A Checklist

http://lifewithoutschool.typepad.com/lifewithoutschool/2008/10/checklist-for-t.html This is the coolest checklist for unschoolers that I have run across so I just wanted to share.

Unschooling Books

I am currently finished reading volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling series. While I like/liked it, I certainly don't agree 100% with what she has to say and some of her habit ideas are good, but require too much nagging(though she claims it isnt nagging....in my humble opinion, it is) for peaceful parenting. After finishing that volume, I skimmed the other 5 volumes and liked what I saw in those even less. Many things she suggests will seem contrived to the kids and annoy them. Her education ideas are good and many of her outdoor ideas and other things are great, but as with anything, you take what is good and leave the rest. I am not sure I want to read the other volumes at this point. For now, they will set on the bookshelf until I feel like reading them.

It inspired me to go digging and find my unschooling books and to actually slowly and carefully reread them. I am reading Unschooling, How the Use the World as Your Child's Classroom right now and it is so much better 2 years later with 2 years more experience and fresh eyes. Having read many other theories and continually trying them out, I know that after unschooling for a few years, I freaked out and decided I could be doing my kids a disservice and I ordered Sonlight, only to be utterly burned out by week 7 so we sent that packing. The last 3+ months, we have been using the Charlotte Mason method loosely, only to be finding once again, some burn out. Not sure if other homeschoolers suffer constant burnout and keep changing programs, but we tend to do that unless we are unschooling in which everything is just changing constantly with life/seasons so nothing gets burnt out. One way I think I have found the key to eliminating the nerves next time they arise is to alway be reading a new book on the subject of unschooling to keep inspired. Its very similar to the gospel, if you quite reading your scriptures, you feel less and less spiritually inspired right? I feel reignited to unschool, only this time differently as this time my kids are in a different place where I feel more confident in their learning abilities. As they get older, I am realizing a lot of learning is taking place via osmosis and nothing to do with my doing it. In fact, the things they choose to read and study are things they actually remember. Anything I try to cram in them seems to be a waste. We read together for enjoyment and that doesn't seem a waste at all as we all pick the books together and read some each day. Its become a huge treat that we all look forward to. I guess I am also more confident than ever in unschooling having the dish turned off because I KNOW they are really learning now by not sitting around watching tv all day long. They are always doing something inventive and fun.

Some of the things I have read about that never occurred to me or stood out to me last time I read this book was for begining readers, when they do watch tv/movies to turn on the closed captioning. What a brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that. So, I turned it on so that when and if they turn tv on to watch anything or if they watch a movie, it will automatically be subconsciously helping my early readers as well as Kayla who is quite proficient. I am learning also that no matter how hard I push or don't push reading, some kids do naturally come to it much younger. I swear I never taught Kayla to read. I don't even know how she learned. It just sorta accidentally happened as at the time I didn't have any program to teach it to her. I just read to her a lot and told her the sounds letters make and wala. Wyatt, I have tried so tirelessly to teach reading to via Hooked on Phonics last year(while we were unschooling everything else), Sonlight, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons to no avail. He can read very short, little books with 3 words or so per page, but he is almost 7 years old and no where near proficient. Everett is almost 6 and can't read more than a few select words and you know what, he is brilliant and I am not worried in the slightest. I know it will come to Wyatt and Everett, but I need to allow it to come in their time which means backing off. It hilarious because we did nothing formal for December, just read, watched movies, baked, played games, and did all sorts of things for Christmas festivities and when we sat down the day after Christmas to do some formal schooling, their reading and writing was better than it has ever been....why? Because they weren't being pushed to do anything during December, they were able to relax and be themselves and learn the way kids learn best, through osmosis, through life.....it just happened, it was unintentional. Now in our third week back to "semi formal" schooling, Charlotte Mason style of course(which is very unschoolerish in most areas(it lacks unschooling quality though as you are the one suggesting, forcing and making it happen, not the kids), I see the kids already looking bummed when I pull our basket of books/workbooks out each day. Today was supposed to be week 3, day 2 back since Christmas, but I just couldn't bear to see their disappointed faces once again when I pulled out "the basket" so I called off formal schoolwork. Nate had to go to the dump this morning with his dad to help him unload a bunch of old stuff and we had stuff that needed to go as well since we are clearing everything out for the move soon so I asked him to take the boys. He seemed puzzled and asked about "school." I told him, "Where in a book are they going to experience the nasty odors, the ants, the bugs, the weighing of the trailer, the money exchange, the oil bins, the consumerism that fills the earth up with garbage, the land movers burying, the recycling area, the old appliances that no longer work........where could I give them that?" He looked at me and said, "hmm good point, get ready boys." The boys of course had a blast. Kayla had no desire to go as she went with Daddy once before and that was enough for her so she stayed home with me and Kenna and finished knitting a scarf while I read.

