Great Daze May 2, 2009

 

We woke up to another beautiful Texas morning and decided this warranted an expedition. Elijah puts his shoes in Sadie’s backpack in an attempt to preserve them while riding his wiggle car. Sadie took the one-mile loop around the neighborhood on her bike while I walked with the dogs.

Hawk-eye Sadie found this piece of a bird’s egg. We later identified it as that of a House Sparrow- of which we have many around these parts.

We stopped at the playground for some pretend play which led to some talk about light, shadow, heat, and cool. Mucking was also on the agenda so off they ran to explore and play in the drainage area.

Look what we noticed on Lulu! Her black spots are very hot and her white parts are cool. What colors would be cooler to wear on these hot days? Why are darker colors hotter?

Then back on the bike/wiggle car and home for a quick lunch on the way to Sadie’s acting class! She is still absolutely loving her class and apparently knows everyone else’s lines for their upcoming production as well as her own and is apt to cue them when needed.

All of a sudden the door to reading has opened for Elijah. He goes through every moment of the day now armed with his decoding tools (word recognition and phonics) and attempts to read EVERYTHING. Big words, little words, signs, stickers, instructions, recipes, books, words on TV, plant stakes, you name it. He nailed this sign without hesitation. Because reading is a part of life, there are no celebrations for his newfound skill. He finds satisfaction and joy in the challenge and feeling of mastery that he has when a word “clicks.” It doesn’t make it any less impressive to witness and is a true testament to the validity of unschooling as it relates specifically to the realm of education. Living in the world, children will seek and acquire the skills to function at the level they desire. 

He’s gone from primarily choosing math-related games to (with a little strewing) loving doing word puzzles and playing games like Scrabble, Jr. This time we flipped the board over and used the blank side to create our own words rather than using the pre-printed side. 40 minutes (Sadie’s class length) wasn’t enough!

Yes, he’s sounding out everything…