Wood Shop, Agriculture, Physical Education, and Culinary Arts

If schools can give fancy names to their courses, so can I. Today, we had wood shop, agriculture, phys. ed., and culinary arts.

Wood Shop

I'm in the process of renovating some furniture I don't love. I bought this table at The Salvation Army thrift shop five years ago with the intention of stripping it down and repainting it.

 

I'm finally getting around to it, and I'm enlisting the help of my kids. They learned how to use my sander today, and they learned that it's hard work to sand corners by hand. We didn't even come close to finishing this project. It'll take  couple of weeks. When it's fully sanded, we're going to paint it grey and white stripes. We have a new knob for the drawer, as well.

 

My kitchen table is a touchy subject. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from here (in Georgia, precisely), I let my bully mother-in-law convince me that my husband needed a new kitchen table and chairs for his birthday because my high-top bar table and chairs (solid cherry wood, and I loved it) was unsuitable for company. So she bought me a chintzy table and chairs that looks like it has toes. Granted, it was free. But I miss my old table. The wood is bubbled up and the fabric on the chairs is hideous. So I'm going to sand it and paint it bright cherry red. The chairs' fabric arrived in the mail yesterday. It's red and cream chevron pattern duck cloth. The kids will help with the sanding, painting, and reupholstery work. They're pretty excited about the final product.

Of note: the in-laws are coming for a visit this summer. I wonder what monster- ..I mean mother-in-law will have to say about my project.


Also, I bought a three-drawer chest for $5 at a used furniture sale. It's solid wood, very sturdy. It was a great bargain. But the pattern of the staining and the hardware on it make it look like it stepped out of the eighties. New hardware and new paint (same white and grey stripe job, as it is going in the same room) will breathe new life into it. Another thing my kids are learning: Buy cheap, buy used, and transform your bargain into a masterpiece.

Agriculture

Spring has arrived in Germany! Today, we planted our carrots and lettuce, and started some more lettuce and some parsnips in starter pots. Later this summer, we're going to have some good eats! The kids helped plant and learned about fertilizer, seed depth (ooh, math! in real life!), spacing, and crop yield.

 

 

Physical Education

I don't push this one. I don't feel like kids need a class in running around. Tuna skated and Bay ripsticked (I know Blogger spell check is going to love that word). There you have it. Gym.

Culinary Arts

The kids and I volunteer at the thrift shop. We found a pasta rolling machine. So, today, we tried our hands at fresh pasta, for the very first time. See? Adults can learn, too!

 

 

This good stuff is destined for a creamy broccoli-garlic sauce mmmmmm

There you have it. Our "school day" is done (not really...we never stop learning around here). We've learned so much more than those kids learn in that big brick box down the road. And we've had fun doing it (and we absorbed lots of vitamin D in the process).

Tomorrow: volunteering and reading, preferably outside in the sun. Happy Hump Day, everyone. :)





 

Monday, Monday

It was back to normal for us as Charles returned to work after a week off. Little Tuna had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. We read a lot today: Tuna and I read The Story of the World and Cupid and Psyche (a great love story, beautiful illustrations, highly recommend it), and Life of Fred. We played with the sticker album and stickers we collect: It's a Germany sticker album, and we get a new pack of stickers for every 5 Euro I spend at the grocery store called Rewe. We're working on collecting them all and translating the captions.

Bay and I took Sylvia Plath outside to soak up the sunshine. Today's the warmest day yet, with the bluest sky I've seen in Germany in the six months we've lived here.

We also went and applied for our tourtist passports this afternoon, so in a month or two, our "field trips" are going to start being places like The Louvre, Royal Albert Music Hall, and the streets of Greece!

Everywhere we went today, people were outside raking, tilling, pulling weeds, planting things, riding bikes, walking, and enjoying the weather. 

still messy in front, but our herb garden is planted. In the pots: dahlias. Around the outside: lavender, mint, rosemary, and thyme. 

