White Squirrels

As we were driving through North Carolina recently, we happened to see a white squirrel by the side of the road. It was so cool looking! We had never seen one before, so we made a mental note to "look up white squirrels" when we get home. Well, we got back home, unpacked, and got back into the daily flow of life, almost forgetting all about the white squirrel.

Then my daughter approached me and asked me to give her "a project". She said she didn't mean a craft project, or a sewing project, or anything like that. She wanted a subject that she could look up, find information on, and write a report about. The white squirrel was just the idea we needed! So my daughter proceeded to research on the internet and compile a written report, which she presented to my husband and myself orally. It turns out that white squirrels are extremely rare, but have several colonies throughout North America.

How lucky are we?! We've see things like the white squirrel, that we wouldn't have seen if we weren't in NC for the Live & Learn Conference. And we see children who love to research, write reports, and make oral presentations. I guess it's really not luck at all. It's due to the conscious choices we make in our unschooling lifestyle. We do not spend our days caught in a blinding routine. We work to keep our eyes open to the wonders all around us, the most wonderful sight being our own children, and we are amazed and awed by what we see again and again.

Summertime and the Learning is Easy

It seems like summer is such a busy time for us, with so many special activities and trips going on, and naturally, so much learning occuring. That's why it's always funny to me when people start asking in August if we're getting ready to "start back with our studies" again. I usually say that we never stop learning!

Anyway....... here are just a few of the things that have been keeping us busy since my last post.

My husband and I took our youngest son canoeing on the Peace River, pictured above, because it is supposed to be one of the best places in Florida to search for fossilized shark teeth. Joseph NEEDED to find some more to add to his collection. So, after some internet research, and construction of our sifting screens, off we went into "the wild". We only saw 2 other boats during our entire 4 hour trip down the river. It was peaceful, alright! We were all quite relieved that we only saw one small alligator sunning itself, but were pleased to see many birds, turtles, and fish. Best of all, we came away with about a dozen shark teeth and a few other fossils! This was not even the best time of year to be fossil hunting, so we are already planning to return when the river is nice and low.

Our downstairs guest bathroom has also been busy quite a bit too, LOL! That's because it has been taken over as a laboratory. Angelica and Joseph named it the "Non-stop Lab", made a sign for the door, and created their own lab shirts on which they draw a picture of each experiment they've done. There are also safety rules posted, like "Long hair must be tied back to keep it out of the experiments." The inspiration for many of their experiments came from the book "Mad Professor", but they also create their own experiments like comparing how different materials soak up colored water, and which glue makes the best "goo". Results are recorded in the "lab notebook." I don't think I could have come up with a more fun science curriculum if my life depended on it!

As if we hadn't done enough in July, we also celebrated our oldest son's 16th birthday. Part of the celebration included driving him and 5 other friends to see The Warp Tour in Miami. While the teens were outside rocking and sweating, and then soaking in the rain, the older and younger crowd went to the Miami Science Museum. There we were able to see an amazing collection of some of our favorite things, dinosaur fossils, from China no less! Of course the biggest draw for my kids were the hands-on exhibits, especially the "conservation of angular momentum" exhibit where my kids took spinning around in circles to the extreme. We also really enjoyed the electricity demonstration and the planetarium show.

Oh, and before July could end, we squeezed in a trip to Maine to visit the Grandparents and many cousins. We had lots of elemental fun - earth, fire, water, and fresh air. :)

So now you know why I laugh when people ask if I'm getting ready to have the kids start "school" again. That was only some of what we did in one month of this summer! Phew! Here's what I envision when others talk of getting ready for school........

Covering the Basics

We had a super busy weekend, meeting all the basic human needs for food, shelter, clothing, and beauty. Here are the results of our efforts.

A t-shirt that became a dress, thanks to the wonderfully easy tutorials on whatthecraft.com.

A house was built from "Magic Nuudles".

Delicious strawberry-banana smoothies were made using a recipe from the DK Children's Cookbook.

And last, but certainly not least, some ShrinkyDink artwork was created by Joseph.

Oh, I forgot all about the experiments in the laboratory. I just can't keep up with all the fun that goes on around here! LOL Well "the lab" deserves a post of its own, so I guess you'll here about it later.

