With my dh away I was able to wake up slowly and at a time when I wanted to- rather than jumping out of bed at 6am to prepare breakfast. I hopped up, made a cuppa and snuggled back in bed with a book. (I miss my hubby though) Then I showered and went around and opened up all the blinds, which in turn slowly woke the children up.

Today is not a normal day. Actually, as the children have gotten older we never have normal days. Each day is different, unusual and brings a new set of delights, eventful happenings, trials and tribulations.

Over breakfast (‘Miss A’ had an omelette while the boys had cereal), I read from the Scriptures and we talked about the Holy Spirit- how to hear Him in our lives and what role He plays. While sharing over pancakes we also started talking about the effects of guilt and how far we can go down the slippery slope- how important it is to keep listening to the Holy Spirit, how we need to shush more so we might hear. We then start talking about the requirements of a deacon and elder and how they must be of sound mind, self controlled, etc, We looked at various passages in 1Timothy. It was a productive yet informal time of getting round God’s word. ‘Miss R’ made pancakes for her breakfast so everyone sat down to Second Breakfast. ‘Miss R’ has a scheduled day off school today but we have an appointment at the school later on in the afternoon.

‘Miss A’ gets into her exercise plan, the boys start their bookwork and I sit down over a cappacino with ‘Miss R’ year old and we share in a deep and meaningful conversation about things in her life. We don’t get as much opportunity to do this anymore so I seize the moment whenever it presents itself.

We leave home at 12.45pm. ‘Miss A’ goes to work and I take ‘Miss R’ to the school as we have a Subject Planning meeting, in preparation for her Yr 11 studies next year. What was scheduled to be a 15min meeting took over an hour!! I don’t know why… ‘Miss R’ is then dropped at a friend’s house for the afternoon and evening.

They boys have finished their bookwork and ‘Master J’ is getting ready, ironing his uniform for Cadets tonight. Tuesday night is pretty hectic at our place, even more so when DH is away. Tuesday’s are not my favourite day but… that’s life.

I potter around the house, fixing potatoes and boiled eggs for tea, calling my dad and generally just ‘being at home and with the children’. I ring ‘Miss R’ quickly just to check in and say hi- and respond to her text messages. We (boys and I) eat a quick tea and head out the door at 5.30pm for Cadets. ‘Miss A’ leaves work and goes to softball training.

‘Master C’ and I head home, alone. (I enjoy the solitude but I miss my hubby) It’s so quiet. He has some quiet time on the computer (first for the day) while I do dishes and clean up then sit down to watch some tv. Not for long though!!!!!

We leave home at 9pm to pick ‘Miss A’ up from training. I printed out directions from whereis.com despite the fact that I vow and declare that I will never again trust them. Argh…I promise myself yet AGAIN that I will never trust their directions as we got lost, in the dark, again! I blamed ‘Master C’ ‘s navagting skills but it turned out that it wasn’t his fault at all. There was a No Through Road which was not marked on the directions!

Finally, we pick ‘Miss A’ up and by this time, the orange fuel light is glaring its horrid, hungry stare at me, threatening to go on a hunger strike. Argh! Fuel up! We continue on and pick ‘Master J’ up from Cadets and he talks us all silly about his night. lol. Actually he has met another Christian homeschooler, so that’s a bit of a bonus! Of course, a late night outing just isn’t complete with a quick drive-thru Macca’s to get a .50c cone eh!!! Then, we swing by ‘Miss R’ ‘s friends house and pick ‘Miss R’ up. Eventually, at 10.40pm we arrive home, tired, hungry and a little cold. (I can’t wait till hubby comes home)

Everyone fixes a snack for themselves and then s l o w l y starts to turn in for the night. ‘Miss A’ wants to talk and tell me about her day. She’s an early riser though and starts work at 8am tomorrow so she heads off to bed. ‘Miss R’ wants to talk again so makes me a cuppa and natters to me. ‘Master J’ is still running around, hyper from the evening activities-despite my pleadings and warnings for him to go to bed! 11pm is lights out and DH calls to say goodnight. We hang up at 11.45pm and then I mentally review the day and the children’s needs- I make a mental note to make sure we do some reading aloud tomorrow, but I am glad that we had such great discussions today. I thank the Lord for all His blessings and His abundance and I spend a few minutes in prayer for family before…zzzzzz zzzzzz…

Did I mention I’ll be extremely glad to see John???

The boys got stuck in and did most of their book work this morning. ‘Miss A’ made me pancakes with fresh strawberries and cream with fresh cappuccino for breakfast and then she went to work. I pottered around a bit and spoke to DH, who has been away for a week, on the phone.

It’s such a beautiful day today (finally) so we went outside to do some weeding. The boys were a great help as they also cleaned out the car. While weeding I had the opportunity to share with the boys about the nature of weeds- what a weed is and isn’t…how they grow and spread and how to effectively eradicate them. Weeding needs constant attention…one must always be on guard against weeds if one desires to have a clean garden. Some weeds can spread fast, underground and their roots go very deep. I explained that our lives can be like this if we’re not careful. We need to continually be on the lookout for the ‘weeds in our lives’ that can seemingly go unnoticed until one day they spring up and seem to overtake the garden and all the beautiful, productive plants growing in it.

