A Re-Cap of September

Looking back at my list of posts from this month I can see that I didn't take as many pictures as usual so a lot of our stories didn't end up here.  So here's a re-cap of all the things I can remember doing and observing.


** It was the month for visiting farmer's markets and fairs so we did a bit of each.  We went to the Albion Fair (my first time there since I was 8 or 9 years old) to see the livestock and experience a bit of the fair atmosphere.  It wasn't quite what we expected and we were all feeling a bit of sensory overload.  Just as we were about to leave we sought out the tractor pull, promising the kids that if we didn't like it we would just go home.  Well, they were enraptured and we watched till we were sore from sitting!  Evan found a new interest in life and has asked us where he can drive a tractor so he can learn and participate in the competition when he's older ;-)  It ended up being a good day.


** We always go out to Goodell Gardens in Edinboro in September.  A rather intense moment happened to us there as we were shopping and realized that Chloe had wandered from us and was absolutely out of sight.  It wasn't worrying to me since the area is limited, but I knew how scared she would feel (especially since she's wandered from me in the Co-op and the library before and it scared her pretty bad for those thirty seconds of separation).  Minutes later, when we spotted her with a loving group of helpful adults, she was in tears.  She hugged me so tight.  We've never been so grateful for her rainbow bright clothes.  She was okay in a little while and we did some more shopping.  Once she started to find pretty things to spend her saved-up birthday money on, she was feeling good again.  She bought a necklace with a magnetic pendant; you swap out the buttons to have a new necklace!  This is her new favorite thing and she has worn it nearly every single day this month.


** We made friends with a couple that lives on our block.  They walk their little fox terrier several times each day, often around our block.  We have crossed paths so many times this summer that now we seek out little Oliver just to see him do tricks and watch him intimidate our cat.  It's also funny to see him eat grass and get yelled at for thinking he's a sheep.  The kids really love Ms. Debbie and Mr. Ron.  Oliver loves Evan's RC trucks, so come Christmas-time we're expecting Evan to have a long talk with them about what kind of truck Oliver would like best.

************************************************

Chloe this month:

** She gallops everywhere and still acts like a horse on a regular basis, especially when she's mad -- snorting, stomping her hoofs, charging, kicking up dirt or dried grass.

** Todd brought a cicada home one day from work.  On close inspection Chloe realized it had two broken legs and that it was probably dying.  She fashioned a cozy habitat for it, slept with it by her bed, and checked on it throughout the day.  It died in three days and she was actually sad!  She may not play with dolls, but there is such a little nurturing heart alive and well in her.

** She learned to tie her shoes.  One day (finally!) she just got curious enough and asked.  I showed her two times and it clicked.  She grabbed the laces and there was a perfect bow made with her own two hands.  I have not helped her again since.  Todd keeps joking with her that it's his job and she  tells him, "Dad, you're fired."

** Her love of dogs is still strong.  She has been in love with huskies for a while, and she thought that was the kind she'd have when she grew up.  But now, she thinks maybe it's going to be german shepards.  How did this happen in a house of cats?

** At the Goodell market she bought this teeny-tiny journal.  She draws these itty-bitty pictures in it and shows it off to anyone who comes over.  It's full of sunsets, flowers, hermit crabs, cicadas and such.

** Remembering a matching game she once played with her friend Lilah, she decided it would be easy to make her own.  She and I worked on it together and now we play it all the time.  It's full of the things she loves: dogs, crabs, birds, bats, and bugs.

** She says things like:  "I don't mean to bother you, but...."  "Is there anything I can help you with?"   "I'm not saying this to rush you, but....."    Her thoughtfulness and consideration is just blossoming.

*************************************************

Evan this month:

** He started fixing his own hair, just like that, and he doesn't want me to mess with it.  It started with his realization that curly hair bedhead can be unpredictable and pretty embarrassing, so he would brush it down flat right away.  Now it's what he likes: all brushed flat and forward around his face, the less curly the better.  He knows his curls are awesome but this is just something new -- a first little peak into his adolescence.

** Legos have always been a constant part of our days.  Lately Evan's creations have taken on yet another level of complexity.  We see it happen each year, and we never think they can get better but he continues to amaze us.  He still only makes vehicles but they are really inventive.  Last week he dismantled his Star Wars Sandcrawler to invent a car-hauler that he had a dream about.  He built this huge cab and trailer with treads for wheels... all from his own mind.