Until then, hope all your needs are being met with JOY!

For This We Need 13 Years of Compulsory Education?!

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.
-- Thomas H. Huxley

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

In our unschooling journey, my view of reading has evolved. I have always been a book lover. I remember waiting anxiously for the next book-of-the-month club arrival in the mail when I was about 10 years old. I used to peruse my grandmother's bookshelves everytime I visited and couldn't wait to see what new books she might have. Even now, I have to keep myself in check from spending too much money in bookstores. So naturally, I wanted to share that love of books and reading with my children.

In our first year of homeschooling (we weren't unschooling, yet), I told my then 10 year old son that I wanted him to always have a book that he was reading. He could choose whatever he wanted, and take as long as he wanted for each book, but I wanted him to keep reading. In one year he read 20 books! I was amazed, and so was he. He stated that he actually liked reading. However, after that, I no longer required him to read books, and I don't think he's read one in it's entirety since.

What has happened though, is that I learned that reading isn't THE key to learning, and reading from books isn't the only reading that counts. My son has learned so much in the last 5 years that it tires me to even think about trying to summarize it. He and I both read on-line much more than in books now, as well as magazines, and manuals, and other practical guides.

Also in that first year of homeschooling, my 5 year old daughter learned to read. She learned what sounds each letter made, and then with us reading to her every night, and some Bob Books, she was well on her way. During this past year, she has REALLY enjoyed the Captain Underpants series by Dave Pilkey. In fact, she has read every book in the series 5 times! One day when she was home on the couch with a fever, she decided to see if she could read them all in that day. She did. I have soooo many other books waiting for her to discover. I was beginning to worry we would never move on. Yes, she loves books, but only the same ones over and over! But thankfully, we saw the new Nancy Drew movie a week or so ago, and when I mentioned that they have a whole series of books about Nancy and her mysteries, my daughter was intrigued. I picked up a few at the library, and now she's read 5 books in the series already. Good-bye Captain Underpants, Hello Nancy Drew!

Now my 7 year old son is still figuring out how to read. He knows the letter sounds and knows lots of words by sight from the computer, video game play, and everyday life. He is also able to sound out some words and figure them out. But, because he has cousins the around the same age who are reading more already, the questions are starting to come. Like, "Is he showing any more interest in reading?" "How's he doing with the reading?" "Have you been working on reading with him?"

I am so grateful that I know better than to worry in response to such inquiries. I know my son. I know he is learning every day. I see it. I know the tool of reading will be in his tool belt as soon as he is ready to pick it up. It's not something I can just hand to him and say, "take it." The best part is as he's learning, he's having fun. He's able to try things out whenever he feels like it, stop when he feels like it, read whatever he wants, without any pressure at all. He has such a great sense of humor about it all too. If he sounds something out, and it sounds funny to him, he'll laugh and say it again and tell us all. That's the kind of mistake that would lead to correction and shame in a school setting. I hope my son keeps his sense of joy and humor intact when it comes to reading and all learning. As long as we unschool, I think that's entirely possible.

HERE'S TO FINDING YOUR WAY IN LIFE, JOYFULLY

A fellow unschooler I happen to know personally was recently interviewed with her children for a public radio broadcast. They did a great job. It was a pretty balanced piece; you can check it out here. At the end though, the reporter mused whether children will be able to "find their way" without the structure of a more traditional educational setting.

This is one of the things I value most about unschooling, that my children are "finding their own way" now, rather than being told which way to go. I have so many friends who followed the conventional wisdom of school, college, work, family leading to this day. Today they are questioning what they really want, what will make them happy, what their true desires are. For some of us, our true desires and passions have been buried so deep below what we felt were our obligations to meet, we don't know anymore. There's alot of excavating to do.

What a gift it is to honor a child's interests and desires from the beginning! To let a child know that their thoughts are worthy of consideration only fuels the fire of a healthy, active mind. How this could not be a good thing, I don't know. I believe that children whose ideas are respected and whose pursuits are supported as they grow, will be less likely to have the so-called "mid-life crises" that plague so many caught in the rat race. These children will also be more willing to take a stand, and pursue something independently, not just because it is what is expected of them. That sure gives me hope for their future, and all of ours as well.

