Unschooling Makes Me Crunchy!

So all this free time I have when we are not schooling has led me to reading up on being more green in lots of areas of our life. In the garden, we are using more compost (which I found needs more "brown" (leaves mainly) than I was giving it. That remedied I really hope for more black gold later in the season. We are also using cardboard in the bottoms of our raised beds as weed deterents. And of course, I have found several sprays and solutions to use on plants to keep the pests at bay.

For in the home, I have found fabulous recipes for homemade laundry soap and dishwasher detergent. Mostly they are made from Borax and Washing Soda. I recently made these and they work beautifully. The laundry soap costs approximately 70-95 CENTS for a batch that will wash 64 loads of laundry! Hows that for economic!?! It calls for you to grate a bar of soap of your choosing into the batch and I used the soaps we brought home from Disney World this past fall. This way my laundry smell will bring back great memories for me. I used 2 1 gallon milk jugs, well washed, to hold the laundry soap.

 http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/08/homemade-laundry-soap-revisited.html

The dishwasher detergent was about $1.00 per batch and it makes about 16 loads. The added bonus to this recipe is that there is lemon juice and white vinegar in it and in using it, I have eliminated the film my hard water leaves on the dishes. Also, I had found in the past that I really needed to rinse ALL the food stuffs off the plates and dishes before loading the dishwasher. I did a trial run and didn't rinse all the dishes before adding this homemade detergent. The results were amazing! All dishes were squeaky clean, even the unrinsed ones! I am sold on this recipe too.

http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2010/02/natural-homemade-liquid-dishwasher-detergent/

I decided that I wanted to find a recipe for shampoo and conditioner. So in searching I stumbled on www.crunchybetty.com  . This blog gave tons of great advice and recipes for going more natural and green. I found a great hair care recipe using just castile soap and coconut milk. Sounded simple enough. And conditioners with just apple cider vinegar and water (which I knew already made a great conditioner from when we had the lice issue in our house...but that is a WHOLE other blog story LOL)

 http://www.crunchybetty.com/not-ready-for-no-poo-try-sorta-poo-with-coconut-milk-and-castille

Then as I continued to read Crunchy Betty, I found a whole blog on using NO POO. Seems if you use a 1 to 3 part ratio of baking soda to water and massage it in your scalp every 3-4 days and rinse it well and then use a 1 to 3 part ratio of apple cider vinegar and water to condition and then rinse out (or not) you can get away with no commericial shampoo and conditioner at all.

http://www.crunchybetty.com/no-poo-to-you-too
 
Well, now I am intrigued and of course have to try this. If it works for me, I will start doing this with my kids and hopefully my honey as well. The results are supposed to be healthier, thicker, sometimes even darker hair. All that I have read says you have to get past the 9th -12th day before your hair and head stops panicking and overproducing oils, but you can take care of that also by brushing in a little cornstarch to absorb the oils. They recommend wearing ponytails and/or hats to avoid the whole greasy hair look. I think I will just stay home LOL.

Anyway, I am going NO POO as of April 1st. I should have lovely, healthy hair by the end of the month! We shall see!Oh and by the way, all of these links can be found on my pinterest boards as well!

Unschooling week three

As I suspected, we have fallen into a fun, ambling along routine in our unschooling venture. We awaken and do chores and get breakfast. Then we play and read, or hit the road to a class, or a visit with Grandma. When we return home, there is piano practice and journaling of what we did that day. The children are happy and unstressed....but the Mama is not! This is becoming just an early summer vacation, which is exactly what I was afraid of. I did insist on a math day on Tuesday this week, and the children took to it fine, doing their problems, struggling but in the end learning a concept, etc. But it is so relaxed that my brain is starting to slip. LOL

I need the structure of our school days. It keeps me focused on what day it is, what I have to accomplish, etc. Lately, I struggle with that. On Wednesday evening for example, my husband came to me and said "so, does anybody have to be anywhere?" and I leaped up in a panic and scrambled to get the baby out the door to riding. I doubled back to get her helmet and was about 10 minutes up the road when I realized that today was Wednesday and she rides on Thursday! Sigh...but this is what I do in the summer months too. I just slip into this time warp.

