mustardseed freeschoolers

unschool, unschool, unschool!

you know... they WILL learn. They will! It's in their nature. Children learn. It's what they do.

(Chloe's version of a potential Atlantean city)

They may not read  fluently in the second or even the third or fourth grade, but they will learn it. In fact, if they're not PUSHED to learn it, they may learn how to do it better than many of their public school counterparts. I know because mine have.

(her job is to play....and help with the dishes)

As a homeschooling mom, I've always been made to feel like my choice to let my kids learn at home was going to make my children somehow inferior. Well, results are in, and after ten or so years of actively schooling my children I can say with certainty that my kids are just fine. YAY!!! I didn't ruin them!

(the family last week at a free and fun ukulele playing class)

Here's how I know:

Number one: they can have fluid conversations with anyone- children and adults. I am constantly hearing how mature and well spoken they are. It's true. I'm not bragging, simply because I don't rate my personal value on how smart my children are/aren't.

Number two: I am constantly being stopped in stores to be complimented on how well the kids behave in public. I suggest that people tell the kids instead of me since they're the ones behaving so nicely. And that's not to say that we live for the compliment, but compliments feel nice.

Number three: my kids don't read early but they read VERY well when they learn. I've been plagued with confidence-zapping, worry-wort nose-ins for years, even going so far as to test them behind my back only to let me know that they're "behind" just like the nose-in thought they would be. Weak minded people vomiting their own personal fears onto my situation. That's my favorite. I digress. Once my kids hit nine, or so, they seem to hit their reading stride. By junior high, they're all able to enjoy adult level books, though obviously not all adult content.

Number four: My kids are all creative and can make just about anything. You name it, we've likely tried it. They've collected filthy wool fleeces right out from underneath sheep and turned it into yarn and knit things with it. If they need something, their first thought is, "how do I make that?" rather than, "how do I get someone to buy that for me."

Number five: My kids can run a household. If I were sick and couldn't function, they can clean the house and cook the meals and do the shopping. They know about scheduling and watching the clock. I'm not a babysitter at my house.... well, except for the actual babies. 

 

They're still normal kids who drive their mother nuts at various times of the day with fighting, and complaining, and making ridiculous, they-should-know-better-than-that type messes, and sneaking, and laziness, but they're awesome. And I'm lucky.

PLAY!

 We love playgrounds. We consider ourselves playground aficionados, frankly. We zipped over to the local little playground yesterday to try out the new rollerblades Sadie scored at the secondhand store. It was getting dark really quickly, and we found ourselves playing in the dark. I highly recommend it!

Simon, being 14, doesn't always want his picture thrown onto Mom's blog and tends to give me some kind of cheesy photo op. Here, he's celebrating a big win on the see saw. GO SIMON!! (crowd roars!!)

 The littlest boys love mud and puddles. Usually it seems like we're not in a situation where it would work for them to get down and dirty. Yesterday, however, we partied it up.

My fearsome foursome. They're a force which with to be reckoned, I'll tell you. Give 'em crap, they'll give it right back.

 Sadly, it was time to go after nearly an hour in the freezing cold rain. The three year old didn't agree, and he could've stayed all day.

 So the big girls took him to hide under the slide and to tell him a story about Sadie when she was little. All better. His imagination took him places all the long ride home and he continued to ask questions about "little Sadie" the whole way.

 Yes, we needed a bath.

Taekwondo testing

We had the pleasure of watching someone test for her 2nd dan black belt at our taekwondo testing last week. WOW! They test individually for each and every belt level, and her test alone took about an hour. She did it throughout the evening as each belt level tested. It was beautiful. Especially the poomse- I think it gets more and more beautiful as each belt progresses. The brown and black belt poomse was just mesmerizing. The instructor said she is now qualified to have her own school if she wanted to! I'm not sure we'll ever get to watch another one of those again- what a treat! The whole testing night took nearly two hours..... it was really fun, and I could've stayed three.

Yet again, Simon and Sadie had small mistakes that they'll be able to correct at this evening's class before they receive their brown stripes on their blue belts. I'm glad the instructor insists they get it all down correctly- each mistake was as simple as a hand facing the wrong direction during testing or using a fist instead of a palm at one point. That's part of what I like about this class- I'm soft enough at home. It's nice for them to get some non-mom requirements in life.