Yesterday, we put in our front yard garden. The kids helped. Whenever we unearthed a worm, they rehomed him into one of our pots, to help keep the soil fertile. 


Bay helped me hang my boot gaden and Tuna helped plant the herb garden. 

I like the way the boot garden turned out. 

We still have our veggies to plant: peas, carrots, parsnips, salad greens, and Brussels sprouts. The Brussels sprouts, I'm told, are difficult to grow. But I like a challenge. 

What's in your garden this year? Do your kids help?

What we did on spring break...

Charles had a week off from work for spring break, so we took advantage of the time together, hopped a train and went exploring.

We went to Nürnberg, home of the Nazi War Crimes Tribunal. It was a rich history lesson for all of us. 

Here is Courtroom 600, the courtroom where the tribunal took place. It's been remodeled, of course, as it is still in use today as a courtroom. But the general sense of what it looked like was easy to imagine. The defendants sat in the box to the right of the large doorway. There's an elevator in the box for secure entry and exit of prisoners (can you see the door?). I've studied Nazi Germany for almost two decades. Entering this courtroom was emotionally overwhelming to me. I actually cried. I felt embarrassed for crying, but the flood gates were opened and I let loose. The feeling of being there is somber, tremendously moving... I don't know how to word the feeling. Just...go there yourself if you ever get the chance. 

Bay admitted complete boredom here. As you can see, she is less than enthused about sitting here while Tuna and I (Charles, too, to a lesser extent) sat in awe of history. Tuna listened attentively to her audio tour. I listened to a bit of it but was too overwhelmed to continue. 

The city is full of interesting (weird) statues. 

The famous golden fountain (which was never actually a working fountain at all!). Ornate. Pretty. 

I love finding smiles in inanimate objects! We spotted this fella from the top of the castle, through my camera's zoom. 

The girls are sitting on rock at the base of the castle. We got a fascinating tour of the well house, which was guarded securely, because the Germans were concerned with poisoning plots against them. The well was crazy-deep. I don't remember how deep it was. The tour guide lowered lit candles down into the bottom of the (still full of fresh water) well so we could see how far down it went. The other demonstration he conducted was pouring a pitcher of water into the well. It took the water a full five or six seconds to hit the well water! Tuna asked the guide about the oxygen levels in the well, and expressed concern about how the workers survived. It was all chiseled through solid rock by hand. The tour guide was knowledgeable in the oxygen topic and even told Tuna exactly how far down oxygen can typically be found (a little bit further than the well was dug). Later, I asked Tuna how she thought to ask that question. She reminded me of the scene in one of our Little House books when Pa and the neighbor were digging the well and they send a candle down each day to check for oxygen. That was a nice reminder that the way we're learning really works. We do sticky learning. ;)

Along the same lines: We took a break sitting on some monument steps. The monument was this one here:

It's a monument to Wilhelm the First, who was the first emperor of Germany. We needed a rest, and he offered it.

Tuna took off her shoes and gave herself a massage. :)

Bay sprawled out on the monument steps and soaked in the newly-found sunshine (it's springtime!). I had no idea who Wilhelm was, and I asked about him aloud. Bay knew who he was and explained to me the changes in German government throughout history. And she's not even really that "into" history! Sticky learning! Yay!

We really enjoyed ourselves. Not every moment was rich in history or educationally-motivated. We just went to have a great, memorable day together. It was a "bucket list" city for us. We spent a good part of the day shopping, eating (being next door to Italy does have its perks, lemmetellya!), and goofing around. 

It's so cool that I don't have to force-feed information to my daughters, because they absorb real-world experiences like thirsty sponges. 

Now then, I'm off to enjoy the final day of spring break with my family. We're sanding and painting furniture and putting in a garden today. The temperature is supposed to hover around 65F. Enjoy your day!

The Highest Form of Praise

It's been a real struggle to get school out of Bay's vocabulary. It's been a challenge to help her realize that what we're doing here at home is giving her a personalized education, not schooling her at home. 

