What did your unschooling family do/learn today?

[Ayla]

Today we


fed the dogs
fed the chickens
collected the eggs
checked the passionvine
pulled up weeds and fed them to the chickens
harvested ripe mulberries and fed them to the chickens
filled the clam pool and splashed about with the hose and buckets
Riley had a huge afternoon nap on me while I surfed the net
Riley had cous cous for lunch that absorbs the water we pour into it (science, eh?)
and just general pottering and playing with everyday items


Later we're going to walk to the bus stop to meet David and then go to the fruit & veg shop to get some things. We might fit in a play at the park too :D For a lazy day at home it seems pretty busy around here!

[Beatrice]

B wants to dye her hair. She's been ringing different salons and investigating prices and having consultations with a few stylists. She went off on the bus this afternoon to the mall so she could broaden her field of research. She's concluded that it will be a hell of a lot cheaper to do it herself so is now researching things that can go horribly wrong with home dye jobs :lol She's also tossing up between spending scads of money on her hair (which is halfway down her back, so expensive, but dyeing it at home will be a helluva job), or whether she should use her savings to go halves with us for a new bike.

Hmm. I reckon there's a fair few edumacational boxes to check off in there :lol

[Plein D'espoir]

Not much here today....

Went to playgroup and then off to lunch afterwards. Asked DD if she wantd to go to the park to have a play and she said no, library please. So off we went to the library where we read a few books and she got to borrow some. On the way home we stopped at the playground to have a play and then fed the ducks at the lake.

Now we're back home and just relaxing a little bit before my sister comes over and we start on dinner together. DD has asked to make rice so thats what we're having I guess!

[asimplelife]

Raced out of the house at 8.15am, 5mins after reading an email saying to come over to our friends house where they were having about a dozen very tall pine trees being felled on their property - none of us were dressed or anything and I can't remember the last time the kids were ready to go out so quickly. So that was cool to watch and then went to look at the alpacas over the in the neighbours property, their baby lamb, had cuddles with 7wk old kittens (they breed) and a noisy goose. Very cool and that was done by 10am lol, usually I'm only having my shower!

A h/s friend came to play in the afternoon.

[Janet]

We had JB so the kids had the usual blend of mayhem, politics, laughter and intimacy that's the norm.

[Ceres]

The most edumacational thing we did today was go to the central markets for food shopping. The kids also did some self-directed craft this morning. :)

[Louise]

Went to Northey St Permaculture course (so DD ate lots of dirt and plants and chewed on sticks, mmmmm) Then went into town out for lunch then went to the library and played in the kids corner and read books. Came home, scribbled with new crayons, ate new crayons, DD put all our shoes into my granny trolley, splashed in the bath, thought about going to bed, played some more, DD and DP went to bed and I am on here!

[Aurora]

We've had a grand day at my Gran's place. We went on a bushwalk and collected some interesting treasures along the way, such as gumnuts, leaves, feathers, seed pods, flowers. We brought them home and made some nature collages with them. I took plenty of photos to put on the website, along with lots more Spring Craft ideas (Ceres, sorry so late with this, will upload pics etc on Moday once I'm home.)

The kids had a nice long bath in the arvo, I put lots of different sized and shaped tupperware containers in and some bubble bath, they had fun pouring and making ''potions.''

[Janet]

Gran's place, hey? Busy on Sunday?

[Anarcostar]

Today we did loads! :)
-Tried out the sewing maching for the first time!! (YAY) T was very interested in what did what and how and why:)
-Made various parts for T's Batman costume for tonights B.U.S dinner
-Bounced on the trampoline
-Hung washing out
-Tie-dyed some clothes with T checking it all out
-T wanted to see what happens if you freeze vegetable oil :lol, so we put that and a few other things in the ice block tray to see what would happen (soy sauce, vinegar, salty water and veg.oil)
-checked several times on freezing condiments
-watered plants, looked at ants nests
-T got a little kids "real" guitar and a triangle, T worked out how to hold it and was playing "songs" for us and J was bashing the triangle
-T discovered that if you throw an egg (raw from the fridge) gently onto the patio roof, it BOUNCES 1,2,3 times! (before it smashes :rolleyes :lol)
-Went to unschoolers dinner and ate, danced, played games, socialised, laughed, put sticks in a fire, slid and tumbled around on some gym mats, caught bubbles, ran around...

