We all woke up, one by one then the kids jumped on the computers to play roadblox. Then Nikolas decided to play Scrabble with my mom online. Lexi ran around like a crazy person just trying on all of her brothers clothes because they were in "media zone" and weren't paying attention. Then the kids decided to play "store". They fought over every aspect of how the store would work. Then they decided to play restaurant. The problem started there, when Andy envisioned a fine dining restaurant and Nikolas envisioned a burger joint. Then the boys argued about how the menu would look. Andy thought it should have calligraphy on it and Nikolas thought it should have men farting and propelling through time. Next, we gave up on the restaurant and went for a short walk. That ended with Nikolas storming home because he was still upset over the menu choice(he is our resident grudge-holder) and me finding a stray dog who literally tried to jump inside my body!!! He had on one of those shock collars that goes with an invisible fence so, even though I kept trying to get him to go back in his yard, he was afraid to get shocked so just kept sitting next to me giving me big, lab, puppy dog eyes. I can't say I blame him.
On a side note, I have a new Ergo baby sling that is great! However, my 4 month old is a little sweaty beast and when we got home and took him out of it, he looked like Elvis. Finally, by noon, my kids decided to make brunch. That was a lot of fun! My kids can really cook well! I hate to admit this but, they cook a much better breakfast than me. After that, the kids all curled up and read for a while, which was really nice. Then, the fury erupted again when Andy and Lexi started playing make believe. Nikolas tried to "play" too. His idea of "playing" was repeating over and over "you know this is not real right?' Needless to say, this didn't go over well!
All well, I am sure the kids learned something today. If anything they learned how to resolve conflict by playing "who yells the loudest". Sigh"
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| I think I might need to invest in a good leash. Lexi could hold Andy. |
Wow! What a hectic day! Just remember that this is very new to them, so they'll take awhile to adjust. I imagine it being like when I used to work full-time and finally got time off; I'd just wanna lie around and do nothing. After awhile, I got used to being on vacation and wanted to create my OWN structure apart from the structure imposed on me by work. they probably have no idea what to do with all this freedom yet. I strongly recommend Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves by Alison McKee. She discusses her struggles with wondering if her kids were learning enough etc.
ReplyDeleteThx! That actually makes a lot of sense.
DeleteThe other thing to remember, Jennifer, is that unschooling doesn't mean you forego all discipline. You can still insist that people treat each other respectfully, even if you aren't telling them what to study. I find that is what I spend most of my day doing: "How do we ask? Is that how you want to be treated? What does Jesus ask us to do? Was that loving?...". Sometimes it's necessary to ask them to separate for a little while. And an invitation to "help" with the dishes or laundry is often accepted by the little ones, still. They like to be useful and appreciated.
ReplyDelete