March 24-30, 2019
Getting back into the swing of things this week proved difficult, I will admit. Spring has arrived in full force and the weather is gorgeous. Can I admit that it is difficult for me to focus on the children when all I want to do is play in my garden? I invite them to join me, of course, but they often do not want to and it is so hard to tear myself away to do what I need to be doing! I could honestly spend all day every day outside right now. Reassembling our backyard play space, planting, weeding, tending to the emerging perennials and imagining the garden harvest to come.
Monday
We discovered late Sunday that Rory would NOT be returning to school as we had originally thought. Liam, however, was returning to co-op. The boys spent some time in the morning reading Boy's Life, the boy scout magazine, before Liam headed off. Liam and Dexter often read Boy's Life together and seem to really enjoy the magazine format so I signed up for subscriptions to National Geographic Kids and Highlights.
After we dropped Liam off, Dexter asked to play with me! This doesn't happen very often. As the second of four boys, Dexter has an innate knowledge that Liam has never possessed that Mama is a busy lady. While Liam regularly asks for attention from both me and Ryan, Dexter usually doesn't. Of course, this means that any time he does, we try to make it happen. He wanted to play a game he created based on the television show the boys are both really into right now: Ben 10. He gathered a group of toys and other random objects to represent different aliens that we battled. My favorite is a winter glove that he imagined to be a slime alien! I thought it was very creative.
After lunch, while the babies napped Dexter also helped me in the garden, trimming a Russian Sage plant we rescued from a neighbor's house after they moved and left them behind. (With their permission!)
That afternoon, I ran to get Liam alone while Ryan stayed home with the other kids. Liam came to the grocery story with me and on a whim we checked out the Wild Birds Unlimited next door. It turned out to be such a neat experience and we walked away with some new knowledge about birding and a starter bird feeder! That evening, Dexter helped me once more as I set up new bird-friendly spaces in the backyard and did some more garden preparation.
For bedtime reading, he chose a Superhero girls book, Pirate Penguin and Ninja Chicken, and Free to Be You and Me, which is a great book of poems and short stories. Liam helped to read them out loud, with accents and everything. Dexter tends to pick a few books and then stick with wanting to read those same books over and over for several days or even weeks. This is very different from Liam who basically never wanted to read the same story twice! We read these books a lot this week!
Tuesday
Boy's Life came out again on Tuesday and the kids also played dress up, played outside and played video games. Having Rory back at school was relieving for the kids, I think- it signaled a return to the normal routine and they were able to be more creative and free without their little brother following them around causing chaos. We also spent a couple of hours at the gym. The kids really like the indoor playground that serves as the child watch area and the employees are great, playing games and having dance parties with the kids. (P.E.!) In the end, I had to drop Liam off with Ryan before we came because he was being very aggressive toward Dexter in the car. In spite of being mad at Liam, Dexter was disappointed because "nothing is as much fun without Liam." Brothers are so confusing!
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, Liam worked on some optical illusions with Dexter. He wanted to pretend that Dexter had disappeared. Dex enjoyed the trick so much, he did not want to be "re-appeared" and spent the morning dodging Liam's efforts to reverse the trick!
Later that day, I refreshed both the mud area and sand area of the backyard with fresh mud and sand and the boys spent a long time playing together in the sand box. Neither one was interested in mud play though! It is funny to see my little sensory seekers shy away from messy play. I guess they are really growing up! Thankfully, Rory and Salem will still enjoy the mud hole for years to come. I also transplanted some daffodils. Once again, Dexter was my garden helper. We talk so much about what plants need to grow, how plants grow, how insects help the soil, the life cycle of insects, what insects eat and other topics relating to natural science while he helps out with the garden!
On Monday, when Liam was with Ryan, he started writing out what had happened between him and Dexter that has resulted in him slapping Dexter in the face. He actually illustrated the story with a comic strip. Ryan, being a fabulous unschooling parent, saw an opportunity and asked if Liam would like a journal. They went together to get one that very day and Liam started faithfully writing in it. While he was journaling on Wednesday, Dexter took the time to draw a picture of Batman catching a bad guy.
