2nd Annual National NOT Back To School Day | Unschooling

September 1st is National Not Back To School Day!

National NOT Back To School Day is a day to focus on the here and now. 

Living in the present, not constantly in the future.

A day to celebrate staying home/going places, as unschoolers. 

People that believe in learning organically.

Creating, discovering, exploring, growing, laughing, living, learning, loving.

This year, let’s visit one reason why we are so happy to NOT be going “back to school”.  There are those moments where common sense goes out the window when people are in school.  There are situations where faculty send a kid home because the child has brought something to school that, for decades, has been a non-issue.  Only now is one set of administrators banning superheroes in the school setting, to stave off any notion that school supports violence (superheroes represent violence, don’t you know?).  It’s not even political correctness in which we find ourselves.  Today, schools are dealing with situations that might lead one to think that violence is being condoned:  food in the shape of weapons, human mouths making the sounds of war, mere references to violent movies, etc.  The no-tolerance policy in schools, in some cases, overtakes common sense—children become the victims in what should be a rational approach to fending off violent situations.

Join us in celebrating being unschoolers together by posting photos and what you are doing with your child(ren) too or sharing unschoolish quotes by using the hashtag:  #NNBTSDay #NationalNOTBackToSchoolDay #NOTBackToSchoolDay to your Blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

“It’s not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go.  It’s a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”  - John Holt

National NOT Back To School Day--Unschooling

We have deemed September 1st National NOT Back To School Day!

National NOT Back To School Day is a day to focus on the here and now. 

Living in the present, not constantly in the future.

A day to celebrate staying home/going places, as unschoolers. 

People that believe in learning organically.

Creating, discovering, exploring, growing, laughing, learning, living, loving.

School is a huge part of our society.  It gobbles up every inch/ounce/iota of free space/time that families cherish.  This time of year, you’d have to bury your head in the sand to avoid hearing anything about, “back to school”.  From advertisements, to family and friends attending school, it’s mentioned on signs, even bombarding you on trips to the grocery store.  We are always asked, it seems, “Is (are) he/she (they) ready to go back to school?” followed by (if we don’t answer fast enough), “What grade will he/she be in?”  It can feel daunting at times.

We’re the outsiders, not regretting our divergent course, and we wish to bring awareness to the practice of unschooling.

We would like families from all countries to recognize this day even though it is technically a United States holiday.  September 1^st is a happy medium of those dates when schools ring their first classroom bells in our country. 

Join us in celebrating being unschoolers together by posting photos and what you are doing with your child(ren) or sharing unschoolish quotes by using the hashtags:  #NNBTSDay #NationalNOTBackToSchoolDay #NOTBackToSchoolDay to your Blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

“It’s not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go.  It’s a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”  - John Holt

Dashiell Maverick @ 17 Months Old Today

This little boy sure has my heart.

After kind-of a rough few days--

thinking about Diego, 

and Elijah;

today was just what I needed. 

Dashiell took a long nap, 

and he’s been smiles ever since. 

We’ve been cuddling, playing, 

and just being. 

His favorites over the past month: 

peek-a-boo 

looking at books (chewing on them, eek!) 

water play (of course) 

bananas 

playing with cars 

the sandbox 

strawberries 

hugs 

drinking water 

watching movies 

being outside 

breastfeeding 

playing with musical instruments 

dancing 

melon 

animals (smothering them) 

babbling 

apples 

running 

watching the bunny-rabbits in our neighbor's yard 

scribbling 

phones 

and . . . 

I tend to kiss and hug him a lot, a lot, a lot. 

Even more-so lately, 

and he has started to give me the occasional kiss, 

which melts this mama’s heart, of course. 

Cecily was mad because he hadn’t given her a kiss yet. 

They enjoy playing together. 

As does Sylvan. 

Of course, there are always times when the older kids don’t want Dashiell to mess with their stuff. 

But, overall, they all enjoy each other’s company quite well. 

One of the benefits of unschooling=closer sibling relationships.

The Minecraft Experience

Sylvan is very much into the online game Minecraft.

