A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

I got a little behind, this is for last Thursday and Friday. I came down with some kind of bug
:(
so I can't say we did much. Everytime the kids started reading, I fell asleep!!
How sad is that? But we'll finish their reading this week.

We read the book above for our science. Rachel read it to us. The kids wanted to learn about whales and we're also studying mammals in our science text so it was a lot of fun.

I don't have the picture...I forgot to take one!! But we read 'The Irish Night Before Christmas' (may be in previous posts) well they also have these. They're a lot of fun. They also have a 'Cajun Night Before Christmas' and a 'Hillbilly' one, but we had trouble understanding that dialect.

Rachel started on the book above. I think she got to page..2?? And I was out!

We used this book for science on Friday. The kids wanted to learn about whales.

It was a lot of fun.

Gracie started on this book for Friday. She is learning a few phonics rules, and I help her out on the rest. She got a little further then Rachel did...

Perfect timing for the holidays!! We read about Thanksgiving! Take the quiz below, can you get the answers right?

:( Neither could we...had to look back and take a look..lol..

Not much else going on. The kids 'really' enjoy going outside and playing with their friends. They also enjoy riding their bikes. I'll have to go out and take pictures of that, as Gracie got a new bike for her birthday present.

Rachel and Gracie both got a new e-pal/penpal. A little girl, turning 6 this month. She writes often, so they're excited about that!!

Rachel announced she wants to be an 'artist' when she grows up. She wants to paint, work with clay,etc. I plan to start several projects, so she's realy excited about that!! Gracie, as usual, likes to color and draw and work with watercolors and paints. They both like to cook.

None of us likes to do dishes...

:(

Happy Unschooling!

A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

This is what we did today:

We went for a long walk to Dollar General. All the way to Polk City! The kids had a good time and did they sleep great;)

Gracie read her book. She is doing good! This book was rated in book-grader at grade .08. She's on her way to grade 1 :)

I don't think I showed the front of this, so here it is. It is where we get our Bible stories from. Below is the story I read today.

Below is our history lesson. We read on Veteran's Day today. There was no quiz, but I 'quized' them on the dates of each holiday they covered. (I give them funny cues, they find it funny;)

Above is a book I checked out. Rachel 'loves' to read it! Only a few are grade 3, a few are grade 4, and the rest are grade 2 but she was so excited to read it I told her she could read it anyways. She likes books with colorful, pretty pictures and these are very imaginative!

Below is our science book I hadn't shown the day before.

Today we read about animals that come from eggs! The kids liked looking at all the pictures. This is a great book:) There was another page, but I forgot to put it behind this. We also studied 'mammals'. The kids found it interesting a whale and a cow are both mammals, yet so different!

For 'fractions' we do cooking:) Colette loves to stir, that's her big job. I quiz them on fractions, such as: if I have 1/4 cup, and the directions ask for 1/2, how many cups do i use. we make a circle to 'visualize' it. They're having trouble with it, as it is abstract so I don't press. It is something they'll understand better in later years as they began to think more abstractly. Right now, if they memorize it, great:) If not, they're just being exposed.

Below is a video of Colette stirring.

This week we're doing math through games. Today, that was replaced by our long walk. We also skipped dictionary, but will pick it tomorrow. Next week we will start back up 'paper work' for math, and alternate between games and paper-work.

A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

This is what we did today:

Rachel read this story above. Some of the books she reads are at grade 4 level now:) Not all, but some.

This was Gracie's story today. Start here and move your way up;) Next time I'll remember to enter in backward.

I read this book to them on whales..well, 'okay' I read the first 1/4 of it, then we looked at pictures :) It was 'boring'! But the pictures told a good story.

I read them a few poems from this. The poems are cute and I think they enjoyed the sound.

This is 'another' I forgot to enter correctly;) Look down, is our history lesson for the day. Look up are the questions and answers. So much to remember!

The above story is from our science book. It has good stories, and the kids really seemed interested in it!

I'll get a picture of the science text next time.

