Happy Birthday, Nathanael!

Today is Nathanael's birthday, and he got snow! He enjoyed playing in the snow. We made "Happy Birthday" banners and posters (Taliesin made one especially for Nathanael back on his birthday and gave it to him today). Then I went to the DAV and got Nathanael a bag of toys (his request). He's still a little down today and has tried to find "Flower" once. We talked about how "Flower" is somewhere in this house, but he's hiding from us. I told him it's okay to miss "Flower," and we'll find him eventually. Until then, it's okay to play with his other toys. I also showed him the new kitty he'll be getting in the mail. He asked who is sending it to him. I told him that it's someone named Penny. So he told me he's going to name the new kitty "Penny." I told him that sounds good. Now he's in the kitchen playing with some stacking cardboard blocks.

I am feeling more and more confident that "Flower" was lost in the house somewhere - somewhere that we haven't thought to look yet. Because of the cold weather, Kelsey delivered The Buyer's Guide route alone and he asked at the other houses that I had not gotten to yet if they had seen a gray and black striped stuffed cat. No one had. He also asked several of the kids on the route, and none of them had seen him, either. The people on this route are really, really nice. They're the type of people who gave us bottles of water this summer when we were delivering. So I am confident that if someone had found "Flower," they would have said they did and probably realized who it belonged to. And I just know Nathanael was playing with him here on Wednesday morning. The trick is finding him - and keeping Nathanael from being too sad until we do. I'll be glad when "Penny" gets here. :^)

Kandy

Angels Among Us

Thank you all for the prayers! I really do appreciate them and feel them! Nathanael's stuffed cat "Flower" has been missing officially since Wednesday. I honestly thought he was somewhere around the house. It still seems like I saw him playing with him on Wednesday morning. By Wedesday evening, he couldn't find him. If he isn't in the house (which I'm realy praying he is), he may have been lost on The Buyer's Guide route on Tuesday. I've gone back to the route twice and talked with many of the people in the houses on the street Nathanael helped deliver. None of them have seen Flower. They were so sweet, though; and many told me they would keep an eye out for him because they know how much stuffed animals mean to the little ones. That really means a lot. Then Penny at CCU was so sweet. We found a new Flower (very, very similar to the old one) on Amazon.com. Nathanael said he would like to have a new one (but still find the old one, too, of course). There were only two left in stock, and we do not get paid until Friday. So Penny ordered it and had it shipped to us, and I will pay her back on Friday. Between your prayers, Penny's help, and the people on the newspaper route just saying they will watch; I honestly feel so blessed. I'm one that hates to ask for help. But you are all the best!

God bless.

Kandy

Please Pray

We have been enjoying several activities over the past few days - and I have some fun pictures to post. I would just like to pause, however, and ask you to please pray over our family. We have been facing a few trials. Even Nathanael has been facing a trial as one of his favorite toys is missing. Please pray. :^)

Thank you. God bless.

Kandy

The Unschooling Lifestyle

Designing

The Writing...

Above you will see some projects that Taliesin and Nathanael are currently working on. They are designing their own books. They're really simple - just fold a few pieces of posterboard in half and use their imagination! I actually got this idea from my textbook in my education class. I showed it to Taliesin and Nathanael this morning and asked if they wanted to try it. They definitely did! They're not finished yet. We're taking our time. They're enjoying it.

Other than their books today, we have played with their toy recycling trucks. Then they wanted to read Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. Well, those went well together. The Lorax led into a few pages of Barbara Holland's and Hazel Lucas' Caring for Planet Earth. Now they're playing with their toy recycling trucks again as I type.

My college studies and other events have really made me think about unschooling as a lifestyle. I've always known unschooling - really, homeschooling, in general, is a lifestyle. But I guess I never realized how much it is a lifestyle. I think what really made it sink in is the Women of Passions conference that I am working on. One of segments of the conference is a Passion for Family. I can honestly say that I could not speak about a Passion for Family without speaking about homeschooling - in particular, unschooling. Our life is so intertwined with our unschooling adventures, there is really no way to separate them. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not unschool. Oh, sure, I'm tempted to sometimes ship Taliesin and Nathanael off to school. LOL Not really, but sometimes I feel that way. LOL. But I don't think I could do that. I honestly do not. Life would just not be the same. When I look back through this blog - just the past few months even; I can see how our lives were enriched because our unschooling. It is honestly amazing to me. As I've been reading in my textbook about education philosophies and the importance of reading and various ideas and theories; I still come back to unschooling. I come back to the fact that if learning is truly a delight-driven, interest-led, natural process for a child; there really is no way to separate learning from life.

Kandy

Core Beliefs about Reading

I just posted this in a discussion board for my education class - a class on reading and learning to read. Each of us were to post our core beliefs about reading. I thought some of you may be interested in this.


