A morning of unschooling...

Friends have recently discussed their feelings of inadequacy ~ are they doing enough schoolwork? Looking at curriculum lists and at homeschool blogs makes them feel bad....

In the interest of making everyone feel better, I am going to post today's unschooling morning. Feel inadeqate? Read this post and you'll feel better - bet you do more creative stuff with your mornings!

After waking everyone up, I organized laundry, hung out washing on the line, tidied up. Kids made their own breakfast - one had apple pie and ice cream, one had just ice cream, two had yogurt and cereal. Thank heaven, someone ate something healthy! I eat after my workout - planned on porridge and banana and skim milk today....

We cleaned up the kitchen then, while kids did their fitness routines ( yoga, trampolining, the Canadian Air Force 5BX programme, a medicine ball routine from Men's Health magazine..) and tidied rooms and played computer/video games, checke email and played guitar and piano ~ I worked out. Turbo Jam then a circuit workout from Prevention. I rocked ( modesty here) - 70 minutes of fun!

I returned a phone call to a friend, Jonathon began uni work on the computer and work for his graphic arts part time job. Alexander finished his Kumon Maths booklet. The rest of us got ready to meet same friend and homeschooled son for coffee.

Alexander has his Learners Driver permit so he drove us all to our parish's office, to drop off info for an upcoming parish survey and some items for the church bulletin. While he and I were chatting with the secretary ( is that what we call her??? She is nice and friendly!) in the parish office, Thomas and Anthony went into the church to light candles. Our kids have a lighting-candle-fetish.

Off to morning tea at a local shopping centre. Had our snack, friend and I had a long talk about some issues and the kids talked and visited Dymocks, a book store. Spending time in a book store, perusing books and talking about books with friends is a cool way to spend a school morning, don't you think?

We are making books this term, our usual Term 4 and pre Advent activity, using ideas from Creating Books With Children by Valerie Bendt. Looking at title pages, at drawing books, at dust jackets in Dymocks gave the boys lots of ideas. And soothed my doubts about neglecting any educational activity at all. It is educational. Right?

Morning tea was coffee for me, tea for my friend, McDonalds for friend's son and two of my sons, Quiche Lorriane for another son. At the local food hall. Makes up for the apple pie breakfast? Not.

Saw another homeschool friend and daughter, off to lunch. Shops and lunch was their planned homeschool activity...Sound familiar?

Went to the grocery store to buy supplies for All Hallow's Eve and All Saints, to the post office ( mailing a parcel to Italy, interesting discussion on postal rates and shipping). Drove home, kids reading in the car - Thomas :"Carry On Jeeves" by P G Wodehouse; Anthony :a manual on rpgs - picked up Jonathon, met Gerry ( dh) for lunch - at Subway. Hey, healthy food at last!

You know, we must be on a new grocery budget - feeding the family for a huge amount of dollars each week, by eating out a lot! lol! You know, you read about homeschoolers at home, doing a lot of cooking and baking, saving money. We go through fits and starts - eat home and cook, or eat out and rarely cook......

We read about St Simon and St Jude, Alexander is now off to part time work at Kumon and Thomas and Anthony are folding junk mail for their midweek deliver round . Work education, in syllabus terms. I aim to do phone calls and paperwork and planning for my Kumon centre .

I have checked online for any news ( current events) to share with the kids - no, I think I'll skip the headlines, about Britney Spears and a "priest". No current events education today!

So, don't feel bad, fellow homeschoolers. We all have unschooly mornings now and then - they just happen more frequently, and with less guilt perhaps, in a home where "education is life".

And tomorrow is another day - actually a very busy day planned. But we'll fit in our weekly dose of Wednesday Religion. Stay tuned!