Natural Familly World » Fun & Learning

Flute Love

Monica — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:20:20 +0000

I love the flute, and here’s why:

This is Carlos a few months ago playing the recorder in his Suzuki School recital. He’s learning flute but used the recorder for his first presentation.

Here’s a picture I took last Friday during his class.

Carlos at his flute class

I’m learning as well, and loving it

Recommend: Mama Lisa’s World Children Music Site

Monica — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 06:33:49 +0000

This is a site I discovered a couple of years ago, and still visit on a regular basis.

Mama Lisa’s World is a site that compiles hundreds of children’s lyrics and rhymes from around the world. Many times you can also find scores, translations, music, and videos. Isn’t it fun?

It’s a Great Foreign Language and Cultural Learning Resource!

I have a passion for foreign languages and my son loves to sing, so we usually enjoy whatever new items we find at Mama Lisa’s site. The site is available in English, French and Spanish, but the lyrics and rhymes come from around the world, in many, many languages.

As a side note, our Pelangi Pelangi video has been recently featured in the song’s page. Note that we don’t speak *any* Indonesian .

Check it here: Pelangi, Pelangi, by Carlos and I

photo credit: Trenton Schulz

1-2-3, Ready For Homeschooling

Monica — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:02:37 +0000

Now that is back-to-school time in the North Hemisphere, unschoolers and homeschoolers might also be preparing projects and activities. Even if you adopt a more eclectic style of homeschooling, being organized in your routine and materials will prevent stress and aggravation in your day.

An important part of getting organized is making sure you are in compliance with your country and state’s homeschooling laws. Whether the place you live in is more restrictive or flexible will have a bearing on what kinds of records you keep.

If you’re required more stringent requirements, a homeschool planner may be essential so you can easily create monthly or yearly progress reports.

These are also helpful if you’re keeping transcripts. Of course, if you enroll your child in a virtual school or certain “in a box” curriculums, you can opt to have records kept for you. It may be an option to consider, especially if you have a hard time with paperwork.

Homeschool planners help you keep track of textbook and workbook pages covered, projects completed, unit studies you went over, field trips attended, books read, and daily attendance. These are a good idea even for unschoolers who have to fulfill state’s requirements. You can purchase these online, or create your own. A 3 ring binder would work just fine, or you can search online for free homschool planning worksheets. However, if you’re required for more documentation, it might be best to go with a more elaborate system for your peace of mind.

Reducing clutter is important when you’re homeschooling. In order to minimize the clutter, assess your situation and figure out what system makes the most sense for your family.

You can organize art materials, paints, paper, pencils and erasers in smaller tubs or containers with lids so everything stays together. You can also store materials in a cabinet in the kitchen, a filing cabinet, a shelf, a large plastic container, etc – most of us already have these in our homes.

As a homeschooling or unschooling parent, you might find that a weekly review/planning session before you start your week could help learning happen more smoothly. What’s working well? What’s not working? Simple adjustments can be very helpful in getting back on track.

Remember that learning can get messy! Relax your standards a bit and be ok with messies. Don’t hamper your kid’s excitement for learning by expecting perfection when it comes to cleanliness. One way to minimize the mess is to take learning outside or to the library. If everyone’s getting messy and you need a burst of energy, pack snacks and head out for the day.

photo credit: mia3mom

Micro Loup, A Favorite Short Film

Monica — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:03:35 +0000

Micro Loup is an animated short film by Richard McGuire that we’ve enjoyed watching with 4yo Carlos.

This is the story of a microscopic wolf (in French, “loup”) who is taken in a cage from his natural environment to an urban exhibition.

I’m not always comfortable with him watching films with violent meaning. However, I feel comfortable with Micro Loup story and how it’s presented from an upside view.

We even play the “Micro Loup” game, which is basically him trying to catch me and eat me in one piece. After I’m inside his stomach, he always returns my body to start the game over again.

Enjoy watching the story of this little wolf:

Micro Loup from Richard McGuire on Vimeo.

Foreign languages for kids

Monica — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:53:57 +0000

Find a video at the end of this post

Learning one or more foreign languages is a concern for most people in the current globalized world. For us not native English speakers, learning English is usually the main priority. I agree that English is useful. So useful that most of my reading is in English even if my mother language is Spanish.

However, I believe that learning any language as a kid is as useful as learning English or any other “popular” language as French, Spanish or Chinese.

photo credit: bagaball

For kids, learning a new language is usually a lot of fun. Just listening to new sounds and playing to repeat them, inventing new similar sounds and pretend they’re talking in “Chinese” or “Italian”.

I’ve been told by “experts” that we shouldn’t talk to our kids if our accent in the other language is not perfect, because they’ll pick our “wrong” accent and will never be able to “overcome” it.

Then I wouldn’t talk to my son even in my native Spanish, which is obviously not perfect. Here in Ecuador our Spanish is mixed a bit with Quechua, some grammar and vocabulary is unique, and other native Spanish speaking people from abroad might have trouble understanding 100% of our casual conversations.

So, should I go learn perfect Spanish before daring to talk to my son?

If you ask me, I’m not affraid of him picking my accent and grammar mistakes (that could obviously been corrected by him in the future). I just mean to share my joy of learning to communicate in other languages. He’ll take care of the grammar and pronunciation later on.

In the same way I’m not affraid of reading outloud to him an English or French book, or to translate something into Japanese upon his request. I do dare to sing in my very broken German, and even in completely unknown languages like Indonesian.

