But alas...here is what we've been up to!
We've had LOTS and LOTS of snow in the past week! It's been lovely and wonderful and beautiful and inconvenient (when we got stuck in the driveway)!
Erupting our model of Mt. Redoubt for the first time!
Playing Animal Yahtzee...Spider-dove is so excited that she can keep her own score sheet now that she figured out how to write all the numbers (who says kids need lessons and worksheets and workbooks and teachers to learn numbers?)
Books and blocks make up a HUGE part of most of our days!
We had a 'Planet Earth' movie marathon...
We gathered up every blanket and pillow in the house and made a big nest for the kids to nestle in while they watched.
I watched, did laundry, and intermittently worked on a sewing project while they watched, drew some really colorful pictures, ate off of a lovely snack tray provided by *yours*truly*, played with trucks and dinosaurs, and took breaks to pee, drink water, and play simon says in order to stretch and move their bodies when they were feeling stiff.
(soapbox interlude coming...brace yourself)
Letting go of control over tv-viewing is the one aspect of 'radical unschooling' that has been the most challenging for me to accept...but I am getting there!
Reading posts on the AlwaysLearning and AlwaysUnschooled lists has been exceedingly helpful.
For so long I had this idea that letting go of control over the tv meant that kids were just watching, watching, watching all the time...but thanks to wizened, experienced, life-learning moms (thank you Ann Ohman, Pam Sorooshian, Sandra Dodd, Joyce Fetteroll, Alex Polikowsky, Kelly Lovejoy!!!), I have come to understand what role the tv can and does play in the lives of radical unschoolers.
The tv is not something to fear, it is not something to control, and it is not something that does or can have control over me or the kids. It is not evil (it is an inanimate object...how could that be?), it does not sever our connections or create distance between us. I think that if there is distance or a feeling of dis-connection between us, it is *we* who have created it. The only way the tv, or anything for that matter, can do that, is if we allow it.
I have come to accept that for our family, tv-viewing serves as a way for us to connect, learn, inspire, relax, share, etc - with a 'together' kind of vibe....We don't turn to the tv to 'babysit' the kids, we simply know that is is just one more of the many options we have to share our time together.
Thankfully, since we are life-learners and create our own daily rhythms, I am able to stop what I am doing in order to watch with the kids...Or perhaps I let them know that it might work for me in 20 miuntes...or some other such thing that works for all of us. When they watch, I may watch, or I may do other things - crafting, folding laundry, etc. - but I am right there with them, or close by, to answer questions, create an on-going dialogue, and keep the lines of communication open! Either way, the kids know I will always be there with them and for them, supporting them in BEing who they ARE, and DOing what they LOVE.
(I may not be interested in what they are watching, but I *am* interested in them, and so I take interest in what they like...)
My experience is that the movies we have seen act as springboards - jumping off points that have led us to new discoveries, inspired new ideas and interests, evoked some really interesting (and intense) conversations, and provided new and exciting ways to connect with one another.
For awhile I think I had this image of unschooled kids just sitting in front of their tvs all day.
Perhaps there are some families that are like this...but when I read the blogs and websites and articles created by those unschooling mamas I mentioned above, I have really come to understand that this isn't how it *is* or *has* to be! It is my role to create a rich and stimulating environment for us to live in. There are so many things to do, and watching a movie is just one option among many...of no more or less value than any other of the tools in our 'toolbox of life'.
When the kids are engaged and connected and happy, then they are free to seek out that which inspires them and brings them joy, and THAT is my goal each morning when I awake.
JoyFULLy absorbed, enthralled, interested.....
(moving on...)
This weekend are the Junior Dogmusher Sled-dog races...we checked it out and the kids had *so* much fun! They want to go back tomorrow, then borrow some books and movies from the library about dogmushing when we go on Monday!
*BLISSings*
2 comments:
What a wonderfully Joy-Full time you've been having...!!!
I agree - the TV is yet another tool and I find that because it isn't restricted or maligned in this house that they don't watch just for the sake of watching...
yes mel! {{{good to 'see' you!}}}
i think the other reason why is that M. and i don't watch a whole lot either...so it's not something they see us doing very much. most of the kids they hang out with are typically engaged in other things as well, so it's just this thing that sometimes happens when there's something specific going on. happens much more often in the winter than in the summer as well...waaaaaay too much to do then!
pining for summer...
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