what did your USer do today? - Page 2

[heatherdeg]

Hmmm... I'll play and post from Friday.  Ds is 7yo.

In the morning... ummm... what the heck DID we do?  OH!  Me, dh & ds went to the home renovation store in the morning and bought interior doors for our "new" house.  Ds was profoundly bored.  We then ate junk food for lunch before ds watched a quick show (I think Hot Wheels Battleforce 5) and then went to the gym part of a homeschool gym & swim class at the local Y (ds didn't want to go to the swim part because "it was too cold"... forget that it's indoors  ).  We came home, went to the chiropractor and then he played with the kids on the block for a while before we had dinner late and went to bed.

[purslaine]

Our day has been very non-eventfull.

DD is nursing a cold - borderline something bronchial.  She has read, drawn, wrote a little story and danced. She also made carrot muffins.  She also learned that her mom thinks onion and garlic are good for  colds as I made a veggie broth for her on behalf of her cold.  I also put some noodles in and she likes it - which is very cool because she does not normally like vegetables.She also learned egg shells can go in compost.

Ds is still in bed -but he is rousing.  He takes 2 classes online (his choice) and is running an 85% average in English.  I am very impressed as this is a child who I have done much hand wringing over with regards to writing.  I do not think he loves writing, and his handwriting is still crap - just legible - but he can write well enough that he can pursue anything he wants to.  Phew!

[greenthumb3]

Great thread! It's been awhile since I've posted so this one's a good way to dip my toe back in, so-to-speak.

Let's see...

Today, my sister called me this morning and invited us to tag along to the library storytime, so I helped the younger ones get dressed and we headed over. My oldest two boys love to check out DVDs, and they checked out a how-to karate DVD for kids, and one about Journey to the Center of the Earth, and another about Land Before Time (my 6 year old loves those dinosaur ones). I asked the two oldest to choose one book each to check out, and they did. Of course, the 3 year old discovered he was *starving* and wandered around just outside the storytime room door while the oldest finished his craft. Got home in time to make everyone some toast before the hunger meltdowns ensued. (phew!)

But our 3 year old decided then that he *needed* a hamburger! Sooo, my husband came out of his home office and we all decided In-N-Out sounded good for an early lunch as a family. A stop at the hardware store on the way home and then my husband worked on fixing the front gate.

I took a short walk with the two youngest, just up the sidewalk to pick up rocks and wander like little ones like to do, and take time to explain why we don't put rocks in our mouths in suburbia (pesticides), all the while, my toddler daughter carried a giant cup full of rootbeer, very happily taking a sip now and then. My 3 yr old son happily clomped his way home in his biggest brother's sandals, looking at me and telling me how well they fit him (as they slipped off his feet with every step). I just smiled and agreed! Cute little kids.

In the afternoon, I read aloud to the kids the book my 6 yo checked out from the library. Ironically, it was a picture book about a boy who had to think of something else to do besides computer games when the power went out (my kids love their tech!). It was a funny book and had a positive message about playing games and having fun playing pretend.

Lots of nursing for us, reading books to the littles, jumping on the trampoline, and the big boys played on the computer.

My 8 year old and I went through his sight word cards for reading practice and then read two short books together. (He's working on building his reading skills with me)

Nap!!! Yay! I really need one. Our little girl skipped hers however.

Tonight my husband finished up a meeting across town and watched the kids while their cousins were over while I attended a mom's learning circle at my sister's house. I really enjoyed the company and conversation.

Took a few minutes to chat with my husband about the day and then he went back to his home office to get ready for his flight tomorrow to Canada. Husband challenged oldest son to finish his "assignment" of spelling out a word in Lego and then reading it aloud and then drawing a picture of the word. (Legos is open ended at our house; this is a special thing Daddy and he have been doing with each other, to help him build his reading skills)

And now more nursing the littles, tidying messes from the day and doing dishes and switching a load of clean diapers to the dryer.

Wow, all before 11 p.m. That's a good day!

[Attila the Honey]

I love this thread.

The day is early but dd just woke up 30 min ago and headed straight for the old playstation 2.   It's going to be one of those days.  :)

[Picard]

I like this thread. Today is a stay at home kind of day. DS just turned three. He began by asking to be read about electricity (kinetic/potential), electrons, while I was having my morning coffee. It's been a theme of interest of his for at least half a year. Then we moved on to playing with the piano, figuring which keys are out of tune and listening to the dissonance. Also showed him octaves again. He played by himself with playdough, making tracks in it with his various cars. Then we built a sewer system complete with toilet, etc. from playdough. He seems fascinated with how this all works. He asked how batteries recharge while we were putting batteries in the recharger. We read a few books. Tried a new food. Listened to a story on a CD. He played on the computer punching in letters in Word. He is starting to recognize digital numbers, so I drew numbers with pen and we hung them up so that he can reference them. He played with scissors, honing his cutting skills; with staplers, because he loves it. We played with tape. We made some stuff out of cardboard. He sharpened pencils. He tried cleaning up his mess. We played dress-up. He is asking how recording devices work. We talk. And it's only 4pm. It's been a good day.