Wow - and that was just one day (best go to bed soon .. tomorrow is likely to be just as full :lol )

[Ayla]

Are we supposed to learn on weekends?? :lol j/k ;)


fed the animals and did other homestead chores
splashed in the clam pool again
Riley watched David (try to) fix the car
and then Ry pretended to drive, so cute!
we all put together Riley's new table and chairs set that he got for his birthday
tidied the house and swept
Riley helped with unpacking the dishwasher and said "fuck" when he dropped some cutlery :rofl
and I witnessed intrinsic motivation in Ry when I was picking up a stewn packet of rubberbands and he came over to help when he saw what I was doing :)
I researched fruit trees while Riley played
we watched Dirty Dancing and Riley boogied to the music
David and I ordered Indian and made sure to order something we'd never tried before, and Riley had some too
now they're both passed out and I'm about to watch an online documentary :D

[Mama_Kaz]

We went to a Joyous Birth gathering, twas luffly :D

[Beatrice]

Yesterday K and B went out to the farm and both of them got to ride; B her new horse and K the neighbour's pony. K had a long play date with the neighbour's 3yo daughter, and K and B both made cards for Father's Day (which we postponed until today because we've had so much on :lol). We got them home at about 8pm so K went straight to bed, but B stayed up til midnight listening to an Artemis Fowl audiobook and drawing.

[Sarasvati]

Anarcostar did you go to the butterfly ball? /jealous

[Anarcostar]

Anarcostar did you go to the butterfly ball? /jealous

Yes!! It was great - even T (who hates loud social situations with lots of people) had a great time (even participated in group games which is a first! :)) and wants to go again today! :lol

[Ayla]

homestead chores as usual (feeding & watering the animals, collecting the eggs, checking the plants, etc)
I finished watching the second half of the documentary from last night - wow! I posted about it here somewhere
nudie finger painting! Well, Ry was nude :lol We ended up with green finger paint all over us and got a great one of our hand prints, it was fun :)
more cleaning, did a grocery shop, did loads of washing
went to the nursery, looked at all the edible plants and came home with a dwarf lime (tahitian)
discovered the avocado graft is actually dead and the new growth that's there is the rootstock :bah So now I'm researching getting another avo


I love this thread. I have realised just how many learning pursuits I have. Right now my interest in permaculture and peak oil issues have come to the fore.

[Sarasvati]

I am a frustrated gardener atm so yesterday I went and bought a bunch of shade loving plants. They aren't food plants but I want to pretty up the arse-end of our house (around the side, where the water tank lives). The girls play there a lot so I have a fern, a conifer, a clivis, some violets (including native violet), and some colourful foliage type plants. So in the spirit of being self-sufficient completely ;) I got out the mattock and dug up the dirt, added gypsum, cow poo and compost (including my own!) and planted more than half of them out until my body said NO MORE! Kira helped as well. I love having a tank so I don't need to feel guilty about ornamentals (and hey, it's still contributing air cleaning stuff and will provide the girls with play opportunities).

[Janet]

We went to Swedish heaven yesterday - Ikea. I have a new rug and some other stuff to play with. *drool*

[Anaed]

ooooh jealous Janet!!! Goign to budget in a trip there soon!

So far I have
-- started to tidy up linen cupboard
-- hung one load of washing
-- played one game of scrabble (which Lauren won)
-- cuddled four baby guinea pigs
-- given one toddler lots and lots of booby and fed said toddler to sleep (still on lap need to put nappy on and transfer!)
-- made lemonade
-- looked into the playroom at the board games and cards all over the floor from toddler, sighed and shut the door

[GreenGully]

So far the boys have:
-Played with Hama Beads
- Played with playdough
- Played with Lego
-Played with Thomas Trains
- Done some craft
-Watched Abc Kids
- Watching a dvd now.

