The Fall Equinox of the Untrained Mind

We've landed on monthly celebrations in an attempt to fulfill the Little Man's need for, well, frequent celebrations. (Not that he doesn't fill in the gaps himself by celebrating BB's birthday on a weekly basis, but a full-on family function brings him great joy) Sometimes there's a toy to be had, sometimes a project, special song and story, a thematic outing, it's holiday dependent and always fun :) So on Fall Equinox, amid pressed flower festivities, our ode to fall also featured something the Little Man was craving: blocks.

I found a wee company that sells great sets. But even better than that, they have an "open stock" option. There are 92 different block shapes available, by block. Seriously. Arches, columns, rectangles, they're all there. And since I knew the particular blocks P was always running out of or was ready to add into his creations, I could create my own set instead of buying a bunch he didn't need. Insert happy Mama dance here.

But it gets better. They have a free scrap policy. (I've mentioned my embarrassing amour for "free" before.) For the price of shipping, 20 pounds of scrap blocks were free for the taking. Good for the earth, my kid and my budget! Insert really happy Mama dance here.

The best bit about the scrap blocks (for P, at least)? The funky shapes. They opened up a whole new world for him.



So, our floor has been covered in blocks all week (yah, they hurt :) And the Little Man has found a million purposes for his new pieces of wood. Sculptures, museum structures, cities, an armada with a port and a sea side town, and even letters. He discovered that while I made breakfast one morning. I turned to see him, beaming, above a slew of letters. He's always a bit disappointed when his strings don't equal a sentence (or even a word :) and exuberant when they do. Either way, he's having fun and learning a ton.






(Which brings me to a quick homeschool aside. My enormous bedside pile has finally unearthed "The Well Trained Mind" for homeschool research. I know, I know, we're unschoolers and anything with the word "trained" in it probably isn't for us :) But one sided research doesn't really help anyone, so my table is stacked with tomes about learning so that I can learn more about, well, learning :) With P's interest in math and reading blooming, I want to know enough about learning styles, phonics, common pitfalls, you name it, to be able to assist him as a resource rather than hinder him. I want to answer his questions succinctly (and correctly!) and get out of his way. To that end, I picked up this hefty tome in hopes of securing some super stuff. Having been a Classics major, the "A guide to Classical Education at Home" bit really got me excited :)

Alas... Right from the get-go, the authors pat parents on the back and tell them, you can do it! You can teach your kid to read. Heck, its easy, just look at the quote on page 26. (This quote is from Frederick Douglass, from his "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." In this quote he tells about the mistress that taught him the A,B,C's and how this "had given me an inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell." Basically, the fire was lit, he was going to learn to read, come hell or high water. The authors use this as an example of how do-able reading is, so that parents won't be scared away from homeschooling, won't feel unable, incapable.

Which is nice. I love the idea of supporting homeschooling parents :) However, the authors do a 360 right after that and say that the lessons will have to be officiated and instigated. "Don't ask "Do you want to do your reading now?" (They always say no.)" And this quote broke my heart. Such a load of crap to lay on newbies! Bottom line, logically, you can't have it both ways, right? You can't say reading is infinitely achievable, innately wanted by uneducated slaves and four year olds alike, and then say that it has to be force fed. It seems to me that homeschooling is challenging enough without adding extra dilemmas into the mix. And unfortunately, its true, as soon as you make it a chore , the energy of "have to" is associated with it and then, yup, they're probably gonna say no thanks :) Now the fire is extinguished and the no thanks begins a battle. Ahh, well. There's some good insights in the book too, so I'll take what I can and leave the rest, I just heave a sigh of sadness at all of the kids getting the idea that learning is something they have to do, existing outside of all of the stuff they naturally love to do and naturally learn from that loving....)

And speaking of what kids love to do, the letter building with the blocks blossomed into a handwriting bonanza. The Little Man carries a journal around the house with him, along with his favorite F pencil from Dick Blick, and scribbles in it all day long. Its hilarious. Typically, these days, the word is "Phoenix." Over and over again. We painted his craft table the other day (raw wood we had found on the sidewalk that looked dull, sitting in the corner) with bright water colors, and as we watched the saturated hues meld in with the wood grain he had a brainstorm. He whipped out his brush and embellished the back with a black "P.H.O.E.N.I.X" And then added a "B.B" for good measure.

And speaking of craft corners... back to the point of my post. Fall Equinox. We had collected (o the joys of collecting for the Little Man!!!) leaves the week before for a special fall-fantastic. We pressed these beauties, along with some soft barks and pulled them out during our celebratory afternoon. The Little Man painted lovely watercolor landscapes and then embellished his work with nature collages. I lazily took this pic before the glue dried, sorry for the gaudy glare. But some of the shine is purposeful, the Little Man peeled apart some fine mica chips and used the transparent lovelies as boulders around his fall tree :) And if you look really (really:) carefully, you can make out some bear, that lives in a cave beside the tree, with his yellow ball, and....