Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Time and Money Matters which lead to Art, and other things in Life.

Our children are well aware of money and its value. My husband and I have begun budgeting lately, and the kids are becoming familiar with how much we have to spend weekly, and what we are able to afford. We discuss the cost of fuel when we decide how to combine trips to the video game store with trips to the grocery store as just one example.
The other day, my 13 year old wanted to buy some clay to produce a start/stop film. He, his siblings, and his friends really enjoy watching Clay World on YouTube, and he wants to make his own version. He is still deciding what to call his show. Anyhow, he wanted me to drive him to Walmart. We were discussing various options, since the trip to just buy a couple dollars worth of clay would cost about $4 in fuel. We decided that it wasn't worth the money that evening. His grandma could take him when she went to the grocery store the next day, but that would mean missing out on a few hours of his friends birthday party. In the end we discovered that his friends mom would be going to Walmart before the party, so if I dropped him off their on my way to work, we accomplished more time with his friends, no extra fuel cost, and he got his clay.
My 11 year old son, Travis, loves his video games, and both he and his older brother are always buying, selling, and swapping their games at the local Gamestops, or the sole proprietorship game store nearby called Trade and Play. They use their math and reasoning skills to get the best deals, most times getting the better end of the deal. I am impressed with their ingenuity!

As an example of how the kids have learned the value of money, my son Travis was trying to convince me the other night NOT to buy pop for our movie night, even though it is one of his favorite treats! We had accidently rented two of the same title movies, making our total cost $5 for movie rentals, rather than $3. Travis told me, "Mom, we've spent enough money tonight. We don't need to buy the pop." I was flabbergasted. He did not have pop of his own. He was actually choosing not to buy it because of our lack of money! I was proud. :)
Often, my kids earn their own money. Grandma Schooling hires them intermittently to help her weed her yard, and Grandma Frase will let them subcontract with her at her cleaning jobs, but more often than not, they will walk the neighborhood soliciting for yard work. In the winter, my 11, 9, and 7 year olds worked for 3 hours shoveling a local schoolteacher's sidewalk. She paid them well. This summer, my 11 year old has a weekly job mowing a large yard. He makes $25/week!

Gym and "Socialization"

My kids get lots of outdoor play. They love our trampoline, and use it daily. They swim in our pool for hours. We take walks often, at least 3 times/week.
Last week, we got out the bikes and went for a 10 mile bike ride. Halfway through, we stopped for ice cream in the little town of Canal Fulton. They served us amazingly large helpings, YUM!
Jaidyn (5), and Nathan (2.5) rode in the wheeled cart pulled by my bike. My 4 other children, ages 13, 11, 9, and 7 rode on their own, the 7 year old stopping often to drink from the water bottle attached to his bike. Their grandma was with us, since Daddy was out of town working. It was a great time and good excercise.
We also went bowling recently. We took a couple of friends, and had a great time. There were about 12 of us all together, ranging in age from 35 down to 2.5.

Science-Protecting our Environment-Laundry Soap

I began making my own laundry soap a couple of months ago, and have reaped quite a savings.
A few days ago we ran out, and it dawned on me, "Why not teach the kids how to make laundry soap?"
Jesse, my 13 year old was already in bed. He gets up early to go to our hometown public school. We live in a town of about 3,000 people. My oldest homeschooler, Travis (who is 11) was involved in one of his DS games, using the internet as a guide to help him through the tough spots. The youngest kids were off playing, but Savannah, my 9 year old, and Aaron, my 7 year old were available and interested.
They helped grate the bar soap into the boiling water, and measure and pour the borax and washing soda into the 2 gallon bucket of lukewarm water, and then stir the mixture up. Aaron pretended he was a witch stirring his brew... :) We let it set up over night, and in the morning, stirred the gelatinous mix again, until it was smooth enough to pour through the funnel into the empty containers we used for our last batch. We recycle old milk and juice bottles to keep our laundry soap in. We are set for another month of washing clothes effectively and affordably. And the kids have learned about economizing, measuring, chemicals, and fun in the meantime!

RECIPE FOR OUR HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP:

1 quart boiling water
1 bar soap (as free of dyes/scents as possible)

Grate the soap with a cheese grater into the boiling water.

In a large bucket, put 2 gallons of lukewarm water. Add 2 cups Arm and Hammer Washing Soda and 1 cup of Borax.

When soap has fully melted, add the hot mixture to the lukewarm and stir. Let sit overnight. It will smell like soap, and possibly have some gelatinous lumps, but this does not affect the cleaning quality. If you prefer, you may add any essential oil that will not harm the skin. I adore the smell of lavendar, and add 20 drops per gallon of laundry soap when I can afford it.

Business and Courtesy in Play, OH MY!

This crisp August morning I am enjoying sitting at my kitchen table with my steaming cup of coffee listening to the wonderful music of loving children playing together. Not segregated according to age, but my 2 year old thanking my 11 year old for something he gave him, and my 7 and 5 year olds pretending to enjoy a snack together. The quiet turns to frolicking when my 2 year old demands that the 7 and 5 year old, "Get out of MY room, peoples!!" as he chases them.
My oldest homeschooler, Travis, has expanded on the tent that his brother and sister constructed last night. He turned it into a multiple room hotel complete with a food court, pool, customer service desk, an excercise track, and a birds eye view of Mount Toyus (a mountain created by draping white towels -for snow- over a pile of toys. It's complete with little Lego and Pez man climbers. The Grand Opening began when Travis lead his siblings through the hotel, showing them each of the anemities, their rooms, carrying in their baggage, and finishing up with room service food. He uses his professional voice, instructing them on the various hotel rules, "Don't go there, it's a walkway being constructed." "I'm sorry, that is for hotel workers only."
Jaidyn (my 5 year old) wants a more active role in this, so Travis offered he a job as a room service delivery girl. She called him on the pretend phone (from her hotel room to the service desk) to find out what she'd be doing in this job. Now I hear her delivering gummies to her 2 year old brothers room. "That'll be $3." she says. "Thanks!", Nathan replies.
My 9 year old, who enjoys going to public school is recovering from a virus today, and had just come downstairs after her shower. This would be her second day of the 2009-2010 school year, but she is home, instead. She was disappointed, but is looking forward to attending tomorrow. For today, she will pack her bag with her wallet, makeup, and gameboy, and take a room in the Homeschool Hotel.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

I experienced the difference between school and unschooling today


Just did science, geography, and weather map lessons with the kids... they were watching cartoons and a severe thunderstorm warning came through, prompting us to look it up online, hence the geography and weather map lesson. While we were busy, Nath...an got into the ice cream, prompting milkshakes on the deck, which led to discussing more about weather patterns, and directions-where the sun rises and sets, etc...

Life Learning Rules! on that same note... I taught cake class to 16 kids today, vs. my normal 5... I can now say from recent personal experience that mass learning does not give the same quality learning as a near 1:1 student/teacher ratio... then t...hrow in the kids dis-interest factor... and hmm..... what sticks in their brains??? OK. I'll get off my soap box now... and I did try to reign it in a lot...
ok, one last thing... "How many kids per teacher are there in a school setting??" oh yeah, a 'good' school setting ratio is 26 students to 1 teacher... I have to question the quality of that learning! Sorry. I just can't see it. The kid would have to be WAY motivated, i.e. interested, to learn, and be able to ignore all the distractions and kid-...management going on.... ok, really, I'll stop now. I'm gonna go write all this in my blog. It's one thing to hear about it, but to experience it today for myself... W.O.W.