Categories: Learning

11 Jul 2010, Comments (2)

I Hope you Remember…

Author: Linnea

Dear Riana,

When you look back on today, your very first athletic competition, I hope you remember this feeling:

You wore your favorite red and green striped Christmas socks, your Mama’s blue bike gloves, and the biggest smile.  You also wore your serious bike face, which I also find adorable.  I told you we could go watch a kids bike race, but of course, you wanted to participate.  As your Mama, I want to protect you: from the heat, from bikes double your tire size, from potential spills and disappointment… but I also remembered our mantra: say yes! as often as possible.  So we said yes!  Papa will show you the video and maybe you will see the things this proud Mama sees: you were the only three or four year old without training wheels, you were focused and speedy, you pushed out past to the front with ease… When you got to the finish line, you were disappointed, though you were first.  You wanted to ride the entire course, like the big kids.  So we said yes! And you kept going, faster than I could run of course, until you made it back to the start.

Right now you are asleep upstairs with your medal in hand and I wonder just what you will remember from today or from other competitions.  But I hope, that win or lose, you will remember that with this pure smile, on this sunny day, you rode as fast as your could, and you had fun.

10 Jul 2010, Comments (0)

bike around town

Author: Linnea

Yes there is a bike theme going on here.  With Ryan and Dan’s multi-day trip to Mackinaw City less than a week away, we are in full bike mode.  We are taking my almost-90-year-old grandparents on a family trip to Mackinac Island and there are no cars; only bikes and horses.  And, we are taking advantage of the summer weather to leave the car behind much more often as we venture out on bike.  I cannot quite describe how good it has felt to be less car-dependent.  Admittedly, part of why this feels so good is because we still have the choice! We have the car option, but we have other options too.  On a recent trip around town, Riana asked to take pictures. Here is a sampling of the ride, from preparation to park in 15 shots:

3 Jun 2010, Comments (3)

black beans and other things

Author: Linnea

mia bottle 2

I know a brilliant reading teacher who could write an entire book about using popsicle sticks for learning. I like that kind of resourcefulness and use of simple materials.  So often, I fall in the trap of thinking that we *need* to buy more…expensive learning materials, fun toys, fancy kitchen gadgets, etc. etc. etc.  Sometimes Riana and Amelia help me remember that black beans, egg cartons, and a wine-bottle-turned vase can provide plenty of learning, entertainment, and even quiet…mixed with a little old fashioned sweeping at the end!

riana counting beans

mia bottle 1

8 Sep 2009, Comments (5)

Learning About Grass

Author: Linnea

There is now an aquarium of grass seeds that has moved in with us.

IMG_6182

Blame it on spending the summer in the suburbs…with lawns the size of football fields…blame it on parents who cared more for planters and a deck than for the grassy part of our postage-stamp sized yard in Philly…but Riana has spent the summer somewhat fascinated by grass.  She has been amazed that people cut their grass…and water their grass…and cut it again…then, a few weeks ago, she put all of this wonder about grass into the form of an amazingly succinct (and answerable!) question. She said “What I really want to know is how grass grows.” I still don’t know just how she managed to form a question like that.  Believe me, I have tried to help elementary school students form essential questions, and it can be painful.  I will admit, I initially let the ball drop on this one.  Here she is with a great question and I did not take immediate action.  All summer, I’ve been thinking about Vintage Chica’s Summer Unschool project and still I managed to let other things crowd the days and we did not get to the question. I thought that the question was long gone into the abyss of three-year-old-why-why-why-questions.  Luckily, I was wrong. A few days later, Riana made good friends with the librarian who politely asked if we needed help finding any books.  I was saying “no thank you” as Riana interjects: “I need to know how grass grows.” And thus, we were whisked away to the books about plants. I’m pretty sure that Riana and the librarian exchanged phone numbers or something. Friends for life, I tell you.

IMG_6185

So we read books…watched a movie…inspected grass seeds with a magnifying glass…and then Granddad dug up this old aquarium to plant grass seeds. The books were actually quite informative and useful. The Gail Gibbons “From Seed to Plant” was more in depth than we were ready for, but both that and Weekly Reader’s “How Grass Grows” gave us plenty of information. Now we are just waiting for those seeds to sprout…

I know that learning is not always this easy to come by, but this is a great age. There are a lot of questions every day and so many of these wonderings  allow for exploration. I feel so very fortunate to have this time with the girls; to be present when some of the answers are found in fish tanks and with friendly librarians.

22 Jul 2009, Comments (2)

Bathroom Update

Author: Linnea

This is currently the view from the shower, where there is no longer a useless chimney encroaching on the bath…instead, there is a hole into the living room:
bathroom wall 2

(gulp) and this is the reverse, looking into the bathroom.

bathroom wall 1

So that is where we’re at.  There are many projects and we are spinning our wheels a bit… trying to determine the most logical order of events, while still working on the logistics of getting utilities turned on (electric is on, gas and water are not).  All the while, trying not to miss out on all of summer fun.  In that light, we accompanied my Dad and Grandpa to a minor league baseball game, and went blueberry picking also (sounds like a whole new category of fruit recipes!).  Tomorrow, the water will be turned on and we’ll know what the extent of our water issues might be.

In the mean time, we are working on our manifesto for this house.  We know that we want to make environmentally responsible choices, while also not breaking the bank.  We know that we want it to be comfortable and well organized, but we want to keep the square footage down (I think it’s 1,100-ish).  We know that some things should be new, but we’re also trying to repurpose old things and buy used items in some cases.  We know that Ryan wants to gain handy skills through this project while not compromising the end results… All of this means ongoing researching (good thing we like books) and shopping (boo for me, double boo for the girls).  I’ll certainly post the manifesto once we’ve actually put it in our plan book.  In the mean time, it’s back to the library book pile…Good thing the library here lets you borrow so many more (100) books at a time…

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