For math, we played 'Math Chutes 'n' Ladders'. What you do is get two dice (or three, if you'd like. As 'classical/trivium' I believe that is too abstract and should be taught in later years, but to each his own;) and you roll them. Then you have another dice (in our case it's a black die, so we don't get confused) Roll the 'black' die, and if the number is even, you add the two dice together, if it's odd, you subtract. It's a lot of fun and the kids really enjoy 'learning';) What we plan to do is alternate, one 'game' week, one 'written' week. And if the kids get an answer correct, withouth using their fingers, then get to move an extra space;) It encourages them to learn!

We're also learning to use the dictionary. What we do is make up words (or so we think). We write the words on paper, so we remember how to spell them, and look up the words in the dictionary. The kids were surprised at how many words they created, were actually words!

Happy Unschooling!

A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

This is Gracie's math work

These are the stories we read on Friday:

Abeka has a lot of great short history stories. The kids really enjoy this text!

The kids got creative when they cleaned their room and made Colette her own bed. (she has a crib now). Colette was so excited she laid down in it to watch a movie;)

This is a story from one of our books on colonialism. It's really interesting to listen to the stories. The kids enjoy hearing them being read.

Rachel 'reading mommy to sleep'.

Rachel's 'math problems of the day'. We do one section a day, or every other...;)

The kids really enjoyed this book on turtles.

I've decided maybe showing the picture of the book may be more practical then a link. Live's move fast these days, who has time to wait for a link;)

A Day in the Life of a Classical-Unschooler

Today the kids had a fairly active day. They went out to play in the morning, while I cleaned up the kitchen and such. Later on, right before dinner, we went out again. Above is Colette running around outside, having a great time!

We sat down and read:

Abeka Reader- Flag Day. It had a short quiz on the end, cummalative (multiple choice), they did pretty good!

I read-'Lucy Steps through the Wardrobe', -an adaptation from 'Chronicles of Narnia'. The kids really enjoyed this, so I told them we'd check out the complete book one day. For now, they really like stories wtih pictures.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0FWAFPbRWvP7feL7Ra8MWQYhpWY4a14poBP41GDTsV28VbShNIPdFRYhvpq9zX0pSE4XxCwkudNBdZd_zTC8ZRD4KIOrWiUrjeQrrzKzNH1ZfzQs5xqFuNYc4TIXb4Oevt3y3q5_kEw/s1600-h/Princess-coloring-1-1.gif

I also read: 'The Pink Tulip', from 'Boys and Girls of Colonial Days', by-Carolyn Bailey. These are interesting stories!

http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Girls-Colonial-Yesterdays-Classics/dp/1599152460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226488353&sr=1-1

We had checked out a book on turtles, and found the one that we saw on the lake! Rachel had gone outside, and even found the same turtle, on the same rock! It crawled off the rock and jumped into the water! She won't forget that. We found it was a 'Gopher turtle', by reading-

'Gopher Tortoises', by- Christopher Blomquist.

Sorry, I couldnt' find a link to this one...it's a good book for around grade 3, though!

Rachel practiced her algebra and Gracie worked on her subtraction. She seems to enjoy that better then addition! We also discovered 'Rock 'n' Learn' for Spanish. The kids 'loved it'! It's a shame our library doesn't have french as well... They have one for nearly every subject. We are on the waiting list for the 'Letter' one.

Rachel and Gracie both wrote their e-pals, and sent them funny pictures off google. They looked up dog and cats, and they were so cute and funny! Here is one of them-

http://itfunnylife.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/funny-cute-cats-1.jpg

Rachel recieved a coloring page link from one of her e-pals. Above the picture that she colored.

Happy Unschooling!!

****Keep checking, I am still in the process of transferring my links. I will also add more. I have a collection of books, and I plan to order them by grades. No more 'hunting down' those books. Come to my site, look through my list for books and you will no which one is 'age/grade appropriate' without waiting for the book from the library :) Can't get much easier then that!