I then got a brilliant idea to take the weekly grocery store mailer and have the kids help me, when they got back of course, to create a 1 week meal plan based on things that were on sale this week in the mailer and what they like. I told them the budget was 80 dollars and we all worked together and they came close, reaching 90 dollars, but I of course had to add toilet paper and a few non edible items, bringing our total to 100 with tax. We talked about weight of apples and oranges and about how many pounds we would want. Kayla added .69 four times to get the total that 4 lbs of apples were going to want for the week. Not that I need to categorize everything, but I feel a need usually for outside skeptics(another hurdle of unschooling for me that maybe one day I will get over) so if you look at that planning, it entailed, health/nutrition(I reminded them that each meal needed to be balanced and told them what balance was), math, price comparison, and reading to see amounts and what brands were on sale. Each week, I will be taking 2 kids to the store with me. I will separate my list in half and each child will be responsible to find everything on their own list as we walk through together. They will have to weigh the fruits and veggies, price comparison shop and check amounts per pound and estimate costs(keeping within our assigned amounts). This in itself is like a game to them. They don't realize how much they are learning by doing this and it really eliminates the need for math workbooks in my opinion. Real math in real life is so much more meaningful. Between this activity, baking, cooking, measuring, playing Chutes and Ladders/Connect Four/Dominoes/Monopoly Jr/Checkers, and so many other things they encounter, what good reason is there to force them to sit mindlessly working on math problems that make them all want to cry? Everett actually enjoys his math workbook and they will always be able to access these workbooks if they want them and my bet is that Everett will finish his off even faster now that there wont be a limit. I actually have to stop him most days because he wants to do too much math and we need to "move on" to the next subject. This lifestyle is so freeing. I just had to write about it as I am so passionately reinspired to unschool.

My next read is Christian Unschooling and then I filled my Amazon cart up for my upcoming birthday with a few others that I want to read/own; Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves: Transforming Parent-child Relationships from Reaction And Struggle to Freedom, Power And Joy, Learning All The Time, The Unschooling Unmanual, and lastly Homeschooling Our Children Unschooling Ourselves.

Lastly, here is a blog about Radical Christian Unschooling that I like and this post especially really says it beautiful about how and why, if done correctly, radical unschooling can be a part of a Christian home. http://radchristianunschooler.homeschooljournal.net/2006/04/27/what-is-christian-unschooling/

Sledding

Rick and Nate doing their tough guy poses haha

Nicole, Kenna and I

Kayla lol Weeee
Tanner is crazy!

Tryin to walk in the snow

She kept eating it

Nate and Nicole shooting air pellet guns

Wyatt wiping out

Adeline and Wyatt

Kayla and Abbey

Everett digging a ramp on their path

Charlotte Mason is a big outdoor enthusiast and I know why. Nothing livens the spirit like some fresh sunshine and fresh air. The mountain air was the best. We went to the mountains a few days ago with our friends from church to spend a day doing something fun and free. Nate and the kids sledded for 3 hours. We also all took turns shooting the air pellet guns which is great fun and gun safety as well as training. How else would you want to learn about speed, velocity, snow, and gun safety......from a textbook? I think not!