After lunch, Dexter also worked on painting a small canvas that came in this month's Little Passports box. He worked really hard and was proud to tell me he followed the picture that was included with the canvas but also added his "own style" too.
Thursday
While I was cleaning up Wednesday, I noticed a few library books languishing in the basket having never been read. I took them out and left them on the dining room table. Sure enough, two little guys found themselves drawn to the books while I prepared for our play date that afternoon. They read through Where On Earth? and Follow the Money. They were particularly fascinated by the page in Where on Earth? that discusses the size of the military in different countries.
Salem had a quick home therapy appointment and then we rushed to a play date at the playground on the mountain. As soon as we got there, the kids rushed off and were deeply involved in imaginary play for the entire day. They only stopped for a quick snack before they rushed off again to the "magical forest." I only managed to gather that the game was about being animal hybrids- each child was part human and part animal and they were all on a team together. I think that this sort of play is so essential to childhood for so many reasons: being outside in nature, being around other children without adult supervision (the other kids mother and I sat on the other side of the playground and rarely caught a glimpse of them) and obviously just play in general! It is days like this that I am most grateful the my kids have never been to school- have never been forced to squeeze the important work of play in around their other activities, that an entire day can be spent lost in their imagination and there is still so much time to do so many other things!
Friday
Friday morning started with an early morning reading session with Rory, Salem, Dexter and Papa. Dexter listened to "Buddy" read the books (this is a toy of Rory's) and Rory and Salem listened to Papa.
Friday was the homeschooling discount day at the rock climbing gym. The kids are always asking to go, so even though I knew it would be crowded I asked if they were interested. They were, of course! We spend the entire day at the gym, stopping only briefly to walk to lunch at Panera. The boys took risks, problem-solved, faced fears, pushed themselves and impressed me with how their skills are growing!
When it was time to head home, Liam headed out for a sleepover with Grams (his turn now!) and Dexter and I spent the evening playing Knack 2 together. His video game skills are really quite impressive for a 5.5 year old. For a special snack, I gave him a Hershey bar and a couple of marshmallows. He said it was the best day ever. When it was time for bed, he asked if he could sleep with me, so he fell asleep "reading" with a flashlight in my bed.
Saturday
Today is Saturday, so I am on top of things this week! Today, Dexter seemed to be feeling really lazy. He watched cartoons, played on the computer and then played some video games. Ryan was building a fence around my raised beds for me so I suggested that we go out and help. Dex agreed and spent a little while outside before migrating back to the computer. I don't generally worry about Dexter's screen time; he self-regulates really well. Even if he spends an entire day vegging out with screens, he will usually grow tired of it and move on to drawing or reading or playing outside the next day. He will often turn off a game he is playing and move on after just an hour or so. Liam does struggle with self-regulation. I do not know if it is because we regulated his screen time heavily when he was young and we have created a forbidden fruit situation or if his ADHD brain just craves the visual stimulation. I would love to find a way to allow him more freedom in this area, but as of now, if I do not suggest/insist that we move on to something else, I have yet to find the threshold at which Liam will grow tired of screens and move on independently. Due to my high-risk pregnancies, we have been in many situations where unlimited screen time was allowed and even a month, two months, three months in Liam was still content to spend his days hopping from one screen to another. I just cannot accept that this is healthy for his brain and we notice a huge shift in behavior when he has spent too much time on a screen so, for now, we continue to have guidelines in place for the entire family (adults included!) to keep screen-time from taking over. We all sat down to a family meeting and agreed on the guidelines together. I do sometimes question my decisions regarding screens, especially within the context of unschooling, but I take my responsibility for Liam's health, mental and physical, more seriously that my label as an unschooler and this is what I think is necessary at this time. Regardless, when Liam is away, Dexter (and Rory also) are able to handle full autonomy when it comes to screen time. After Liam got home, we had dinner, watched a couple of episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos, and now, as I write this Liam, Dexter and Ryan are playing a Mario card game together in Liam's room. I haven't played it, but Ryan confirmed that is a really great math game! We squeezed some in at the end of the week after all! But.... I took no pictures to end the week off with. Oops!