Stacey

A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

Above is a picture Gracie drew. Colette got a hold of it..so it has a few 'scribbles'... For those that aren't familiar with PBS/don't visit the toy aisles on a regular basis;) It's 'Elmo'.

I work nights, Thursday-Sunday, so those are the days I am more then likely 'not' to write...sorry :( i fell behind!!

The girls usually do more 'art work' when I am working. Yesterday Gracie read: The Best Fall of All, by-Laura Goodwin before I fell asleep. I fell asleep before Rachel could read! Here is the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Fall-All-Laura-Godwin/dp/0689847637/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226400609&sr=8-1

It says grade 1 :) happy mommy!! and you know what? i never really 'taught' her how to read. She pretty much taught herself. I answer her questions when she asks, and when she asks for words like 'shed' and such, I will tell her the word 'and' say 'sh' says...'shhhhh'. Just for future reference. Sometimes she remembers...sometimes not. Eventually, just like Rachel did, she picks it up and no longer needs to ask.

Wow!! Just think how many years public schools are wasting on this subject!

I got a video from the libray the other day. I was not impressed by the phonics one, so after seeing that I just put them aside. When the kids got a hold of them, they popped in the one on money. It's from 'Rock 'n' learn-they loved it! The multiplication one went off okay, they enjoyed the music. That lasted a couple days. The money one, they dragged out their piggy bank so they could count the money 'just like the video'! Even the 'grabbing' 'everything is mine';) 2yo didn't faze them. They didn't want to wait, had to 'count with the movie'.

Here is that link:

This is for 'mulicplicatin rap', which I believe is the one I got. They really enjoyed it! If you would prefer rock, I'm sure they 'may' have that too.

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-N-Learn-Multiplication-Rap/dp/B00000EZX2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1226400980&sr=8-4

Here is the money one:

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Learn-Money-Making-Change/dp/B000GI3KN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1226401122&sr=8-1

Check out your library, as I am sure any of these products (they have one for quite a few products, including spanish. We haven't looked at it yet, but have already checked it out) are good. I enjoy 'Leap' for phonics, but all kids are different. The Leap Frog toys did nothing for my kids, but they wouldn't be so successful unless they worked for otheres... Hint-buy the 'cheap' toys first.... We bought the expensive toys before we made the connection-not 'all' kids need educational toys. Just buy the video :) Some kids are 'visual learners', as others are 'kinesthetic' learners. Some a little of both. Mine are more visual, so the videos work better, and later they 'act out' the video (applying the information). How did the toys fare?

Well lets just use this:

'Look mommy, when you hit them all at once they make a funny sound' LOL!!!

I think they just missed the point all-together;).

I also read an interesting book: (well..okay, I 'skimmed it' ;) It's difficult to keep my interest! I am adding the link on the bottom of the home page, but will put it here as well. If any of you have a teenage daughter/son, you may want them to read these! It will give you a 'clear perspective' on what the opposite sex is really thinking...and believe me, we're not as similar as society lets us think we are!!! Even as a parent, a little 'skimming through' will open your eyes as well. Available at most libraries!

For Girls to read: For Young Women Only, by-Shaunti Feldhahn:

http://www.amazon.com/Young-Women-Only-About-Think/dp/1590526503/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226401953&sr=8-1

This one is for young men to read: (i don't think teenagers are real appreciative of the word 'boys';):

For Men only:

http://www.amazon.com/Men-Only-Straightforward-Guide-Inner/dp/1590525728/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226401953&sr=8-4

And really, just a thought. If you do have a teenage son, it may do him good to read the one for girls. Why? Well, just glancing through the book, it came to mind that many of them feel like they are 'alone' in their feelings...it seemed almost like they were bonding when they got together and shared their thoughts/emotions/feelings. Like, for the first time, they realized they were all the same... just a thought;)

Happy Unschooling!

oh-will add the other links soon...keep looking.

Stacey:)

A Day in the Life of a Classical Unschooler

Today Gracie had a touch of the stomache flu. Colette laid across the livingroom floor, and fell alseep too. Rachel and I went outside and saw a turle on the rocks! If you look closely, you can see it in the picture! We will have to get books on turtles at the library!!

