It looks like another amazing day outside.....GLEE.....
Well its been another great week of adventures.
With the nice days , they have been spent roving about our property, swimming in the creek, playing , watching the brids, gardening, planting, and the list can go on and on.
With the rainy days, which we welcomed with open arms, was spent playing this amazing game we found at the library. You are part of medieval England and you have to rebuild a town after a storm wiped them all out. Its based in real history. You have to farm, build shelters and even battle with the lords that want taxes. Its amazing. Its called
The rain has also brought me some much needed time to clean up the house....do laundry and even read. It has been great.
Ashleigh yesterday decided that it would bea good day to figure out if she could survive on our property , as far as food goes. She got the idea because we were out collecting ng fiddle heads for market. So , she spent about an hour catching fish out of our creek, and she put together this amazing salad of dandelion root and clover, and a whole whack of other edible wilds off of our property. She did really well. Even though she ended up not catching any fish , she was very proud of herself.
Tyler, has been buried in the game I mentioned above. It has beat it no less then 6 times I am sure. We also went to value village on the weekend and foudn 5 decks of Magic, the Gathering cards. We looked up home to play last night, so today were going to sit down after dinner and try our hand at it. He really enjoys those kinds of things, and quite frankly so do I. All of those types of games take so much skill, and math...my god.
Oliver is growing...much to quickly if you ask me. He taught himself more colours last week , and he is well into shapes. Its funny, because he is so much different then my other guys when it comes to learning things. He seems to have something in his brain that just loves to store information. Its brilliant. The other children have that same thing, but they didnt show it as much when they were 3, as Oliver is. I say that, but my oldest was reading by 3.5 because he wanted to have his own library card and he thought the best way to do that is to be able to read. But he is also the guy that taught himself, with very little help from me , how to tell time, because he wanted to be able to figure out what time the library opened in relation to what time it was at his house , and when we could leave to get there on time. lol
Heather is as whimsical and amazing as ever. I want to be in her world so badly...the way she dances around the yard....she just has this amazing place she plays in and I wish I had been allowed to have that world when I was a child. Her drawings are getting more and more involved, just amazing. They are so full of colour and enlightenment.
The no bed time release, is still going incredible. It is taking the hubby a little more time to adjust simple because he was under the impression that the kids could stay up untill we were ready to go to bed, then they were sentenced to their room. I disagree with this, so he is giving my way a try for a few months, and see if it grows on him. I am so proud of him and his ability to open himself up to what his kids need, even if it is beyond is initial comfort level. So much amazing learning happens in what society would call the middle of the night.
Oh..the youngest is up out of bed and wanting some brekkie....be well all, and I hope your days are as magical as ours.
peace
The Walkers.

We have had an amazing couple of weeks. What a journey , a journey that I never would of thought would feel so amazing. We had more time to talk , to explore, to just be then we ever have and I am truly getting to know my own children. Not that I didn't know them before, but we talk now in a way that we just didn't have time for before.
The week has been packed full with learning, and with new things. I wanted to keep this journal daily so that I could post what kinds of things were doing, but of course I just don't have time to post, I am too busy having fun ..lol
One of the highlights of last week, was the building of the boat. We went to Float your fanny down the Ganny, which inspired the children to build their own boat. What Float your fanny down the Ganny is , is a river race where the entries build their own funny craft out of all sorts of things. buckets, satellite dishes...everything and anything that you can imagine...so the kids came home and built their own boat and floated down one of the creeks we have on our property. Everything worked fine and the kids were able to ride down the river, then someone had the idea that mom should try...lol...well mom never backs down from a challenge, so in I went..
and quickly out I went....lol...right into the creek...colllllddddd...lol...but fun. we all had great laughs.

Another highlight is the release of "bed times" I have been stressing about this aspect of our life for so long. It never felt natural to agree with the kids about how they have to go to bed at said time even if their not tired...so.....they have been released...and its so much calmer. I notice a huge difference in the way I handle our day stuff even , because it just seems to have so much more time...
oh Tyler wants me to come and play a game..will write later.
cheers
The Walkers

What a great day....

First some pictures from today

Ashleigh and Tyler are just now finishing up their night game of ogers and elves. What a great co-operative game. I picked a few new ones up at the ed.store today.

We started at Triop today! Its so exciting! We will be adding the eggs tommorow.

Heather working on word searches. This is how is learning her letters.

The never ending game...lol....or correction, the game that keeps starting over and over lol

Today was a great day all around. I ended up driving into peterbrough and spending the day with my girls, and a friend and her girls...it was a girly day of fun. I love hanging out with just the gals...we went shopping at VV and picked up some other stuff at the ed. store. Ashleigh shopped around for what she wanted to spend her money on and then bought something , paying for it with her own money. She was so proud. I had to jump on the cashier to stop from taking the money out of ash's hands ..lol....but one look and a reassuring smile, the cashier understood.

*wink*

We spent the eve tonight, playing board games together and having a great time. I love watching the kids play together, and the lack of fighting not only continually surprises me, but also people around me. I like that they generally don't really fight. They debate, but on the rare occasion actully fight.

I had alot of really great thoughts today about Unschooling, and how we are moving closer and closer to that life. I am really happy about it , and my only hope is that I can stay relaxed enough to really let my children be who they are. Becasue really this is all about me, and my feelings towards education. I am going to look through all my John Holt stuff again, and I am trying to read at least one unschooling/education type essay a day. Just to get my mind going and try to keep myself focused on the "prize" untill I can get my confidence back up but also my childrens and my hubbys. I am not going to feel bad for the little exit we took from unschooling, mostly because we learnt alot. About ourselves, our limits and our family and what we want to see happen. I love that my children are still up at 11pm, becuase they want to spend time with me , doing whatever we want to do. WE DONT NEED TO LIVE BY A CLOCK. I left that mentality for awhile...but thank god, I am back to it.