So far I have played with my dreads and said hello to the chookens :)

[GreenGully]

Oh and I should add that they have happily cleaned up after each activity without any complaints. It isn't perfectly tidy but I am still kind of in shock at how easy today has been so far (5 hours on my own with with them already and it has been a breeze!)

[Anaed]

I'm so jealous.
Feel like I'm hitting my head on a brickwall trying to get my girls to help. BOth of them are annoying the crap out of me atm, they are outside, I'm hoping they are in the shade its fricken hot out there.
I have craploads of housework/tidying to do, best go do that while I have some peace.

[GreenGully]

:grouphug Days like that are tough!

[Plein D'espoir]

Today DD helped me prepare breakfast for us.

Went for a HUGE walk and picked lots of flowers for my mum and went and patted the neighbours horse.

Helped prepare lunch with me and now we're going to chill a bit on the couch and read, hoping to both pass out. :)

[Ayla]

It was hot so we set up on the back porch and stayed out there all day! Today we

set up Riley's table n chairs and blackboard
did drawing with texta and paper
did drawing with the whiteboard marker and whiteboard side of the blackboard
did drawing with chalk and the blackboard (and on the cardboard box, and the porch concrete :lol)
splashed around in the clamshell and Riley played lots with water and pouring it out everywhere :lol
munged out on watermelon, banana, blueberries and ham sandwiches
did some weeding and harvested mulberries
Dave is trying to fix the car and we spent time hovering around checking it out
I set up a new blog :D

[Anaed]

We met sarasvati and her girls at Sherwood Forest Park (Lauren got a good giggle out of that name) the girls had a ball racing around the big wooden play area, they were handing out tickets (leaves) for the boat trip, no idea where the boat was going though :lol

Anya stacked it and got a big dent in her head but recovered quickly thankfully!
We were going to do the little river walk but it was closed for maintenance, so we spent some time under some big trees, collecting leaves, spoting birds and just generally soaking it all up. I really really enjoyed it, it felt so wonderful.

When we got home Lauren & I did some crayon rubbings with the leaves :)

[Hush]

Hade a tea party in our new teepee (built yesterday for the grand sum of $15). We made some fairy cakes with glitter, pink icing. We played tea with some sun tea we made this morning and a little japanese teapot and cups Omar chose yesterday. Played a while, did some washing, then decided to surprise DH at work. Everyone was delighted to share our fairy cakes, Omar took great delight in handing one out to each person. (Tis a very small company, and O is the first baby of the company). Slept, listened to the drip drip of the kitchen water heater exploding, got someone to look at it, paid them for having a look. Made a yarn/glue/balloon lampshade while Omar cut some trees and blew bubbles. Went out for sushi... then bedtime :)

[Ceres]

That sounds like such a blissful day!
Our children did NOTHING deliberately educational or schooly today, just the incidental stuff that comes along with spending the day doing jobs with the adults.
Lucky it's the school holidays so there's no impetus for learning huh! :lol

[Anaed]

Lauren & I made a tin can phone yesterday (yk old tins with string (in our case yarn) between them) L loves it! So much fun hehe

THe other day we made a paper mache bowl (a la SouleMama in 'Handmade Home') just waiting for some new paints so we can decorate it.

[Ayla]

Yesterday we


Fed the dogs & chooks
Collected the egg and put it in the fridge
Cleaned and tidied the house
Riley followed a bug around the floor observing it and laughing his arse off when Audrey (our youngest dog) became involved
Riley played with the "baby" - my old Cabbage Patch doll that has a nappy, bonnet, and all-in-one suit. He had to do the nappy on and off and also wrap it up in the blankie.
Made homemade ice cream
Danced to music
Counted and sorted the coin jar ($40 in change, woot!)
And many other things I can't think of

[Ceres]

We went to the pride march and partayed afterwards.

[Janet]

DS' birthday party. He was six on Friday. :)

[Echo]

We sat around (and still are) waiting for the cool change to happen so we can open the windows.