Monday
We discovered late Sunday that Rory would NOT be returning to school as we had originally thought. Liam, however, was returning to co-op. The boys spent some time in the morning reading Boy's Life, the boy scout magazine, before Liam headed off. Liam and Dexter often read Boy's Life together and seem to really enjoy the magazine format so I signed up for subscriptions to National Geographic Kids and Highlights.
After we dropped Liam off, Dexter asked to play with me! This doesn't happen very often. As the second of four boys, Dexter has an innate knowledge that Liam has never possessed that Mama is a busy lady. While Liam regularly asks for attention from both me and Ryan, Dexter usually doesn't. Of course, this means that any time he does, we try to make it happen. He wanted to play a game he created based on the television show the boys are both really into right now: Ben 10. He gathered a group of toys and other random objects to represent different aliens that we battled. My favorite is a winter glove that he imagined to be a slime alien! I thought it was very creative.
After lunch, while the babies napped Dexter also helped me in the garden, trimming a Russian Sage plant we rescued from a neighbor's house after they moved and left them behind. (With their permission!)
That afternoon, I ran to get Liam alone while Ryan stayed home with the other kids. Liam came to the grocery story with me and on a whim we checked out the Wild Birds Unlimited next door. It turned out to be such a neat experience and we walked away with some new knowledge about birding and a starter bird feeder! That evening, Dexter helped me once more as I set up new bird-friendly spaces in the backyard and did some more garden preparation.
For bedtime reading, he chose a Superhero girls book, Pirate Penguin and Ninja Chicken, and Free to Be You and Me, which is a great book of poems and short stories. Liam helped to read them out loud, with accents and everything. Dexter tends to pick a few books and then stick with wanting to read those same books over and over for several days or even weeks. This is very different from Liam who basically never wanted to read the same story twice! We read these books a lot this week!
Tuesday
Boy's Life came out again on Tuesday and the kids also played dress up, played outside and played video games. Having Rory back at school was relieving for the kids, I think- it signaled a return to the normal routine and they were able to be more creative and free without their little brother following them around causing chaos. We also spent a couple of hours at the gym. The kids really like the indoor playground that serves as the child watch area and the employees are great, playing games and having dance parties with the kids. (P.E.!) In the end, I had to drop Liam off with Ryan before we came because he was being very aggressive toward Dexter in the car. In spite of being mad at Liam, Dexter was disappointed because "nothing is as much fun without Liam." Brothers are so confusing!
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, Liam worked on some optical illusions with Dexter. He wanted to pretend that Dexter had disappeared. Dex enjoyed the trick so much, he did not want to be "re-appeared" and spent the morning dodging Liam's efforts to reverse the trick!
Later that day, I refreshed both the mud area and sand area of the backyard with fresh mud and sand and the boys spent a long time playing together in the sand box. Neither one was interested in mud play though! It is funny to see my little sensory seekers shy away from messy play. I guess they are really growing up! Thankfully, Rory and Salem will still enjoy the mud hole for years to come. I also transplanted some daffodils. Once again, Dexter was my garden helper. We talk so much about what plants need to grow, how plants grow, how insects help the soil, the life cycle of insects, what insects eat and other topics relating to natural science while he helps out with the garden!
On Monday, when Liam was with Ryan, he started writing out what had happened between him and Dexter that has resulted in him slapping Dexter in the face. He actually illustrated the story with a comic strip. Ryan, being a fabulous unschooling parent, saw an opportunity and asked if Liam would like a journal. They went together to get one that very day and Liam started faithfully writing in it. While he was journaling on Wednesday, Dexter took the time to draw a picture of Batman catching a bad guy.
After lunch, Dexter also worked on painting a small canvas that came in this month's Little Passports box. He worked really hard and was proud to tell me he followed the picture that was included with the canvas but also added his "own style" too.
