Conner Prairie

We went to Conner Prairie this Wednesday.  It is an interactive history park set in the very early 1800's.  Visitors to these pioneer villages are encouraged to touch the items shown and visit with the "actors."  The girls help haul firewood, make pie, string pumpkin for preserving, pump water, water flowers, weave, pet farm animals that walked loose, learn in a one-room school house, play period games...it was total immersion.  The reinactors were completely in their rolls and did not know anything about modern times; an older man used a bull horn as a hearing aid, and a lady with a runny nose used a real handkerchief.  I wanted to take more pictures of all the buildings and people, but my camera battery went dead.

The girls want to go to a civil war reenactment with their Aunt Cindy this spring, so we may work towards that goal.  I think it would be a blast.  Dave and I were born in the wrong time period and love living off the land when we can. 

Busy Week and Music Lessons

It's been one of those busy weeks.

We got school pictures done, had a library visit, got pumpkins, visited family, had a playdate, cooked out with more family, visited an orchard, did shopping, cleaned...nothing that was too time consuming, but there none the less.  Fortunately, it didn't add any stress to our week.  At least not as much as usual.

We are going to carve pumpkins today, or at least that's the goal. 

Something we're debating in this house:  After our SECOND music instructor bailed on us before lessons even started, we are feeling very frustrated in finding a guitar and voice instructor.  A couple of days ago I found an announcement in the local paper for (surprise) voice and guitar lessons, and I want to call and find out more.

Now Sami and Megan want to take gymnastics instead.  I want them to take music lessons.  I really don't want to pay for both since we're on a budget, so we're in a dilemma as to which direction to take.  Sami has the voice of an angel and I really want her to pursue music because it comes so naturally to her.  They want to take gymnastics because it's fun. 

I'll pray for good guidance in this matter.  It is hard to know what to do.  I remember what it was like to WANT to do something when I was young, but was goaded into doing what other people (well meaning parents and relatives) thought was practical to do.  My siblings had the same experience.  I never did work in the areas that I was told that I SHOULD study and took the classes in.

My sister wanted to study art and was talented, but was discouraged and told it was stupid, so she didn't take those classes.  My brother did take art classes (he is more stubborn), but it was still discouraged.  Our parents and relatives were raised during the depression and WWII, and one did what was practical.  In unschooling, I want to let them pursue what they love, but I don't want them to waste a natural talent either.

I wonder what Dave Ramsey would say in this matter, since it is a matter of finances.

Persimmon Pudding

Today was a fun day.  We went with the grandparents to pick persimmons at the park.  After we raided about five trees in five different locations, we brought them home and mashed the pulp out of them.  We then made persimmon pudding and had to wait for two hours while it baked.  It was worth every minute of work and waiting, because it was the best!

Sami was holding Megan up to reach the persimmons.  We had to explain that the ones on the ground are the best as they are ripe and soft.  Most of them in the trees are hard and bitter.

Grandma helped knock down ripe persimmons with a cane. 

Beautiful persimmons!

Grandpa supervising.

A nice plump persimmon. 

Using a special colander to pulverize the persimmons. 

The pulp squishes out of the small holes and leaves the seeds and skin behind.

Mixing the pulp with other magical ingredients to make the persimmon pudding.

The final result.  It was beyond delicious!

According to legend, the inside of the persimmon seed will predict the winter's weather.  These spoon shapes mean lots of snow to scoop.  A knife shape means a sharp, cold winter.  A fork means little snow is expected (forks don't scoop much) and it will be a mild winter. 

Quilts and Sewing

The sewing lessons are continuing.  Our next project will be lap-blanket sized quilts made with simple squares and a border. 

We had a field trip Thursday, and Amy took us to a quilting store in Greenwood called Back Door Quilts.  We got to see hundreds of quilting fabrics that were of excellent quality.  I didn't want to spend to much, but it made sense to spend a little extra to get fabric that wasn't going to shrink and warp as we tried to work with it. 