Chloe, though she didn't initially want to, tested for her yellow belt and did beautifully. Lucy wasn't ready to test for green yet. She watched the testing and now she and Chloe can work together like Simon and Sadie do. Total coincidence, but it really does simplify practice and sparring.

All three of them broke their boards- Sadie on her first try! We brought the boards home... hmm, what to make out of them?? Maybe Ostheimer style Taekwondo people?

I completed the wooly baby pants.... did I post a finished project pic here?? I'll have to go back and check. At any rate, I'm now on the Mittens on the next page. They're adorable, though I may alter the pattern a bit after finishing the first mitten yesterday. I hope to have the second one done tomorrow. I tried them on several children.... Thane had the best fit, though his thumb does now have room to grow nearly an extra inch if he sees fit...  I used some thrifted, dark green wool sock yarn and I knit them on sz 4 straights. Very simple knit, and really fun and quick! Join us in the fun  at our flickr group.

harry potter/jewelry making sleepover

We've been reading our way through the Harry Potter series again, half a chapter at a time. We just finished book four last night. It gets pretty gnarly from here on out- I'm hoping the 8 year old can handle it. She may have to go have drawing time or something with the little boys while I read book 5 (my favorite of the series, but it's still very dark). Have you listened to them on tape? They're excellent and well worth the effort to obtain a set.

One of our favorite friends came by  for a sleepover this past weekend. We love having this sweet girl over- she's just endlessly pleasant. She brought along with her.... HARRY POTTER SCENE IT!! It was one of her Christmas gifts this year, and the girls were over the moon! They played well after I could stay awake, and no doubt crowned someone the champion over all Harrypotterdom. She's also a crafter like some of us, and the evening was also riddled with making things. They churned out earrings left and right and photographed them in all sorts of ridiculous places.

 

We made quinoa tabbouleh for dinner. Our friend was up to try it and she liked it! I was kind of surprised. It's got kind of an unusual flavor, both tabbouleh and quinoa. I love this meal, and, slowly, my kids have learned to like it, too. I think I have only one hold out, Lucy, but she thinks dessert should be made of meat as well. We'll see. Of course, in the pictures, I have conveniently left out the box of ice cream and bag of potato chips Sadie bought with her money just for this night...

It was a good one. I am thankful for everyone I get to watch.

Tabbouleh  at our house

(I don't measure ANYTHING, so this may not be exact- wing it)

6c cooked and cooled quinoa

1/2 c lemon juice

(optional) 1/4 c nutritional yeast/brewer's yeast

2T sea salt

4T minced garlic

1c olive oil

1c chopped fresh parsley(no dried)

1 c diced tomatoes

1c diced cucumbers

2 bunches green onions, chopped

throw it all in a big, big bowl and stir like mad. If it needs more salt/oil/lemon juice, add it. It's more of a guideline than a recipe.

today...

We homeschool. Some of my older kids really like public school for the social aspects. Neither seems terribly interested in the academics, though I do insist that if they feel they need to attend school even part-time, that they do all the work they're assigned. Even with that, they still want to go. It was spirit week, and Chloe chose to poke fun at a rival school (here, she's hinting that they're backwoods and low-brow. The sign asked if anyone had seen her cow).

I am ashamed of my sewing room. The state of it is nothing short of appalling. Seriously. I am mucking it out day by day, little by little. I have taken *before* pictures, but I refuse to post them until after I have some *after* photos in my possession. You will be sick. It's like Hoarders: live up in this piece. Fortunately this old spool rack is on the wall, and I cannot make a giant mess stay on a wall. The Papa rummage sales all summer and brings me treats home like this one. Even most of the thread is from sales.

 

I could hear Harrison "helping" in the other room last week, as Papa made more branch buttons. He kept saying, "wheeeee" like we were at a playground and then I'd hear a thump. He was using him as a slide. I don't think it was really much help, but he was having a grand old time.

birthday business and art journaling with Em

The handsome and useful Papa turned 45 yesterday. I didn't manage to get his old man cane ordered in time, so he'll just have to make do with kid gifts...  The kids worked all day making him gifts. Sadie knitted him her first "in the round" hat. She'd garter stitched a long strip (to be a knitting needle case). As she looked at it, she thought it would be neat as part of a hat and asked for some mama advice. We sewed the ends together, and she picked up stitches all around the project. She learned to use double points and how to decrease. She's picked up months of knitting knowledge in the last couple of weeks. I love watching passionate learning! This is what freeschooling is all about, peeps. My mama heart is happy! Anyhow, I'll have to get a pic of him wearing the hat- he's barely removed it since it's arrival (he's a hat guy).

