Unschooling is scary! Its damn near terrifying.
Especially if you have gone through the public school system and you have an idea ingrained in your mind of what school should look like.
I believe in unschooling.
110% believe with all my heart that unschooling is the method that works best for my child.
I have seen him thrive, I have seen him excel, when I back off and let him learn naturally.
But I am still afraid.
I found ways to let go of the fear, to succeed despite the fear, but occasionally, I am still afraid. (more…)
I am not what you would call a natural leader.
In fact, I would consider myself an excellent follower.
Give me a strong leader and I will lift that person up, support them in any way I can.
Ask me to lead other people?
Well, I can do it but I really don’t like to.
It is outside of my comfort zone to be a leader in almost any situation.
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Today my daughter and I were playing LEGO together for about an hour. I thought we were having fun and getting on quite well. But the moment I let her know that I had to take a break from playing to get some work done, she started yelling, “NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY WITH ME!”
Cue the mom guilt.
Earlier this week my son and I were curled up together eating popcorn and reading aloud our favorite book. Four chapters in my throat started to feel sore and I let him know we could read more later but I needed to give my throat a rest and drink some tea with honey first. He groaned and closed the book in that sort of defeated way that let me know he was no where near ready to be done with our story time.
Cue the mom guilt.
Last month both of my children begged me to play pretend with them. I have never been good at playing pretend. Even when I was a child, it just felt weird to me. I declined. I told my children, “I don’t like to play pretend, but you guys can play without me.” They cried, they felt rejected.
Cue the mom guilt.
And as if the messages that my children were sending me weren’t enough, Facebook was there to pile it on even more! (more…)
My son got invited to a birthday party for a fellow geekling. Birthday invites are a good thing, right?
Except the birthday girl is one of my wonderful Little Leafers nature study students, as well as the daughter of a friend and fellow geeky homeschooling mom… so the gift should be somewhat personal.
And I had no clue what to get her!
Cue mild panic attack.
Then, Geek Dad shared a link to a fully awesome bowtruckle tutorial on their Facebook page.
(If you don’t know what a bowtruckle is, they are teeny tiny little magical creatures, that look like twigs and leaves, who guard the trees whose wood is used to make magical wands.)
I checked it out and I already had everything I needed in my craft supply stash. Score!
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Magic wands are incredibly easy to make, a fun craft for adults and children alike.
And since the materials cost is so low, there is no reason you can’t make magic wands by the dozen!
Scroll to the bottom of this post to download our free printable Harry Potter Inspired Gift Tags for all occasions. (more…)
Winter is upon us, and I really wanted to make a Gryffindor scarf for my son. Trouble is, I don’t know how to knit. And its been years since I crocheted, I was sure I wouldn’t remember how. I needed a way to make a scarf that was so easy, anyone could do it. Even me.
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Considering Little Leafers Autumn Nature Study but still on the fence about trying it?
Check out what other’s are saying about it below!
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As part of our Little Leafers Autumn Nature Study Class, I like to make a sensory bin available each week.
Week six’s theme was pumpkins.
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For the sixth and final week of Little Leafers Nature Study Autumn Session, we explored pumpkins.
In lieu of doing a craft, I sent each of my students home with a pie pumpkin and this handy list of things to do with a pumpkin, besides carving it. (more…)
Little Leafers Nature Study is a year-round class, divided by season, created by Suzy Homeschooler.
You could be a parent with just one or two informal pupils, or you could be a co-op instructor with two dozen children under-foot. Either way, this is a flexible course that you can bend to fit your unique needs.
The autumn session is 6 weeks long. Each week has printable student packs with nature journal prompts, illustrated nature guides, fun facts, and vocabulary words. Each week also has printable teacher’s guides with subject related tips, lectures, discussion prompts, Montessori-inspired tray work, and a suggested craft.
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