Pepper Paints

Wire Sculptures

Today at our Unschooling Co op we talked about Alexander Calder’s Finny Fish and Nathan Carter’s Radar Reflector. I was really excited to share the works of these artists with the kids because last Fall we went to Chicago to see this exhibit live and up close!!

We used coated copper wire to fashion  the outer shape. It wasn’t stiff enough on it’s own so I doubled the wire by twisting 2 pieces together. The kids each brought a bag of ” junk” from home—odds, ends, bits, pieces, old keys, washers, spools, buttons, caps, beads etc…

After each student was happy with their outer shape we taped them down to the floor to help with stability as they worked on adding more wire from end to end.

We used both galvanized and copper wire and floral wire to wrap objects and secure them on to their sculptures.

It was so neat to see how each was so different and how some kids spent lots of time beading or wrapping while others spent a long time on getting their piece to be just the right shape.

Some kids spent lots of time on the details!

Next week….paper mache!

Our Holton Rower Tall Paintings aka Pour Paintings

It’s been a long time since I last posted! To say I have been busy is an understatement! Less than two months ago, several members of our local unschooling group met at a local coffee shop to talk about starting an unschoolers co-op and today we held our first day of classes with about 25 families and 60 kids! We have 4 sessions in which we offer several different classes. Some classes are taught by outside teachers and many led by parents. Several of us have really worked hard to get this up and running so quickly…it is sort of  unbelievable that we made it happen…and happen so well I might add!

I am teaching 2 sessions of art. My head is so full of possible ideas it might just pop off and my kids are so glad I have a new audience to share all these ideas with! (Although both of them chose to take my class!)

Today we talked about artist, Holton Rower. You may have seen his YouTube video of his TALL PAINTINGS that has been all over the internet lately. I loved it so much and thought it was a perfect project for a first class discussion about process vs product. My husband I built a smaller version of Rower’s pedestals using a piece of 4 inch 2×2 on its end screwed on to a 4inch  2×4 on it’s side and finally screwing those to a 12 x 12 piece of plywood.

Rower uses acrylic paint and there was no way I could afford to buy that much acrylic paint. Then I realized that latex house paint is acrylic paint! Perfect!! We visited a few Habitat for Humanity re-stores and Home Depot’s for some cheap paint before remembering we have a friend with a painting business and TONS of extra paint. Perfect again!!

We looked at a few prints of Rower’s Pour Paintings and I let the kids try to guess how he put the paint down.

Then we watched the video and talked about product vs process.

Luckily I had tons of helpers today! This project was A LOT of set up! First I covered everything with tarps and cardboard. We poured small amounts of paint into dixie cups and let the kids pick their colors.

And the pouring began!

Each of my students made 2 pour paintings and luckily we were able to leave them undisturbed until next week. Hopefully they will dry by then!

I am so happy with the way this project turned out! The kids loved making them too! I would love to try this on a larger scale someday. I certainly have enough left over paint!!

Unschooling And Absolute, Profound Trust

Hello out there. It’s been a while since I have posted. I have had sick kids for what seems like the entire month of Jan! But things are finally looking up!

My local unschooling group has been entertaining the idea of starting a co-op. There has been much discussion on our list. I have been doing a lot of reading and writing about unschooling the past few weeks (it must be Feb.)– I thought I would give my local group a break from my long winded posts and listen to myself over here for a change!

I was listening to a podcast the other day and loved what the lady (who is heading up a free school in Pa) had to say so much I kept rewinding and replaying the interview so I could write it all down:

**Trust is the most important part-Fundamental trust between parent and child. Trust that kids direct their own learning and activities and parents have no agenda or “shoulds”. We are all born curious and if you give support to build on that curiosity tremendous amounts of learning happens in a short amount of time.We trust that kids have that instinct and they will run with it.   Our goal is to  nurture that instinct it and get out of the way.

I remember watching the Astra Taylor video and hearing her talk about how much trust her parents had in her. She used phrases like this to describe her unschooling childhood:

The trust was absolute, Interests were respected. She viewed her parents as- fundamentally encouraging and facilitating . The trust needs to be profound.

Absolute, profound trust. That is huge. Each time I read those words they fill me. I love applying those 3 words to my family– absolute, profound trust. It is scary and liberating and difficult and comforting. They go against everything we are taught.

As for the idea of unschooling being a continuum and where we all fit on that line—that line isn’t always straight, it isn’t always forward moving and it is ever changing. There is no end or finish line. We will never arrive. That is the difference between unschooling and the rest of the world. So for me–re reading the importance of trust always hits right where I need it. My kids age span puts one still sleeping in my bed, another in tweendom and another out driving around in cars with friends. Trust is what I often cling to.

**This is not word for word–I tried-but I think it is pretty close!!

If anyone is/has been part of an unschooling co-op or resource center please leave me a comment. I would love to talk to you more about your experience!