Chloe printed up  photos of all six kids and made a sort of scrapbook-type display - one strip of the girls and one of the boys- for him to hang on his wall at the office. They came out really pretty. Chloe is really the only kid in the house who rarely feels inclined to make art. Her writing and imaginative skills blow the rest of us out of the water- I wouldn't be surprised if she writes the next big novel series when she's older. She struggles to "make" something for people on their birthdays and frequently resorts to purchasing something small with her own money. Not to say that it's not okay to BUY gifts, but we do try to make things before buying.... always. This project was beautiful and really useful. Big hit!!

 

Sadie and the younger girls (we've had the pleasure of a little cousin's presence this week) baked the carrot cake. She also made this giant kite themed folding card for us to sign at his surprise party. We gathered friends and family  at our local community stage theater, the Hannan Playhouse, http://www.willapaplayers.org/  or check us out at my personal fan page on Facebook .  The playhouse is where we met,  and it is still the main creative, constantly evolving passion in this house. Support community theater- it's a dying art, and when it's gone, it's GONE.

I love reading creative mama blogs.  Em over at her blog has started an art journal group on flickr.I am excited about doing this project. I craft a lot here. No shortage on creativity, but it has been soooo blasted long since I've done impractical, straight from the heart, emotional pencil work. It used to be my meat and potatoes, before children. Now it's mostly knitting.... because it's easy to justify a kitchen full of dishes when you "have to keep the children warm" but not so much because you want to get the charcoal eyes you were drawing on your version of the grim reaper just so. I worked on this project again last night. Mixed media art can really just keep going and going. I had to stop myself and call it good. I was pleased with the results. Join us in the fun!!

Snowball fights and endless knitting

Hera (of Zeus and Hera fame) the snow pug, enjoying the chaos.

I'm not sure how many posts of snow play I can get away with sticking up here! Snow is such a rare occurrence in these parts- we really try to get out in it every moment. Snowmen, snow forts, snowball fights.... tears, whining to go in because we're cold followed immediately, of course with whines to go back out, many MANY loads of soggy stuff in the dryer/muddy stuff into the wash.

Simon was not terribly pleased that I've posted a picture of him with a "crazy face" on here. Disclaimer: please note this is not Simon's normal expression, thank you.

 

 

Naturally, when snow falls and you have siblings, snow forts are in order... really more snowball baffles to protect against enemy fire. Boys against girls isn't quite fair at our house (since the majority of the boys still wear diapers), but everyone seemed satisfied with that arrangement.

Although one boy wandered off mid-fight, and the girls look mighty proud, I think the score was boys-1/girls-0.... sorry, girls.

Anyone who has been following this project might have noticed how looooong it's taken me to finish the blasted wooly baby pants. I love how they turned out, if not a bit large. I'm using the last of my scrap yarn to make the ribbed waistband and look forward to seeing them in action! I was half considering starting a flickr group for making the crafts out of a Children's Year.... if one doesn't already exist!  * okay, started one! Join us in the fun, crafty mamas!! http://www.flickr.com/groups/1843305@N25/pool/

snow

This is the first snow day Thane remembers. He REEEEAAALLY enjoyed snow last year- we don't necessarily get snow every winter here in the Pacific Northwest. He is such a funny little person. So many things get him upset, nervous mostly. He can get scared of the simplest things in even toddler cartoons. He'll run through the room crying at the slightest mention of a giant (case in point- giant foam hand used to represent "the giant" in the Willapa Players' production of Jack and the Giant Beanstalk last summer.... he was unwilling to go on stage... or in the wings... or even backstage- he was convinced that the giant lived there ...and naturally would eat him. Back to the point, this snow day comes and he sees it out the window, and he's shrieking with excitement, and he gets on all his snowy day clothes, and he goes out there.... and he plays, frozen fingers and toes and all, snowballs directly to the eye (thank you, Simon), and he wants to stay out there for hours and hours. Tough boy- I'm a snow sissy. I like warm, thankyouverymuch. I knitted on the porch, watching the mayhem from a comfy, dry chair.