And....I don't see the kids finding interests and wanting to learn more. They play legos and dolls and occasionally race through the house playing chase. We all play board games, they play on the computer and watch family movies. We garden and play catch and family baseball. But I don't see the learning happening...though it probably is and I am just not catching the nuances of it.

So I can say with confidence that unschooling is not for ME! Whether or not it is for my kids....I am still not sure. But since I am the Mama and teacher, I think we will be returning to the workbooks and mornings of learning that we had set in motion from the beginning of the year. This has been fun...I can even say that this is what we NEEDED right now...a break to get outdoors and get the winter cobwebs blown away. A time to plan and begin the garden and a time for me to just relax a bit. With Spring break being next week, I think we will wrap up this experiment early. I tried, I really did, but my anxiety levels are up and I don't think I can do the last two weeks of this. Summer will be here soon enough and they can laze about and spend much time doing what they wish...but the school year belongs to me and my schedule.

To my unschooling friends out there! Wow! I give you credit. To trust the process and truly embrace it, that is momentous to me. I couldn't even last 3 weeks before feeling the panic of "what if..?." "how will they...?", "what about their future?". I wish I could, I really do...but it takes all kinds to make the world go round, and apparently I am not the unschooling kind. I come close...I give my kids the lead in a lot of how they learn and give them guided choices in what they learn. And I try to make it fun! But in the end, I need the structure to make it all click for me.

I do not consider this experiment a failure, even though we are ending early. I think I learned a lot about myself and our family and my kids. I think it was a joyous adventure, however short it was. And now I am ready to move onward.

Week two of unschooling

So we are finishing our second week of unschooling. This week we planned and completed the laying out of our garden. The children really worked hard hauling the bricks to create their raised beds and lay out walkways to walk upon. Then I helped them haul loads of straw, leaves, and composted earth and they created layers of organic matter and planted their early spring crops. Next week we will fill the remaining beds with layers and get them ready for their other seeds that need to wait  a bit to make sure the ground doesn't get too cold again. They planted onions, chives, parsley, marigolds, and cilantro.

 

We also dissected cows eyes this week. It was a great review of the parts of the human eye as well. At first we were all squeamish but once the cutting began, it was fascinating for all three of us. We used the lens as magnifying glasses and read words on some mail. We also thought that the tapetum was beautiful with its bluish silver iridescence. This is the part that reflects light back through the retina and allows cows, like cats and other creatures to see well at night.

Other than these two projects, we continued to learn about kites, hiked and collected water from a local lake (which we will examine under a microscope next week). The kids finished reading Alice in Wonderland, and Half Magic, as well as starting new independent reading books. My oldest is creating space in her room for a new baby doll she has saved and bought. It does my heart good to see her playing at dolls and not spending so much time with her Ipod touch and other electronics.

The children started baseball this week and though they both say they are not having much fun, I hope after a few practices they find their joy in the sport again.

So that is our second week. We have abandoned the whole "learning hour" model of unschooling and we are just embracing the day, each and every morning. I have no delusions of continuing unschooling once this 6 week period is over, but while we are in it, I am embracing the joy and ease of how our days are going along. I have had time to finish projects that had gotten away from me while in our winter term. And we have been able to visit the children's grandmother with more regularity, which in itself is a plus of this experiment, as we were so busy before that we just didn't go.

Next week the children begin at a Farm School which will run all through the spring. There they will learn about green building and sustainable living as well as learn more tips on gardening that they can then use here at home with their own gardens. It should be a very fun set of classes.

Until next week then...

