Mi'ita's Day Off

Yesterday was Veteran's Day and we had a friend spend the day with us. Basically it was Friday Field Day on Wednesday. Boy did they work me! Horseback riding lessons in the morning, mucking out stalls after, home for showers, off to pizza for lunch, the aquarium to visit the new buzzards, the pet store to see the puppies and fish, off to the Bayfront to shop, walk the dog to the rope swing, dinner, and then play practice. They were on the ball from 9:30-8.

Today was supposed to be a regular day. After 10 minutes of her 5 math problems (to prove to me she doesn't need more) we were going to do a math game, Swahili, and latin. She had her nose in her book, though, so I let her finish it first. After 15 minutes of uncooperative Swahili, I asked her if she just needed the day off. Yesterday was so much. Relieved, she agreed.

Her day off? She spent the whole morning reading. She finished an entire collection of Norse myths and a book about The Medieval World. Then we went off to school to learn more about rocks and start a project on the Clatsop Indians. Then ballet.

That's her day off.

Whew! I read somewhere that the only way to teach TAG (Talented and Gifted) kids is to unschool them. I am not ready to say I am unschooling yet, but her freeschooling is getting looser and looser.

Friday Field Day

Our Fridays were supposed to be field trips to see museums, zoos, field studies in forests and swimming holes. I know we live in a tiny town 3 hours from the major metropolis of less than a million people in a biggish but sparsely populated state. But still! Even our little burg has a few museums...that we've seen ten times already and go to every time we get visitors.

What have we done on Fridays? Well, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium last week to watch the daddy scuba dive in a Halloween costume for their festivities. That was cool. We started a hideous papermache Cerberus the week before that. My aunt and uncle were visiting from Thailand before that and we showed them around town (remember those museums?) She got some cool paper money from Thailand, Oman, Qatar, and Egypt for her coin/money collection.

There's this wildlife safari down near Roseburg that biologist friends have said is worth going to, but it's three hours away each way and my rear is not up for the drive yet. I wanted to get to Mt. St. Helens before the snows hit, but that didn't happen. We probably could still get to historic Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood built in the 30's as a depression era work project. It's a ski resort so the roads are well plowed, but I'm a wimp and I know that plowed roads can still be dangerous. We'll probably wait until the snow leaves.

We always do something.

Today? We're headed over to my friend's house. She's a marine biologist who's going to show me how to pick chanterelles. I have had a burning interest in mycology for years, but never took the time to get going on it. Then we're headed over to Facets, a gem store to look at rocks. Mi'ita just did a rock report for the 4th grade class we visit Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. She did a good speech on obsidian--well planned, well researched, well organized, well delivered. I'm proud. I'm hoping we get a video watched today about Alexander the Great, too.

I am not interested in rocks, but will go to Facets if she goes mushroom picking with me. She's not interested in mycology, but will go if I take her to Facets afterwards.

It's a done deal, bear!

Next language: Swahili

It's always handy to have a rich grandmother in the wings.

Homeschooling is not cheap. Books, field trips, , stay-at-home mom, private lessons, manipulatives, computer programs, travel... Other people have figured out how to do it on the cheap and I could do it in a pinch. But there are sooooooo many cool things out there to buy!

My mother loves to travel and has said that as soon as Mi'ita is old enough she'd like to take her on Safari to Africa. Oma was in the peace corps in Swaziland in the 70's and has been back to Africa at least once since. She mentioned again that as soon as Mi'ita was old enough... and I said that now might not be a bad time. She is old enough to remember the trip and to endure some uncomfortable things, and young enough not to be an obnoxious teenager.

So we're off to Africa this spring! My mother is springing because I have no where near the $5000 plus each ticket price. Wow!

On the curricular table now is: Swahili, Tanzania, African history from ancient to modern, ecology, wildlife biology, biomes, global warming, poverty, AIDs, and I don't know what else yet but I know that's not it.

Friday Field Day

I think Fridays are going to be popular.

I read in one of my homeschooling books to leave one day per week open for library trips, field trips, and projects. We already go to the library Monday afternoons (I volunteer), so field trips and all day projects belong to Fridays.

Since school doesn't start for a couple weeks for the rest of Newport, we still have access to other kids. Mi'ita a wanted to go to Otter Beach aquatic park for Friday field day this week. It lacks the science or social studies that I was thinking of (museums, hikes, field studies, zoos) but it does have some value. We went with two of her friends, and she swam like a fish for two and a half hours, in the rain no less. They had a great time and a lot of exercise. I figured it was a PE day. Mi'ita has my body and will have to watch her weight her entire life. PE is not to be sniffed at and letting her enjoy her exercise is a good thing.

Speaking of PE, I think Mi'ita is getting more exercise than she does in school. We walk the dog every day for 45 minutes to an hour to a rope swing near our house. It's a beautiful spot in the woods by a creek. We can collect leaves, pinecones, water samples, and find newts. I've never seen a frog there, but I've heard them. Being outside, seeing all that beauty, watching the seasons change, having time to talk to her mom, or not. It's all good.

Mi'ita has more time to herself in the afternoons, too, and I see her being more active. We do seat work in the morning and after lunch she does what she likes. Theoretically, it's time to unschool. Unschool is the concept that all human beings are wired to learn and do not need to be forcefed education. A true unschooled education would be to let her do what she likes all day and to teach her only what she requests to be taught. I am incapable of leaving that much of her education to chance. I do buy the concept, though, and am willing to let her do it part time. Afternoons, I let her go and she has been educationally focused. She watches her German and Latin DVD's or science shows (no TV that isn't educational) and reads mostly. She built a volcano and exploded it Saturday night.