Then we came inside and had some lunch. ‘Master C’ made himself an omelette and we talked about the seasons over our lunch. Oh we also read a chapter from Created for Work, a book for boys by Bob Schulz. We talked about trees and this led to getting a General Knowledge book out and flicking through it as we talked about how to tell the age of a tree. We learned that there is a large tree, called a Sequioa in North Carolina so we googled to have a look. Turns out that the General Sherman is the biggest giant sequoia, and also the biggest tree in the world. He is 83.8 m (274.9 feet) tall, his girth at breast height is 24,10 m (79 feet) (near the ground it is 31,3 m or 102,6 feet). The width of the crown is 33 m, and the first branch starts only at 40 m or 130 feet!

We cleaned up after lunch and went back outside to finish the gardening and tidying. we spoke more about weeds and how we need to completely remove the (bulb) root, else the weed will come back thicker and stronger than before. Hmmm, sin is like that. I really enjoy sharing with my children while using metaphors, analogies and object lessons. I thank God that He gives me opportunity to do so each day and I hope that I stay alert for these opportunities and that I don’t become complacent.

The boys then had some free time while I vacuumed the floors. Then I had to zip down the street for a short time so the boys finished their lessons. They had one subject left.

We had a fairly rowdy tea, which is quite common in our home. Everyone jumped in and helped with their chores and we settled down to the evening.

Only 4 more sleeps until Dad (DH) gets home!!!!! 🙂

UNSCHOOLER at HEART

Boy I’ve changed a lot over the years. I’ve become truly comfortable in my own skin- education wise. Oh I’ve always thought I was fairly comfortable but inside I’ve always been striving: pushing myself to do more, to be more.

Take time to stop and smell the roses.

I’ve often thought that I need to take the time to stop smelling the roses and actually do something. And I have tried to. But after awhile it slows down and eventually comes to a grinding halt. We drift back to our lifestyle of learning…one that looks almost the opposite of a school based system.

As homeschoolers, we all agree (most likely) that there is no separation between learning and real life, right? However, that means different things to different people. To me, any activity can be learning. Yes, reading comics can even be educational, if one has an attitude to learn. Yet, even a textbook or good living book may not be ‘educational’ if one doesn’t have an attitude or hunger to learn.

I don’t really understand how some people think that unschooling is easy. I think unschooling is an attitude- a belief. I also don’t understand how some people say that can unschool for a short period of time but they return to a more systematic (school-at-home) approach as they “felt lazy“. Wow! I’ve always felt the opposite. Somehow, some people see unschooling as an easy way out- the slacker’s way. Wow!!!! I don’t see that at all. I think this could be the case if one doesn’t truly understand unschooling and still has fears or dreams or ideals. Unschooling isn’t something you ‘do’ for awhile to see how it works. That’s just a band-aid solution of an issue- it doesn’t address the root. I’ve always felt that I needed to do less, as a teacher, when we use curriculum or are more structured in implementing our lesson plans!! True!! When I need a break I pull out the workbooks or system and attack them in our own relaxed homeschooling way. I’ve had to do more as an unschooler. I’ve also had to learn to rely on God more as an unschooler. I’ve tended to learn more about my children as an unschooler. I’ve learned more about myself when I’ve accepted that I am, in fact, a radical unschooler– to quote Sandra Dodd.

Sandra Dodd, on her website, says this

Some want to give their kids uninterrupted learning opportunities and time to pursue their interests during “school hours” so that on a school day they’re free to do what they want as long as it seems somewhat justifiably schoolish. And they might accept that Lego or sandbox play is schoolish because there are math and engineering and physics and nature elements, and they want to document some of that. But they might not want the kids to just sit and look out the window, or to read magazines about movie stars, or to play a video game during that same time.

If you read that and thought, “Yeah, but looking out the window, playing a video game or reading ANY magazine is still learning,” then you’re probably a radical unschooler.

I have continued to grow, develop, change, learn, evolve as a woman, a parent, a person, a homeschooler. I’ve realised (and still trying to accept and embrace) that I’m actually a radical unschooler at heart who has some ideals or struggles that propel me toward being an eclectic, relaxed homeschooler. Okay, so I’m not as ‘radical’ as some mentioned on Dodd’s website because my core Christian beliefs come into play and affect my thinking and actions. However, with that in mind, understanding the true nature of unschooling compels me to admit that yes, I’m an unschooler. Tehee, most people I meet are more conservative learners who *try* to or dabble in unschooling. I feel like I’m an unschooler at heart who tries or dabbles in being eclectic and a relaxed homeschooler.

Hmmm, realisation, acceptance…now I need to fully embrace who I am and totally stop striving to be or do ‘more’. This shouldn’t be hard. We, as a family and as individuals seem to learn more when we just live, instead of trying to learn…but it’s my insecurities, my fears, my letting go, my lack of faith in both God and in trusting the children’s curiosity that stop me from fully embracing myself as a radical Christian unschooler.

Oh, in case you’ve wondered what brought me out of my hidey-hole to post, I was prompted by Leonie’s post.

*ETA: Sandra Dodd’s site is not Christian and this will be reflected in the articles. Just because I link to it doesn’t mean I agree with everything.