So this is just the latest installment in the ongoing saga of “figuring out the best way of organizing Flipper’s schoolwork so that he actually does it.” We’ve tried every iteration, from completely unschooling let-him-choose-his-own-path, to rigourous school-at-home complete with a bell and a separate desk “just for school” — I should say, that particular [...]
Posts Tagged ‘unschooling’
Aug
11
Our New Organization-Scheduling Sticker Program
by heather
Tags: charlotte mason, Homeschooling, organization, scheduling, school, stickers, unschooling, workboxes
Posted in Homeschooling | Comments (3)
Posted in Homeschooling | Comments (3)
May
12
The No Good, Very Bad Day
by heather
The return to our Charlotte Mason-inspired structure after a bit of a break has not been as smooth as I had hoped, even though I carefully brought things back only gradually. Flipper has decided that “children are only supposed to play” and that he doesn’t have to do anything, not schoolwork, not cleaning his room, [...]
Tags: attachment, balance, behaviorism, charlotte mason, cooperation, discipline, guitar, Homeschooling, Metallica, responsibility, self-regulation, unschooling
Posted in Family, Homeschooling | Comments (0)
Posted in Family, Homeschooling | Comments (0)
Feb
27
Toddler Smarts on Display
by heather
Here’s how Pomme has been showing off her developing smarts this week:
According to her, the one on the bottom is a cat, the one at the very top is a pig, and the rest are whales. The spots are eyes. She has labelled her drawings before (usually as whales lol), and she has drawn circles, [...]
Tags: art, digits, drawing, homeschool, math, Montessori, patterns, quantity, representation, self-determination, sorting, symbol, unschooling
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (0)
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (0)
Feb
24
The Hurried Infant and Child on CBC
by heather
Have you listened to CBC’s Ideas lately? The last two Monday nights, they’ve been playing a series criticizing the current trend towards earlier and earlier academic instruction. They’ve taken apart Baby Einstein, blasted schools that eliminate recess, disparage the practice of filling our preschoolers with factoids rather than allowing them the freedom to learn the [...]
Tags: academics, Baby Einstein, baby-led weaning, CBC, child development, diaper free, education, Homeschooling, hurried, natural learning, radio, recess, unschooling
Posted in Babies, Homeschooling, Kid stuff, Random Musings | Comments (2)
Posted in Babies, Homeschooling, Kid stuff, Random Musings | Comments (2)
Feb
19
Thoughts on Unschooling and “Holes”
by heather
Recently I responded on a homeschooling messageboard to a query about unschooling. A mom was contemplating homeschooling her kids, and was intrigued by the idea of unschooling, but concerned about the possibility of missing certain things if her kids didn’t happen to learn them. Things like division.
My reply garnered an “excellent post” response… so I [...]
Tags: benezet, charlotte mason, curriculum, division, eclectic, education, egypt, elementary, Greece, Homeschooling, math, public school, unschooling
Posted in Homeschooling | Comments (11)
Posted in Homeschooling | Comments (11)
Jan
01
Kids Love to “Work” When It’s Montessori “Toys!”
by heather
I’ve put the words “work” and “toys” in quotes in the title of this article, because for young children, the ideas of “work” and “play” are synonymous. They have not yet made a judgment decision that “play” is all for fun and “work” is necessary but unpleasant. To the young child, everything is exploration and [...]
Tags: concentration, cylinder blocks, discovery, educational, exploration, focus, fun, Homeschooling, materials, Montessori, play, puzzles, sensitive period, toys, unschooling, work
Posted in Babies, Babywearing, Eco-stuff, Family, Homeschooling, Lactivism | Comments (6)
Posted in Babies, Babywearing, Eco-stuff, Family, Homeschooling, Lactivism | Comments (6)
Dec
11
An Embarrassment of Workbooks
by heather
A group of crows is a “murder”. A group of cows is a “herd”. A big pile of workbooks is an “embarrassment.”
I was recently tidying up and went through one of our rather large piles of Flipper’s old workbooks. These are generally the “homework helpers” type, that you can pick up in [...]
Tags: curriculum, Homeschooling, motivation, preschool, unschooling, workbooks
Posted in Family, Homeschooling | Comments (2)
Posted in Family, Homeschooling | Comments (2)
Dec
08
Kakuro to the rescue
by heather
The Montessori philosophy talks about the “prepared environment”. Unschooling philosophy sometimes talks about “strewing”. Reggio offers “provocations”. Whatever you want to call it, the fundamental principle is the same — leaving something educational ready and lying around for the child to discover and pursue in their own time according to their own [...]
Tags: Homeschooling, kakuro, Montessori, prepared environment, Reggio, unschooling
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (2)
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (2)
Dec
08
Like Organic Milk in Kraft Dinner
by heather
Our life is a series of contradictions.
We strive to be eco-conscious in all things, to live in harmony with nature and each other. We endeavour to nourish our bodies with whole foods, locally grown, rich in the nutrients nature gave them, clear of artificial processing and toxic additives. We aim to nourish our [...]
Tags: balance, compromise, consumerism, Green Party, hypocrisy, idealism, nature, organic, unschooling, whole foods, wooden toys
Posted in Eco-stuff, Family, Homeschooling | Comments (4)
Posted in Eco-stuff, Family, Homeschooling | Comments (4)
Dec
08
Our Homeschool Curriculum
by heather
We’re not school-at-home. We’re not radical unschoolers. We’re pretty eclectic. I give Flipper quite a bit of freedom in choosing what sorts of things he wants to do, but I also insist on a few things myself. I work very hard, however, at finding materials that will be interesting and even [...]
Tags: Aesop, agnosticism, Canadian Government, Christian, curriculum, eclectic homeschooling, French, geometry, grammar, Greece, guitar, handwriting, history, homeschool, logic, martial arts, math, piano, poetry, reading, religion, Rome, science, spelling, unschooling, virtues, vocabulary, writing
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (0)
Posted in Family, Homeschooling, Kid stuff | Comments (0)
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