It was very difficult to choose our fabrics, but we all seemed to like the Batik fabrics.  Here is what we chose:

These are Megan's fabrics.  

These are Sami's fabrics.

These are my fabrics.

Even though we all seemed to gravitate towards the Batik fabrics, we all chose different colors.  As soon as I know what I'm doing, I'm going to make a much needed quilt for my bed.  The hard part will be choosing the fabrics since there are so many choices! 

Electronics

For the purpose of this blog, I consider electronics to include video game systems, hand-held game systems, computers and televisions.

I used to allow electronics in the morning when the children first woke up until we were ready to start the day.  They would play video games or watched cartoons while I made breakfast, then I would have them shut it off so they could get dressed and start their unschooling for the day.  I found that having electronics turned off during the day forced them to get creative and find things to do and learn.  At some point in the late afternoon I would let them turn the electronics back on.

Fast forward to present time.  That system did work at first.  Four things happened that has altered my original plan.

1.  They would play on their electronics, and I would use that time to cook breakfast.  Then I would do dishes while cooking.  Then I added tidying.  It eventually turned into breakfast, dishes, laundry, sweeping, putting away, and whatever else needed done.  This was obviously allowing them more time on the electronics and not being creative.

Of course I would tell them to turn it off and get dressed, brush teeth, etc. while I finished the tidying, but I would turn my back and they would be all engulfed in the game or cartoon again and would say (every time, I swear), "I forgot."

2.  They would beg for more time to finish the game they were on or finish watching the cartoon that was on.  I got duped a few times using this ploy.  I didn't want them to turn a game off in the middle of a scenario or they would lose their progress.  Well, as you could imagine, it would turn into minutes then an hour or more, because once I gave permission to finish the "one more thing," then they would take that as consent to just continue.

It was easy to dupe me because I would be off trying to tidy up just one more thing.  And I wondered where they got that attitude.

3.  Once the electronics got turned off, it would sometimes be close to lunch and they were ready to eat. After lunch they would start begging to get the electronics back, and ask every few minutes if they could have them back yet. 

On occasion I allowed them to play active games on the Wii (games that made them jump and dance, for example).  Sometimes that worked, but it ended up being a begging session where they would try and manipulate for more games or spend too much time doing it.

4.  The girls would argue about the games.  They would argue over who got to do what, or who got to play it first, or who got to pick the game, or who had it last, or who didn't put it away when it was done.  A stupid game is not worth the bickering.  


I know that some homeschool families eliminate all television and gaming systems, and I'm not planning on doing that.  But I am going to get control of the electronics again.  I've already banned the morning electronic games.  They can watch Fox News if they want, they can type a letter if they want (Megan likes that), or they can play a learning game on the computer (they hate that).  They complain for it in the mornings, but then they start getting creative right away and have a lot of fun now.  I get to hear them fuss still, but it's worth it.

Journals

Sami asked for a journal.  She was worried because, even though she wanted a journal, she didn't know how to spell very well.  I told her that a journal would be hers alone so she didn't have to worry about spelling. That eased her distress a lot, so I told her I would find her one. 

I found a couple of decent journals at Sam's Club and bought one for each daughter.  Sami immediately started writing and drawing in her journal, and even put a few clippings in it from different writings.  I'm glad I haven't been pushing her to write, because now she is doing it on her own terms and she is really enjoying it.   She asked me why she likes writing in her journal so much.  She delayed eating her dinner so that she could write a little more.  She wrote in bed before going to sleep. 

Meggie saw how much Sami was enjoying her journal, and started writing in hers as well.  When someone enjoys what they are doing, is shows in their body language and demeanor, and it is contagious.

I have no idea what they are writing, because it is private.  I know that they are writing because I can see pages of words and Sami occasionally asks for the spelling of a word. 

Thank you, Jeff Kinney, for writing the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  I think that is what inspired Sami to take this journey.   

Breakfast

I bet you didn't eat snails and jack o'lanterns for breakfast!  Yum!  A fun breakfast makes for a good start to the day.