Here is a favorite song and video of his that he showed me today.

This is a 10 hour version.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Ha, ha, it is stuck in my head now.

Good luck getting it out.

Dashiell loves it,

and gets mad when he hears the music, but can't see the video.

We also saw this one today.

Yes, I could use a piece of that cake right about now.

I went for a jog tonight and my supper wasn't filling enough.

Dang, Meatless Mondays.  

I knew I should have added beans.

And this one is Sylvan's ultimate favorite.

Describing the game quite well.

It has really grown on us around here.  :)

Another Reason To Unschool: The Wheels on the Bus Go...Wait! Was That The School Bus Monitor Being Harassed!? Kids? Making Her Cry?!?

I loathe this video.

First, to see the way they treat Karen.
Second, that they are recording their behavior, because they think it is funny or cool.
Third, to post it on Facebook to show all their friends.

Sad, very sad.

The video was taken on a school bus in Greece, New York.

So?  Why am I posting this??
I posted this video because this is not just a New York thing.
I rode the school bus for the majority of my school experience,
in a small town in Iowa.
Harassment.
Bullying.
These are not new to the school bus scene.
I remember it all too well on our school bus.
But we didn't have a monitor, so, instead, the kids harassed other kids.
Hurting young egos.
Causing fear.

I was harassed more than I care to remember.

One incident had me confronting my harasser in the principal's office of his school.
Luckily, he was young enough he took that very seriously.
Thereafter, he no longer harassed me, physically anyhow, ever again.

If your kids ride the school bus, do they harass others?
Most parents would probably say no.
Many parents would probably be wrong.
Just like the dad, of one of the kids that harassed poor old Karen thought his child would never do such a thing.

Sometimes, I think that is wrong with some of today's youth;
Well, the ones that harass and bully, that is . . .
Which is a good majority of the schooled youth, at one point or another.
The fact that they are left together for days, weeks, months, years in schools, without much positive adult influence.
Very few (if any) to look up to.
Very few (if any) to aspire to be.
They don't know what it is to treat others with respect,
because often they are not respected by the adults in their lives--
in school or at home.

"Sit here."
"Do this."
"Bad job."
"That's wrong."
"You shouldn't."
"You can't."
"I won't help you."
"Don't."

I could probably go on and on . . .

The negativity with the words that are used from people (both teachers and students) in schools.
Trust IS a two-way street.
If kids are not respected, how will they learn to be respectful to others??
Lead by example, I say.

I'm feeling very blessed lately to be an unschooling mom.

Unschoolers YouTube Videos--A Beginning!?

We've been taking a lot of videos for a few months now.

Thinking we'll just start with the more recent stuff to begin with;
although there are some oldies, but goodies.
We will be sharing those at some point too. Here is the first one, yay!

Let us know what you think, by commenting.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Fun-Hating Homeschoolers?

We went camping close to the Mississippi River over Memorial Day Weekend, in eastern Iowa.


Right across from where we were camping, there were two families that were traditional homeschoolers, camping together.  We thought it was pretty neat, because although we are unschoolers, we have more in common with homeschoolers (usually) compared with people that send their children to school.  We thought our kids would enjoy each other’s company.

Another nearby family had girls that went to school; they enjoyed playing with Cecily and vice versa.  Sylvan felt a bit left out since the boys wouldn’t venture out of their camp.  So he was excited to play with the homeschooled kids, even though he was likely the oldest kid of the lot.

Well, I was wrong this time, the schooled kids had more freedom than the homeschooled kids.
One of the homeschooled families turned us off big-time.
And made me VERY happy that we unschool.

I was shocked at how much the first family told their kids no, saying “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!” in practically one mouthful, as if ONE “NO” wasn’t enough!?  They said it several times about simple stuff, stuff that I didn’t think was a big deal.

They were very controlling of their four children.
Trying to control. . .
Every.
Single.
Move that their kids made.

It really was hard for Sylvan, because he was the oldest kid (only by a year or two though) between our camp and the homeschoolers camp and he wanted to play a creative game with the older kids, but they just didn’t get it.

