Learning *ALL* the time and *EVERYWHERE*

What we do doesn't look like the mainstream definition of education. One could say that most of our time is spent playing, eating, talking, reading chapter books, and watching TV and movies. Today we went for a hike, played at the playground, and watched Enchanted.

If you look deeper, though, you'll see that today we learned about wild edibles, plant and animal identification, photography techniques, bodies of water and water dynamics, physics, and outdoor safety. Watching Enchanted led to a discussion about Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize, Paris, and radiation. All of this, on a Saturday, hiking and watching TV.

Day hike at Harmonie State Park

Friday Fill-Ins for May 30, 2008

1. For me sleeping is the opposite of creativity, unless you sleep upside down, or on your head, or in a pool, or you have really cool dreams. Huh.

2. The Secret Life of Bees was the last excellent book I read. It was the third time I read it, though.

3. I like fill-ins because they give me something to blog about when I'm feeling not so creative :).

4. In nature I like looking at big trees, tree canopies from underneath, interesting birds, streams, little creatures, and pretty much everything else.

5. I should win the US elections, but I'm voting for Barack Obama.

6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was last night, watching "Little Shop of Horrors" with my kids.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting our house in a more liveable condition, and jumping on the trampoline, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with the family, swimming and working in the garden and Sunday, I want to win the lottery!

We've been busy!

We're going on a cruise!

It's a looooong way off, but I already can't wait! The 1st Annual Unschooling on the Seas Adventure Cruise and Conference is sailing to Bermuda on October 24th, 2009, and we're going to be on board! We're still recovering from losing money on our house sale, and rebuilding the van's transmission, but we'll be booking in a couple of weeks. Finally, a reason to get passports!

Friday Fill-Ins for May 16, 2008

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to eat chili without lots of hot sauce!

2. Sprouting squash seedlings reminds me that summer is almost here!

3. I cannot live without my sunshine, fresh air, and coffee.

4. Straw bale gardening and scuba diving are two things I'd like to try.

5. When life hands you lemons squeeze them on some lobster.

6. Weeks spent at Camp Ondessonk is my favorite childhood memory.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a "Girls Night" with Ava & Genevieve (dinner at Olive Garden, a trip to the bookstore, and seeing "The Spiderwick Chronicles" at the cheap theater), tomorrow my plans include weeding the garden and laying out some new beds and Sunday, I want to de-junk the house!


Wanna play? Go to http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/.

Friday Fill-Ins for May 9, 2008

1. The van had an extra secret ingredient; it was water in the transmission fluid!

2. I hear birds chirping and windchimes through my window.

3. Right now, I need Sudafed.

4. My sister's house is where I went Thursday night; it was good to watch Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy without doing a running commentary for Ava & Genevieve.

5. Why does my throat hurt so much?

6. All I can think of is the the weeds in the garden, our new fruit trees, and the absolutely useless minivan sitting in the driveway.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to drinking hot tea, taking some decongestants, and watching movies, tomorrow my plans include planting our fruit trees and planting the last of my seeds and Sunday, I want to clean (well, not really, but it needs to be done)!

Fun times on the French Lick train and Spring Mill State Park

More gardening...

My dream of being more self-sufficient is getting closer to being reality...I took a bit of our economic stimulus check today and ordered fruit trees! I figured it made ultimate sense to take the money intended for a short-term shoring up of the economy and turn it into long-term food production for my family. I ordered 2 apple trees (Pixie Crunch and Pristine), 2 pear trees (Seckel and Honeysweet), 2 peach trees (Belle of Georgia and Elberta), a Meteor pie cherry, and a Stanley plum. I'm so excited!!! It will still be a couple years (or more) until we get to reap the rewards in fruit, but just getting the trees in the ground will be a huge first step.

What did school really do for you?

Here's an interesting little survey Ren Allen came up with to get people thinking about how little school really did for them. I lifted it from a post on the UnschoolingBasics Yahoo Group.

1) List all the ways you've earned an income in your life (include sidejobs and career paths):

2) List some hobbies you pursue in your leisure time:

3) What are driving passions and interests that make life meaningful and fulfilling for you?

4) List ALL the interests you would like to pursue or learn about before you die:

5) What would you be doing right now if there were NO obstacles in your path? (Dream big.)

After the participants fill this out, I have them tally up all the items listed. THEN, have them go back through the list and tally up how many of those items they got proficient at by attending school, or COULD have gotten proficient at by attending school (through 12th grade, not counting college or any post high-school since that isn't compulsory).


Really think about it. I'll go back and put my own answers in when I get some more time.

Our Garden

I am in love with our new yard, mostly because I now have room for the big-ass garden I've been dreaming of for the last couple of years. A couple of weekends ago, we tilled up what I thought was a big-ass garden, but I was wrong! After today's planting, I now know we have a lot more tilling to do (Patrick is thrilled, LOL.) So far, we've planted a mix of lettuces, spinach, a multicolor mix of carrots, French Breakfast radishes, Golden and Chiogga beets, Nero di Toscana and Early Jersey Wakefield cabbages, Wando garden peas, Mammoth Melting Sugar snow peas, Sunset runner beans, Golden Wax and Blue Lake Bush beans, 7 varieties of tomatoes (Honeybunch, Italian Ice, German Lunchbox, German Red Strawberry, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear, and Fuzzy Yellow Hog), Listada di Gandia and Japanese White Egg eggplants, 3 sweet peppers (Golden Treasure, Emerald Giant, and California Wonder), Ancho and Jalapeno hot peppers, Pineapple ground cherries, Clemson Spineless okra, and 3 summer squash (Black Beauty, Early Prolific Straightneck, and White Patty-Pan.) Whew!!!! What's amazing is what we still have left to plant: Early Sunglow corn, Orangeglo and Sugar Baby watermelons, Charentais melons, Marketmore and Mexican Sour Gherkin cucumbers, Zucchino Rampicante (a vining summer squash), Butternut Waltham squash, and Long Island Cheese Pumpkins. And Patrick already tilled up a small area in the back and planted sunflowers, wildflowers, and ornamental gourds.

I promised the kids that I would leave room for their swingset :)