State of the Union or Reaping What You Sow

What you see below is the verbatim copy of an e-mail I received today from a friend. It is the second time I have seen this e-mail, and I just HAD to make a public statement about how I feel about it. (I know I don't have much of a "public" reading this, but it will help me to get it off my chest and more coherent for future proselytyzing. ;)

WOW, WHAT A WAKE UP!

Dear God:

Why didn't you save the school children at ?

Moses Lake , Washington 2/2/96
Bethel , Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl , Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah , Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamp, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro , Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro , Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville , Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield , Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond , Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton , Colorado 4/20/99
Taber , Alberta , Canada 5/28/99
Conyers , Georgia 5/20/99
Deming , New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson , Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee , California 3/ 5/01
El Cajon , California 3/22/01
and Virginia Tech., 4/16/07?

Sincerely, Concerned Student

Reply:
Dear Concerned Student:
I am not allowed in schools.
Sincerely,
God

How did this get started?...
Let's see,
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools. And we said, OK.

Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the Bible that says "thou shalt not kill, hou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors as yourself," And we said, OK...

Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehaved because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. And we accepted their reasoning...

And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes... And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.
Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with... "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

Pass it on if you think it has merit! If not then just discard it...but if you discard this thought process, then don't you dare sit back and complain about what bad shape this country is in In God We Trust

I think that the separation of church and state got carried too far in removing prayer from schools, but I also think it is par for the course when it comes to schools. Freedom of religion is just one more right that children in schools are prevented from exercising, along with too many more to list here. But to say that not spanking our kids, or paddling them in school is what brought about the demise of our country is just plain bogus. Spankings, and much worse, occur all the time in this country. Paddling is still legal in many state schools! Children continue to die at the hands of the very people entrusted to keep them safe and help them flourish. Not to mention all the research which shows violent criminals were usually mistreated as children. Yes... we do reap what we sow!

How much more obvious could it be?!

The Center for Effective Discipline

You're Welcome, Florida!

Apparently, some people think by home/unschooling our own children we are helping to improve education for all children in Florida. They helped draft this proclamation. The governor of our sunny state declared this week, "Home Education Week", and commended parents and home education "students" for their efforts. He even mentioned some well known homeschoolers, such as Thomas Edison and Sandra Day O'Conner, as examples of how homeschoolers have been able to excel.

Not a bad public endorsement, but am I being too cynical in wondering where this is leading?

JUST IN CASE YOU HAD ANY DOUBTS....

that schools today are more like prisons than centers of learning, read this!http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0207/396429.html The comments after are even scarier.

Personally, I'm horrified by the thought of what "lessons" all people will learn using these kind of tactics. If implemented, this will reinforce the archaic belief that "might makes right".

I FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT SPANKING, ABE!!!

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. Abraham Lincoln



http://www.nospank.net/main.htm

Have A Cuppa, For Free?

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article from The American Spectator:

Of course, anyone actually advocating a "public coffee" monopoly would need round-the-clock police protection. We all understand that it would be a terrible idea. But we need to acknowledge is that it is also a terrible idea in the far more important area of education.

There is no question that education has an important public dimension, but that does not mean that it is best provided through a government-run monopoly. On the contrary, it's time we realized that the consumer choice and market incentives that have made America a coffee-drinker's paradise over the past decade would do wonders for our children's education, as well.

Grab yourself a cuppa, and read the rest of the article "Centralized Cappuccino here:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10623 .

It's pretty clear how easily the freedom of choice is taken away from children, but would is considered ludicrous in the "adult" realm. .............. Yet another reason that I'm grateful for the freedom that our unschooling life affords our children.

ON FREEDOM...

Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything. — Floyd Dell

LIVE AND LEARN CONFERENCE 2006 - PART I

It has been several weeks since our family returned from Albuquerque, NM, where we attended the 5th annual Live & Learn Unschooling Conference. It was much anticipated, and will be long remembered, just as the 3 previous conferences we attended were. They have become the our "re-fueling" pit stops along our unschooling journey. At the end of each conference, we are energized by having been surrounded by so many others who "get it".