[Anarcostar]

We went to a friend's daughter's birthday party at a swimming pool. Had a great time and it was lovely to be wet on a hot day like today. Though we are all a little burnt (didn't realise how long we were there, and forgot to re-apply :oops)

We also trawled the local kerbside recycling piles and was taher restrained (well at least until tomorrow when we have the trailer :lol :eager).

And enjoyed dinner outside in the cool, surrounded by screeching rainbow lorikeets. Nice :)

[Ceres]

Oh gotta love a bit of curbside shopping!!

[trust]

Yesterday we celebrated DS's 7th birthday with a bit of putt putt golf and yummy icecream.

Today so far we have built a castle with the cardboard boxes from the fruit/veg shop and hosted a lovely tea party with delicious fruits.

Happy Birthday to Janet's DS:)

[Ayla]

Yesterday we


Did the urban homesteading chores
Discovered 3 passionfruits on our vine! Our first fruit :D
Had one set of Ry's grandparents over for morning tea, and the other set over for dinner
Did lots of cooking
Did a load of washing
Filled up the clam shell, changed into togs (Ry was nudie) and we had a play in the water in the hot afternoon. Ry thought it was funny to spray my face with the hose :lol At least it was on 'mist' setting!
Ry did lots more roleplay with the 'baby' including coming up to me saying "shhhh! sleep" and pointing to the doll all wrapped up in a blankie and lying down :lol

[Auset]

Today my lil Chook went and spent some quality time with her Nanna while I did some christmas shopping. While I did the boring stuff, they did painting (pictures and some boxes) and made puppets. Then we came home and DD had a big nap while I checked out the montessori goodness that was waiting on the doorstep (Wooden tray with jars for painting- fits the easel perfectly woohoo! They are just beautiful too. Stockmar watercolours and crayons, mini broom and dustpan and broom, kitchen stuff (DD is struggling with the grown up versions, rightly so with those little hands!) basket and wash tub. Can't wait for Christmas!

Cleaned out a drawer in the kitchen for DD's kitchen stuff, about to start on the pantry so she has a shelf for her cleaning things, and pantry snacks/bowls etc. I cleaned out the craft cupboard last night, and the learning baskets in the linen press the day before so things are all lovely and neat and tidy.

Organised DH to make a tangram set (He will cut it out, I will paint them and photograph them in the various patterns and pop the pics a small album for DD to use with the set)

Ironed napkins and placemats :P (how exciting lol...)

We are about to go for a walk to find some things to inspect with the magnifying glass.

[Sarasvati]

We went to playgroup at BIS, it was actually really fun (and cool!) the girls had a ball playing with other kids and toys etc and I have a ball gasbagging :lol.

[Echo]

We built a fort out of a cot mattress & blankets. :)

[Ceres]

DS played reading eggs, lego and craft while I cleaned the house ready for our visitors who are arriving in the morning.

[Ceres]

Today, without any input from me, DS..
- Made paper puppets
- Took the neighbours some eggs
- Played on the swing
- Built a wall out of pavers
- Chatted to the neighbour's child
- Chose a birthday present for his grandfather
- Made a birthday card for his grandfather
- Built lots of lego
- Played on the "lego designer" website
- Blew bubbles with detergent
- Watched backyard science
- Did some of his maths workbook.

And that was a quiet day!!

[ButterflyMama]

S helped me make lemonade scones
Picked a huuuuuuuuuuge cucumber from our vege patch
Read books to herself quietly and beautifully patiently while I tried to get A to sleep
Made some playdough 'cakes'

[shaestar]

Me and kids caught train to city to see the Myer xmas window-since Tannah discovered that the theme was an "Olivia" book she has been super keen! Then met up with a friend and her kids at the aquarium-Tannah and Willow both held a starfish for the first time! Usually they are a little wary lol.
Caught up with a gang of friends and many kids in the arvo.

Sleep now?? lol

[Anarcostar]

Wow Ceres, what a busy "quiet day"!!

