I Guess This Is Unschooling... activity 3

Totally on his own, with no interference, suggestions, or coaxing from anyone, Austyn memorized a quote and he has discussed it's meaning a few times now.  Who says he has to memorize what I tell him he has to? He does it anyway and remembers the quotes that move his soul. Who cares if it's from a book or where it came from. Here is the quote he has memorized all on his own with no coxing or anything: 

"The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it's possible" ~ Alice's Father from Alice in Wonderland

100 Books-A-Month Challenge, Reading My Library

Well we are back on track for reading our library. June went well even with how busy we were with activities and sports. We'll finally be looking into G Authors. It's taking some time to go through all of the books, but I'm sure we'll get there.

Read to both:
1. 50 Below Zero by Robert Munsch (Online book) – 2x
2. Abra Cadabra and the Tooth Witch by Nurit Karlin (Online book)
3. A Camping Spree with Mr Magee by Chris Van Dusen (Online book)
4. A Cat in a Kayak by Maria Coffey
5. A Farm by Phylippe Dumas
6. Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson and Nancy Carpenter
7. BartlebySpeaks! By Robin Cruise
8. Bear In The Sky by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes
9. Beautiful Moon by Dawn Jeffers (Online book)
10. Bebe’s Bad Dream by G. Brian Karas
11. Blueberries with Sal by Robert McCloskey (CD)
12. Boo to You! By Lois Ehlert
13. Bright Penny by Geraldine McCaughrean
14. Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner (Online book)
15. Butterfly Count by Sneed B. Collard III
16. Come On Baby Duck! By Nick Ward
17. Cow by Malachy Doyle
18. Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz (Online book)
19. Elliot Digs for Treasure by Andrea Beck
20. Every Single Night by Dominique Demers and Nicolas Debon
21. Farmers Market by Carmen Parks
22. For Just One Day by Laura Leuck (Online book)
23. Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves (Online book)
24. Frog In Space by Green Wilma
25. Germs by Ross Collins
26. Gimme Cracked Corn and I will Share by Kevin O’Malley
27. Gone With The Wand by Margie Palatini
28. Good Enough To Eat by Lizzy Rockwell
29. Grandpa’s Corner Stoere by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
30. Gramps and the Fire Dragon by Bethany Roberts
31. Grandfather  Counts by Andrea Cheng
32. Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen
33. Happy to You1 by Caron Lee Cohen
34. Have you seen my cat? By Eric Carle
35. Humble Pie by Jennifer Donnelly
36. If I Were an Astronaut by Eric Braun
37. Introducing ABC Letters in the Library by Bonnie Farmer (Online book)
38. Jumping Spiders by Meish Goldish
39. Karate Hour by Carol Nevius
40. Let’s Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans
41. Little Honey Bear and the Smiley Moon by Gillian Lobel and Tim Warnes
42. Little Green by Keith Baker
43. Little Quack’s Bedtime by Lauren Thompson
44. Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers
45. Look What Came From Egypt by Miles Harvey
46. Max by Bob Graham
47. Minibeasts In The Compost Heap by Sarah Ridley
48. Monster Mash by Mimi Maxwell (Online book)
49. MOONPOWDER by John Rocco
50. Moses The Long Road to Freedom by Ann Keay Beneduce
51. Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley
52. Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch (Online book) – 2x
53. My Friend The Doctor by Joanne Cole
54. My Friend The Starfinder by George Ella Lyon and Stephen Gammell
55. No Plain Pets! By Marc Ian Barasch
56. One Red Rooster by Kathleen Sullivan Carroll
57. Out on the Ice in the Middle of the Bay by Peter Cummings
58. Patrick’s  Dinosaurs by Carol Carrick (CD)
59. Peg and the Whale by Kenneth Oppel
60. Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton
61. Railroad John and the Red Rock Run by Tony Crunk
62. Rosa Rapos by F. Isabel Campoy
63. Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell
64. Showdown at the Food Pyramid by Rex Barron
65. Something Good by Robert Munsch (Online book)
66. Song Of Middle C by Alison McGhee (Online book)
67. Sparks Fly High by Mary Quattlebaum
68. Tangle Town by Curt Cyrus
69. The Bears We Know by Brenda Silsbe
70. The Bells of Santa Lucia by Gus Cazzola and Pierr Morgan
71. The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre (Online book)
72. The Bunnies Picnic by Lezlie Evans
73. The Curse of King Tutt’s Mummy by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld – 2 Chapters
74. The Desert by Alan Baker
75. The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake
76. The Dragon Who Wanted To Fly by Jeffrey Comanor
77. The Fire Station by Robert Munsch (Online books)
78. The Forever Dog by Bill Cochran
79. The Graves Family Goes Camping by Patricia Polacco
80. The Hungry Humming Bird by April Pulley Sayre
81. The Magic Mustache by Barwin Jorisch
82. The Match Between The Winds by Shirley Climo
83. The Mighty Asparagus by V. Radunsky
84. The Monster Mash by Mimi Maxwell (Online book) – 2x
85. The Singing Snake by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes
86. The Squirrel Wife by Philippa Pearce
87. The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer – 1 Chapter
88. The Tale of Sir Dragon by Jean E. Pedziwol an dMartine Gourbault
89. The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone (CD)
90. The Three Silly Billies by Margie Palatini (Online book)
91. The Widow’s  Broom by Chris Van Allsburg
92. The Windchild by Cheryl Harness
93. The Witch’s Child by Arthor Yorinks
94. This Mess by Pam Conrad
95. Tsugele’s Broom by Valerie Scho Carey
96. Tutankhamen’s Gift by Robert Sabuda
97. Tyson the Terrible by Diane and Christyan Fox (Online book)
98. Ugh! A Bug! By Ned Crowley
99. Velma Gratch and the way cool butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes
100. Wait and See by Robert Munsch (Online book) – 2x
101. What is Sight? By Jennifer Boothroyd
102. What’s  So Special About Planet Earth? By Robert E. Wells
103. Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail by Coleen Salley
104. Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
105. Yelly Kelly by Nancy Sweetland (Online book) – 2x