Thursday
While I was cleaning up Wednesday, I noticed a few library books languishing in the basket having never been read. I took them out and left them on the dining room table. Sure enough, two little guys found themselves drawn to the books while I prepared for our play date that afternoon. They read through Where On Earth? and Follow the Money. They were particularly fascinated by the page in Where on Earth? that discusses the size of the military in different countries.
Salem had a quick home therapy appointment and then we rushed to a play date at the playground on the mountain. As soon as we got there, the kids rushed off and were deeply involved in imaginary play for the entire day. They only stopped for a quick snack before they rushed off again to the "magical forest." I only managed to gather that the game was about being animal hybrids- each child was part human and part animal and they were all on a team together. I think that this sort of play is so essential to childhood for so many reasons: being outside in nature, being around other children without adult supervision (the other kids mother and I sat on the other side of the playground and rarely caught a glimpse of them) and obviously just play in general! It is days like this that I am most grateful the my kids have never been to school- have never been forced to squeeze the important work of play in around their other activities, that an entire day can be spent lost in their imagination and there is still so much time to do so many other things!
Friday
Friday morning started with an early morning reading session with Rory, Salem, Dexter and Papa. Dexter listened to "Buddy" read the books (this is a toy of Rory's) and Rory and Salem listened to Papa.
Friday was the homeschooling discount day at the rock climbing gym. The kids are always asking to go, so even though I knew it would be crowded I asked if they were interested. They were, of course! We spend the entire day at the gym, stopping only briefly to walk to lunch at Panera. The boys took risks, problem-solved, faced fears, pushed themselves and impressed me with how their skills are growing!
When it was time to head home, Liam headed out for a sleepover with Grams (his turn now!) and Dexter and I spent the evening playing Knack 2 together. His video game skills are really quite impressive for a 5.5 year old. For a special snack, I gave him a Hershey bar and a couple of marshmallows. He said it was the best day ever. When it was time for bed, he asked if he could sleep with me, so he fell asleep "reading" with a flashlight in my bed.
Saturday
Today is Saturday, so I am on top of things this week! Today, Dexter seemed to be feeling really lazy. He watched cartoons, played on the computer and then played some video games. Ryan was building a fence around my raised beds for me so I suggested that we go out and help. Dex agreed and spent a little while outside before migrating back to the computer. I don't generally worry about Dexter's screen time; he self-regulates really well. Even if he spends an entire day vegging out with screens, he will usually grow tired of it and move on to drawing or reading or playing outside the next day. He will often turn off a game he is playing and move on after just an hour or so. Liam does struggle with self-regulation. I do not know if it is because we regulated his screen time heavily when he was young and we have created a forbidden fruit situation or if his ADHD brain just craves the visual stimulation. I would love to find a way to allow him more freedom in this area, but as of now, if I do not suggest/insist that we move on to something else, I have yet to find the threshold at which Liam will grow tired of screens and move on independently. Due to my high-risk pregnancies, we have been in many situations where unlimited screen time was allowed and even a month, two months, three months in Liam was still content to spend his days hopping from one screen to another. I just cannot accept that this is healthy for his brain and we notice a huge shift in behavior when he has spent too much time on a screen so, for now, we continue to have guidelines in place for the entire family (adults included!) to keep screen-time from taking over. We all sat down to a family meeting and agreed on the guidelines together. I do sometimes question my decisions regarding screens, especially within the context of unschooling, but I take my responsibility for Liam's health, mental and physical, more seriously that my label as an unschooler and this is what I think is necessary at this time. Regardless, when Liam is away, Dexter (and Rory also) are able to handle full autonomy when it comes to screen time. After Liam got home, we had dinner, watched a couple of episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos, and now, as I write this Liam, Dexter and Ryan are playing a Mario card game together in Liam's room. I haven't played it, but Ryan confirmed that is a really great math game! We squeezed some in at the end of the week after all! But.... I took no pictures to end the week off with. Oops!
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