He told me later that they weren't creative and he didn’t have fun playing with them, in the short time that he did.

For homeschoolers, we were surprised they didn’t show up to the free parks program, a workshop about frogs. We had mentioned it to them the night before, and as we look back, it kind-of felt like they they were trying to avoid being around us. Most traditional homeschoolers we know would jump at the chance for free learning opportunities.

They missed out.

Sylvan and Cecily had more fun playing with a creative girl at the playground, who was probably traditionally schooled. We had decided to go to the playground because the homeschoolers' kids didn’t seem like they were allowed to play with our kids.  It made our kids feel bad. So I thought the playground would cheer them up.  That, it did.

When we got back from the playground, the last night we were there, the one dad of the more lax homeschooling family (a Christian pastor), chatted with Dan.  They seemed to get along well.

Then, one of their kids wanted to be pulled around in their wagon, so Cecily hopped in with their little girl, and Sylvan started pulling it around--since he was the biggest kid. The more controlling mom of the two families said suddenly that it was time to go to bed and she said it was their wagon, yada, yada. Maybe it was a new wagon, and she didn’t want it broken, but Sylvan was walking with it and respectful of their property, not running around crazy with it or anything. I don’t think she thought Dan and I were in hearing distance, but I was, and I thought she was quite rude to our kids.

I was just happy that we were leaving the next day, so we wouldn’t have to be around “the homeschoolers”.  A phrase, I never thought I’d say or write. Our kids barely got to play with them, and I know it was disappointing for them--probably disappointing for the homeschoolers' kids as well. They had just started playing with them and "boom" it’s bed time!? Granted, I think they had a long day, as we did. But the kids were all getting along fine and no one was crabby that I could tell--well, maybe the one mother might have been. It was around 9:40 p.m. and Sylvan couldn’t believe they were all going to bed. Especially since they weren’t leaving the next morning, like we were.

We went back to our camp, and I explained that some families go to bed earlier and some families have different rules. He moved on rather quickly and he was happy to get the camp fire going. Cecily was disappointed too, but moved on quicker than Sylvan this time. Cecily and Dashiell fell asleep a while later, and we enjoyed the company of our oldest, Sylvan, telling us about his current favorite toys, Skylanders.


I noticed later, as I was putting a couple of things in our van, that the homeschooling parents were still up around the campfire.  Maybe they just really wanted to hang out alone, since the two families didn’t see each other on a regular basis--this based on some things the pastor and his wife told us.  The kids would put a damper on that, apparently.

How sad.

It put a bad taste in my mouth, the traditional homeschooling families' behaviors--and traditional Christians, to boot.  I guess I’m happy it was us, and not some other family that doesn’t know others that homeschool,  or are Christians, otherwise they would have been turned off of the whole deal of homeschooling or Christianity altogether. Because then they would think we are all like that--fun haters, rude, anti-social. Isn’t that what camping is about--(in a traditional campground) to be in nature and meet other like-minded people? That is one of the kids’ favorite things to do when we camp--to make new friends.

I tried to think of something positive to take from it. It made me realize, how far we’ve come, and how we are so proud of our kids. Our kids handled everything really well, even if it was disappointing for them.
No crying.
No tantrums.

Thinking back, I shouldn’t have said we were unschoolers right off the bat . . . I guess. But I feel if we don’t tell people that we are unschoolers and how we do things, the word will never get out.

I want to help other families have the amazing time/life we have. The beautiful relationship we have with our children. Somehow, I think there is a stigma about unschoolers and I know there is one about Christians.

Really, all unschoolers are different in some ways. Just as all homeschoolers are different in some ways. Just as traditionally-schooled families are different in some ways. As are, Christians as well.

And although the homeschoolers put a damper on things a bit, we had a really nice time as a family.  More on that later.

Learning.  Ever-learning.

Happy Halloween! Muffin Tin Monday ~ Halloween Mini Edition

Left to Right.
Top to Bottom.
Like a typewriter.