OH AND IF YOUR WONDERING WHY A HOMESCHOOLING POST IS HERE, I HAVE DECIDED TO STOP POSTING TO MY HOMESCHOOL BLOG AND POST EVERYTHING HERE SO THIS WILL BE THE NEW HOME OF MY HOMESCHOOL POSTS AS WELL. YOU CAN FIND THE NEW HOMESCHOOL POSTS IN THE HOMESCHOOL/UNSCHOOL TAB.

25 Weeks

Its getting bigger--11 weeks left!

Happy New Years!

I wanted to say that my goals this year are

• Going to the Temple and being sealed
• Reading through my Bible OT and NT using this plan. I started today http://www.heartlight.org/devotionals/reading_plans/straightthrough.pdf.
• Getting at least 10,000 in savings by years end
• Getting a new mattress for my bed because ours is 8 years old and was very cheap and its killing our backs
• Replacing couches/end tables via cheap stuff from craiglist because our couches have a hole and are just nasty from drool/kid accidents during naps/etc. Not to mention even when clean, the fabric is beat up and worn down.
• Replacing the boys' beds for a bunk bed with trundle as they take up literally the space of just one bed
• Getting Kayla and Kenna a bunk bed so that Kenna can move out of our bed sometime this year hopefully
• Moving out and getting settled into a new place.
• Keeping our food bill less than 500 a month
• NOT swearing! (yes, *blushes* I sometimes do this and need to quit it)
• Being outdoors much more myself as well as the kids(they are already outside about 4 hours a day in decent to good weather, but I think we could increase it by homeschooling outdoors more often). I want to do this because being outdoors serves so many purposes. It is healthier air than indoors, the sunshine repels depression and anxiety, when outdoors you are generally much more active and mostly, it keeps everyone off the computer.

I will update every few months to see what goals I have accomplished and what is still waiting to be done.

Bye Bye TV

We cancelled our dish mid November. It was a tad difficult for all of us at first. Nate and I aren't big TV heads by any stretch of the imagination, but we found we did like it to unwind at night after the kids were in bed. The kids were another story. The reasons we got rid of the dish include:

1. Kids were addicted and would watch it 3-4 hours a day if we let them and when we didn't, they threw tantrums.
2. $$$, Nate's pay cut meant we wanted to weed out unnecessary stuff from our lives. TV made the cut
3. Kids were not able to be creative when it was turned off because they were dependant on it for entertainment.

The things we found out from having it gone over a month are:

1. We go literally DAYS without the TV running at all now(channels 2,3,4,5,7,9,11 and 13 are BORING) less electricity going means lower bills all around:0)
2. The kids are reading, playing mind boggling games and learning at a really rapid rate that otherwise wasn't happening.
3. The kids are way more creative, inventive and fight 10X less.
4. Nate and I's marriage has benefited in several areas ie; intimacy(not watching TV at night) and our own reading has benefited, which benefits the kids because they see it as completely normal for adults to sit around reading on a rainy day instead of watching TV.
5. An unexpected surprise: our house is actually CLEANER because the kids aren't as lazy and seem to be cleaning up after themselves more??? Never would have guessed this one.

My disclaimer is that we do still have a TV and have no intentions to get rid of it, but we have no dish and the kids don't watch basic channels so the only TV time that really happens is the occasional movie, which has become a rainy day or maybe once a week treat. We actually watched A Christmas Carol the other day to wrap up our reading since we read the book this month for Christmas and the kids really enjoyed seeing the movie after reading the book, but it was such a treat that they all sat perfectly intent and watched it(where normally a book/movie, I would have to try to keep them still to watch it because they were too used to watching Spongebob all day). Its been a great thing for our family though and I don't foresee us restarting dish.

Merry Christmas

Christmas was perfect. We were blessed enough to give our children everything we hoped we could and it was a wonderful day. The weather was super dreary and rainy which is actually quite a treat in Southern California so we just enjoyed the Christmassy Christmas day.