There is no other place where our whole family can go and each person finds activities and companions to meet their needs - all at the same time!!! (Not the whole time mind you, but a large portion of the time.) Other times, we are more comfortable than anywhere else to just "Be". We can be our true selves without fear of misunderstanding, or judgement, or criticism. Without needing to "defend" our lifestyle choices, we can more open to learning about ourselves, others, and everthing around us. The conferences are like an explosion of learning in all those areas. With all the funshops, the conference talks, the socializing, the sharing, it's like at least a month of living all rolled into just a few days.

The most wonderful thing about the conference for me, is seeing all the REAL LIFE unschooling families interacting with each other, seeing the ideals I value being practiced in reality, with awe-inspiring results. I get to see the living proof that I am not reaching for some unattainable dream with my family. I see that living a life free of school, a life where children are given the respect they deserve, a life of conscious choices towards peace and happiness, is not only possible, but is being very successfully LIVED TODAY. And there are as many ways to live such a life as there are families. Being around all those different families helps broaden my (and my husband's) perspective on what the possibilities really are. There are more ways to make unschooling work in your family than it might appear at first, just like anything else. I think this is where the creativity of unschoolers really shines, in how each family goes about making this lifestyle choice work for them.

I recently read an essay by Gloria Steinem on the NPR website entitled, "A Balance Between Nature and Nurture". http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4805246&sc=emaf&sc=emaf I was surprised to find out that Gloria Steinem had been essentially "unschooled" herself, never attending a formal school until the age of twelve. She gives a poignant description of the effect of school on her life. But the reason I bring this article up here is the following passage:

"But the real answer is a balance between nature and nurture. What would happen if we listened to children as much as we talked to them? Or what would happen if even one generation were raised with respect and without violence?
I believe we have no idea what might be possible on this "Space Ship Earth."

When I read this, I immediately thought, I have an idea of what is possible, and the reason I do is because I was just at the Live and Learn Conference. I saw hundreds of children who are being raised with respect, who are being listened to, who are being raised without violence as a family dynamic. The results are just as wonderful as one would hope: kids of all ages peacefully playing and hanging out together; kids and adults joyfully hanging out together; kids and adults learning from and with each other, enjoying being together in all types of activities; "packs" of happy teenagers who are comfortable conversing with adults; people who KNOW their are many possible solutions to every challenge. This is just a glimpse of what is possible, so I guess I don't really know the full extent of what is possible. But as unschooling continues to flourish, count me in!

THE FOOD CURRICULUM

Food plays a huge role in the learning and living at our home. Part of this is due to having a dad who is a pastry chef. His expansive knowledge about food and creative genius in the kitchen is a joy to behold. We are quite lucky that he enjoys sharing his passion with us. There have been countless times, from when the kids were toddlers even, that they have participated in preparing meals and desserts. Along the way, they have learned about different ingredients and how they react with each other, measuring, different cultural favorites, different preparation techniques, and soooo much more. I can't overemphasize the amount of creativity involved in many of these endeavors either.

I am also surprised by some of the foods that my children are willing to taste, things that I never would have at their age. They have eaten duck, lamb, sushi, pate, gizzards, asparagus, brussel sprouts, tofu, edamame, and much more. Some things are quickly dismissed, but others have become favorites. I love that my children can choose from such a wide variety of foods to find their favorites. I know of families who have a fairly set dinner menu, with the same items for certain days of the week, every week. How boring!!! I try to buy at least one totally new item each time I go food shopping. It is through our culinary adventures that we have discovered so many new things about the world and ourselves.

Another benefit of our food consumption, is the way in which we consume. We tend to have family dinners together. It is a bonding time for us, and a time for sharing tradition too. We do have some traditional meals, like almost always tomato sauce on Sundays (the pasta varies), turkey and fixings on Thanksgiving, roast beef and spaghetti alioli on Christmas eve. Birthday dinners are always the choice of the birthday person, and from a young age, our kids have had pretty expensive tastes! Our six year old has had crab legs for the last two years, but had lobster the year before that. (You can just imagine our food bill.)

