- up or two before his arms got tired. The boys had so much fun ducking, dodging, weaving, punching, skipping, hopping, and cartwheeling over obstacles. They reviewed Korean terms for different moves and kicks and worked on stretching and control.
While they were at karate, Ian was hard at work with his father and grandfather. Ian looks so forward to going to work on Saturdays and spends most of the day with his grandfather helping out with whatever he is working on.
Sometimes he comes home filthy, but he always comes home happy. I hope that whatever he decides to do with his life that he always manages to enjoy his work that much.
He's learning new skills and using new tools all the time.
The boys spent a good portion of the weekend outside (between rain storms) playing and riding bikes, scooters, and the like. They ran, used the swing sets, played with sticks and swords and did all kinds of yelling and screaming.
Whenever the rain started coming down hard the boys would come inside. They played twister, video games, hide and seek and other fun games.
We worked on our family puzzle, read books and cleaned house.
The boys observed nature while being outside but also when we were inside. Of course, we often looked out the window to see what the weather was like but we also got to see a fox crossing the ice on the lake. The boys were all excited about this and Alec was happy to answers all the questions about foxes. We compared the different temperatures we encountered each day and tried to gauge the amount of rainfall we received.
We went to breakfast Sunday morning and Ian was able to guess the restaurant bill total (he estimated and ended up being off by only $.50!)
We headed to my husband's work and checked out some of the machinery he's been building. The boys love climbing on all the huge metal structures he builds and this time Alec practiced his balancing skills and his karate moves. The boys sat down and meditated, tried lying down and even holding themselves in a plank pose.
We estimated the amount of welds it took to hold it together and talked about how the machine works. The boys raced each other around the shop and worked on being fair.
We listened to even more of our book and CD and talked about whether or not we want the next book in this series or to start at the beginning with the Percy Jackson books and listen to them all; the boys chose (unanimously!) to go on to the next book in THIS series.
Alec had a birthday party and got to run through a laser maze, climb a rock wall, play air hockey and have fun with kids his own age.
All these ordinary, every day kind of events helps the kids build skills, confidence, and character. Somehow turning away from traditional schooling and forging our own path through homeschooling has really emphasized how the ordinary can really be quite extraordinary. I know my boys are extraordinary and I just have to keep watching, observing, and embracing all the ways in which they show me that.
All kids have a way of teaching themselves and learning more about the world around them every single day.
If you look for it you can see and hear new ways in which they develop they skills.
Sometimes it's something as simple as a child asking what a new (to them) word means, sometimes it's a skill they've been working on and have finally mastered, and sometimes it's something more subtle that you only notice as time has passed and you look back thinking about how much they have changed.
We started our weekend with another Karate class. Alec and Evan wanted to head back to the dojang on Saturday and participate in another class.
On the way they brought their DS games which had Alec working on vocabulary words since his Pokémon game asked him to pick a work that best describes himself he could choose between words like diligent, adamant, naughty, serious, etc. He asked me which one I thought best described him but I put the question back on him and asked him what HE thought. There was a list of 20 words or so and he slowly went through them all stopping now and then to ask what a word meant. He decided to pick serious since he's "serious about his Pokémon game!"
Once at karate they participated in an obstacle course and attempted to do pull-ups using a bar. Alec was able to do a pull- up or two before his arms got tired. The boys had so much fun ducking, dodging, weaving, punching, skipping, hopping, and cartwheeling over obstacles. They reviewed Korean terms for different moves and kicks and worked on stretching and control.
While they were at karate, Ian was hard at work with his father and grandfather. Ian looks so forward to going to work on Saturdays and spends most of the day with his grandfather helping out with whatever he is working on.
Sometimes he comes home filthy, but he always comes home happy. I hope that whatever he decides to do with his life that he always manages to enjoy his work that much.
He's learning new skills and using new tools all the time.
The boys spent a good portion of the weekend outside (between rain storms) playing and riding bikes, scooters, and the like. They ran, used the swing sets, played with sticks and swords and did all kinds of yelling and screaming.
Whenever the rain started coming down hard the boys would come inside. They played twister, video games, hide and seek and other fun games.
We worked on our family puzzle, read books and cleaned house.
The boys observed nature while being outside but also when we were inside. Of course, we often looked out the window to see what the weather was like but we also got to see a fox crossing the ice on the lake. The boys were all excited about this and Alec was happy to answers all the questions about foxes. We compared the different temperatures we encountered each day and tried to gauge the amount of rainfall we received.
We went to breakfast Sunday morning and Ian was able to guess the restaurant bill total (he estimated and ended up being off by only $.50!)
We headed to my husband's work and checked out some of the machinery he's been building. The boys love climbing on all the huge metal structures he builds and this time Alec practiced his balancing skills and his karate moves. The boys sat down and meditated, tried lying down and even holding themselves in a plank pose.
We estimated the amount of welds it took to hold it together and talked about how the machine works. The boys raced each other around the shop and worked on being fair.
We listened to even more of our book and CD and talked about whether or not we want the next book in this series or to start at the beginning with the Percy Jackson books and listen to them all; the boys chose (unanimously!) to go on to the next book in THIS series.
Alec had a birthday party and got to run through a laser maze, climb a rock wall, play air hockey and have fun with kids his own age.
All these ordinary, every day kind of events helps the kids build skills, confidence, and character. Somehow turning away from traditional schooling and forging our own path through homeschooling has really emphasized how the ordinary can really be quite extraordinary. I know my boys are extraordinary and I just have to keep watching, observing, and embracing all the ways in which they show me that.
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