The night before Christmas and all through the house

Christmas eve PJ presents!
Kenna's BIG gift!

The BIG kid's BIG gifts

What they woke up to

Kenna LOVING her Rose Petal Cottage

Tanner so excited

Look at all those new bikes

Kenna in her new chair

Playing with her magnets that came in her stocking

Everett opening his bedding

Wyatt with his cool NBA sweatband, just like the pro Basketball players

Tanner unwrapping

Kenna tearing open her pony

Tanner on his new bike with matching helmet

Kayla in her new bedding and her new outfit

Everett trying out his new car bedding

Tanner's new dino bedding

Wyatt's awesome sports bedding*(he's way into basketball)

Dont get your eyes checked lol, that's my 3 year old riding his new spiderman bike with NO training wheels(they have been off the old bike about a month now)

Because I Can.....

The handsome boys!
The beautiful girls

I love Kenna's dress

Tanner and mama(23 weeks preggs), doesn't he look like me most of all the kiddos?

Everyone:0)

Everyone was dressed in their Christmas Church best and I couldn't help but take a plethora of pictures of them:0) I love seeing them dressed in their best with combed hair and clean faces.

A Word About Extended Nursing

There are so many misconceptions out there that I felt this post may help. I have received a lot of questions/comments about still nursing through pregnancy and beyond.

• Contrary to what many believe, nursing will not affect a healthy new pregnancy in a negative way.
• There is no reason to wean if your toddler and you are still happy with nursing.
• Nursing a new baby while continuing with your toddler can reduce sibling rivalry/anxiety.
• Milk may get a tad on the dry side at some point during pregnancy, but even still, if your toddler is still happy, there is no reason to stop.
• The WHO recommends nursing 2 years or beyond.
• Most countries around the world nurse their children until they are 3, 4 or even 5.
• Extended nursing provides antibodies to your child for that much longer.
• It takes away the need for whole milk which can be harsh to immature systems or any system at that.
• Kellymom.com (http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html) says that the benefits to toddlers include: Good nutrition, fewer allergies, socially well adjusted, intelligent and mothers also benefit.
• For the mother, benefits include: lowered risk or breast, endometrial, ovarian, and uterine cancers, lowered risk of osteoporosis, insulin requirements, arthritis and being overweight.

So all in all, its a win win situation! I look forward to nursing my girls together.

Mommy and Kenna(14.5 months)

Cloth Diapers Galore

All the new stuff. Look at the size difference of Kenna's stuff on the left and Maddy's on the right. I can't beleive my Maddy will have a booty that tiny!
Madelynn's covers on the right and her prefolds on the right, they are soooo teeeeny tiny.

Kenna's pretty new covers

So after buying tons of different brands and things with mediums, we KNOW what we like now! We love the unbleached(so soft) Chinese prefolds and proraps and Thirsties covers. I also enjoy the Bumkins covers because they are so cute. I bought 2 dozen large and 2 dozen newborn prefolds. I also bought a few new girlie colored snappies, 6 large and 6 newborn Prorap covers, 2 newborn Thirsty covers, 1 large Thirsty and 1 large Bumkins cover. Oh and of course, I bought a new stash of 30 soft new wipeys. I am all set for Kenna's larges and Maddy's newborn diapers now, YAY! Besides a few more clothes, we are all ready for baby Maddy who will be making her debut in 13 weeks. Its getting close.

Knott's Merry Farm

Each year Knotts does an annual Free month for police and fire personnel and 1 family member and then up to 6 extra people for $15 a person. This was our second year and we plan to make it tradition to go each year during this season. Its so much fun and a very inexpensive day for us.

The whole gang
The train ride
Sibling love

aw I love this one

The whole family on the camp snoopy train

Flying a plane

Eeep look out

My boys

Now this ride was fun!

Kenna loved it!

weeeeee

A ride on the bus

Everett

Bumper cars