** With Todd reading aloud to him this summer, Evan discovered his new favorite book series: The Indian in the Cupboard.  There are four books and they just finished them.  We are going to have to find a nice set to invest in so we don't have to check them out of the library constantly.

** He bounced on his big red bouncy ball a few too many times when, one day, it exploded underneath him.  He was so sad, but even in that moment of disappointment he recognized the wisdom in listening to the insight of others.  He came to me and said, "If I had only listened to you this wouldn't have happened.  How did you know it would pop?"  It's so cool when our kids realize things, isn't it?

** His heart has been pretty set on owning an RC toy hobby shop when he grows up, but over the course of the month Evan has expressed interests in some new things:  tractor-driving, wood carving, baseball, and knitting.  Looks like we'll have some new things to pursue this fall.  (He really wants to convince Mr. Gary out at the milk farm to teach him to drive the old red tractor.)

** When he's not eying the big red tractor at the milk farm, Evan is off chasing down the orange striped kitten named Dale.  His efforts to tame this somewhat feral cat have worked!  Each week Dale yields more and more to being held and snuggled.  It helps that Evan is really strong.

Old and New

Old:  Evan and Roy cuddling under a (ratty) fuzzy blanket.  These three, blanket included, have grown up together.

New:  Chloe and a book hanging out pretty much anywhere these days. We did two simple lessons and now she reads by herself for the first time.

Intruiging

In school I hated gym class.  Dreaded might be a better word.  I am uncoordinated and easily embarrassed, also I prefer to learn new skills privately.  Why did I have to play horrendously painful  games like dodgeball?  Or learn how to bowl?  How is it necessary for my life that I know how to do a layup with a basketball?   Will I really ever use the ping-pong skills I was taught? And why, oh why, was I forced to wear a polyester uniform and share a locker room with dozens of strangers???

What if instead I had been pleasantly and peacefully homeschooled?  What might my physical education have looked like?  I'm certain I would have done gymnastics until my growth spurt at age 14 prevented me from being a nimble tumbler.  I would have excelled at trail walking and creek wading.  Tree climbing would have scored me an A+ (as opposed to the C- on my report card from the quarter where we learned basketball and ping pong).  Running?  Yes! I would have run for miles without being forced to do it as a warm-up for other impending dreadful activities.  Bike riding would have been fun and I would have been up for the challenge. 

Some kids just don't really pursue sports or team activities, and those who do rarely, if ever, end up doing that sport for a living.  So why was I abused and embarrassed and made to feel like 'phys-ed' was a chore when quite obviously it is not?  Because in school you have to do what they say whether it fits into your life or not.

Well, here in this family my kids will never know such time-wasting tortures.  Bike riding on the next-size-up bikes has been all the rage recently.  Evan really wants to ride Todd's bike, so for unschooling 'gym class', that's what he is pursuing.  (Chloe said that watching Evan 'intrigued' her into wanting to try to ride his bike.)

No embarrassment, only intriguing personal growth and challenges, all of which are applicable and useful for life and living.

**************************************************

p.s.  Of course some people loved gym class, and I would have never met my middle school best friend without that whole locker-buddy system.  What I am against is force, and what I am advocating is freedom.

Family Time at the Park

Over the weekend we went to the park twice.  Once to play at the playground and again to walk through the woods.  Playground time was all about the big metal slide.  The kids came prepared with small fleece blankets to slide on so they could shoot off the end like rockets (which works really well).   When they weren't shooting down in a blur, they were climbing back up.

Annoyed with the camera following him around and hearing, "Stop moving!"

This beautiful cosmo garden was across the street.  We stopped to mingle with the lovely blooms and harvest a few seeds so we can grow these next year.  Some were taller than the kids!

Our next day out, Evan and Todd brought bikes to trail ride.  Chloe and I went on foot.

We always stop to admire Big Maple for a while.

After staring at it for a bit, Evan asked Todd if he could climb it.  Todd told him he didn't think there was a way up unless he wanted a boost.  So....

Chloe was a bit too nervous to get in the tree.  Some things really scare her, like being up too high and feeling like she might fall.  However, she is not afraid of snakes.

We watched this four foot long beauty slither over the path and up a huge hill.

The kids each staked out a private area (aka "secret hideout") and played in one spot for quite a while before we turned around and headed back out of the woods.  We really love these sorts of family times.

Revived

Car City is a battleground.  I thought the kids were never going to play here again after many false starts, but this past week it has been all this and little else.  Evan and Chloe have been up and out the door early, and it seems we're dragging them in at night for books and bedtime after a very full day.  It must be the recent cooler weather that is perfect for playing without sweating because Car City has been revived.