Our latest food "lessons" have come from visiting the newest Whole Foods Market near us, making our own pizzas, and making and sharing Amish friendship bread. At the Whole Foods Market, we were fortunate to be there on a sample day, and we tried many delicious organic items, including frozen yogurt, chips, veggie chips, and an "energy" drink. We also got to make our own almond butter, peanut butter, and honey-roasted peanut butter-mmmmm! In making our own pizzas at home, Dad showed us the secrets of tossing the dough, and we got to top it exactly as we wanted (not too much sauce). The friendship bread we have been making came from someone at Dad's work. They gave us the "starter", which is basically sugar, milk, and flour. We have to "mush" it every day for a few days, then "freshen it" with more flour, milk, and sugar, and then in a few more days, we can divide it up into more starter and bake with it. It makes a delicious cinnamon bread, and we saw how fermentation works, and what can be used instead of yeast in bread! Cool, huh?

Most recently though, meaning last night, my daughter decided that she wants to try being vegetarian, like her one of her good friends. We told her that would be fine, as long as she makes sure to learn about it, and take good care of meeting her nutritional needs. A little while later she came running in to me saying she printed up several pages of info. all about being a vegetarian and what she has to eat. She had looked it up on the internet, and found information specifically for teens (my daughter is 9 years old). So I guess that's where the food curriculum is taking us next - nutrition and vegetarianism! I'm hungry for more!

My View of Wannado

(the simulated fossil dig)

Yesterday we went to visit Wannadocity(http://www.wannadocity.com/) , advertised as the placed where kids can "do what you wanna do". It is like an entire city, scaled down to "kid" size, and made so that kids can participate in all the "adult" activities, like working at various jobs, having a bank account, shopping, etc. I liked the concept in that it provided opportunities for things that most kids will never get to try because of age restrictions (such as having an ATM card, and practicing an appendectomy). But some things about the place were really upsetting to me.

For most of the activities, the kids had to wait in line. Each activity was set in a prescribed, scripted way, with little room for extra exploration or questioning. It was like, "Here it is. Be amazed. Have fun. Now move on." Also, the kids went by themselves with the guides behind closed doors much of the time. They would state, this is for "kidizens" only. When I pressed an employee, saying I wanted to take pictures of what they were doing, he said he would call me in once things were "set up". Basically, the kids get a little intro first, then they get to do something. I was called in, and the young man working there said that they keep the parents out because they want the kids to be doing it all, they don't want the kids to get distracted by the parents or running to the parents. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't like that attitude. It reminded me of all the articles I've read lately that demean involved parents of school children by calling them "helicopter parents".

The atmosphere of the whole place was very much like a themepark, right down to the piped in music. You know the kind, with the dramatic building up to a climax, leading the listener to thinking, "This is gonna be great!!!!" There were even fake bird whistles in the trees. It was driving me crazy. I was literally covering my ears trying to drown it out at one point. In general, the noise level was equal to that of a fair, or theme park too, making it difficult to communicate at times. Of course there was the obligatory gift shop /exit, too.

At one point, my 6 year old wanted to be a detective. He went in to the "Detective Agency" get the details of his case and came back out, not quite sure of what he was to do. I think it would have been more beneficial if I could have been there to help him. I followed him around. We found one clue......I think. Then when we went back to the "crime lab" we were instructed to go on the computer and put in our info. Having no idea what that meant, I went on for my son, took a guess at who the criminal was, and was told I was right. I wonder if the computer says every guess is right.

Some of the activities were pretty cool, like: getting to ride on the firetruck and put out a simulated fire with firehoses; the rock climbing wall; the simulated surgery. But other activities were just plain lame. At "The Cookery", kids waited in line, then paid 20 wongas (Wannadocity currency) to decorate a sugar cookie. The women cut and baked the cookies right in front of everyone. Then one cookie, with a dollop of frosting , and a teaspoon of various sprinkles were put on a paper plate for each child. The kids filed in, sat at the cookie bar, decorated their cookies, ate them, and that was it! I know that schools do this all the time. This is called a cooking activity, but it has very little, if anything to do with cooking! The pizza making activity was pretty similar, except you had to pay $5 (real money) for the pizza, and the kids got to choose their toppings. These are activities in which the real-life experience of my children far outweighs the simulations of Wannadocity.

(Proud display of personally-made pepperoni pizza)

That is, I guess, my main problem with the place. I think kids should be allowed to do and experience as many of these things in the real world as possible. Understandably, some things aren't possible, but far more are possible than people realize. If a child wants to see a surgery, there are lots on TV now. Sometimes it is possible to view surgeries at university hospitals. If you know professionals in fields that your child is interested in, they might be able to give you more insight and/or access than you would imagine.