Taking The Power Away From The Screen

“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” – Lord Alexander

This is a quote shared on facebook recently. It really stuck with me because the night before some friends and I were talking about unschooling and about “screen time” in particular. Or in our cases a lack there of. It has been so long since any of us have fretted over how much time our kids spend in front of various screens; tv, computer, game systems etc…It sort of took us a minute to think about each of our kids and how much of their usual day is spent in front of a screen. Some days more than others. Sometimes in spurts, sometimes for hours at a time. Each kid not only different in the amount of time spent in front of a screen but also how passive or engaged their viewing is and even how they use screens in general. Some for background noise, some for quick info, sometimes for games and sometimes out of boredom.

We talked about how taking the limits off screen time takes so much pressure off of kids to get everything they need done in an allotted amount of time. ( and then spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how to get or sneak in more time.) Also it removes the need to over indulge because they know there is no limit. We took the power away from the the screen, it is there when ever you want or need it. We also took the power out of our own hands, enforcing the limits that we decide are appropriate and put it back in our kids hands. They know what they need and they meet those needs appropriately.

I know often when I am on the computer reading something that mentions something  interesting, that leads me looking something up or off reserving  a book. The same thing is happening with our kids and freeing up those constraints certainly allows them the same opportunities for “relay information”. I would hate to think my daughter couldn’t go and look something of interest up or delve deeper in a subject because she only had x amount of time on the computer or that her time was all used up. These winding, will nilly paths of information are such great learning opportunities–not knowing where your next question will take you— or like the quote reminds us -what learning we will just happen upon, are some of the unexpected yet unavoidable side effects of questions.

I don’t talk unschooling here all that often because just like I don’t really keep track of my kids screen time I often feel like we are just living life and I forget that  may be interesting to some people. Being unschoolers isn’t part of our day to day “to do” list.  I am not raising prodigies and we aren’t finding cures for diseases or even winning spelling bees. But we are living happily following our interests and  often finding more and more questions each time we look for an answer! A real life education.

The Week Between 2010

Our Holiday was wonderful. Mostly because everyone was home and together for three whole days. That doesn’t seem to happen as much as kids get older and husbands work more!

Here are a few highlights of the weekend.

We always go to my Mom’s for Christmas eve. She cooks delicious things and makes everything pretty just for us! This year she surprised Ginger with a karaoke machine! And a Hannah Montana CD…. Oh boy! Does she LOVE it!

Molly asked “how early can we wake you up?” Joe told her 5 AM…guess what time she woke us?

We are pretty good about sticking to the kids lists. Buying them things they want and not as much stuff that I think they should have. Yet there are always a few surprises thrown in. This year I hit a home run with my surprise for Molly!!

Bento boxes for her and Ginger along with a Bento cookbook and all the little tools and treasures. The perfect gift for my little Martha in the making!

It didn’t matter that we just had a huge breakfast, she couldn’t wait to get to work making lunch!

One of our other Christmas traditions is Molly’s Christmas day cake. This year she made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch. Look out Cake Boss!

I LOVE the week between Christmas and New Years. I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief and just enjoy. I wrote all about it last year too.

We are anxiously waiting for a friend to arrive in a few hours to stay with us for the week along with a cousin who will also be visiting. We are looking forward to some sledding today before the snow melts, a trip to the movies and the zoo to see holiday lights, sushi and chocolate fondue with friends. It will be a stay-cation around here and I am loving it!! Hope your week between is filled with more holiday joy!

Poinsettia Sponge Prints

First I set out a little inspiration!

I cut up some sponges into long petal shapes and shorter ones into leaf shapes. Squirted a little tempra paint onto a tray. Squirted a little more tempra onto a dish with some q-tips  and voila…..

The kids got down to business!

And made many , many beautiful poinsettia sponge prints!

Thanks to Deep Space Sparkle for the idea! I especially love her blue ones!

Candy Experiments

Last year I pulled a page out of Family Fun all about Halloween candy experiments. And this year I book marked a page from Mothering Magazine and another link a friend posted on facebook. Low and behold—they are all from the same website …. Candy Experiments.

My kids trick or treated twice this year, so to say we have lots of candy is an understatement!! They went through their stash and donated all sorts of goodies in the name of science.

We tried several experiments from the website. The most exciting being floating M’s and S’s.

Put some M & M’s in a glass jar and some skittles in another.

Add water and watch……..

Floating M’s and S’s!!

We made some sculptures with the sticky candy

We also tried color separation (chromatography) by adding m&m’s to a few drops of water and then dipping a coffee filter in. We waited until some of the color was absorbed and you could see the colors separate.

Did you know that laffy taffy floats?

We did a lot of mixing, soaking and poking.

And we still have lots of donated candy to play with tomorrow!