I want to share a pic of Tyler and Ashleigh on our atrip to the beach, looking for river glass..

I feel good about today..I feel like I met my goal for today...Everyone was calm , peaceful and at ease...we did things in our own time with out own needs in check, and in turn helped others have their own time and needs. I am proud of today.

The View from the other side of the fence

Well Here we are,
I am in a weird mindset, that is changing hourly , so it seems.
I want to give some backdrop...
When My oldest son was born, he is now just about 12, I knew that I wasnt ever going to send him to school. I knew I would never send any of my children to school.
When My oldest was two...I started him in on a pretty organized school day. He had certain times and things to do through the day, lots of play time and lots of down time, but some structure as well.
It never felt right...
Sometime during the year 2000, I decided that this was now how I wanted to do things, so I went out searching for other options. I found Unschooling and fell in love with it form the start. I was an attachment parent, a co-sleeper, a vegetarian, a very natural crunchy type..lol..so it sort of fit into what we were doing. For years and two more children we continued this way...then something changed...I dont know what it was....but some nagging thing started to pull at me that said...oh my god you NEED formal studies, you need grades, their never going to go anywhere..oh my god. I freaked out...and about 3 years ago, on and off, we have been using formal workbooks and studies. It has never felt right. There are lots of reasons I THINK it never felt right. A few of them are because of the grades and my children feeling badly about themselves becuase they think they could have done better. I don't like how much time it takes, when they could be out exploring their own world and getting to know themselves. I dont like the pressure. somethings I have never been able to work under. we had been the token unschooler, token radical unschooler in all of our homeschooling groups.....then I panicked...
Today...I am done panicking . I am done with the pressure. I just want to live my life and see my children live their lives in a very free and open way.
I am scared about letting it all go...but I think that the formal stuff was more for me, and making me feel needed and wanted then for them. I freaked out, I think , because I was worried that I didn't have a place, what was my job as a homschooling mom, if it wasn't to teach. I needed to unschool myself, and to have faith in my children. I didn't....but I do.
I am ready to step back and see what happens and just hold onto the fact that I love my children, I love learning and they do to.
This is going to change a little bit. I started it to show what we were doing in a day, and it will still have a little bit of that kind of spin to it. But I am also going to use this journal as a bit of a place for me to vent and to share my thoughts and ideas.
I have come in and out of unschooling so many times, because it feels so right when I am doing it. I dont want to freak out anymore ,and I want to have faith in what were doing.
Instead of freaking out, I think I will come here and say my bit, and keep it with myself.
So here I am...here WE are...
This is our journey....

I did it again.....
I started and didn't stick....lol..
I really need to make time to do this all the time...at least once a week..
Ashleigh and I had a conversation today about her schooling..she wants to unschool..
will keep you posted.

Why I cant stick to this bloggin thing I have no idea...mostly because I dont make time for the computer everday. Oh well. I am totally commited to being here already with LOK blog, so why not spend time on here as well?

Things are going well, our summer was crazy , but insanly awesome.

We have gone on so many outings over the summer and have saw and done so many things. Instead of going back through everything and trying to cover stuff, I am just going to talk about last week..lol

The colours here at the farm are changing, we took the week off before thanksgiving, last week off of formal school and just enjoyed each other and the changes that are happening. We did a ton of baking and cleaning up, getting ready for Thanksgiving. Were back to our formal studies this week however and the kids were excited to get back.

We went to Lang Pioneer Village last weekend, for apple fest, which was SO MUCH FUN!!

There are the kids at Lang....and below is Ashleigh, weaving at Lang.

We had a great time, and were going to go back FOR SURE.

Yesteday went well, we did some school in the morning and then spent the afternoon cleaning the barns and stacking wood. We had a good time. We went to the library last night and the kids all picked books for themselvers. Ash picked up some readers and is doing amazing. I was nervous that she wasnt going to pick it up, but the last 6 months has seen her improve in leaps and bounds.

Oliver is talking like crazy now, everday it seems he has new words..amazing really.

Heather is still trucking away at her Grade 1 year. SHe is doing well, though moving slow, its happening.

Tyler, is pretty much working at his own pace now, he asks me for help every now and then adn we have lots of discussions on so many different things. I like this pre teen phase. I like the way we talk.

Anyway, the kidlets are pulling me away. Happy Fall Everyone!

The Walkers.

Wow its been awhile! I am commiting to writing in this everyday, I need to write in this everyday. Yesterday was a great day here on the farm. Though we are done with Winter and anxious for the snow to let up so we can get outside more often!
Yesterday we decided to try and make doughnuts. While they really didnt turn out like dougnuts at all, more like chocolate grease balls, but it was so much fun trying. Tyler speant alot of time yesterday reading his library books. We found this old native american colouring book on our book shelves in the library and decided to photocoopy some of the native drawings in it and colour them. They turned out so amazing. It was so cool. Its amazing how many colours can be incorporated in them! Even Oliver took part in the colouring. Heather learnt to kniot yesterday! She ius currently knitting a barbie scarf. Ashleigh started sewng as well yesterday. I started her on hand sewing . She is making this really cool pillow with buttons alll over it. She put the buttons on first and is now in the process of sewing the sides. Life here on the farm is pretty simple really. Like I said though, we are REALLY anxious for Winter to let up so we can get back to the "lazy" days of summer. I cn remeber the grass and the gardens and and and....*smiles*
Were almost there.
cheers
The Walkers.