A Week in the Life of Unschoolers

0 Shares

Welcome to another week in the life of unschoolers, where we give you a glimpse into the adventures we had during the week. This also lets you see how we approach learning in our home which is eclectic/unschooly and child-led.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure statement for more information.

This week our son chose an eclectic mix of library books that included It’s Back to School We Go! First Day Stories From Around the World, Step into Reading: The Trojan Horse, How the Greeks Won the War, Fun with Roman Numerals, Grandfather Twilight, In a Village by the Sea, Hide and Seek Fog, Verdi, Pinduli, Emily’s Art, Nini Lost and Found, Honey…Honey…Lion!, and When Dinosaurs Came with Everything.

Our daughter, Jade, chose Outside Over There, Paddington Bear in the Garden, GREEN, and Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It’s Beauty Day.

Last week Gabriel had picked out the book The Colors of Us. This week we got out our kitchen spices to see which ones matched us the best. I wanted to help the children see the beautiful colors that our human race contains. We had light brown sugar, ground cloves, allspice, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon! All of us beautiful.

We are on the third chapter of The Swiss Family Robinson and learning some fun vocabulary from it too. Words like repose, melancholy, terra firma, and indolence are among Gabriel’s new favorites.

Our son also started a new audio book this week from Audible. Did you know you can get a free 30 day trial of audible with 2 FREE audio books! That’s how we got hooked on them. Now our son loves to listen to a book while he builds with his Lego’s and Kinex.

Gabriel has played quite a bit of the math game GOZOA this week. This game reminds me of Super Mario Brothers but with an arithmetic twist. I wish games like this had been around when I was 8 years old!

We stocked up on craft supplies this week and the favorite item of all was the new box of Crayola Washable Glitter Paint! I promise, she started out with a brush!

On one particular day that I wasn’t feeling well the kids watched videos about Hurricanes and Tornadoes…Gabriel is fascinated since we started reading The Swiss Family Robinson because, you know, the whole storm and shipwreck bit. While they watched the videos, they built shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks and I got some much needed rest.

Our recipe this week was homemade carrot cake muffins with homemade cream cheese frosting. Can I just say, “Oh. My. Goodness!” These muffins were divine! We all wanted to lick the bowls but settled on the spoons until the muffins were done.

The rest of the week we spent out in nature. We took several hikes by the river and nearby creek. We discovered raccoon tracks in the sand. We investigated a dead tree trunk that had been stripped of it’s bark. We noticed where woodpeckers had been pecking for insects and where insects had been burrowing into the wood. Gabriel hypothesized that aliens may have attacked the tree. By aliens he meant insects that were not native to this area. We found evidence of termites in a nearby fallen trees. An empty chrysalis was a cool treasure for Gabriel to add to his nature collection. Our son pointed out a giant grape vine that looked like a snake. My hubby argued that it wasn’t a grape vine and I assured him that it was indeed a Muscadine Vine…a native grape vine.

At the creek we discovered deer tracks and we collected interesting rocks…mainly quarts and mica. We observed a Southern Leopard Frog and learned that they can be found from New York all the way to Texas!

The children had a grand time playing in the cold creek water. There is always something new to discover and so many treasures to find when you are outside in nature. As you can see our week was full of learning, fun and adventures. No week looks quite like another and that works beautifully for us.