So... Packing and moving and unpacking and organizing -- apparently not very blog post-conducive.
While I've been gone, Lucy has pretty much learned to read. Every day she surprises us by reading something that we had no idea she could read. Things that we haven't read to her. "Sisters Forever." "Do not block driveway." "The Grouchy Ladybug." "Do you see a mouse?" She is also spelling more and more, especially with the letter magnets on the fridge. (Easier than the hand-eye coordination required to write, and less frustrating, I suspect.)
Today we went to the library. Typed on the computer, put together a USA puzzle. She wandered around the magazine section, choosing titles like Mother Jones and Hot Rods to sit and flip through.
Our lawn care guy came by to introduce himself (he is landlord-appointed). At one point Lucy busted out with a clear and friendly "Nice to meet you, Doug!" He said she was better at names than he is. LOL.
Lots of Blues Clues this afternoon. She's been watching a lot of it the last couple days, probably because she hadn't watched it in a while, because it's not on Netflix anymore, but I only just figured out how to play Amazon Prime videos on the Wii (password protected against purchases -- whew!).
FYI, other parents -- there are a couple of great groups on Facebook solely for sharing educational videos on all subjects that are available on various internet sites. A large one is called Homeschooling with Netflix or something like that. I recommend looking them up!
Unschooling myself and the 6-year-old
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Learn Nothing Day: July 24, 2013
Some in the Unschooling community celebrate today as "Learn Nothing Day". The point is to draw attention to the fact that even if you try to learn nothing all day, you will fail miserably. Learning is everywhere! So in honor of that, here are some things all four of us learned today:
I learned that Russia is an even worse place than I thought.
Norman learned that if you want to buy a used mini fridge, you'll probably need to look on Craigslist, not at a thrift store.
Lucy learned that "eggs" starts with an 'e' (after putting 'GGS' on the fridge in letter magnets and telling Norman she spelled "eggs").
I learned that July 24th is Pioneer Day in Utah, and that it commemorates Brigham Young and the first Mormon pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.
I learned how to use the self-checkout at our new library.
Lucy had Green Eggs and Ham read to her by the library computer program, so now she knows how that story goes, and she was delighted with the ending!
Norman learned about the fee structure at our new bank.
Lucy learned Dotty's full name, and they had a discussion about nicknames.
Norman learned that there are 20 cups in 5lbs of flour (because I told him -- mwahahaha!).
Dotty learned how to care for cast iron cookware, who Aaron Sorkin is, and what QED means!
I learned that Russia is an even worse place than I thought.
Norman learned that if you want to buy a used mini fridge, you'll probably need to look on Craigslist, not at a thrift store.
Lucy learned that "eggs" starts with an 'e' (after putting 'GGS' on the fridge in letter magnets and telling Norman she spelled "eggs").
I learned that July 24th is Pioneer Day in Utah, and that it commemorates Brigham Young and the first Mormon pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.
I learned how to use the self-checkout at our new library.
Lucy had Green Eggs and Ham read to her by the library computer program, so now she knows how that story goes, and she was delighted with the ending!
Norman learned about the fee structure at our new bank.
Lucy learned Dotty's full name, and they had a discussion about nicknames.
Norman learned that there are 20 cups in 5lbs of flour (because I told him -- mwahahaha!).
Dotty learned how to care for cast iron cookware, who Aaron Sorkin is, and what QED means!
Thursday, July 11, 2013
July 6-11, 2013
Again with the packing and being busy. Highlights:
Beatles Eucharist. Yes, that's a thing. Church service made out of Beatles music. But honestly, it was pretty much just a straight up Gospel presentation slash Easter service ("Here Comes the Sun"!). Hopefully Lucy found that different in a good way.
She went to GrandMary's while I went skating. Played in the kiddie pool. Watched Tigger Movie with Uncle Ben.
One more play date with Baby Henry while I got my hair done. They watched a bunch of Sesame Street and ate Cheez-Its.
Had a grand time when Aunt Dotty and her friends brought her stuff over to our house (because she is moving in with us). People! So many people to introduce herself to and talk to!
Played with her Play-Doh for a good long time one day. Mostly because almost all of her other toys were packed up. She's a lot better at manipulating everything than the last time she played with it!
She's been talking about a lot of simple addition and subtraction. I think because they were talking about it on an episode of Sesame Street that she's watched a couple of times this last week.
Today should have been library day, but she said she wanted to visit the Natural History Museum one more time instead. She brought an empty paper towel roll with her as a telescope to watch out for moving skeletons. She used it a lot. She also read several signs. She read the word "flash", which surprised me. She also used the Exit signs and their arrows to navigate us out of the back of one of the exhibits. Afterwards we went to Starbucks and sat and drank coffee (juice for her) and ate a scone.