[zebra15]

Its been awhile since someone posted.

Today DS finished his Ch 6 math test (midterm is after the next chapter)  Pre-algebra.  This is the only 'schooly' type thing we do.

He finished reading a book.

He went to swim practice - this is m,t,w,th for 30 mins 

We started a puzzle in the shape of the United States where each state is a license plate

We went to the grocery store and DS helped me with the coupons and the list- he also unloaded the car and put the pantry items away.

[Piglet68]

DD continues to work on the second issue of her comic book. Today was gorgeous so we took the dog and headed for the river. We hung out in a sunny spot and then did some geocaching in the nearby forestry reserve. DS is currently obsessed with his new Playstation (the kids got some gift money and pooled it to get one). There's a level-creator and DS has been making his own characters and levels in Little Big Planet 2. 

[SweetSilver]

Every day is an unschooling day!  

     Today I went up to our forested 10 acres to salvage plants from the building site.  Brought back some organic hay for my chickens, then packed the whole family for a trip back to the property; the neighbor's hen just hatched 10 chicks!  Very possessive, she mostly sat on them.  Now and again, one would peek out.  So damn cute!

     Went for a walk through the forest.  So many May wildflowers.  All the alders and maples finally leafing out.  Beautiful.  I am happy my girls are finally big enough not to be overwhelmed by a walk like this.

[Interrobang]

We haven't done much so far. Yesterday was crazy hectic, so today we're taking it easy. They fed some of the animals, got eggs for me, and helped our barn hand give grain to the horses while I made breakfast. Played outside most of the morning. 5DD found tadpoles and accidentally made a big hole huge in her ratty old rain jacket, so sometime today I think we'll head into town to see about getting her a new one since there's no saving it. 7DD came in and had an apple. Right now they're having a late lunch, 5DD is working on an art project, and in a little bit we're going to head to the beach for a walk with some friends, who (after a few hours in between) we're going out to dinner with at a local cafe tonight :) They're unschoolers too!

[orangefoot]

Dh and I run our own business and Mondays are busy so every Monday is always a BlueDoor Day and that means the girls (8 and 4)  just have to occupy themselves.

Today they watched tv first thing in the morning then went outside to check on the sunflowers as it has been wildly windy here since yesterday. They got the scooters out and rode up and down the road on them whilst playing out a drama about some canister with all the world in it and great shrieking and hilarity ensued. I put this down to very attentive Doctor Who watching.

I left them to cut up bread and fruit for lunch outside and slightly supervised my 4yo cut an apple by herself when she wanted another one not cut by her sister.

Then they went upstairs and from the doodles I found on a notepad I think they were mainly talking about butts and farts which would explain the laughter while I was on the phone to clients..... Dh came home after lunch and they  all went to the park up the road to play on the swings and sneak to the shop to buy ice creams and chocolate. He went back to the office and they watched a bit more tv. They are loving Horrible Histories and a science challenge programme which today showed them how it is that a man can stand on an open  box of 8 eggs and they won't break. This was the first thing dd1 shared with her brother when he came home from school and then her dad when he came home again.

We tried natural yoghurt with Swedish lingonberry jam, honey and walnuts to see which one was tastiest. Lingonberry and honey is better than the jam on its own apparently.

They have had a happy day with lots of laughter and madness which is good because not all days are so free from ranting and shouting and fighting.

[Interrobang]

Yours are Who fans too, eh? We just got finished watching the new episode!

Originally Posted by orangefoot 

Dh and I run our own business and Mondays are busy so every Monday is always a BlueDoor Day and that means the girls (8 and 4)  just have to occupy themselves.

Today they watched tv first thing in the morning then went outside to check on the sunflowers as it has been wildly windy here since yesterday. They got the scooters out and rode up and down the road on them whilst playing out a drama about some canister with all the world in it and great shrieking and hilarity ensued. I put this down to very attentive Doctor Who watching.

I left them to cut up bread and fruit for lunch outside and slightly supervised my 4yo cut an apple by herself when she wanted another one not cut by her sister.