Our day was fairly subdued. Trying to stay cool mostly.
Tyler:
-Dug in the dirt/mud
-Played on Poisson Rouge
-Started a long forgetten puzzle (unfortunately interrupted by J waking up)
-Pretended to be Peter Pan and Ben 10 :blueroll
-Jumped off a table- higher than ever before!
-Jumped on the trampoline
-Played in the sheet "den" we set up
-Played with (and ate :blueroll) playdoh
-Flung cardboard toilet rolls around the room with some narrative about electricity and fire :lol
-Collected macadamia nuts with J and I
-Found a hole in the concrete, found the hammer and broke open some of the collected nuts - all by his own direction
-Listened to DH read Roald Dahl - his fave at the moment!

Jasper:
-Barked at dogs
-ran away squealing from Tyler
-investigated ants
-put random stuff in his mouth
-played and sat in an esky full of water then proceeded to tip it out
-discovered he could go down the side of our house (previously blocked off) and the new gate at the end, and the street out beyond where all the parents were dropping their kids off to school (we live opposite a school -hehe!) - J loves all the activity of the people going about their day!
-Barked more at dogs, yelled at birds, pointed to the sky
-Played with stacking toys
-Threw stacking toys over verandah (and onto the road :blueroll)
-Slept
-Helped me water garden,taunted green ants, dug in the dirt and mud, helped collect nuts
-Climbed up ladder next to trampoline and got on by himself :eek
-"Bounced" on trampoline
-Climbed on tables, chairs and into the stroller (which he discover the other day and thinks is a great ride around the garage!)
-Played playdoh (well threw playdoh)
-Threw cardboard toilet rolls around room then tried to stuff them inside each other
-Dress up
-Picked tomatoes (not quite ripe though)
-Kept walking over to the sofa, pat sofa then pat his chest - indicating he wanted boobie!! :lol

ETA: Just re-reading that, no wonder they are both spark out and I'm ready for bed myself!!

[Hush]

We've got a week long holiday at the moment, two birthdays, two public holidays and an anniversary so it's been a busy (and amazing time). Today we got up, cleaned the house, DS helped me bake his birthday muffins (DH chose the flavour), we had butter cake with whipped cream and strawberries/blueberries. Invited his friends over to play a while, took lots of photos, called family all around the world (DS cried everytime someone sang Happy Birthday to him, not sure why).

We all slept a while, got up and went bowling, didn't last long (DS got bored), went to the hardware store at DS' request... came home, played with his friends again, made dinner, now watching a cartoon... time for bed soon. What a blast.

This week, we've been to the snow (Dubai has a ski slope inside a shopping mall), aquarium tomorrow, parks, pools, outdoor cultural festival (really a celebration of MIC crap), really enjoying having DH home, he's been travelling so much lately. :)

[deesalie]

Tidied the house (minimally)
Made some playdough
J taught himself how to hold a pencil *properly*
Destroyed some puzzles
Took some photos
Boobed on the couch
The kids made "chicken stock" for the cat using water, flowers, leaves, chocolate milkshake, bread and other assorted items. Needless to say the cat wasn't overly keen.

[Ceres]

We went for a walk to the creek to look for tadpoles (there were none) and collect leaves which are now being pressed under a stack of books to be collaged at a later date. Lots of playing outside and colouring in, and lego building of course. I did a few odd jobs and started thinking about a pond.

[Blossomtime]

We went for a walk around the old battery after breakfast, then dropped DH at work and went to the beach with some other home edders and got totally wet and sandy - me included :D The children spent ages playing with seaweed. Now they are clean and relaxing on the couch watching a movie for a bit :) Audrey has been checking in with her fish at this game (http://www.primarygames.com/science/ocean/games/fishtycoon/index.htm) too. She's made millions :lol

[Echo]

We went to the shops and spent an almost obscene amount of time looking at all the Thomas toys in Big W.

[Ayla]

:bump for fave thread day! The message got lost in the thread a bit, but it's about what learning happened in our unschooling day. I might re-title it.