She's needed a lot more guidance in learning via life than Tuna has. Perhaps because she's spent the last four years in public school, while Tuna only went through two years of it. 

Anyway, when we brought home Bay, we started her on Progress Academy, which is definitely "school at home" because that's what she preferred. Or, I should say, what she thought she preferred. I signed a contract agreeing to pay $89 a month for one year, no refunds. 

She hates it. 

So she and I sat down and discussed what her goals were. Her goal used to be to graduate high school and go to art college. Now, she's not sure she wants to go to college at all. And she knows she wants to take a year off between school and whatever it is that comes next. 

Again, school. She can't let go of that word. 

So we found some college courses that are offered on a not-for-credit basis. She will get the chance to experience college lecture and the way college works. She'll be doing "school" like she seems to crave. And, most important to me, she will be learning something, anything, moving forward. 

Tuna likes some aspects of "school," too, such as knowing what she will be doing each day. So we read and go through a chapter of Life of Fred each day. We do science-y stuff twice a week. We do history stuff twice a week. And we have Free Art Time, which is her "art" class with no rules. She likes that. She does not like repetition, worksheets, textbooks, or anything remotely like that. 

Unschooling, I've learned, is more than getting away from school. It's doing whatever education matters, pertains, interests, drives, motivates, and pleases each child. 

Unschooling, in our house, looks like this:

Bay taking online college-level courses. Bay and I reading good, modern literature together (aloud). Bay and I watching documentaries on forensics. Bay writing a book (she is always, always writing). Bay taking a course in writing so she can better her craft. Bay memorizing song lyrics and discovering new artists. 

Tuna and I cuddling on the couch, reading Story of the World, Life of Fred, and the (ugh) Little House on the Prairie series. Tuna and I watching The Happy Scientist and then trying some of his experiments. Tuna and I cooking together. Tuna learning all there is to know about Minecraft, setting a goal in Minecraft, meeting her goal, and running over to me, squealing with excitement while she relays every detail. 

Unschool looks like the girls and I taking off to go explore Germany on day trips. 

Unschooling looks like board games and blankets and pillows and paint and paper and ten different internet-capable devises in the house. 

Unschooling looks different to different people. That is our family's definition of it, and it works. 

How do I know?

Ahh....here I come to the point of my entry's title: The Highest Form of Praise....


Tuna announced to me that she wants to create  You Tube channel and create her own Minecraft tutorials. She came up with a title and everything. She said she wanted to do this when she was an adult. I looked at her and said, "Tuna, I think your Dad would agree with me that if you continue on your current path of being honest, trustworthy, true, and safety-conscious, I think your Dad and I would be just fine with you establishing your own channel when you're a teenager. Is that right, Charles?" My husband agreed and said that he sees no reason to keep her from it in a couple years (I think she's too young for You Tube right this second). She beamed, ear-to-ear, and said, "I love the words you're using about me right now. They make me feel great." 

Unschooling = peaceful parenting = open communication= love

Yesterday, Bay and I were cleaning the kitchen together. Bay helps out around the house a lot. She does a lot of dishes, kitchen cleaning, sweeping, mopping, laundry, whatever I need help with. And she never complains. She just helps, willingly. And she does a great job. We were at the sink, me rinsing, Bay putting dishes in the dishwasher, and something occurred to her. She said to me, "You know, I do a lot more housework than any of my friends. But I have a lot more freedom, I do a lot more stuff, and you give me everything I need and almost everything I want. I don't mind helping. I get more than anyone I know."

Unschooling = teaching real world values = cause and effect, check!

Friday, we're going to Nuremberg, Germany, home of the famous Nuremberg War Trials. So we're watching movies about the war, Hitler, and the city's general history, so we will know what we're seeing. 

Other than that, this week is "spring break" for my school-free kids, and they are enjoying things like learning to use a boomerang, hanging out with friends, sleeping late, learning to use chopsticks, watching movies, and hanging with Dad, who has the week off, too. 

