Thursday: Odds and Ends

I fear these learning notes (which don’t vary much from day to day) are deathly dull, but my future self may appreciate having them. Jotting down notes about unschooling days, highlighting certain things, and translating them into the language of traditional schooling may provide me with portfolio/evaluation fodder. Fodder is good.

Monday Night

Christina got me hooked on this game. Then Missy got addicted to it too. I wouldn’t think a 5-year-old would be into a geography game, but what would I know? She played it again and again, and seemed to quickly catch on to where some of the states fit on the map. (Visual Memory)

Tuesday

Martin and I played Yu-Gi-Oh and Mythmatical Battles (Number Sense: Comparing Numbers; Computation: Multiplication Facts & Subtraction With “Regrouping” (100s & 1000s) He had his piano lesson and a playdate with ScoutLover. (Music, P.E.)

Marie watched The Fall.

Wednesday

Martin and I played Mille Bornes (Math – Computation). He also worked on his Unschooler’s web page (Writing).

Missy and I played Mille Bornes and Rat-a-Tat-Cat, using base ten blocks to keep track of points. Missy learned to add. I modeled several different ways of computing scores at the end (you have to add the numbers on 4 cards) without directly trying to “teach” her. She grasped it immediately and took off with it.

She and I read The Art Lesson by Tomie de Paola, Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola, and Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch. In the spirit of the art lesson, we experimented with mixing colors with tempera paints, and we painted some pictures.

Marie was finally well enough to be back at school. She wanted me to read The Odyssey, so we read three chapters. She considered this assignment “torture,” though she liked the part where they offered a graphic description of a bull being sacrificed to the gods — she enjoyed watching me cringe.

She wrote a review of The Fall.

Thursday

Missy and I had a playdate with her buds AstronautGirl, Roo, and Roo’s little brother. I had a great time hanging out with MY friends too. Sometimes, there’s just no substitute for sitting in the kitchen and hanging out with the girls. And while we were out, the guys cleaned house! Do they rock or what??

I’m sure exciting, stimulating things happened in the Monkey House this afternoon. Or not. I missed it. After leaving AstronautGirl’s House, picking up Marie from school, and grocery shopping, I realized I was exhausted. It was like the week had just caught up with me and kicked my arse. So I slept for the rest of the day.

Hubby and I, who have been nurturing a strained marriage, are having a “date” tonight. Hooray!