Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is a bittersweet, day for me. Sweet because I have a wonderful husband who is an amazing father to our daughter. However, it's also bitter because my own father passed away 16 years ago. I can't say we ever had the greatest relationship, it was often strained at best and I blamed him for a lot of things that went wrong in my life. I am sad to say that we were so estranged when he passed away that I never got to say goodbye or that I was sorry for the way our relationship had always been.  But instead of dwelling on what might have been, I focus on the good memories: going to my grandmother's in Vermont every summer and stopping to buy fresh bread, VT Cheddar and apple cider to eat along the trip, fishing and crabbing together at Hammonassett State Park, and going hunting together which although the hunting part wasn't okay for me the learning about nature part was. He was also one who really gave me the opportunity to ride ponies non stop and fulfilled my dream of riding a horse (which turned into 20 years of my own horses). It is also because of him that I love nature as much as I do. I can still remember hearing him calling me to come running to see some bird or animal and he would be standing there with his Golden Guides to show me what it was. So while life wasn't perfect, my dad did the best he could after having his own tumultuous childhood and it took becoming an adult to realize how much he loved me and simply didn't know how to show it.

I'm sad he's not here to see his grand-daughter. I'm sad he never got to meet my wonderful husband. And I'm sad he never lived to see me grow into the mother I am now, one who now sees her father in a different light. So this Father's Day is dedicated to you Daddy.  I love you.

Langlois. Paul L. Sr.

May 21, 1994

LANGLOIS. Paul L. Langlois Sr., 72, of Cooley Road, North Granby, died Wednesday (May 18, 1994) at Noble Hospital, Westfield, Mass. He was born Jan. 4, 1922, in Manchester, Vt., son of the late Wilfred and Lolita (Baker) Langlois. Prior to retiring, he was employed at Stanley P. Rockwell Co., Hartford, and was a U.S.C.G. veteran of World War II. He enjoyed time with his family, dogs, fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; three sons, Stephen, Philip, and Peter; a daughter, Laura; a daughter-in-law, Norma; and six grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son, Paul L. Jr.

Favorite crafting and art blogs for young kids

Because Caitlyn is home with us we have the time to play as much as possible we can also spend as much or as little time on art or craft projects. The most important thing is that she has fun and enjoys anything we are doing. So for inspiration, I enjoy looking through books, websites, and of course other blogs. There are so many great bloggers out there nowadays that you don't have any excuse for not finding interesting ideas :). I look at things t that seem like fun and then we try them out. If, at any time, Caitlyn is not interested then we put things away to maybe try another time, or perhaps never.

So here are some of my favorite and inspirational craft and art blogs. If you have favorite ones as well, please share them in the comments section!

One of our favorites for art is The Artful Parent. Jean's blog is full of so many ideas for art and art resources that we always look forward to seeing what new ideas she'll come up with next. 

Another new favorite is Childhood Magic.  Ariella definitely draws many ideas from the Internet but what is magical to me is her ability to draw the reader in with her inspirational photographs! One of her recent posts was how to make a giant bubble wand which in itself was inspiring but when you see the photos it just makes you want to drop what you're doing and start making your own!

Of course many of us out there know Amanda Blake Soule of SouleMama. Amanda shares wonderful ideas for crafting, sewing, and enjoying life with kids. She is also the author of Handmade Home and the Creative Family.

Make Baby Stuff  is a fun filled site with great instructions to this home made playhouse.

Another link I like is AtoZ Kids Stuff that  several recipes for goop and playdough and other tactile recipes. Fun to make with the kids too. 

For Waldorf inspired crafts, The Magic Onions has beautiful ideas from a variety of guest bloggers. I particularly love all the felt ideas.

Wordless Friday a step back in time

{a moment frozen in time}

wordless Friday... A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

a look back to when our daughter was only a few weeks old

inspired by SouleMama

{a moment frozen in time}

wordless Friday - just a moment frozen in time to remember... 

Inspired by SouleMama

 

What Unschooling Isn't

This is probably one of the simplest breakdowns of what unschooling is or even better what it isn't. It comes from "Jon's Homeschooling Resources" - originally written by Eric Anderson

Unschooling Undefined

by Eric Anderson

Unschooling is a word coined by negating the idea of schooling; it starts off with a negative definition. What, specifically, is it about schools that unschoolers want to do without?

