a hippie with a minivan

Great post on Unschooling…

Here is a post written by an Unschooled teen who lives in Montreal. She talks about the differences between unschooling and eclectic homeschooling and why it bothers her so much when the eclectic homeschoolers refer to themselves as unschoolers. It is something that bothers me also, but hearing it from a teen that was unschooled herself, makes the reasons why it bothers me more clear.

A few thoughts about unschooling…

Unschooling is not just about schooling… it is a way of life and you just can’t seperate the two.

If you are new here, or want to know more about it, here is my definition of Unschooling

omg… he is growing up…

Colin will be five in a month… but he is growing up so quickly…his personality, they way he communicates, the way he understands things differently… his drawing skills and then… the tooth!

I couldn’t believe it when he told me a few weeks ago that his tooth was starting to get loose… and then on Thursday it fell out!

wow… my little Colin is getting older…

He just got out of the pool here and was a bit cold… lol

Last day…

Today is the last day of Simon’s vacation, it is raining so we are having a quiet day at home…

I am really happy with the time that was spent while he was home.. we got out often, did quite a few things but didn’t wear ourselves out… Of course it would be great if he could have a little more time off but he is keeping two of his weeks to take a bit later in the year or add to his parental leave when the new babe comes…

On Thursday night Amy left a message on the post I wrote about 6TZEN saying that she had contacted them in Montreal and that they would be meeting her for a picnic on Friday… I couldn’t pass up on the possibility of meeting the family again so on Friday morning we went to Montreal t meet up with all of them…

I am so happy that we did… the kids played, the parents talked and it was amazing to find out how much we all have in common.. In Normandy, Estelle gives workshops on Nonviolent Communication, teaches babywearing, is a homebirther and helps moms breastfeed, … though the system is set up differently there and there is less educational freedom they believe in life learning and non-coersive parenting and are in no way helicopter parents… Arnaud commented to Simon that it is amazing to things that we come from half a world away but that we have so much in common…

After a few hours of talking and get to know each other and the kids playing in the park and the water feature it was time to say good bye… It is probably the last time that we will meet but I don’t think it will be the end of communication…

Here is the family (taken in Jeanne Mance Park in Montreal)

Saying goodbye!

After we said goodbye we did a few more things in Montreal…and I loved seeing in what ways they are making the city a bit greener…

The BIXI bikes are good example… with a subscription you can grab a bike from any BIXI station to ride to your destination… then you just park it again at any BIXI station… the first 30 min are free and then there is a small fee after… not only is it a great idea but it is also widely used based on the amount of people I saw on them…

Another little thing that I saw while walking were lane ways that used to look all dingy now making people smile…sometimes it is the little things that make a difference…

Get a haircut!

All the boys needed a haircut… so today I finally took the time and cut 4 heads of hair…

Xavier loves having long hair but won’t let us brush it or take care of it so we made the parental decision to cut it… He was really happy after it was done…

I left him some length but it won’t be in his eyes anymore and it will be easier to maintain…

Colin likes his hair a bit shorter so I gave him the usual cut so he doesn’t have it in his eyes or on his ears… I wil miss his dog ears in the pool when he would brush up the hair off of his ears…

Khéna got a good trim off the back but not much off the front… I want his hair to cover his scar so that it continues to heal and doesn’t get too much sun if he doesn’t have a hat…

Simon had the most hair and got the most chopped off… I really should do his more often becaus the longer it gets the more daunting the task is and the more I procrasinate doing it…

Vacation…

Simon has been on Vacation since Xavier’s birthday and we have been having a lot of fun…

Last was filled with birthdays, seeing friends, hanging out, the trip to the Fort and then on Sat we hung out at home and Simon asked me to help him make my birthday cake… he did pretty good but needed me on his side to explain a few things (grease and flour a pan? sour milk? etc) and also make sure that he didn’t miss any steps…

We had a great supper and had cake later that night 🙂

On Sunday it was my birthday (32!) and it was stormy in the morning and really not a nice day to go out… but I really wanted Sushi for my birthday supper and made plans to get sushi and eat at friends house… we left in the early afternoon and we caught a bit of rain on the way but it soon cleared up… we took the scenic routes from our place along the St-Laurent to the Island of Montreal and then when on the Island took the scenic route until the western tip of the island where my favourite sushi place is… then we headed to Gen’s and hung out with her until it was time to go home…

On Monday we hung out at home again and it rained some more… and my mom came and picked me up at about 4pm and we headed out to Montreal for another birthday supper… We got to Montreal and the weather had cleared up and the atmosphere of old Montreal was booming and full of life… we headed to “The Keg” and had an amazing (and quiet) supper… It is really hard at times to slow down and enjoy a meal.. For 7 years now meals have been a bit rushed and there has always been a kid around asking something… so quiet suppers where we take all our time was a bit weird but I forced myself to slow down and it was great…

Yesterday was the first day in a while that it hasn’t rained and it has been warm… we headed out to the beach at “Parc de la Yamaska” near Granby which about 1h15min away… we were supposed to meet Simon’s mom at about 11am and we would have been there about 15min after 11 but we unexpectedly got stuck in the traffic for the Granby Zoo… being the first day in a long time with great temps and no rain everyone seemed to be heading for the Zoo/waterpark for the day… It took us more than an hour to get about 4 km… and then finally we were able to go another route and we got to the beach at about 12:30…

We had a picnic and then hit the sand soon after, choosing the beach with less people (no lifeguard)…

A lot of people arrived after us but it was still a lot less crowded than the main beach and the boys had a blast with the beach toys that MIL brought for them…