Then they went upstairs and from the doodles I found on a notepad I think they were mainly talking about butts and farts which would explain the laughter while I was on the phone to clients..... Dh came home after lunch and they  all went to the park up the road to play on the swings and sneak to the shop to buy ice creams and chocolate. He went back to the office and they watched a bit more tv. They are loving Horrible Histories and a science challenge programme which today showed them how it is that a man can stand on an open  box of 8 eggs and they won't break. This was the first thing dd1 shared with her brother when he came home from school and then her dad when he came home again.

We tried natural yoghurt with Swedish lingonberry jam, honey and walnuts to see which one was tastiest. Lingonberry and honey is better than the jam on its own apparently.

They have had a happy day with lots of laughter and madness which is good because not all days are so free from ranting and shouting and fighting.

[lgyre]

DS(3) had a slow start this morning, he wanted to watch Thomas the Tank Engine videos, so I took DD(1) outside to explore. Pretty soon DS came out too, and wanted me to get them a bucket of water to play with. After they were thoroughly soaked, we came back in for more videos on Nick Jr and some baby books. DS played Bob the Builder games on the computer while I put DD down for her nap, then we had lunch, read a longer book (lots of counting, picture searching, and sea animals), and built some lego fish. When DD got up we had a little dance party, some keyboard playing, another bucket of water outside, and drawing. DH came home from work wanting to go shoe shopping, so we went to the mall where he did that and the kids rode the little arcade rides. Then home for a late dinner. After putting DD to bed, DS and I went outside to watch (and then reenact) a thunderstorm. I helped him play a little angry birds on the computer and now he's watching cartoons again. This is a slightly high amount of screen time but a pretty typical day for us. Oh! and DS is finally potty training, so today was our third outing with underpants.

[SweetSilver]

Reviving this thread because this weekend is truly awesome.  I have been unschooling myself in the art of unschooling.  I have been reading John Holt diligently.  I have been reading all your posts, especially the mamas with older kids (moominmama-- especially your posts which have been so helpful to me with my young family).  I have been challenging myself with finding ways to give my girls more responsibility and trusting them to do more challenging things.  And it has been working beautifully.  I even (calm breath) helped my 4.5 yo flip pancakes, which she has been begging to do for over a year.

Now this weekend, I've been able to give them a big opportunity to dogsit for a client of mine.  We give them a tiny allowance, not chore-based, so this is making them some big bucks.  They are rising beautifully to the occasion and handily earning every penny.  (I have warned them that it's all or nothing.  A bit unfair, perhaps, but so far it hasn't been an issue.)  The dog is showered with attention, walked, fed, taken on "potty walks", all without a grumble (though often a fight about who has the leash.)  They are already planning on what they will do with $$$ 25 each!!!!!

     Today, my 4.5yo DD2 learned how to operate a corkscrew, helped wash potatoes, chop ("too tricky!  I'm done"), then proceeded to get her dinosaur "Stinkymouth" and several others to play in the potato peelings for the next 1/2 hour!

     Yesterday, she piled up her trusty guide books, with 2 on rocks and minerals (my pick from the library).  DD1 has decided she only likes the sparkly ones, so I asked her if she would like me to reserve a guidebook on gems (and perhaps some books on jewelry?)

DD1, 6.5yo, just sprinted by, showing off how well she can run like a cheetah-- something she learned from a wildlife picture book.  She nearly has the perfect body stretch.  She has always trotted very well on all fours, and I love the direction this is taking.  She also copied a rabbit's lope, but this athletic cheetah-leap is right up her alley.

[Attila the Honey]

I really love this thread too.  I will do yesterday, since it's early in the morning.  My 7yo dd is obsessed with insects and other creepy crawlies, so the day started like every other day - she fed her crawfish, her isopods, checked on her chrysalises (sp?), and let her fireflies go.  She has shelves in her room filled with jars of "specimens" like the things I mentioned, cicada shells, crawfish claws etc etc.  She wants to be an entomologist when she grows up, and we told her she has to learn the sciences and math so everyday she does some math worksheets that I print out from theheadoftheclass.com - she did those yesterday.  She watched the documentary "Babies".  She played outside for a long time, mostly digging and looking for bugs.  lol   She is learning to identify local plants, so dh told her to gather dandelion, clover, sorrel, strawberry leaves and parsley from the yard to feed the bunny and she was able to do it.  (yay!)  She watered our gardens, and watched the tadpoles, snails and frogs in our pond.  At bedtime she caught fireflies and fell asleep watching "Mr Bean".

