Screen Time vs. Media Literacy

What contemporary parent hasn't agonized about screens at one time or another?

I don't want to discuss screen time here, though I've thought about and discusssed it plenty. In the past year, we've shifted from very limited and controlled iPad time; to almost complete freedom, inspired by unschooling ideas; to my reasserting my role as guide, encouraging my kids to think about how they want to spend their days.

But I've started to think that media literacy is a more important topic than screen time. Read more

Fragility and Freedom in Self-Directed Education

Recently, an acquaintance posted an article on Facebook titled “The Fragile Generation.” Her post, from the Libertarian journal Reason, quoted Peter Gray from the article. Gray is a psychologist, whose book Free to Learn, and articles on the importance of play and self-directed learning, influenced my decision to explore homeschooling with my children. My interest piqued, I saved the article to read later.

When I read the article, I was dismayed to find musings on freedom and fragility in childhood and young adulthood used to advance a different agenda altogether. Unfortunately, I’ve encountered these conflations before, and it motivated me to write this rather uncharacteristic blog post. Read more

Joy

Today, Netta is five! Her exuberance, resilience, and contagious laughter light up the world around her every day.

Netta has loved to draw since she was little. Her fine detail, especially the emotions of her characters, have drawn praise from many directions. I adore her free, expressive drawings. In the past six months, though, Netta has expressed frustration with her drawing skills. She stopped drawing. Thinking of the joy she gets from drawing - as well as the joy I get from her drawing, and from my own drawing - I've tried to entice her, with how-to drawing books, different art materials, and drawing games. Nothing really worked. Recently, I've been telling myself that if she never draws again, that's okay, too. In the past few days, though, she's started drawing. I hesitate to make any grand pronouncements, but I hope I'm giving her the time and space to explore what gives her joy on her own schedule.

Improv Baking

As a longtime recipe-follower, I love watching my kids invent cakes and cupcakes. I've been baking with them since they were little, so they have an idea of the ingredients in a baked good: flour, sugar, eggs, and so on. They experiment, adding milk or leaving out oil, using almond flour or mixing in strawberries. We have color-coded measuring cups and measuring spoons, and Daphne (age 7) likes me to record her recipes. Netta (age 5 tomorrow!) bakes with a splash of this and a dash of that. They're almost always happy to eat the results of their improvisations.

Self Care

Recently, when we come home from a long day or just a few hours out, Daphne says, "I want to take a relaxing bath."

Daphne is sensitive and easily over-stimulated. With the freedom to organize her own time, she's learning about self-care.

Woodworking

We joined a woodworking class for homeschoolers. Daphne is making a box and Netta is creating patterns with nails and rubberbands.

A Frozen Science Birthday Party

Daphne wanted her birthday party to be about Frozen and butterflies. We translated that into a few kids' science experiments, which was (thankfully!) a great success.

Mantras

Today is Daphne's seventh birthday. Hurray! Her sensitivity, humor and curiosity fill my heart every day.

This past year was really hard for Daphne, but our family pulled together in a way that makes me feel optimistic.

One of the happiest changes, since we began homeschooling, is what Daphne says to me when I tuck her in and kiss her goodnight, a mantra of sorts: "Mama, I'm so sad today is over, and I'm excited for tomorrow."

Repeat Repeat

About a month ago, we started listening to the NPR podcast Wow in the World. It's made car and train rides a lot more fun. (I came across it on this excellent list of podcasts for kids.) The kids dance to the theme song and laugh hard when Mindy eats too much chocolate. I've been surprised by scientific observations they mention in passing days later.

Seining

We're lucky to be (accidentally) living in an area with an active community of homeschoolers. Seining at the Jersey Shore was our first group homeschooling outing.

I've been thinking about seining as a metaphor for collecting all the small bits of interest and beauty through the day.

Time

As time passes and Rosh Hashanah brings around new year, I've been thinking about time.
The best aspect of homeschooling, so far, has been slowing down time. There is time to sleep. Time to play. Time to eat slowly. Time to stop and take a look. Time for one more time. In her Exploring Unschooling podcast, Pam Laricchia says one of the greatest gifts of unschooling is time. That rings true to me.

No-Recipe Slime

Daphne, age 6, is obsessed with slime. The inspiration came from Gillian Bower's DIY YouTube videos. We started with recipes, but quickly moved to improvisation.

At one point, Daphne showed me a hair conditioner and cornstarch slime she had made. I asked if she added Borax. She said, "No, because I didn't add glue." Through experimentation, she had figured out something I didn't know - that the chemical reaction is between the Borax and the glue.

Fluffy slime recipe:Our first slime, based on Gillian's recipe:
1/2 cup school glue
1/2 cup shaving cream
1/2 cup foaming hand soap
1 tablespoon cornstarch
food coloring of choice
Borax mixture (1 teaspoon Borax dissolved in 1 cup of water)
Mix all ingredients, then add Borax mixture one spoon at a time until it "comes together" as a soft and not-too-sticky slime.

Slime ingredients for experimentation:
school glue
shaving cream
liquid starch
Borax mixture (1 teaspoon of water dissolved in 1 cup of Borax)
Contact lens solution
Baking soda
hand soap
cornstarch
hair conditioner
hand lotion
food coloring
glitter

Making Mistakes in Math

I want to share something that inspires me each week in my reading and listening about education, self-directed learning, etc.

Math. Of all subjects, math was the hardest for me to imagine kids learning through unschooling. Yet, it's been the most fascinating, so far, to explore. So many smart people are thinking, researching, and creating resources for teaching math based on open-ended questions and creative solutions. I had no idea.

As it turns out, my husband and I enjoy talking about math together. This past week, he recommended an interview with Stanford professor Jo Boaler on math education. She advocates an approach based on experimentation and a growth mindset. I want to explore her site, YouCubed, too
We've also been reading and discussing Let's Play Math, by Denise Gaskins. Her approach is so different from the memorizing and formulas that comprised our math education (and that Daphne was learning in kindergarten last year, as far as I could see, curriculum rhetoric notwithstanding). Denise Gaskins' focus on play seems perfect to incorporate in an unschooling setting, with lots of ideas for games and puzzles. So far, her ideas for pattern blocks have been a success around here.

Next on my list to explore further are the Natural Math website and books. This past week, I watched the founder, Maria Droujkova, explain how Five-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus. I love the concept of math circles, for kids (and grown-ups) to come together and work on math concepts and puzzles. Maybe that's in our future!

Finally, I love this quote from Maria Droujkova, which I actually came across in Denise Gaskins' book:

When a kid is feeling bad about being stuck with a problem, or just very anxious, I sometimes ask him to make as many mistakes as he can and as outrageous as he can. Laughter happens (which is valuable by itself, and not only for the mood - deep breathing brings oxygen to the brain).

Then the kid starts making mistakes. In the process, features of the problem become much clearer, and in many cases a way to a solution presents itself.

That seems like a good tip for so many areas in life!