"Witch Hats"/Bugles-Hot Buffalo Flavor
"Zombie Eyeballs"/Chocolate Candy Eyeballs
"Straw Mound"/Shredded Colby Jack Cheese
"Witch Pinkies"/Baby Carrots

"Jack-o'-lanterns"/Pumpkin Face Gum Balls
"Ectoplasmic Goo"/Nacho Cheese Sauce
"Bandages"/Cheddar Cheese Crackers
"Graveyard Mud"/Creamy Peanut Butter

"Corpse Ribs"/Orange Bell Peppers (even though they do look red in this photo)
"Crow Beaks"/Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
"Coffin Cushion"/Pumpkin Cake
"Edgar Allen Poe Teeth"/Candy Corn (& Pumpkin Candy in the middle)

It was a fun challenge this week.
I tried to do a black and orange food theme.
Word Geek helped with the fun Halloween food names.

I ask that the kids keep an open mind.
Trying everything once.
Then I will tell them what the foods are, if they don't know afterwards.

Lizard Man was not happy about some of the things.
He wanted to know what the foods were before he would try them.
He said, and I quote, "This is like a horror movie."
What-the-what!?
Not sure where he came up with that one.
I don't make the kids eat anything.
But once I told him what a couple of things were, he was willing to try them.
I think in the future I will tell him.
It seemed to work better for him.

Love Bug was very excited to try everything.
She first went for the eyeballs and was going to take a bite.
I informed her that there was a wrapper on the candy.
But that just shows you how open minded she is to trying new foods.
She was willing to try out an eyeball!!??!!
I think maybe Lizard Man may have mentioned that they were candy.





I did make a muffin tin for myself this week too. :)
Anyone that knows me well, knows I do NOT like peanut butter.
I'm not allergic.
It all leads back to a time when I went to grade school.
My mom would make us lunch to take to school.
In our "old school" metal lunchboxes.
She accidentally put my brothers Shawn's peanut butter sandwich in mine.
Shawn got my cold cut sandwich.
The teacher either made me eat it or I was very hungry.
I don't remember which.
I just remember after that, plain peanut butter was NOT my friend.
If it was baked into something, I was fine.
But no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for this girl.
Well anyhow.
To prove my point to Lizard Man today, I ate some peanut butter.
Dipped in my carrots=not too bad.
Then I dipped my candy corn into the peanut butter.
Um yes, pure bliss.
New favorite dessert for me.
Kind of like Reese's Pieces, but much better!



So happy that we've decided to jump onto this new food adventure.

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Linking up here!

First Muffin Tin Monday Meal! Mini!

I've been wanting to try this out for awhile,
for the kiddos.





Left to Right.
Top to Bottom.

Southwestern Bean Salad.
Flour Tortillas.
Ramon Noodles (unseasoned).
Cubed Pineapples.

Salsa.
Shredded Colby Jack Cheese.
Pear Tomatoes.
Sliced Bananas.

Tortilla Chips.
Turkey Bologna.
Bite Size Carrots.
Popcorn.

This was a huge hit with the kiddos.
Lizard Man, age 8.
Love Bug, age 4.
I used two Wilton Mini Muffin Pans, that I bought at Goodwill.
Filled with the same things=no fighting.

They have both eaten everything before,
except the Southwestern Bean Salad.
Both did not like it.

Lizard Man finished everything except that.
He asked for more of a few things.
Growing boy!!

Love Bug ate almost all of hers.
She tried a bite of a tomato and that was it.
She is not a fan of raw tomatoes.
But I can't complain, she is not a very picky eater.
I think she just got full with the other foods.

We will be doing this more, yah!

I just wish I would have made one for me.
Next time!

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Linking up here!

Impromptu Mother/Daughter Day

Love Bug and I had a pretty amazing day together.
We went to a few garage sales.
And she got some beautiful clothing.

We got out the finger nail polish.




Love Bug's nails.





My nails.





We had candy.





Love Bug dressed up.





And we created Barbie rubbings.





I'm hoping we can do a day like this again soon.
I love one-on-one time with each of the kiddos.

Word Geek and Lizard Man played a roleplaying game with friends.
They had a wonderful time.
So it was a win-win kind of Saturday.

