Alternative Parenting – Page 14 – a hippie with a minivan

A day in Montreal…

Yesterday we headed to Montreal for a trip to the Redpath museum and a few other things that we wanted/needed to do…

Just as we were heading out the door, Xavier told me that his stomach felt weird… I asked him if he wanted to go or stay home but he really wanted to go to the Museum… So we left, but not before I grabbed a plastic bag for the car in case his weird stomach turned out to be more…Mid-way there it did… and luckily he had the bag…

We decided to keep on going even though there was a part of me that wanted to head home. He was saying that he felt better and was looking better also… So to the museum we headed…

I had never been to the Redpath Museum, though it won’t be the last time I go for sure. It is a building on the McGill University Campus in Montreal and is free to the public. The theme was Mummies. A little tour and talk about mummies and then an activity for the kids…The talk was perfect, geared towards kids and just the perfect amount of time for the kids. Little did I know that as small as the Redpath museum is, they have the second largest ancient Egyptian mummy collection in Canada…3 mummies, a sarcophagus, mummified animals, a set of Coptic Jars along with many other artifacts.

Mummified Falcon, Cat and Iris?

Mummy, with mask

Mummy, with just the wrappings and resin

I would have liked tolook around a bit more, but just as the talk was finishing, Khéna needed to go the bathroom and Xavier felt he had to throw up again… so we rushed down 4 flights of stairs to get the bathrooms and the crafdt was about to start on the first floor and I didn’t want to climb up again… (I will go back soon though hopefully)

We did the craft (need to get pics) and the boys made their very own little mummies… Pretty cool looking… I must say!! and then we headed to Simon’s work to go pay him a visit and for the boys to see his office which they had been wanting to do for some time…

Looking out of the 17th floor window near Simon’s office

Xavier was feeling a bit weak by that point and Simon offered him an apple… he ate it but it came back up soon after as we were leaving the office building…

I still had one stop before we could head home… to pick something up at my friend Gen’s house on the West Island… but because Xavier was not feeling good I didn’t want the boys to go in her house (she has two babies at home) so I picked up my mom on the way and she offered to stay in the car while I went into Gen’s house and she made sandwiches for me and the boys because we hadn’t eaten lunch yet…

Xavier tried to eat a bit more again because he was hungry, but while I was in the house it came back up again… we headed back towards Montreal and I got him some Soda Crackers and finally he was able to eat and then fell asleep… I picked up Simon and we slowly headed home… Xavier hasn’t thrown up since but still feels a bit queasy but doesn’t regret going out at all…he is loving the crackers and was able to keep some more food and drink down today… so I guess it is just a little bug…

The boys also now have a new big interest for Mummies and ancient Egypt so now I am gathering up some info and documentaries for them to watch… so it ended up being a great day despite the little weird tummy…

Xavier can read…

Xavier turned 7 last summer and for a while now we knew he could read a bit because he would do so when he thought we weren’t paying attention… but I knew he wouldn’t admit it until he knew he could really do it.

He has always been like that… It has been his personality since he was tiny. I have always seen him as the kind of kid that doesn’t like to be a “Performing Monkey”.. he doesn’t like to show himself “trying”… he doesn’t show that he can do it until he knows he can do it right.

So how did he learn how to read? Mostly… video games… and not “educational” ones. Video games that are geared towards older kids and adults. Spore, Neverwinter Nights, Baldurs Gate, Zelda, Star Wars Empire at War etc…

He loves video games and I have no problem letting his play… at first he would ask often what was written on the screen often and after a while he started asking less and less… the less he asked the more we saw that he was reading…

Earlier in the year we bought him a D&D monster manual and right away he knew all the monsters names and he was able to give me details on them, details that he was reading… just little words of course that he recognized but he was able to figure out a lot of things because of that. He looks at his books often, but not with us… always by himself, especially in the car.

In the last few weeks though, he has admited to himself and to us that he can do it and it has been amazing to see him! He has been loving to show us what he can do. He reads signs when we are in the car, he reads ingredients on food or in my recipes. He reads the titles of DVD’s in the closet and now he is reading books to us. He read a very easy book to me this morning and then I asked him to go get the Little Bear book that we have just to see if he could do it and he read the first story without a problem… and of course the look on his face after was priceless…

So.. my son, who has never been “taught” to read, can read… it is amazing to see how unschooling works 🙂

Apple picking…

Took a while to get this post up but I guess it is better late than never…

Last Thursday we went apple picking at an orchard on Mont-St-Gregoire, south of Montreal. It was an activity with the Homeschooling group but it was supposed to be on Wednesday and was cancelled because of rain and then put for Thursday as a non-official outing which ended up being nice because we were a smaller group then intended and it was nice to be able to talk to people more…

The day turned out to be gorgeous and the kids got to play in the park and eat their lunch while us mom talked and shared until we decided to buy our bags and head out to the Orchard on the tractor ride…

We were let off of the tractor in the orchard where there was another park and we were able to go pick apples and the kids played and we talked more…

Xavier didn’t stay long to pick apples.. but he did pick a few…

Colin and Khéna though loved it and I sat on the ground and they filled up the bag completely…

When it was time to go the kids didn’t mind at all because it meant another tractor ride and they were getting tired from a day full of playing and fresh air… a quick stop in the shop and a few purchases and we headed back home…

This is what we ended up with…

A BIG bag of apples… I don’t know how much exactly but at least 30 lbs, probably more… A few pounds of plums, Local Blueberry blossom honey and some Apple Ice Cider for Simon…

Over the weekend a few pounds of the plums and apples got made into some yummy treats… and I still have a lot to do…

Great video on "Informal Learning" aka Unschooling

“Dr Thomas is a developmental psychologist, author and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education. Interviewed at HESFES, Dr Thomas explains about his research into how children learn and his investigation into autonomous, or informal learning.”

I think this explains the theory of unschooling very well.

Back at the Cabin…

I visited my mom at the Cabin on Friday and we had such a great day…

A friend of ours from BC was visiting and he is someone who is just really nice to talk to… My uncle was also there, as he went for a visit last month and hasn’t went back home yet… it is just a really nice and calming place to be, so I don’t blame him for not wanting to leave…

Xavier and Colin have been spending the last days dressed as Knights and they didn’t hesitate brings their armour along…

Two times when we were there, the Deer came to visit… two mamas and two fawns…

This one was trying to get closer to eat some food just across the lake from the cabin.. the boys though were having trouble keeping quiet though and she went and met up with the others again and they headed back into the forest…