[Beatrice]

My younger two are learning about cleaning the kitchen at the moment ;) If I ask them to help clean K runs a mile, but invite her to have fun squirting and wiping things and she goes to town :lol

[Ceres]

My DS & Gully Jr are still on their science kick - they love knowing everything about high and low pressure (ie water fountain bottles), surface tension and inertia, plus they're also on a craft kick at the moment. The craft box has become a craft cupboard!
What we learned today... we went on a nature walk and looked at the different creatures we could find in rock pools.

[Jo-Ma]

Oh I like this thread...........

Today we went for a bike ride in the rain to the park, stopping along the way to spot bugs and taste the rain. At the park we played "There's a grumpy old troll under the bridge" which my kids just love.

When we got back, we did body painting - evidence of this being green footprints and yellow handprints on the carpet and various other locations around the house. Chayton and Llogan jumped in the bath to wash off and took the paints with them and now we have a lovely green, yellow and blue painting on the bathroom tiles :-)

Later we all snuggled up together under a duvet on the smallest sofa in the room and watched a Winx Club dvd and I learned the names of Chayton and Llogan's favourite characters and why they love The Winx Club so much.

Jo

[Ceres]

I've never heard of the Winx club.. what's it about?

[Kris]

Yesterday DD1 and DH learned that rainy afternoons that aren't in the cricket or football season are an okay time to visit the emergency department, they learned what a hairline fracture is and how it's different to other kinds of fractures because you can still walk on it and wriggle your toes a little bit. DD1 is learning how to use crutches and why the difference between hobbling and staying off your foot entirely makes to your levels of pain and irritability. I'm learning how much she helps out when her feet both work. DS and DH have gone to the lawn mower shop this morning to learn, hopefully, why the blades DH bought for the mower aren't fitting.

I love this thread!

[Janet]

Excellent life learning there. Kris. :lol :grouphug How caring of your dd to set up such a great excursion for you all!

So far today my kids learnt that our chicken has been laying her eggs secretly but we found her stash. :lol

[Beatrice]

I don't like this thread so much, because I think it sets up a distinction between what we do and what we learn. I don't know what my kids are learning, because I'm not qualified to know. I'm not inside their heads. And I don't like privileging my perspective about what I can see and what I judge to be "learning" over their own internal knowing. I trust that my kids are learning every single day and from whatever they are doing, whether I can see it or not :)

[Janet]

I thought it was a bit of fun and that, for example, my last post and that of Kris showed exactly what life was about and our (usually humorous) pretend perceptions of what was being "learnt" after being experiencing it?

[Beatrice]

I dunno, I've always felt uneasy about their being a distinction between this and the "What are you doing today?" thread :shrug

[Ceres]

I think this thread, for me, is just a bit of a reminder / reassurance that he's learning and that all is well. Some days when he's spent a lot of time blobbing about and not looking very productive I have to remind myself that he is actually learning. It could also be a bit of a tongue in cheek look at how we manage to fit our unschooling lives into a curriculum which is able to be registered. I often comment that maths / english / science is done for the day when I see the kids do some spontaneous addition, writing or experiments.

[Jo-Ma]

I like this thread because I value hearing about how other unschoolers/homeschoolers fill their day. I focussed on the "What did your unschooling family DO today".

Today, our plan to stay in and have a cooking and baking day went out the window when my brother and his family popped in for a visit. So we all went for a walk around the marina and ended up watching the dolphins. We stopped off at the park and it started raining really heavily. The kids loved playing in the rain and jumping in the muddy puddles. Later, we spent a good couple of hours having tattoos sprayed on almost every part of our body with a spray tattoo toy thing that Chayton had bought with her money she has been saving.

Jo

[Ayla]

Part of the intention behind it was to have a kind of record-keeping aspect for edu-speak, and I guess also for those making the transition from thinking schoolishly to life learning, iykwim?

[Kris]

That'd be me! And yes, it's helping me enormously. Today DH explained feminism and International Women's Day to DS who wanted to know why there wasn't a men's day. DS spotted a spider's web dripping with rain drops and we talked about the strength in webs. I learned that my kids can get morning tea on the table and beautifully set while I deal with a poo (LOs not mine) and comb for head lice.