Hiking and goofing about

Ok, week 2 and what do the kids think. Well, my oldest loves that she sleeps in and that she gets to play American Girl most of the day, indoors and out. My boy likes that he gets to have computer time throughout the day and not just late afternoon (though we still have a 2 hour screen time limit), but I just don't see the learning...at least not the on paper type learning (which is probably just me having to change the way I see learning) But I am willing to keep going...you can't give up after only a week.

Today we spent a good portion of the day hiking. We covered about 3 miles of woods and trails, stopping along the way to eat lunch and making homemade "fishing rods" which we used to try and lure the minnows. They definitely do NOT like beef jerky as bait. That is what we learned there HaHa! Along the trails we played the game where you go through the alphabet one at a time, saying for example "A, my name is Alex, I like to eat Apples, and my favorite animal is an Aardvark". Then the next person is B, then the next C, etc. The kids really got in the spirit and tried to come up with obscure food and animals and only used the obvious ones when they got stumped. It was fun, just the three of us. We talked, and laughed and sang and held hands. It was a beautiful spring hike.

 

The highlight for the kids I think was the two snakes we saw. One was a blacksnake and one was a garter snake. Both let the kids get quite close before slowly slithering on their way. We also collected water for our Sacred Well. This is something we do every February on St. Brigid's Day, or Candlemas. We spend the year collecting water from every place we go and then putting it all together in a communal bowl, creating a Sacred Well surrounded by candles that represent Brigid's Sacred Flame.
"Holy Water,
Sacred Flame.
Brigid we invoke your name
Bless my hands, my head, my heart,
Source of healing, song, and art"

 




 When we returned home the children practiced piano, half an hour each, and then we continued with our Kite learning. Today was Kite Geography. We got out the globe and some blank political maps of the world and found out what kites are called in other countries. It is interesting what they are called. In English speaking countries, they are Kites, which is also the name of a graceful bird. In Japan, where they use long bridles and tails on their kites, they are called Tako, which means Octopus. In Korea, they are called Wau, which comes from the sound the kite makes in a strong wind. After telling the children several, they then had to choose 3 from a list and look up what that word meant in that language and where in the world the country was. This mapping page they added to their kite folders. Then they had free time where my son played with a friend on the internet and my daughter went out in full costume, in the rain, and threw the baseball up in the air and caught it, over and over and over, till she wasn't scared of the descending ball any longer. When she came in, chilly but flushed with pride, I hugged her wet self and then sent her up for a hot bath to warm up. Only later did I find out that her game didn't end there. She changed costumes into a sort of shift dress and pretended to be a child in a 1940's orphanage in France and bathed IN THE DRESS. "After all, Ma-Ma, we are not animals that go about naked and vulgar" Oh the imagination there. I LOVE IT!

Week 1...Welll....

okay so we have finished up our first week of unschooling. The kids loved it and it was nice not having to worry about getting all the workbooks finished. We had a few great outings including the Kennedy Center, The Zoo, Rollerskating, and a morning out with Grandmommie. Tristan stumbled across a science experiment he wants to do in a magazine he was reading...disecting an eyeball. So I will call around to the butchershops and see if I can find one. If not, I will see if I can order one from somewhere. Hannah spent a good portion of the week rearranging her room to fit her american girl dolls. She created a school area and a home area for them, sewed them school uniforms for three of them that didn't have them and created some fashions out of dinner napkins for several as well. We visited the library and took out several fun looking books, even one for me, The Bronze Horseman.

I am trying hard not to worry about the schoolwork that was on my schedule that we are not doing, but to embrace all we are doing. We planned and bought seeds for the gardens and are going to start our seeding indoors this week. We also did a little math on Brain Pop and watched some personal accounts from WWII on video.

So all in all, it was a productive week I think. It doesn't feel like we did much but when I see it on "paper" here, it certainly sounds like a lot.

Can't wait to see what next week brings! Stay tuned!