It was also disappointing how Wannadocity supports the division between adults and children. By preventing the adults and children from experiencing the activities together, they help to widen the rift between the "adult world" and children's worlds. Some adults, like myself really like to play along side our children, and learn alongside them too. But sadly, many adults have difficulty remembering how to play, or even interacting with children at all. Maybe they would learn to play and have fun with their children in a setting like this, that is more "adult". The division between the adult and child worlds was overemphasized, where it could have been an opportunity to unite. I even became a little nervous at one point when some kids were running around and getting kind of "rough" in their roles as police taking in a criminal. They were really relishing the message that was touted all over the place, "Kids really are in charge." I had visions of "The Lord of the Flies."

HOWEVER, despited all my misgivings and negativity towards the place, my kids really enjoyed it! I guess I successfully kept my opinions to myself, and allowed them to experience it fully on their own terms. I thought they would like the firetruck, but they didn't even want to try it! I thought they would be unhappy with the supermarket experience when they didn't get to be the cashier, but they liked it! It just goes to show that we really do need to let our kids experience the whole world without the overlay of our judgements. And sometimes, we just need to throw out some of our judgements and look at things again with new eyes, the eyes of our children, and just enjoy the view.

IT'S AN UNSCHOOLING CARNIVAL!!!

What is an unschooling carnival, you ask? Well, it is a place where someone (in this case her name is Joanne) gathers a bunch of blog posts from all different authors, all commenting on one topic of interest, in the same place at the same time. The second installment of this carnival can be accessed by the following link:
http://anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com/2006/08/unschooling-voices-2_01.html
The question of the month was , "Do you extend the principles of unschooling to other areas of your child's life?"

Check it out!

Thank you Joanne for putting this together. It's awesome!

Okay, I Admit It, I LOVE Spongebob!

When people dismiss television, and cartoons especially, as a mindless waste of time, I can't help but feel sorry for them. I think how much joyful bonding they could be having with their children. I think of all the laughs they could be having, if they just let themselves, if they just allowed themselves the 'unproductive' time to just sit and watch, they would be pleasantly surprised. I think the biggest surprise for some would be how much can be learned from cartoons.

My favorite cartoon for the last few years has been Spongebob Squarepants. Our family has enjoyed so many laughs and learned so many things from watching that show, that it would be hard to list them all, but I'll give you just I few examples why I think Spongebob is so awesome.

The character of Spongebob is like an eternal optimist. He rarely gets discouraged, but when he does his other emotions are just as huge as his happiness. He has passion for life! He approaches everything with enthusiasm. Even at his job as a frycook, Spongebob strives to be the absolute best he can be, and he takes satisfaction in a job well done. He is truly happy with the simple things in life, like friendship and bubbles. Numerous episodes show his disregard of money. Spongebob is a generous and loyal friend, kind to everyone, even the 'evil' Plankton. He is able to see the good in everyone, and often brings out the good in everyone, whether they like it or not (like Squidward).

If all my kids learned from watching Spongebob was how to be enthusiastic, optimistic, kind, loyal, generous, or a conscientious employee, that would be pretty good! BUT, they learn so much more. There is the content of each storyline, with the references to things in real life that we discuss that add even more depth to the value of this cartoon. Just today, they were quoting one of the characters, Patrick, saying, "The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma." Quite a mouthful, huh? Of course, I couldn't let that go by without talking to them about it, and after the discussion, the humor was appreciated even more by them. (After saying this, the cartoon shows a carton of milk spilling on a table inside Patrick's head. )

One of my daughter's friends told me that there was talk at her school about trying to have Spongebob banned! I want to cry when I hear talk of banning anything in this day and age, but this cartoon? I couldn't imagine why. When I asked the girl, she said it had something to do with an episode where he ripped his pants. Well, I've seen the offending episode numerous times, and the moral is "Be yourself if you want people to like you." Spongebob got a laugh the first few times he ripped his pants, so he kept playing practical jokes until he went too far and everyone had enough. At the end, he sings a corny song realizing his error, and everything is all better. How that is offensive is beyond me.

