Tadpoles and an Ant farm

That's what the boys and I did today.

A friend of ours has a small pond in front of her house, filled with hundreds of tadpoles. She offered some to us, so we stopped by and picked up eight. We have a small round habitat where we can watch them grow and change. Later, that same habitat will be perfect for keeping a pet frog (assuming at-least one survives). I hope they all make it to adulthood, but I don't have a very good track record taking care of small pets. Hopefully this is one area where my boys will not follow my lead.

After lunch, we made our own ant farm. Using two small jars, one slightly smaller than the other, we went out into the yard and rounded up some ants. I'm a little concerned about the size of our ants. They were tiny, and so I'm not sure if we'll be able to see their tunnels. I figure we can give it a couple days, and if nothing happens, the boys and I can go hunt some larger ants.

First Business

Earlier today, Nico decided he wanted to try and make some money. He brought a box outside, and some finger puppets, and thought he could entice our neighbors to pay $5 to see his puppet show. After a very brief amount of time, he gave up, saying no one wanted to see his show. (On a side note, I don't think he had actually planned out a show, so even if some one had stopped to watch, they probably would have asked for their money back after he failed to produce.)

He still wanted to make some money, and it was blisteringly hot outside, so he decided a lemonade stand was a better way to go. Out went the box, out went a pitcher of lemonade and some paper cups, and his shop was set up. He wanted to try and charge $5 a cup, I convinced him to start with $1 a cup, but warned him he may have a hard time getting people to pay even that much. Less than five minutes after walking out the door, he made his first sale, and his first dollar.

After about 20 minutes he came back in and asked if there were any snacks he might be able to sell, along with the lemonade. I had some spare boxes of raisins I said he could have, and suggested a price of $.50 per box, and some crackers, which he wanted to give away, to make people thirsty, so they would buy more lemonade. Smart kid.

After an hour he started becoming discouraged that people weren't walking past him, and some had told him no. I told him to be patient, and stick with it. He stayed out there almost three hours, and in the end he sold a total of three lemonades, and one box of raisins, and came home with $3.50. He was thrilled with himself.

This is his first business, soliciting our poor neighbors. I see myself as his financial backer, since I supplied the lemonade, cups, raisins and crackers. Tomorrow I may take him out to the store, and see if he wants to spend some of his money on some cookie dough, have him bake the cookies, and then try and sell them along with his lemonade. This way he will gain an appreciation for cost versus profit. How much is he willing to spend today, to make more money tomorrow? I think I will also suggest that he make a sign, displaying just how much the cookies and lemonade cost.

Although I feel bad for unleashing this on my neighbors, I can't help but look at all the wonderful lessons he is gaining from this experience. From social skills, to money handling, to business administration he will learn more in the few hours a day he spends on this project than he ever could sitting in a class room. Yeah for unschooling.

Is there such a thing as bad pretend play?

I ask because yesterday my boys were pretending to smoke. They were using the sticks from their tinkertoys, and pretending that they were cigarettes. They even made pretend lighters, and were pretend coughing.

At the time I didn't say anything to try and stop them. But I've since been wondering if there is such a thing as bad pretend play? If pretending to smoke will someday lead to them trying it for real, or will allowing them to pretend satisfy that curiosity, so they will never actually smoke?

I've since decided that so long as they keep things in the realm of pretend, I will not interfere.

Are there any pretend activities that you will not allow your children to engage in?

Who needs expensive costumes?

Not my boys.

Nico and Lucas spent all morning playing pirates. They don't have pirate costumes, but did that stop them? Of course not. You don't need expensive costumes when you have paper, tape and imagination.

Nico drew, colored and cut out a pirate hat, eye patch, shirt, parrot, peg leg, and hand hook. Then, using scotch tape, he taped them all over himself. Then he ran around the house shouting, "Have ye seen the white whale?". It was way cute.

Then they went off to their room so they could build a pirate ship out of tinker toys. What a fun filled morning.

What about Reading?

In the beginning I used to think that teaching my children to read was going to be my biggest hurdle in home-schooling. I bought into the hype that children needed to be taught, and couldn't possibly learn on their own. I even purchased a membership for an online phonics program, which my boys found boring. I never forced them do these lessons, but I encouraged (ok bribed) them into doing a few lessons here and there.

As our approach drifted further and further into the realm of unstructured learning, I did more research into how kids learn to read. I began to get more relaxed about it, and decided that I was ok with my boys learning to read on their own. Even if that meant they wouldn't be reading by age 5, 6, 7 or even 10. Their ability to read, or lack there of would not, after all, be hampering their learning in other ways.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you see things, I didn't get the opportunity to find out how this works with Nico. I sent him on a two month extended vacation, and while away his Great Aunt, and English teacher, took it upon herself to teach him how to read. She did daily lessons with him, using Hooked on Phonics. Am I proud that my boy can read? Yes! But he was already making strides in getting there on his own.

However, I still get to witness this development in action with Lucas. Even now, at four years old, I can see how he is processing information, which will make it possible for him to read on his own. He knows all his letters, and what sounds each should make. He asks how words are spelled, and points out writing and inquires about what it says. Nico, forever the show off, has taken to reading signs as we are stopped at lights while driving. Lucas will look at the signs, already knowing what they say since his brother just told him, and sound out the words on his own; slowly saying each sound as he looks at the letters. He wants to read, and is taking the actions necessary to help get himself there.

Networking

Throughout high school and college, my teachers and professors tried to drill in me the importance of networking. Meeting new people, swapping contact information, and then actually keeping in touch periodically. But as an extremely shy and introverted person, I just couldn't bring myself to step out of my comfort zone. I had a very small group of friends, and found it difficult to introduce myself to new people.

All that changed when I had children, and began my home-schooling adventures.

Not long after I made the final decision to home-school, I put myself out there in a way I had never done before. I joined a home-school group thru meetup.com. I knew no-one in the group, and would be purposefully surrounding myself with strangers. I just kept telling myself "I'm doing this for the boys.", and forced myself to go.

Suddenly things blossomed. I met mothers who were also just beginning their home-school adventures. I met veteran home-schoolers who were willing to take the time to answer my questions, and quell my fears and uncertainties. I made friends, my boys made friends, and it opened our world to opportunities I didn't even know existed.

This past year my boys have attended plays and festivals; gone on field trips to places like a grocery store, fire station, post office and bowling alley. We've had holiday parties and field days. All made possible because I reached out to the home-school community, and others were there to reach back.

Question of the Week

Nico: Why do we only give our dog water to drink? How come he can't have milk or juice or soda?

Me: Well, let's think about this. If he were a wild dog, living on his own, what would he have available to drink?

Nico: Water

Me: So, water is what his body is used to, and if we start giving him other things it might make him sick.

Nico: And if he were in the wild, he would eat other animals and bones, and that's why you gave him the steak bone last night, right?