Fascinated with Matty B. on YouTube

Word Geek found a new rap artist that the kids are fascinated with through YouTube.
He goes by "Matty B."
He is 8 years old.
He has a pretty cool older cousin that goes by Mars,
who does a lot of the work behind the videos.

This video has someone you guys might recognize, Vanilla Ice

Here is my favorite.
Gotta love a pet rock named Chuck Norris.
And how they change the words of the original songs.



It kind of surprises me that he's not homeschooled.

Our Park Visit to Ledges State Park

Punctuation Mark and daddy.

Grilled hamburgers.





Explained things to the kiddos.
Ever-learning.





Played.





Played and drank chocolate milk.





Did some bonding.





Put make-up on.





Relaxed.





Used our chompers.





Played some more.





Smiled of course!





And took lots of photos.
Lizard Man took this one.



If you ever get the chance, stop at Ledges State Park.
It is an amazing park.

Literally Running Around in Circles

How was your weekend?

We relaxed.

Grilled out at Ledges State Park.
Which happens to be another one of our favorite parks in Iowa.
Although, under some construction due to more flood damage.
Once again we enjoyed the amazing weather.
We were going to hike, but didn't.
Due to "Archery in Progress" signs at the park.

And we relaxed some more.
Well, Word Geek worked some of course too, at his second job.

It was a nice weekend though overall.

Here is a video from the weekend.
Love Bug literally running around in circles.

Since turning 4 years old, Love Bug rarely takes naps.
She falls asleep totally exhausted.
Especially after park visits like above.


Video taken by Lizard Man.

Camping at Backbone State Park in Iowa - Day 1 of 2

Backbone State Park is the oldest State Park in Iowa.
Dedicated in 1920.

We went camping there last weekend.
It is one of our favorite parks in Iowa.

$6.00 camping fee per night.
I think it is the cheapest camping fee we have EVER paid.
And we've camped A LOT.
October is considered off-season for camping in Iowa.
That is why it was so cheap.





Relaxing.
And clapping.
One of Punctuation Mark's favorite things to do.
Especially with daddy.





Love Bug spent a lot of time in the playground area.
Lots and lots and lots of sand.


Lizard Man did too.
But he tries to avoid the camera at times.
And it worked this particular time.

I wish I would have brought more sand toys.
But the kids did just fine with what we had.



It was the best weather for camping.





One of the best camping experiences for us.
And I know the weather had something to do with it.
No mosquitoes.
Not even one.





This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.
Love Bug in her pink polka dotted pj's.

She's roasting marshmallows for me!!
I am the only one in our family that likes S'mores.
So far.





Simple S'mores.
Using striped chocolate shortbread cookies.
And marshmallows.
My friend, Katie's mom Annette taught me how to make them.
I call them "Simple S'mores".
Easy for little hands.
And oh so yummy too.

Left Photo=My S'more
Right Photo=Love Bug's





And off to bed.



Photos from Day 2, to come sometime this week...

Unschooled Lizard Man Reading

While camping, I captured this video.
Lizard Man started reading to Punctuation Mark.
Love Bug came over and listened too.

Very happy I thought to grab the camera.
Will treasure this moment forever.

Unschooled Lizard Man wrote me a Letter

Found the following, one morning on our family computer.
I thought Word Geek had told Lizard Man how to spell words from a different room, while Lizard Man was at the computer.
Nope.
I found out Lizard Man did this all on his own.
Sure there are mistakes.
Sure it is about a game.
But super proud that he wrote a letter to me.
All by himself.
And that he wanted to show dad too.

Note-I did switch Word Geek and Lizard Man's real names in the letter.
But I'm sure you get the idea.

Word Geek and I are so proud of his love for learning.
The letter had us both grinning from ear to ear.
He has taught himself so much.
Of course--we are helping him along the way.
But, it is really neat when he accomplishes something totally on his own.

Love Bug Learning to Write

Love Bug is eager to learn.
Wanting to read.
Like her big brother.

