The Changes I'm seeing

So I'm half way through the month of creativity. I'm not sure how well I'm doing at it, but I am branching out, and trying new things. I have sketched, baked, embroidered, crocheted, sewn, and colored. I haven't really knit yet but I will before the end of the project. Weekends are harder for me to sit and just make something for a time, but I will try to do something each day this weekend.

I'm seeing changes in the Boy as well. He is so excited to have finished his 3rd grade math books and moved onto the 4th grade, we spend about 36 hours straight listening to him repeat that he had finished 3rd grade math and was moving on to 4th grade. Let's see if this will keep him on task with it to finish 4th grade math before we finish 2nd grade in the spring. hmmmm.

Besides that though, he has started doing science experiments on his own, without me leading him or guiding him. He is thinking them through and executing them with little help from me. Hoo rah!!!!!! He also insisted I load Crazy Machines on the laptop (that link is to a commercial site to buy and download the game). We've had it for a couple of years and he has played with it in the past but always with DH or I giving him much help in the problem solving area. He has just taken off with his understanding of the concepts and is problem solving on his own. He takes great pride in coming up with solutions that are different than the 'official' version. Can I tell you how much this makes me happy?

On a somewhat related note, I belong to Homeschool Buyers Co-op and if you are considering homeschool it is a great way to get curriculum and assessment tests at a discounted price. (That is not relevant to this story but I realized I had never mentioned them before and I do <3 them so, spread the love.) They are offering something that the teaser shot seemed to say to me was an Unschooling curriculum for high school. Now I think we all know that I am a snarky, judgey woman and could not let that go without a comment to DH. I mean come on and unschooling curriculum? REALLY? No, not really, when I went to look at it, it is actually resources to find different things to learn, so it is a way to allow your teen to decide what they want to learn and then be able to find the resources to actually learn it. I'm certain there are those in the unschooling community who would still scoff at this but I could see it being very helpful. Then again I'm not wired to unschool really so what do I know. ANYWAY, back to the point, if there is one, of this story. The Boy heard me mention it to DH and wanted to know what unschooling was. My explanation went something like this:

Me: Well, with unschooling I wouldn't tell you what to study or when to study an subjects
Boy: Face lights up like I just told him we are going to Disney World
Me: Instead, you are responsible for what you are learning, you have to decide what you will learn and how to get the information. It is completely your responsibility.
Boy: Face falls as if I have told him he has to make is own bean & cheese burritos for the rest of his life (I know this because I have told him this before & saw the exact same face)

Let me be honest here, had I thought that unschooling was a way DH & I wanted to go with the Boy's education I would not have put so much emphasis on his responsibility, and I would have put more on his ability to choose his own adventure (sorry loved those books, they are back in publication btw)

Here is a picture of something I've made this month, this is the bread pudding I made on Valentines Day, it is all gone now, but wow did I love it. Yummy!