I think everyone here is agreement that reading and learning to read is one of the most important things we can teach our children. I 100% agree with our textbook on the subject of early literacy - from birth to school. I remember when my six-year old was a baby - my husband and I would read books to him and show him colorful pictures (he never liked black and white pictures the way most babies do). He would stay entertained for long periods of time with books. Some if his favorites were a set of Sesame Street alphabet board books that we ordered for him. We were so happy and proud that he enjoyed books and reading so much.
Then, along came my almost-four-year old son. He was the total opposite of Taliesin. We tried and tried and tried to read to Nathanael, to show him colorful pictures, black and white pictures - nothing worked. We could not get through more than two pages of a board book with four words on each page - literally. He was a mover and a shaker as a baby. He loved playing with his baby gym and moving around on the floor, but he would not sit still for books or pictures. I can honestly say that he was a year old before he would look at books or would sit still to allow us read a short book to him. However, that did not stop us. We would read to him while he was playing. We would read to him while he was crawling. We would show him pictures and images in books any chance that we had.

Our older son, Taliesin, was diagnosed with a speech delay just before his third birthday. So we took his love for books and used it to aid with his speech skills. Today, he is six-year old and learning to read. We allow him to go at his own pace, and he learns in his own way. Sometimes this takes the form of studying phonics sounds. At other times, it takes the form of reading in whole-word readers. At other times, it's reading his favorites stories. At yet other times, it takes the form of him dictating a story as we write it down and him illustrating it (he is quite the artist). He is also writing his letters very well - both capital and lower case. Our younger son, Nathanael, does enjoy books much more now than he did as a baby. He is, however, still a mover and a shaker. Much of the time, he is playing or building with blocks or Legos as we read to him. But he always seems to comprehend what he has heard. He can answer questions about the stories he hears as he plays. He recognizes most of his alphabet to see it and is learning the sounds that the letters make. There are some books that he loves to read over and over and over. One of his favorites is the Sesame Street book The Monster at the End of this Book. I think he likes it so well because it has so much activity and imagination contained within its pages.

I have learned a lot about reading and literacy from my sons. The one thing I have definitely learned is all children learn differently - that includes learning to read. Where Taliesin loves to sit down and read book after book and story after story; Nathanael has to keep busy as he is read to. But both are learning. I agree with our textbook that literacy and pretend play go hand-in-hand. Children learn best through play. Playing, after all, is what they do best.
Where I part ways with much of traditional education is I truly believe that, even in older years and upper grades; children still learn best naturally. I am a big advocate of child-directed learning. I think children learning something in a forced environment is anything but an enjoyable experience. I believe that children should have a say in what they want to read. If they want to read from a reader, that is fine. If they prefer The Cat in the Hat, Madeline, The Lord of the Rings, or even a comic book; that is fine, too. Reading should be an enjoyable experience. I believe, so many times, children have difficulties learning to read or keeping an interest in reading once they learn; because they are forced to learn a certain way or forced to read things that they are not interested in.

Right now, my sons and I are in the process studying using some Dr. Seuss unit studies we found online. They are having so much fun! Just today, we read about the prejudice Sneetches, about the pride of "Yertle the Turtle," and the bragging of the rabbit and the bear in "The Big Brag." We then talked about how pride can affect us all, and read the Bible story of the Tower of Babel. We then talked about how prejudice is an aweful thing and read in the newspaper about how people celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But it won't stop there. Later today, we are going grocery shopping to purchase supplies to make blueberry pancakes and chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies that they found in their Disney children's cookbook. The key to these studies is they are things that my sons are interested in. They combine literacy and real life. They keep it real. They are definitely child-directed studies.

Kandy

Challenge

Well, Taliesin appears to be over his stomach flu - even though he was extremely tired yesterday afternoon. Nathanael has had it. I'm not sure that he's completely over it yet. I have my assignments for my education class completed for the week. I did that on purpose so I could concentrate specifically on the inductive Bible study the last three days of the week. Wow! This is such an intense class! That's all I can say for it. It's very hermenuetics-based. That is, it's based upon interpretation of Scripture. I love it! The way the textbook describes reading the Bible is like reading a love letter we just received. We read it over and over and over, paying to specific detail. I'm half-way through with the study itself for this week, then I have to type the assignment and submit. With Taliesin and Nathanael being sick, and with college backing up a little; I did not make it to a class I had planned on attending at church today. I feel bad. This is the second time I've missed attending this class. But God is in control. When He's ready for me to attend, the perfect time will be there. Well, back to my studies. Just wanted to update. :^)

Kandy

The Dean's List

I'm so excited! I just received an e-mail from Liberty University's Registar letting me know that I made the Dean's List for the fall 2008 semester! I love it! I made the Dean's List last spring as well. I hope this trend keeps up!

Kandy