a bed for bunny

Beach found a pattern for a cardboard bed that looked perfect for her stuffed bunny. I'm not really the parent for projects that require reading and following directions but I told her if she would be patient with me I could give it a try. 

Together we were able to measure and cut out all the pieces needed.  

 After that she was all on her own. 

 She sewed a mattress, blanket, and a small pillow out of an old blanket that was hers when she a baby.

 Then she discovered the joys of using spray paint. 

Ready for bedding.

Yugly, the sock doll, giving the bed a test run.

And finish! 

what is the chance of that?

Yesterday I came across Beach sitting on the floor listening to a pod cast of The Moth Radio Hour. A pile of brightly colored markers on one side of her and on the other her piggy bank, the contents dumped out. 

She was running probabilities on heads or tails for nickels vs quarters vs pennies vs dimes. She had set up her own parameters and variations. What I love most about this very lovable scene is how beautiful her record keeping pages were. Of course finding an 11yr old spontaneously playing with math while listening to public radio is pretty sweet too.    

school and life as one

Here is what I know today, 6 years down our homeschooling path: learning is our life and life is our school.  As I was trying to figure out how to share what Beach has been up to in the education department I realized not only have I been too busy to post about school I have been somewhat ashamed for how little "show+able+work" we were getting done. But when I look, really look, and listen, I know we are on the right path here.     

 

Part of what has been making me doubt myself is how easy it is. 

Homeschooling can't be this easy!! We must not be doing it right.

But that is just it, it is this easy. In the middle of the chaos of meet season we threw out all the stuff we felt we didn't need. All the outside expectations went away, with the intent to reinstate them as soon as we had time. I know that is laughable but true. 

Without all the other stuff weighing us down we have hit a prefect stride and a lot of things have fallen into place. With improvements in her vision via contacts Beach, for the first time since Kindergarten, is close to reading on grade level! it makes everything so much easier!!! 

   

Beach is even spreading her wings and taking a class without me. She is taking art lessons with my friend Sarah, who also happens to be Sophie, Boo's best friend's mom. Sarah picks Boo up on Tuesday mornings after dropping Sophie at school. Takes her to the adult art class Sarah teaches. Boo watches and listens and helps take care of little B. Then they go back to Sarah's house for a whole day of painting. I usually show up after freeing Sophie from school to run gym taxi for all of us. 

The quality of her art is impressive. What is even more impressive is what the Art Day does for Beach. Sarah is a gentle and patient teacher and Beach is a hyper focused little soul. Together they get lost and found in art.

   

Sarah gives my child something I cannot: art and younger siblings. 

When Beach is with me we play with science, numbers, and words. STEM is one of our new favorite ways to spend time.

 It is a good thing I took these pics because someone went and ate the bridge!

 Book work is here. We spend no more than 2 hrs a day in books. 

(not including literature) 

I might have already mentioned that skill wise Boo is ready for Algebra but now isn't the right time...so until it is time her math is all fun and games, the abstract and the practical. As far as math/game books we absolutely love Mathmania!!!    

 Boo spends a lot of time playing in the land of the tree house. Making tiny items out of clay for her small people. 

Her papa and her made the tree house together after she found a similar item at the flee market but refused to pay the $30 price tag the vendor was asking.

Typically she wakes early. Plays and reads in her room.  Feeds her rabbit and plays with her bird before breakfast. We do a little book work, play a game of cards, and some house chores. Maybe run errands, prep dinner, bake, or go for a walk, some days we do all of the above. We eat lunch and read, play a few more games, watch a documentary or an old movie. By 2 we are in gym mode. Boo takes a shower, fixes her hair, and has a snack while watching kid programs on PBS. By 3:29 she is with her team running laps around the floor warming up for the 4 hr practice. Home by 8-ish pm for a small dinner and bedtime.   

 It is all so seamless.  Everything feels exactly as it should. This is what I was looking for when I was searching for answers about what home schooling REALLY was like. I wanted to know what it felt like. 

It feels like living :) 

thrifty find Fish Eat Fish board game

We picked up Fish Eat Fish at a local thrift store while looking for a checkers set. It retails new for 24.99 and we paid 1.50! Don't let the cuteness of the little game pieces fool you! Fish Eat Fish is a clever abstract game it lies somewhere between Checkers and Chess on the strategy continuum, with a nice element of poker style bluffing.

math isn't a subject

From the moment homeschooling became even a remote possibility I have been learning. I remember the hours I spend curled up in the library reading everything I could find on homeschooling. 

Maybe, okay defiantly, I mom/teacher/human have learned more than my child. That may not be completely true after all we started this homeschool life with her when she was about 5. That is 6 years! I can't even begin to list all the skills and knowledge she has wrapped up in her beautiful bouncy brain.

But it sure feels true! 

As her mom/teacher I can look back at all the different ways we schooled and unschooled. I try not to should myself but there are a lot of things I would have liked to have done differently. Most of them fall under the "following the child's lead" category and ignoring outside input & pressures.   

From here I can see so clearly what worked and what didn't work. I've always said our homeschooling focus changes with the weather. Which is funny but true! What I have noticed is there are quite a few constants like Math. No matter the season with math there seems to be a "best practices" for her learning success. One best way of doing it. A way that produces the most mastery and understanding and a happy, motivated child.

Around here math is *almost* always fun. It is organic to life. We have found it in workbooks & text books, games, puzzles, riddles, money, banking, spending & saving, unit pricing, conversions, temperatures, literature, time, scheduling, physics, chemistry, art, baking & cooking, gymnastics statistics, animal care, construction, agriculture, sewing, etc...math is everywhere! 

And this is why when we finished our last text book, grade 5, I didn't go searching for a new text. We decided to not start another one. Math just isn't a subject- it is built into life. It is way too dynamic to be caged. That is what the *almost* was about. Math in text books is a bit boring. It's boring because it is fake. I am not saying we will never use a text book for math- at some point down the road we might find them useful again. 

We have a pile of Mathmania books (Boo loves these!) filled with math & logic games that we haven't had time for but have wanted to play. We have shelves of games we love and new ones to try, or to create ourselves. And of course we have real life which is full of math! 

There are so many ways to explore, gain skills, and find new challenges we don't want to waste time lingering inside a textbook traveling slowly in one dimension. So we are setting math free.