"Children do not need to be made to learn about the world, or shown how. They want to, and they know how." -John Holt

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Playing Catch-up!

How do New Hampshire-ites pass the time all winter you ask?*

Well, we have sledding parties with gourmet food spreads (including snow) by the bonfire (though you wouldn't know it by my lack of photos)...
We stroll through rainy evenings to partake in cultural events such as "Footloose" at the Palace Theatre. (FYI: Not the wisest choice language-wise for a three year old if you care about that kind of thing. We obviously don't.)
And we frequent indoor playspaces like the new Bounce U in Bedford where Caden turned into the world's craziest 19-month-old daredevil plunging down the steepest of slides by himself (and leaving me with a perpetually inside-out stomach).
Then we meet at friend's houses afterwards where the mamas stuff themselves silly on more gourmet spreads while the monkeys play and craft.
Sometimes we stay home and delight in the treasure that is packing peanuts. We love a challenging clean-up.
There's always time for relaxing with some old-school Colorforms too. These are all fish native to Wook Land. They go by the names of "Pointy Nose", "Bendy Fish", "Rocket Fish", and "Short Tongue" to name a few.
And some good ole fashion dress up never gets old.

Peace out!
(*Any crappy photos were taken with my crappy point-and-shoot. I promise not to torture you folks with it ever again.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whew... I thought you had lost your Nikon! Some awesome photos, even the "crappy" ones! Amazing coincidences - we took Evyn to our "Jump-N-Jive" (like your Bounce U) yesterday, and then back to our house. Then amongst other things she decided to carve up a big piece of styrofoam from a box! No photos of the unschooling wonderment though! Maybe another time. Thanks Jess for sharing - luv it all!
T.J.,
-- Where there is neaux sneaux, but it's a yucky, wet and cold day outside.

Sarah, Chris, Elijah & Sadie said...

What a beautiful unschooling montage!

"By nature people are learning animals. Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do - and all we need to do - is to give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for, listen respectfully when they feel like talking, and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."
John Holt
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself." -Grace Llewellyn
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
Real, natural learning is in the living. It's in the observing, the questioning, the examining, the pondering, the analyzing, the watching, the reading, the DO-ing, the living, the breathing, the loving, the JOY. It's in the joy. ~Anne Ohman
"How could youth better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?" -Henry D. Thoreau