My Perspective On Our Unschooling Experiment

Hi, I am Bella. I am giving my opinion on the unschooling experiment we are doing. I will give it an 8 out of 10. I think it is fun, but it's definitely not what I expected. My mom said that we could just learn at our own pace and decide what we wanted to learn. But then, she decided that we were not going to do that. I was a bit upset. At first when we started I thought that we would get a "break", but no. I thought that we would not have to get up as early as we did and maybe we would be able to go on "fun" field trips. But I was wrong. It's still up at 6:45am. We have been able to go to more fun places though! So it is mostly really fun. I am glad we don't have to do any more work books. We do watch history movies about the different world wars and stuff, but that's not so bad. I use a website called "BrainPop". It's kinda cool,I guess. We (my younger brother and I) keep school journals. We write a small passage about what we learned that day. I do my journal in a notebook and I write my passages. My younger brother has an online journal. He types his. Sometimes all I do for my learning time is lay in my bed and curl up with a good book (and my cat, youyou). I love reading my books and writing in my journal the most. The best part about unschooling is that I feel relieved of the pressure of having to get school done so I can call my friends on the phone or playing on my iPod. This way, I can do those things and still do school without having any pressure! And that....is my perspective on the "Homeschool Mama plus 3 unschooling experiment".    

Day One...and Two

So we began our unschooling experiment this week. The kids are free to learn as they wish, how they wish, and must only report what they want to me in the form of journaling at the end of each day. We have some "learning hours", but they don't have to stick to those, for example, if they want to go to the library and look stuff up in books, etc. The idea is to see if they will come up with their own ways to learn and help spark their interest in other topics.

The first day we actually went on a field trip. Well, two trips actually. The first trip was to a program about Operas. We met some friends and enjoyed an hour long show that explained different aspects of opera, from the characters, to the costuming, the lighting, the different backstage jobs, the different voices that there are for men and for women, and even a few scenes from an opera. The children found it interesting enough that they want to see the rest of the opera. We were only shown some scenes from Act I. This particular opera was modernized and set in Washington DC. It was very interesting to me as well. The Kennedy Center has such wonderful programs for children.

After the Opera program, we headed uptown to the Zoo. It was such a nice day we thought we would see if we could spot the animals enjoying spring too. We walked through exhibits featuring Lions, Tigers, loads of Birds, Red Foxes, Apes, and my personal favorite, The Elephant Shrew. He is sooooo cute! We didn't have too much time, so we are planning another trip back, when all the spring construction is done and the closed pathes are open agian. Due to the construction, we had to do A LOT of extra walking and unfortunately I didn't have my walking shoes on. Boy were my feet sore by the time we got back to the car.

When we got home, the children journaled about all they had seen and what they had learned. My son, by journalling on the computer is learning typing and word processing, which is a win win to me.

Day 2 found us at Piano lessons in the morning as well as "learning hour" where my daughter read and my son and I played Take Off, a fun geography game where you have to fly a fleet of jets across the country by jumping from city to city. Later, we went to my daughters American Girl Club at the library. There she spent time with friends learning about pioneer foods and activities, including quilting. She made a small doll quilt and tried homemade applesauce. My son read up on starfish and made a few new friends while playing on the computers. Another super nice day out, we decided to stop at the playground and swing on the way home. It felt so good to go flying up in the air on the swings. It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood poems:

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Robert Louis Stevenson

 

So far, so good...the children are enjoying themselves and I am enjoying watching them have fun and learning at the same time.  Tomorrow we head out to the garden and start planning out what we will grow this year. I am giving each child a garden plot to grow whatever they wish. They will have to take care of their plants and harvest their food. We are also going to see how our flower beds are doing and clean out the chicken coop while we are out there. We are also going to turn over the compost bin and see if we can get some of the "black gold" spread out on the gardens. Ah well, off to snuggle with the children and read some books. Tonights selections include a a few picture books dealing with WWII, a child's biography of the Kennedies, a Dr Suess book, and two fun books, one on kites, and one on the beach.