[4evermom]

Yesterday, we were recovering from being at the beach the day before.  Ds watched a couple of Saturday morning shows and played Starcraft online.  He and dh watched a movie together (while I napped).  Cousins driving through stopped over for the evening/night.  Ds showed them his lego collection, then played legos, nerf guns, and playdoh with them.  Good times:)

[purslaine]

We are either going strawberry picking or to a medieval festival.  We are also cleaning the very soon to be dead van and then loading it up with any metal garbage we have  - as I learned the other day that the dead van will fetch about 450$ if I drive it to the scrap dealer.  I wish I had clued into this earlier in my life as I have had several dead cars, lol.  We will swim as well.  

[moominmamma]

I love these threads too. On the other hand, they do tend to attract accounts of notable days by people who are (justifiably) excited by the interesting and varied things their kids did on that particular day. So as an antidote ... we had a boring day yesterday, and this is all we did:

Puttered around in the garden.

Cleaned up the mud room.

Did some laundry. A lot of laundry.

Went to the park for the annual staff BBQ for dh/my work. Took the kids. They played bocce and speedminton and briefly dipped into the frigid lake. Socialized. 

Came home.

Practiced violin/viola.

Pushed through more laundry.

Had bedtime story.

Ds played FallOut3 on the computer.

Miranda

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

I love these threads too. On the other hand, they do tend to attract accounts of notable days by people who are (justifiably) excited by the interesting and varied things their kids did on that particular day. 

I had this thought myself, even as I posted!  Most days are pretty unremarkable in the sense that if I were to take note of the more acceptably "schoolish" things, I wouldn't write down much.

I could say that most days include a fair amount of working through disagreements (ahem!)  Noted as socialization lessons?  I often find when I post something helpful and creative in answer to another's questions, or paraphrase our homeschooling experience thus far, it sounds as though we are going going going all the time.  But no, some days are more "schoolish" than others.  

     I will say that the feeling of happiness when I SEE my girls working things out, making connections and experimenting with an idea is almost overwhelming.  Perhaps because my girls are so young and I am learning how this all works (in fact it's my theme for this year) that I am still amazed when it happens.  I want to create habits for myself that are conducive to homeschooling-- to unschooling as far as I am comfortable giving them the reins.

     I am also thrilled when I see them play and play and play the day away.  I feel that this is so RIGHT!  I'm happy I discovered such a happy road for our family.  I have made so many mistakes on this parenting road that to feel the rightness of something to my very core is awesome indeed!

[moominmamma]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

I had this thought myself, even as I posted!  Most days are pretty unremarkable in the sense that if I were to take note of the more acceptably "schoolish" things, I wouldn't write down much.

My comment certainly wasn't intended as a criticism! I think that many parents are phenomenally inspired by the creative, amazing things that unschooling families come up with. I fill my blog with the notable parts of our family's unschooling and it's therapeutic for me as well as (occasionally, at least, it seems) inspiring to others. Threads like this are fabulous -- as inpiration, for the sharing of resources, for reassurance, for celebrating all the diversity that unschooling provides.

Once in a while, though, someone stumbles into a thread like this, or a blog like mine, in a discouraged frame of mind and has their feelings of inadequacy stoked by reading about other people's lovely lives that almost seem too good to be true. I just wanted to throw one post in there for people who were feeling like that, to remind them that there are uninspiring unschooling days too, and that threads like this, taken by themselves, skew the view of unschooling. Because I've been that discouraged person too and had those feelings of inadequacy.

miranda

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

My comment certainly wasn't intended as a criticism! I think that many parents are phenomenally inspired by the creative, amazing things that unschooling families come up with. I fill my blog with the notable parts of our family's unschooling and it's therapeutic for me as well as (occasionally, at least, it seems) inspiring to others. Threads like this are fabulous -- as inpiration, for the sharing of resources, for reassurance, for celebrating all the diversity that unschooling provides.

 No offense taken.  I didn't read any criticism into your post!

Once in a while, though, someone stumbles into a thread like this, or a blog like mine, in a discouraged frame of mind and has their feelings of inadequacy stoked by reading about other people's lovely lives that almost seem too good to be true. I just wanted to throw one post in there for people who were feeling like that, to remind them that there are uninspiring unschooling days too, and that threads like this, taken by themselves, skew the view of unschooling. Because I've been that discouraged person too and had those feelings of inadequacy.

miranda

Reminds me of how Martha Stewart Living makes some people feel.  How my helpful and inspired posts might make some people feel.  Perhaps a thread for a more typical USing day might offer a good balance.  My previous post was definitely about those days!  Some days are positively wretched.  I think that maybe these days at home made that day wretched, but then I think that perhaps the wretchedness was there already (and some days I know it is) and sending the girls to school on those days could have been brutal.  On those days, when the troubles are beyond the help of distraction, I'm glad the girls can be at home.