What offends me, quite frankly, is the look I get from some people when I tell them I love Spongebob. I want to tell them to just grow up, I mean loosen up, I mean wise up, I mean --- just watch it, maybe you'll like it.

Betcha Can't Guess What This Is!

Betcha Can't Guess What This Is!

No, it's not a clementine crate painted white, lined with a dish towel, holding an empty oreo tray, filled with broken comb teeth that are floating in water! Good try, though. It's Angelica and Joseph's "baby pet fish". It's a little hard to tell from the picture whose side is whose, but there is an "A" on one side and a "J" on the other, just to keep 'em straight.

I am constantly amazed at how my children turn the ordinary things in our lives into props for their imaginary worlds. Anything and everything has a potential use for them, therefore, I have to look very carefully at everything around our house before I even think about picking it up or throwing it out. My older son's stray paintball was given a carefully crafted toilet paper nest, and surprisingly a few days later it had BB babies! Tiny cut scraps of paper that were obviously leftovers, were not. They were money, or food for horses, or snow (once they were mixed with water and put in the freezer).

I enjoy and celebrate that my children have such creative abilities. I also think that the amount of free time and access to things that they are allowed, fosters their creativeness. We have had friends over whose parents won't let them build forts with all the blankets and the kitchen table, who have their kids do "crafts" at school because they don't want the mess at home, and who don't let their kids play in the rain. Their lives are all about order, and schedules,and control. They are not free to create.

I pray that my children will always keep their creativity, and the joy they receive from creating.

SO I NEVER FORGET.....

I am so grateful for my life, for being able to use my body to walk and swim and jump and dance and sing and climb stairs and sooooooo much more.

I am grateful for the gift of faith which has carried me through difficult times and given me the courage to change and grow.

I am grateful for my husband, whose devotion to our children matches my own. I am grateful that he is willing to work hard and yet knows how to play. I am grateful for all that he has added to my life, all that I have learned from him, and for the opportunity I have had to be there for him.

I am grateful for my children, without whom I cannot even imagine what I would be doing now. I am grateful that I am able to live and learn alongside them everyday, and for who I am becoming by being their mother.

I am grateful that my children are alive and healthy today.

I am grateful that I live in my own home, where I feel relatively safe, and I can sleep each night without fear of losing my life or belongings.

I am grateful that all our basic needs are met as a family, so that we are able to share with others.

I am grateful to have friends whom I know I could call in an emergency.

I am grateful that our family has made it safely through 3 major hurricanes in the last 2 years!

I'm grateful for my past, even the bad stuff, because all of it led me to where I am today.

I am grateful for having worked in the field of occupational therapy. I was fortunate to work with so many amazing people, who showed me that every life is valuable, no matter how compromised it may appear.

I am grateful for having worked with Hope, who survived a botched abortion.

I am grateful that I haven't "arrived" yet. I am glad to still be on a journey, still learning and growing.

LET FREEDOM RING

"No human right, except the right to life itself, is more fundamental than this. A person's freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.
We might call this the right of curiosity, the right to ask whatever questions are most important to us. As adults, we assume that we have the right to decide what does or does not interest us, what we will look into and what we will leave alone. We take this right largely for granted, cannot imagine that it might be taken away from us. Indeed, as far as I know, it has never been written into any body of law. Even the writers of our Constitution did not mention it. They thought it was enough to guarantee citizens the freedom of speech and the freedom to spread their ideas as widely as they wished and could. It did not occur to them that even the most tyrannical government would try to control people's minds, what they thought and knew. That idea would come later, under the benevolent guise of compulsory universal education."
excerpt from John Holt's "Escape From Childhood"

The 4th of July has become an increasingly significant holiday to me. I have come to recognize and appreciate more fully with each passing year how much freedom we really have in our lives, and how precious it is. This day is one in which I am filled with gratitude for the all the freedoms that most Americans are celebrating, but even more so, I am grateful for the freedom I am able to offer my children.

As unschoolers, my children have more freedom than most children their ages, freedom to pursue their own interests. Their time is not dominated by school. They truly are free to think and learn in the most natural and efficient way possible, as a by product of all their delight-driven activities. The wonderful bonus for an unschooling parent is that I get to be witness to, participate in, or provide the catalyst for all this fun, AND I get to learn right along with them!

God Bless America!