She has been learning to write words.
Not only the traditional way.
Many of us were taught.
But,
I call it-- the computer way.



One day, a couple of weeks ago.
She wanted to write on Word Geek's laptop.
Apparently, she sees us write on the computers enough.
I wrote words on note cards for her.



It was hard at first, for her.
Because the keys on a computer are upper case letters.
And this mama wrote lower case letters.
So I wrote both the upper and lower case letters down for each word,
on one note card.
But, still a problem.
They didn't look right on the screen.
They were ALL lower case letters.
Turning the "caps lock" on fixed that problem though.
And made it super easy for her to write many words...



Butterfly.
Rhino.
Scooby Doo.
Family member's names.
And many more that I can't think of at the moment.



Love Bug recently discovered You Tube.
There is a post for another day!!



Anyhow, I wrote YOU TUBE on a note card.
Thinking she would write it in the Google search bar.
Like what she's done in the past.
But, instead she wrote it in the address bar.
You know, where you put a web address...
Although, a little off with too many "W's".
I thought she did quite nice.
For me not teaching her this:


Something I'm thinking she may have picked up from big bro, Lizard Man.

Bitter Sweet 16

It is crazy to think that it would have been been my nephew Diego's 16th birthday today.

He died suddenly, a natural death, at the tender age of 8.



I think sometimes, what is there to learn from his death???
Ever learning.


I tell myself so often to appreciate family and friends.
And again, to NOT take anything for granted.
Because we never know when the good Lord will take them.
To their true home.


I try hard to enjoy our kids.
Never taking them for granted.
Which is hard at times.
But, I do try.
To let them live the life that was meant for them.
Not to have them be what I want them to be.
Or do what I think they should do.
To support them in their passions.


Somehow, someway, it has led our family to unschooling.
I think Diego's death had something to do with this path.
The road less traveled.


Kids keep us young and make us look to the future.
I love their-
goofiness.
tenderness.
love.
tantrums.
Yes, even their tantrums.

Their-
creativity.
playfulness.
willingness to learn.
lack of patience.
happiness.
independence.
kindness.
and their life.


I tell myself to not be sad that Diego is not here.
He is in heaven and enjoying all of it, I'm sure.
Whatever all of it--means.
And someday I will reunite with him.
What a GRAND day that will be.



But I sure miss that kid.
Yesterday, today, and always.
Here on earth.
A LOT.

A Whale at the End of the Rainbow

Love Bug watched an episode of Reading Rainbow today.
The episode happened to be about one of Word Geek's latest fasinations,
whales.

I won't recap the episode.
You can watch it here:

Reading Rainbow - Season 7, Episode 56: Humphrey... by Deon_Flood

But, Love Bug really loved the story.
And the gears started turning in her head.
Right after hearing the story of Humphrey The Lost Whale


Love Bug: "Mom, I wish we could have a whale."
Mama: "Where would we keep it?"
Love Bug: "In the bathroom."
Mama: "Where in the bathroom? In the bathtub?"
Love Bug: "No, in a container. We could get a baby."
Mama: "The babies are bigger than our bathtub."
Love Bug: "Maybe we could get a really big container."


I love her unschooled mind and creative process.
I continue on trying to be more open-minded.
Trying hard not to tell her that certain things aren't possible.

We watched the episode again tonight with the whole family.
And I'm thinking watching Reading Rainbow episodes might become a regular event, each week at this household.
Everyone enjoyed it.

Humphrey the Whale is quite an interesting whale.
Word Geek has told me that humpback whales are the most social of all whales.
They sing to each other--also stated in the episode of Reading Rainbow.
Word Geek calls humpback whales, the bards of the sea.

And what ever happened to Reading Rainbow?
It was cancelled in 2006 due to budget problems.
But hey, Reading Rainbow fans!
Reading Rainbow is being reinvented for the iPad with LeVar Burton's help.

“The educational system is just not getting it done. If we’re going to reclaim our place in the world, in terms of how we educate our children and how we prepare them for the future it’s going to get done through a private-public partnership." ~ LeVar Burton

Wordless Wednesday