Fall Hiking Spree

A goal that Emma and I selected for this fall was to complete the Medina County Parks Fall Hiking Spree. We did 12 hikes at 12 different parks totaling about 20 miles. Some of the designated hikes were at our usually hiking trails, but several of them were at locations new to us. We discovered some really amazing new parks, that have become our new favorites. This was a wonderful undertaking for us; not only did get out and move our bodies we also visited new and interesting places, saw tons of critters and Emma had a nice encounter with the park employee featured in this picture.

During every hike this fall we saw alot of garter snakes, some frogs and deer. And the most amazing thing was the day the whollybears were all on the move. I am not exaggerating we quit counting at 30. A really special part of this experience was when Emma earned her back pack and she conversed with the park employee. She looked him in the eye and answered his questions: "What was your favorite park?" "Allardale". "What did you think of Princess ledges?" "It is really pretty unless you go to Hinkley alot then it is small." "What grade are you in?" "I am homeschooled." I was so happy for Emma, these are the types of exchanges she is really growing more and more comfortable with.

Sewing

Thanks to a friend introducing us to an adorable Japanese sewing book that features critters made out of felt Emma has been inspired to sew. This is her first project, a little kitty. During the stuffing phase she realized the value of tiny even stitches. She did not like the fluff that was peeking out of long stiches. She has now started a little bunny with teeny tiny stitches! An added benefit to this project is when John wanted to mend something the other night she was able to thread the needle for him!

Picking organic produce

WE made a visit to a very special organic farm. It is located inside the Cuyhoga National Forest through a special lease agreement. So in the beautiful surroundings of Cuyahoga Valley we were able to see a co operative organic farm. While we were there we were able to pick raspberries, potatoes and edemame. The raspberries were picked using the "one for the basket and one for me method". The potatoes were plowed up by the farmer with his tractor and we followed behind. It was like a treasure hunt, gathering them and rubbing off the dirt. And the edemame we pulled whole stalked which we brought home then plucked off boiled whole then shelled and ate when cool. It is a beautiful place and such awonderful experience to gather our own food. Saddly it really drove home the point about how difficult it is to farm on a small personel level and have it be affordable.

Sick day looks the most like "normal" school day

Emma experienced a brief and relatively painless round of the flu, it was not unbearable but kept us lying low for a few days. The irony of the situation is those days looked the most like some people's normal school days. We played endless games of cards, Cooties, Monopoly and other board games. I was excited for her because she had a really good grasp on being the banker in Monopoly. She seemed to really enjoy paying me and even more so taking my money. She did a great job of combing the denominations to get the correct amount. During this time she also decided to pull out the phonics tiles and manipulate them. It was interesting to see how much more she reads in a whole language way than what she figures out doing bits and pieces this way. John Holt really knew what he was talking about regarding holistic reading development vs. little meaningless pieces. I am glad she was exposed to phonics method because of our stint with virtual school, but I am very glad I had the comfort level I did with holistic learning in time to drop it before her dislike of the lessons turned into a perceived dislike of reading.

So much fun with a newspaper

Once again Emma has shown me how very lon g her attention span is when something engages her. We spend hours making things from newspaper with just scissors and tape. We made palm trees, corn stalks, periscopes and "Captain Octopus" hats.

I am so thankful her days are not broke into 20 minute increments that could alternatley seem endless and way too short!

NASA Glenn visitor center

WE visited NASA during the last week that the visitor center would ever be open. The security measures required to allow us inside the NASA compound made it quite apparent why they could no longer afford to keep the center open. Our IDs were checked at a guard house, then we drove into a parking lot where we all got out of the car our ids were checked again and our car was searched then we were escorted to the visitor center. This was all very educational. I was using my imagination about life in a police state.

After all of this we were able to see the displays. There was an interesting mix of hands on, pretend your an astronaut type things, and real space artifacts to look at. We also watched a film about life on the space station. Most notable information; human hair does crazy things in zero gravity!

Great Lakes Science Center with Danny

We made it to the Science Center on a beautiful sunshiney day!!! This is the first time we came and the outside things were open. It was wonderful to play and explore with a blue sky and Lake Erie behind us! Perfect.

Disney Train comes to Cleveland

...another huge benefit of homegrown time management. This traveling museum came to Cleveland on a "school day" and we were free to get there and explore. Danny came with us making it a great outing! We saw how they create 3D animation with live actors on a blue screen in suits that have sensors on them, then work the backgrounds from white models, draw and morph the characters. We also saw artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum in England. There were touch screens we could use to explore the movie set. And another section where our pictures were taken and morphed into the characters from the movie. When we finished our walk through the train we were greeted by manufactured snow and were able to view an excerpt from the movie in an inflatable theatre in 3D. There were no crowds and we were able to take our time and enjoy all that was there to see.

Nurturing sibling ties

When we made our decision to live this unschooling life one of the main drivers was freeing our time to spend on the things we value. And one of those primary values is family relationships. Emma and I having wide open days whick allow us to spend time with her adult siblings. We can work around their schedules which are not as flexible. This fall a very special outing has been our Wednesday visits to see Alison at the University of Akron. We always eat lunch somewhere, purchase the weeks worth of bread from the Wonder outlet and have time for some campus style culture. So far we have watched cheerleaders being launched high into the sky by there male counter-parts, listened to several concerts outside of EJ Thomas Hall, poked around inside EJ looking at the acoustics and Architecture. We also explored an Anthropology display about what was unearthed of the original college buildings during the preparation for the new stadium. Emma was very interested in all the broken bottles, pieces of newspapers and photos. She also had a chance to use the Computer lab to play web kinz while Ali did some school work.

I love watching how comfortable she is in this environment. She is right at home walking around and watching.

Exploring Niagara Falls Emma style!

Our Fall camping and site seeing trip to Niagra Falls was wonderful! But not at all what most people would think of for that destination. We looked at the Falls and we walked the tourist strip but the majority of our time was spent walking and biking. We followed Emma's interests and for one whole day we walked the gardens at the top of the falls and took dozens of pictures of "Zim", the pink critter in the picture above. Then another day we were determined to get to the bottom of the Falls near the whirlpool area. This is rugged park territory, intense inclines and lots of loose stone. But as you can see from our happy faces, we made it!

We showed Emma the usual tourist activities "Maid of the Mist" and the "Walk of the Winds" but she did not want to do those. WE did play Dino Putt-Putt, rode the ferris wheel and ate at Rain Forest Cafe. So there was a bit of the tourist in us, but most of all we relaxed and followed Emma's joy!

Endless time to explore

While we were camping in Niagara Falls, Canada I was struck by how wonderful our self directed life is. Emma is able to explore and enjoy things until they reach a natural end on her own internal time table. At the campground she spent literally hours picking apples that were not edible in human terms. She had an elaborate process of picking, organizing and then roasting them over the fire. She was creating treats for the squirrels. As John and I sat and watched her and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the camp, I was so glad that our time belongs to one another and is not dictated by outside agendas.