The kids had such a great time yesterday. THe played outside with their friends for most of the day. It was great to see. I think that Tyler is a little sad about the kids going back to school in a week. We had a conversation about it the other night, and I asked him point blank if that makes him want to go school. He said no way. I think its important for them to know that if they wanted to go to school it was something that I would be open to talking about with them. Though it would be a far fetched idea that they would ACTULLY go....sort of a well I wouldnt let you put a gun to your head mentality.
I dont wnat them to injure themselves. I really like who my kids are and what their about and I really dont want to be changing that. Alot of people are asking me though, when are you starting "school" . Its hard to explain what we do. You say well we are always learning, we learn from life, and we feel good about that. They sort of look at you like your made of glue. My parents, though supportive and positive about homeschooling , are the worse for this. Its like they can't possiable understand that were not learning from textbooks. We are going to have a family meeting today and talk about what they want to see happen in the coming year. Just sort of documentation of our "goals" and a place for me to get idea about outings and stuff that they might enjoy. Books to watch out for to "Strew" in their way.
Tyler has become obsessed with Sudoko puzzles....I must say so have I. They are so much fun!
Whats sudoko? http://www.sudoko.ws/ We love them here and Tyler is so good at them. He has taught us all to really enjoy them. I am hoping to update this journal every morning with the going ons of the previous day, expecially once school starts. I like having documentation of what we have done. So some things we did yesterday :
1) Read outloud
2)Ashleigh worked on phonics program.
3)The children played outside with the neighbourhood kids.
4)We went to the park.
5)Heather spent some time with her stickers.
6)Tyler worked on sudoko puzzles.
7)Tyler read his chapter book
8)Ashleigh went to a sleep over
9)Ashleigh played computer, Reader Rabbit
10)Tyler played game cube, Harvest Moon
11)The children watched a movie.
12)Ashleigh spent some time copying words from books.
13)The children spent some time drawing.
14)We looked up the snake we found on the internet and found out it was a Rat snake http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/field_guide/reptiles/rat_snake.cfm
http://www.reptileallsorts.com/blkratcareguide.htm
http://www.grandriver.ca/GrandStrategy/pdf/ga_apr01.pdf#search='ontario%20rat%20snake'

Yesterday was a really great day! Everyone had loads of fun!

So many new things have happened, and I really havent kept up with this journal...AGAIN...Things have been going amazingly well. I am going to seperate this entry in kids so that I make sure to post what their up to..lol

Tyler:

Is loving reading comics...he is so into them right now. Which has also turned into him drawing this really cool characters. He has also started his own online blog AND talking on msn with friends. Its neat to see him turning into his own little guy. He always has been his own little guy but now other people get to see it to.

Ashleigh:

Is learning to read. She has decided to get really serious about this, and has taken to learning a little each day about the sounds of letters. She is copying books, and taken alot more interest in not only what their about but how and why the letters got there.

Heather:

Her birthday was yesterday, she is now 4....ACK...we got her a bike, a two wheeler, so she has been spending ALL of er time learning how to do that...still with training wheels, but I am guessing she will even want those off soon.

Oliver:

almost 6 months old! Can I believe that? NO...he is rolling, gabbing, playing, eating and just being Ollie...he is a really amazing guy..

We have come a long way on our journey of unschooling. When we first started this path...we knew we didnt agree with "school at home" but we also were not relaxed enough to just have faith in our kids. Our big hurdle, that I am proud to say were over, was trusting them to know. Not jsut about education , but also when they were tried, hungry, sad, mad....whatever. I can really say that I trust my kids now, and thats a good feeling.

So many people said it was a matter of time...they were right.

We have been watching this cool thing on www.youtube.com checkit out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ6B2qOFp7Y

very cool.

anyway We are trying to sell our house, so off I go to tidy in case people want to come today.

Till next time..

The Walkers