The School Organization

• Breaking up the day into learning time and play time.
• Starting and stopping learning (or shifting topics) according to an externally-imposed schedule.
• Telling students what they should care about.
• Telling students when they should care about it.
• Telling students what is good enough.
• The complex hierarchy with the student at the bottom.

The De-humanizing Aspects of Schools

• Having to ask permission for basic human needs.
• Having to supply "acceptable" excuses for absence or lateness.
• Routine abridgment of human (constitutional) rights.
• Standing in lines, waiting for everything: food, water, attention of the teacher, time on the computer, etc.
• Group rewards and punishments.
• Neglect of individual gifts and problems.
• Moving at the sound of a bell.
• Students coming to view themselves as products, moving down a 12-year assembly line, with bits of knowledge poured in or bolted on by others as the belt moves along. Seeing the primary responsibility for their education as being in the hands of others.

Isolation from the Real World

• Segregation by chronological age.
• Separation from family.
• Isolation from the working world.
• Isolation from the effects of age and disease.
• "Free" education isolates children from economic reality.
• Subject matter is divorced from context.

Schedule Rigidity

• Having to be in school at certain times means you can't see the World Cup or a solar eclipse if it happens during the school day, and you can't see the late show or a lunar eclipse if you have to get up in the morning.
• Having to be in school limits your ability to travel.
• Having to be in school limits your ability to do any time-consuming worthwhile activity.

Note that these issues do not address the questions of "problem schools." They are unrelated to questions of crime, drugs, threat of violence, time spent in forced commuting, illiterate teachers, etc. The problems unschoolers specifically care about exist (to a greater or lesser extent) even in "good" schools.

Moreover, many educational reform proposals act to make these problems worse. Improved security measures increase the dehumanizing aspects of school "discipline". "Back-to-basics" programs increase the rigidity of the curriculum, and often further divorce it from context. "Mainstreaming" programs exacerbate the effects of a one-size-fits-all curriculum, and often take up huge fractions of teachers' time and energy. Many reformers want to increase the number of hours in a schoolday or schooldays in a year, eliminating the chance for a student to educate himself in the off hours. The solution to the problems inherent in mass-produced education is not more of the same.

Unfortunately, telling what unschooling isn't doesn't tell what it is. In some ways, all homeschooling is unschooling -- we don't isolate our kids from life, or move at the sound of a bell, or require permission slips, or neglect the individuality of our children. Where unschoolers differ from other homeschoolers is the extent to which we let children be responsible for their own education.

Unschoolers believe that the natural curiosity of a healthy child, given access to a rich environment, will lead the child to learn what he or she needs to know. When learning comes about as a result of the child's desires, it is absorbed easily, enthusiastically, openly. The child works harder because he is doing what he thinks is important, rather than what someone else has told him is important. New knowledge starts with a context because it fits in with things the child already cares about. Learning driven by real desire is so much more efficient than passive absorption that unschoolers can tolerate much more exploration, dabbling, dawdling and play than can curriculum- inflictors. The unschooling literature abounds with stories of children who paid no attention to math or reading for their first ten years and then caught up in just a few weeks.

When learning is imposed from without, there are many deleterious effects. The child may not be ready for the material or may be beyond it; the child may resist it, either because he has something better to do or just out of general orneriness. When you force a topic, you short-circuit precisely the volitional parts of the mind that are critical to real learning. You may produce memorization, but cannot effect understanding. You risk the child developing a dislike for the topic, for the teacher, and even for learning itself.

Child-driven learning is fundamentally active. Children are doing things because they have taken responsibility for carrying out the actions needed to fulfill their desires. Unschooling is centered around the idea of learning, with the student as the center of action and the source of activity, rather than on the idea of teaching (with the teacher as the center of action and the source of activity). Not only does this make the learning more effective, but it encourages the child to develop virtues: independence, self-reliance, and a sense of responsibility. The child learns that if he wants something to happen, he has to make it happen.

Read more here