Refs/Chapter Books to both:
The Pot Of Wisdom Ananse Stories - 1 Story
Monkey Business Stories from around the World by Shirley Climo – 2 stories

Read to Zoe:
Maisy’s Amazing Big Book of Words
Tyson The Terrible by Diane and Christyan Fox
No More Bottles for Bunny by Bernette Ford and Sam Williams
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault
I Don’t Want A Posh Dog by Emma Dodd
Wind in the Willows – 1 chapter
Yellow Moon, Apple Moon by Pamela Porter and Matt James
Two Cool Coyotes by Jillian Lund
Brownie and Pearl Get Dolled Up by Cynthia Rylant
Looking After Little Ellie by Dosh and Mike Archer
Cowlick! By Christin Dichfield
Snuggle Puppy! A little love song by Sandra Boynton
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
The Great Doughnut Parade by Rebecca Bond
Someone Says by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Elliot’s Fire Truck by Andren Beck
Introducing… Subway Ride by Heather Lynne Miller (Online book)
Surfing Safely.com by Meghan Price (Online book)

Read to Austyn:
Story of the World – 2 Chapters
Nature in the Neighborhood by Gordon Morrison
The Book That Eats People by John Perry
Miriam and Her Brother Moses by Jean Marzollo
Build Your Own Fighter Jet by Phidal
Hercules by Robert Burleigh and Raul Colon
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling – 1 story

Zoe Read:
Wave by Suzy Lee (Pictures only)

I Read:
Deschooling Our Lives, edited by Matt Hern
Learning All the Time by John Holt
The Unprocessed Child by Valerie Fitzenreiter

Book Review - The Unprocessed Child

I just finished reading The Unprocessed Child by Valerie Fitzenreiter. All I have to say is “WOW!” It wasn't an easy book to get my hands on, but it was well worth it! 

I’m not sure exactly why, but for some reason I couldn’t put this book down. I knew as soon as I read the forward, which was written by the authors’ daughter who was unschooled, that I’d have to read this book right away and put anything else that I was reading aside until I was done. 

The author shares her experiences bringing up her daughter without teaching her. The book is broken up into small chapters so reading each chapter was fast (this is probably part of the reason I couldn’t put it down since I kept saying that I could just read one more chapter). Her opinions about how children should be brought up seem like common sense but for some reason many people (me included for some things) follow what is expected through society and don’t actually consider what kind of effect it’ll have on their child, their relationship with the child and the harmony of the home. After much research and taking a parenting course a couple of years ago we have already been moving away from punishments in our home. Reading her opinions and experiences were so interesting to me and gave me so much enlightenment and courage when I needed it. 

Some of the stories are humorous which makes the book that much better. I was laughing out loud. There is so much food for thought in her words. If you are considering unschooling but are afraid to do it you NEED to read this book!

Book Sharing Monday

Anyone who knows us knows that we are not Christian, however we love to read about different beliefs. This story is amazing because it's almost the same story as Noah's Arc but it's a Karina Legend from Venezuela. When there are so many similarities in a legendary story from two completely different places in the world it can really make you wonder how that can happen. 

When they had finished, they gathered together 

two of each kind of animal and herded them into 

the canoe.

The rivers overflowed. There was so much water 

that animals were swept away and 

you could no longer see the tops of even 

the tallest trees. 

Christian or not, you will find this story interesting if you know the story of Noah's Arc.