They each have their teams set up in parking lots, but a few main players are stationed out front to play with.  Spiky mud bombs, cannonballs, and bricks are all the ammo they are using for this silly war between the police and the idiots (that is what they call them).  There was such laughter and loudness coming from this special little place in the dirt all week.  It has been like the old days around here with kids in the mud patch all day.  I found myself just sitting alongside listening and watching and always memorizing these very special and fleeting moments.

Maps

Evan and Chloe sat at the kitchen table yesterday and made maps for several hours, and we are amazed, as always, at the treasures within our children that choose to bloom at their appointed time.

It all started with Evan trying to tell me about a part of his Lego Star Wars game that was really challenging. He decided that it would be easier if he just showed me, which is exactly what I do for him when I draw maps of the park, or the streets we've walked on, or to show how many stoplights we go through on our way to the mall.  I loved that he was excited to try out this skill.

Drawing from memory the boards of a game he plays only once a week for about 90 minutes.

The more he drew the further he kept taking it, then he started labeling things.  Before he even realized how much work he just did, it was finished and he was really proud of what he had made.

He said, "I can't believe I made this!  And I don't even like to draw!  Or write!  And I made this!"  Suddenly inspiration struck and he went to grab another piece of scrap paper.

Evan never wants to draw or color anything.  He despises handwriting and has been known to shed several tears over a simple thank you note.  We have always said to him, that when you really need to learn a skill you will and it will even seem fun because it is now useful.  This was entirely true as he spent more and more continuous time at the table.  Even he was surprised at his sudden endurance for handwriting.  "Mom, I can't believe I'm still sitting here writing and it's fun!"

I know the photo quality here is awful but you get the idea.

You knew Miss Chloe wasn't too far behind on this idea, right?  She loves to draw and write, but she had never tried a map (although she has watched me make so many).  She plays a computer horse game called Spirit maybe once every couple weeks or so, but she had the map in her brain she put it on paper really accurately.

Evan's third map was his biggest one.  He spent almost an hour just on this one alone.

There is so much patience involved in unschooling and so many things the camera can't capture, but it is magical in every way and it works.  It's not that we don't teach our kids anything (we do!) but we prefer to expose them to a richly creative environment and constantly open doors for them to see what they will grab onto and run with.  I wonder what it will be next?

Pretty Things

Over the weekend we enjoyed a really pretty day outside.  Among other things, the kids did their usual hunt for cicada shells.  Our new favorite place in the neighborhood to walk past is 'Sunflower Alley.'  Chloe is really into gathering seeds and seed pods (wonder where she learned that ;-) so we got several of her favorites, pictured above, to grow next year.  That night we just couldn't concentrate on bedtime books when the sky was glowing outside my bedroom window.  Instead we just went out and watched.  It was the most amazing neon display we've seen in a while.  Things around town seem much prettier to us all since we've started purposely looking for beauty.

I Love His Laugh

Since Evan was little, he has found it hilarious to have a ball whipped at him really hard.  He even used to like it when the ball hit him on the head, but he'll laugh if it hits anything really.  So, Todd does it a lot, just to hear him laugh :-)

Collecting

Over the weekend, we took a super long walk to enjoy the weather and look for pretty things in our city neighborhood where we sometimes forget things can be pretty at all.  That's when the search for empty cicada shells began, and I think it will continue as long as we hear them singing outside.  It really does feel like a treasure hunt, except that what you're collecting looks like a crusty alien life form with it's brain split open.  To each his own, right?
At the end of our walk that day, we stumbled upon a newly emerged cicada with it's body and wings still bright green.  A few hours later Chloe and Evan talked Todd into going back out with them to get the empty shell that was left behind (which he did).  They love collecting these things!

 ***************************

We thought what had happened that day was pretty great, but then yesterday the kids collected even more shells. Once again, toward the end of our walk, something amazing happened.  Chloe discovered a nymph that hadn't emerged yet but was still living!  This thing had to come home with us.

Last night, way past bedtime, with our new little friend safely harbored in our bug habitat, it emerged and we got to see almost every step of it.  Wings unfurling slowly, body parts stretching, abdomen emerging at last from the exoskeleton remains.  It was perfectly beautiful.

Just amazing.

This morning, since the cicada's wings were fully hardened and darker, the kids admired and handled  it for a bit and then released it into our backyard where it took off flying.  Even as I am typing the kids are getting shoes on and begging to go out collecting yet again....  Who knows what we'll find next.