When we came inside, Rachel read, 'Groundhog Stays up Late,' by-Margery Cuyler, to Gracie.

http://www.amazon.com/Groundhog-Stays-Late-Margery-Cuyler/dp/0802797326/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226063651&sr=8-2

Later in the day, she felt better and the two of them wrote a story together! I will print off some graph paper as Gracie needs to work on spacing. They both did great!:)

A Day in the Life of an Unschooler

Each post is a day behind, as I usually post around 2am, but sometimes early the next morning;) I've had a lot of people question what we do during the day as unschoolers... Well, here it is:) Each day is a little different!

Today was a good day. We went outside and played. The kids found an anthill and had a good time looking at it. They have read books on them in the past.

Rachel worked on her algebra, where she learned: place value (33+____=110)-had to line them up, subtraction to find the answer, and addition to 'check' the problem. She gets four of these problems. She then played her games. She played:

This is a 'great' alternative to 'timed testing'. She loves this site and I have her increase the level when she gets a perfect score. (okay, I bribe her with 'her pick' of the icrecream aisle;)

http://www.games.exuberanteye.com/JJFishAdd.html

She also enjoys this game, and gets to learn multiplication/division at the same time with this game:)

http://www.games.exuberanteye.com/division/DivisionGingerbread.html

Gracie worked on her 1's and 0's with multiplication. She then played this game:

http://www.games.exuberanteye.com/ConeCrazyAdd.html

and for subtraction she liked this game:

It has you 'solve a problem' to release the colors, then you get to 'color' online:) She 'loves' art!

http://www.games.exuberanteye.com/subtraction/PattyPaintSub.html

So it's like they're having fun, and learning at the same time.

Rachel wrote one of her e-pals's, and sent him a coloring page. He loves to color, so they send coloring pages to eachother. She sent him a picture of a cupcake, and printed one off for herself and Gracie as well.

http://www.cupcakesforall.com/images/coloringpages/cupcakes.pdf

Later on in the day, I read to them:

"Job, a Man who Loved God,", by-Ergmeier's Bible Story Book

http://www.amazon.com/Egermeiers-Bible-Story-Book-Elsie/dp/B000UGB3N2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225974835&sr=8-8

It has a lot of Bible stories and the kids really enjoy it:)

We also read a chapter from, 'A House at Pooh Corner,' by-A.A.Milne

http://www.amazon.com/House-Pooh-Corner-Original/dp/0140361227/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225974930&sr=1-2

I then read them an 'excerpt' from Abeka's 'Our America', their 'History/Geography Reader'. Their stories/reading material is about two pages. Great for short attention spans! Read a little each day and you have a history lesson right there:) This is grade 2, we're just moving our way up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Beka-Abeka-OUR-AMERICA-2-2nd-Grade-history-geography_W0QQitemZ220306315456QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Texbook_Education?hash=item220306315456&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Rachel read the book:

'The Three Snow Bears," by-Jan Brett. Cute book!!

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Snow-Bears-Jan-Brett/dp/0399247920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225975317&sr=8-1

Gracie read,"Can you Play," by-'I'm Going to Read', series

http://www.amazon.com/Im-Going-Read-Level-Play/dp/1402720947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225975466&sr=1-1

The kids then 'surprised' us and cleaned our room:) They are currently cleaning their room. Can't beat that!

A Day in the Life of an Unschooler

Today was a busy day. We spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. When we got back from the laundromat, we put Colette to bed and Rachel and Gracie read me a story. They are getting good at reading! Rachel read: 'Little Rabbit Runaway', by-Harry Horse.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Rabbit-Runaway-Harry-Horse/dp/1561453439/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225884948&sr=8-5

Gracie read: 'Kitten's Adventure', by-Michele Coxon.

http://www.amazon.com/Kittens-Adventure-Happy-Cat-Books/dp/1887734384/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225885051&sr=1-1

They both enjoy reading and had recently asked for books on bunnies and kittens.