Believe it or not, Harrison is not being assaulted in the above photo. Slowly but surely, these two crazy boys figured out what a snowball fight should look like and commenced to making one happen. They were squealing with delight.

Did you know snow can double as paint? Harrison found no end to the "snow paint" entertainment yesterday's weather provided. He actually takes everything he can and rubs it on these walls- I've seen soup, chalk, mud, clay, water. You name it. I'm not sure who told him he could be growing up so quickly, but they'll have a talking to for certain.

I'm not sure how this one will work, but I'll keep you posted. I think, if anything, hooping in the snow would keep you warm since it is such a workout. Yes, I think I'll still stay knitting on the porch.

It's difficult to get a picture of Simon. He's at that age where he just doesn't want to stick his face in anymore for the attention- he seems to enjoy the auxiliary role of BIG brother. It's very sweet.... or do I mean manly? Yes, manly. Snow is in the forecast for today!! In fact, looking out the window right now, the sky is slowly filling with little flakes. Maybe a lesson in how snow forms? make some snow flakes? Science projects with ice? decisions, decisions.

unschooling at the beach

We took a trip to the beach. Chloe wanted to make a mermaid costume, since she'd been crocheting a mermaid themed scarf. She needed a shell. Packing a lunch, we called some friends and made a day of it. Lucy decided that all her seashore treasures would be "for sale" on this here lovely chunk of driftwood- I'm not sure how many she sold. I did love her display methods, however.

We had kidlets strewn up and down this run of beach. It certainly didn't take much convincing that we were here to find shells and the like. The second the feet hit the beach, the heads went down and the fingers started digging. I'd so meant to bring lunch sacks for each child to put their found objects into but, naturally, I forgot them on the counter at home. There was much beach glass to be found, and the kids really looked at it like it was some exotic gem. I think we'll try some kind of hot glue/jar/lantern a little later in the year with the haul they brought in! Simon, who is a bit older than the rest of the group, even when it's just the family, comes along and enjoys what a 14yo can. He is extremely helpful with the little boys, too. Harrison and Simon are best buddies. We were fascinated by this piece of shell that broke and was worn away into the shape of a tooth. He thought it would make a cool necklace.... you know, that oyster he hunted down with a spear and against whom he won the valiant battle.... this being his trophy. I think the whole idea is tremendously comical and would make a fabulous comic strip. We'll see what comes of it- mom ideas already come with a 20% coolness markdown, simply because of the source.

 

I'm used to corralling six kids in for a photo, not this wild group. By the time we were able to get some pics, both babies were NOT having another minute of it. I prefer this true to life shot anyway- we are not needing Stepford unschoolers.... which is really kind of a contradiction in terms.

 

This is January, mind you. Berkley, throwing all caution to the wind, opted to test the waters barefooted. Brave boy. Honestly, for January, this was an amazingly warm day.... especially since there is snow on the ground outside my door at this very moment. Such a fulfilling trip- good friends, happy kids, lots learned. Lucky mama.

spicy potatoes and kids knit

 

 Lucy's love of spice comes as somewhat of a surprise. When she was little, she had leukemia. Two and a half years of chemo later and she was "all better".... In the process, her food preferences swung wildly and she is now, years later, finally willing to eat the dreaded fruit and veg. At the age of two she started craving STRONG flavors: altoids and tobasco. She'd eat them both by the container. As she got out of her years long drugged stupor, her palate sloooooowly widened and sort of swung the other way- she wanted bland food. Now, we're toying with spice again, and this girl is brave! hot sauce and pepperoncinis on fried potato slices.

 She also loves to cook and made her own fancy 8-year-old creation (mostly) on her own.

 Sadie's knitting bug continues. She appliqued an acorn onto the knitting needle bag she just finished and has started on another bag. Maybe a flute case will come next??

 Getting Chloe to move is a challenge. We have to get creative around here to get people started on learning/doing. She'd bought herself some rollerblades a couple of years back, and she LOVES them. Saying "yes" more is one of the things I vow to work on this year, so we tried blading the block.

BTW, this is where Thane keeps his happy. A friend died this week. I hate to even mourn someone who wasn't "mine".... His wife and kids, I'm sure, are left reeling. His passing was sudden and shocking. He was a teacher at our local school and he had a PROFOUND effect on my life as well as the life of MANY kids for decades on end. I keep reminding myself to find my happy. Where's your happy?