She's been watching a lot of Sesame Street. She watched The Mouse and the Motorcycle (live-action 1980s version -- it's on Netflix instant!). Old Winnie the Pooh movie.
Been reading books about beds and houses and moving and first aid and stuff.
Beatles Eucharist. Yes, that's a thing. Church service made out of Beatles music. But honestly, it was pretty much just a straight up Gospel presentation slash Easter service ("Here Comes the Sun"!). Hopefully Lucy found that different in a good way.
She went to GrandMary's while I went skating. Played in the kiddie pool. Watched Tigger Movie with Uncle Ben.
One more play date with Baby Henry while I got my hair done. They watched a bunch of Sesame Street and ate Cheez-Its.
Had a grand time when Aunt Dotty and her friends brought her stuff over to our house (because she is moving in with us). People! So many people to introduce herself to and talk to!
Played with her Play-Doh for a good long time one day. Mostly because almost all of her other toys were packed up. She's a lot better at manipulating everything than the last time she played with it!
She's been talking about a lot of simple addition and subtraction. I think because they were talking about it on an episode of Sesame Street that she's watched a couple of times this last week.
Today should have been library day, but she said she wanted to visit the Natural History Museum one more time instead. She brought an empty paper towel roll with her as a telescope to watch out for moving skeletons. She used it a lot. She also read several signs. She read the word "flash", which surprised me. She also used the Exit signs and their arrows to navigate us out of the back of one of the exhibits. Afterwards we went to Starbucks and sat and drank coffee (juice for her) and ate a scone.
She's been watching a lot of Sesame Street. She watched The Mouse and the Motorcycle (live-action 1980s version -- it's on Netflix instant!). Old Winnie the Pooh movie.
Been reading books about beds and houses and moving and first aid and stuff.
Friday, July 5, 2013
July 4-5, 2013
We spent the 4th of July having an impromptu farewell lunch here at the house with some dear friends. Three of them are kids, so Lucy was in heaven! They wrestled and played Duplos and ran around outside and played dress up and all sorts of things.
But before they arrived I noticed that the fridge looked like this:
And before I noticed that, I heard her reading Go, Dog. Go! to herself in the playroom. How exciting! I really haven't read it to her much, so I know she was reading instead of remembering. There was some talking about the pictures and some reading, but isn't that how we read to her? So precious to hear her picking out "I like it! I like that party hat!"
Then Aunt Dotty and GrandMary picked her up to take her to the library Aunt Dotty just resigned from to show her around (plus it was Dress Like a Super Hero Day -- in this family we take any possible excuse to dress up in a costume). Lucy made a mask and got some books.
And played on the computer, apparently.
I read her a book I picked up from the other library while she was gone called What You Never Knew About Beds, Bedrooms, and Pajamas. (Pretty interesting! The history of sleeping in Western society.)
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Late June and Early July, 2013
Well, between packing and last visits and my having an illness... Well, this overview update will have to suffice.
On Saturday Lucy and I attended a semi-fancy baby shower. She learned some table manners (including what to do with the funnily-folded cloth napkin), learned to play tic-tac-toe, and introduced herself quite properly to a bunch of ladies.
She's been very into playing with this random assortment of very tiny plastic things that she got from GrandMary. As you may or may not be able to see here, there are many babies, and they are in drawers.
She made this book. She said it was based on a dream she had. She had Norman and me transcribe most of it for her (obviously).
(She said the picture is of her as a teenager and the lines are the ocean waves.)
There were a bunch more pages and a map.
Today I was in the shower and I heard a bunch of banging noises in the kitchen. I was a little concerned. Then I got out of the shower and there were more noises. I was very concerned. I tried to prepare myself for whatever it was I was about to see. I was not prepared for this:
She got the carrots out of the fridge, chopped one up with the paring knife (!!!), added oats and rice and water, and made this "recipe" for me. Yep. Thankfully I flashed back to how much FUN-with-a-capital-F I found it to use real food ingredients (mostly little packs of fast food condiments) in my mud pie-type creations when I was little. She was so very pleased with herself. I ate some of the carrots to humor her. :-)
I reminded her that she should ask before using food to make sure I'm not saving it for a dinner or something. I was also trying to explain to her why I didn't want to eat the other parts of the recipe -- because people usually cook oats and rice before they eat them. She said she wanted to start over and make more, but in the frying pan. Instead I suggested I teach her to cook eggs. So we washed the pan and made lazy scrambled eggs together. (The photo is of her saying "I made these eggs!!")
In TV lately, Sesame Street, mostly.
In books, we've been looking at books about how to draw and how to tie fancy knots. She's reading so much! And then tonight she had me read to her from Norman's old middle/high school biology workbook. LOL. Mold spores and metamorphosis!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)