Friday, February 22, 2013

Fostering Creativity

She loves to paint!! So creative! I'm learning more and more, with the books that I read on our school system, that kids lose creativity by attending school! I'm so glad she can be as creative as she wants to at home.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Her Wonderful Story

At our library there is a computer for children. There are educational programs. This is where Zoe gravitates when she enters our library. She could stay on the computer for a long time.
 
 I would like to share with you how an unschooler learns to spell. As you can see by these pictures, she can't spell well. I want to let you know how I dealt with this. She was so excited to show me the story that she made. I came over and she told me to read it. I did. The picture under this text is what I looked at. I read it and looked at her with a big smile and proud eyes. I am proud of her. I could understand what she was typing, even if it wasn't correct.

 She told me to read it out loud. I did.This is what it read (with the correct spelling)... "One day I was trying to write my name, but I messed up." Can you see this in what she typed above? She then looked at me and was so proud of herself because I understood exactly what she typed. Then she asked me if she spelled it all correctly and I told her that she didn't, but I understood it, which is really important, AND she'll catch on to how to spell it as she practices. 

When we got home I looked online for a program like this. I found Story Jumper (looks familiar, so I think I found it before, and we just didn't use it yet). She tried it out and liked it! I also showed her that she could use Word and that it would correct her spelling for her. It'll show her what words are typed wrong and she can try and spell it correctly or look it up and select the correct word.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Winter Continues

Winter has given us many days of snow. We don't take advantage of many of those days, because we aren't all that fond of the cold. I know... Canadians who don't like the cold?! Yup!! It's fun when we do go out, but we aren't eager to run out and play in the snow. My kids only do that once and a while. They spend much more time outside in the warmer weather.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Book Sharing Monday - Perfect Man

 What a great book! This is an inspiring story of a little boy who looked up to a local super hero.

 One day the super hero decided to retire. 

The boy was convinced that his super hero retired and became HIS teacher. One day he approached his teacher and he didn't admit to being his super hero, but he did promote him to write and get many experiences to write better. The boy did. This teacher changed his life in such a great way!