Moral of the story: There are varying degrees of unschooling. Don't judge yours by someone else's standards. Just go with what works for your kids and for you. 

The Wide World of FREE Education

Here are about a trillion links for completely FREE education. I have just recently discovered this brand new world of free learning, so here's a mishmash of what I've found. I hope it helps someone out there!

*This is a work in progress. I will also add to it as I find more links. Please let me know if you find a dead link so I can remove it. Thanks!

Free K-12 Links

Language Arts & Literature

Shakespeare Online

Animated Shakespeare Plays

Grammar Girl

Math

Nrich (Math)

Computer Science, Keyboarding, Programming

Codecademy -- Learn computer coding for free 

Crash Course! US & World History, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, and Literature courses on YouTube

Art, Music, and Other Electives

The Google Art Project

Smart History: Art History by Khan Academy

Learn to speak German

Mission Berlin

University of Cambridge Language Centre

BBC Talk German

Learning German Online

Deutsch Interaktiv

MyGermanClass.com

Learn to speak Spanish:

Destinos

BBC Mi Vida Loca Spanish for Beginners

Coffee Break Spanish

Spanish Pod 101

Discover Spanish

Social Studies/History/Civics/Government/Geography

Listen to famous speeches

icivics -- A free civics course for kids

American Heritage : An Adventure in Liberty - A free, full American history curriculum. You have the option of purchasing a binder of the printed curriculum or using it free online. 

worldatlas.com

Liberty's Kids on You Tube

World History for Us All

Bill of Rights Institute: Free U.S. History Lesson Plans

Teaching Civics and Government

Foundation for Teaching Economics

The US Mint for Educators

The History Channel

Science & Natural History

The Paleontology Portal


Understanding Evolution  by Berkeley (levels available from elementary to undergraduate)

Physics To Go

Multi-Subject Sites

ck12.org

Khan Academy

K12 by MIT

neok12.com -- various k-12 videos, games, and resources

Ted Talks: Ted Ed

WatchKnowLearn.org

Education channel at You Tube

Open Culture -- A general educational link site with tons and tons of links to free educational stuff, including movies, books, sites, and more. 

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

Free College-Level Courses:

COMPLETELY FREE! I have Bay signed up for many courses over the next fourteen months. Note: These are not for credit. We are using them as high school courses (most are not long enough to count as full credit courses for high school transcript purposes in my opinion, but you can easily piece together a great year!

Udacity

Homeschool College USA

Saylor

Coursera -- Holy Mother load! This site has hundreds of courses taught by professors at such prestigious universities as Brown, Duke, Vanderbilt, and more. This is my most exciting link. Live classes with real professors and real classmates, all completely free. And at the end, you get a certificate of completion. 

Learner.org -- We are specifically going to use this world literature course and this world history course. 

Free e-books:

Bartlebee

Community Service Project: Cookies for Community Helpers

Today, we got together with members of our local homeschool group and visited various places in our community that serve us: the library, the fire department, the garrison commander, and so on. The kids all baked cookies and made thank you cards to honor them, and we walked around the post delivering cookies and smiles.

The kids were well-received. We got some education about what these community helpers do. And then we played.

Bay mixed

Tuna measured

Tuna making her card, which is now on display at our library

Proud of their baking and card making, and rightfully so!

Dancey-dance time

I asked them to pose for a quick picture while we waited for the other homeschoolers to drive up.

Delivering a batch of cookies and a card

...then it was time to play!

And play they did!

my monkey

 Good job, girls. I'm proud of you for your selfless act today. 

A Cool Deal I Found

We are freestyling science this year, and I found a great deal I'd like to share with you.

The Homeschool Buyers Co-Op has annual subscriptions to The Happy Scientist at 50% off, which makes the subscription price just $10.

The Happy Scientist is a jovial older man who posts hundreds of science videos and experiments, always updating the site. He makes science enjoyable AND educational.

We really like him. Maybe you will, too! Check it out here: The Happy Scientist at Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Enjoy!