Once in a while we enjoy visiting Mama Lisa’s site and look for a song from a country we’re interested in at the moment. This is our #1 resource for children’s music and rymes from around the world.

The other day I found my friend Dina from Indonesia on Facebook, so we learnt and recorded this song for her. It was a lot of fun

If you’re passionate about foreign languages, let’s sing along this Indonesian song!

Indonesian:

Pelangi… pelangi…

Alangkah indahmu

Merah, kuning, hijau di langit yang biru

Pelukismu agung, siapa gerangan

Pelangi… pelangi…

Ciptaan Tuhan

English:

Rainbow, rainbow,

How beautiful you are.

Red, yellow, green,

On the blue sky.

Your painter is great,

Who is him?

Rainbow, rainbow,

Creation of God

What’s your homeschooling/unschooling approach?

Monica — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:09:21 +0000

Ours is:

- Lots of music and concerts

- Lots of art: visit galleries, paint with different mediums (especially now that I’ve surrended my art supplies)

- Lots of real life

- Lots of people

- Lots of travel and outdoors…ehem…stil not “lots”. I should fix this ASAP!

What about your homeschooling or unschooling approach?

photo credit: jakesmome

6 Family Camping Tips

Monica — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:11:14 +0000

Getting away from the city life is one of the reasons families choose to go camping. Early and late summer are usually the best seasons for planning a family camping, because you don’t need to carry lots of warm cloths. Here are some tips that will ensure your vacation is both a safe and fun experience for your family..

1. Get your gear. If you have small children, you may want to select a tent that will accommodate all if you. Older children would appreciate the independence of having additional pup tents.

Tip: practice assembling the tents in your backyard so as to avoid wasting time at the camp site.

2. Selecting a campsite. Research the many campsites online that offer comprehensive information on the area. This will enable you to decide not only what equipment, clothing, and food you need to take, but the available hiking areas and points of interest as well.

Ensure that the campsite you select is an official campsite area. Moreover, when researching camping sites it’s a good idea to look for those areas that are on the high ground so you your tent and equipment will not become water logged if it rains.

Don’t hesitate to make a phone call to make your reservation and get your questions answered.

3. Make a checklist and encourage your kids to make their own. Among the items on your checklist, some of the more important items you will need are:

* Cooking gear such as a frying pan, a few pots, a bucket, barbecue grill or stove, bags with a Ziploc, and cooking utensils. I’m not a canned food lover, but they could be a good idea for camping. Better yet, prepare your meals at home and package them in containers for the trip. Also bring water, a can opener, hot water kettle and a cooler with a block of ice.

* Clothing. Depending upon the location, wearing light layers is a good idea as well as packing some jackets for the evening hours. Plan for every day and keep unnecessary luggage to the minimum. As for shoes, I’d bring a pair of sandals and hiking boots, if there’s some hiking involved.

* Sleeping bags, first aid kit, flashlights, cell phone, garbage bags, toiletries, sunscreen, ointments, a map of the area, insect repellent, and rainwear.

* Camera. Don’t forget your camera!

* If there’s something to forget it is the portable TV and video game gadgets. Enjoy the sound of the nature and invent games for the evening. There’s no point in packing the business of the city to the campsite.

For a complete checklist on what to bring on a camping trip, there are many camping websites that offer a myriad of suggestions. Also, you can probably get a good deal on specialized books for camping with children.

4. When you reach the camp site, choose an area to set up the tents. Ensure there are no rocks or debris where the tent will be set up. Most campgrounds will post warning signs or instructions regarding specific animals and vegetation.

5. When preparing a campfire, if appropriate, ensure that it’s set up further away from the tents. Douse the fire before going to bed.

6. Don’t take anything with you and don’t leave anything on the campsite. Take care of your garbage and bring it back home if you suspect it’s going to cause a problem to the camping site. Remember to always ask about unclear policies about garbage disposal.

Finally, enjoy the entire camping experience and let your kids enjoy the nature.

photo credit: matt.simpson3

Vacations are comming: great time to start unschooling

Monica — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:15:01 +0000

If you’ve been wondering about how your family life would be if you unschooled, this is the perfect time for a free trial.

In many countries children are heading for summer vacations, planing adventures, trips, summer workshops on their interests and free time at home. This is what unschooling looks like every day of the year, except for the fact that in most homeschooling families we don’t rely on the TV to get our kids entretained.

I remember when I was at school that the beginnig of summer vacations were excited but also a bit hard. Hard to find what to do, to figure out how to entertain myself. However, after a few weeks I was engaged in a new book, a summer job, a craft project, or frequent visits to public places in the city.

My advice if you want to consider this form of education for your family, is to leave things as they are, giving children plenty of free time and options for possible activities so they can decide. This is what many schooling parents do for vacations anyways, but the difference is that this time you should pay attention to how much they learn and how happy they are without being directed by someone else. A bit of effort on your part towards helping them explore and be part of the adult’s world would be appreciated, and that could include taking your kids to work or to places they’re not able to go by themselves.

If you realize unschooling is the way to go for your family, then you just keep going after the summer. Otherwise, kids would be back to school next fall.

Here 3 books I recommend if you want to learn more about homeschooling/unschooling:

1. Any of John Holt’s books. I’d start by “How Children Learn” – I’d recommend to go for the old original version by John Holt.

2. For a modern approach and ideas of activities you can do during the summer I recommend The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World as Your Child’s Classroom, by Mary Griffith

3. Jan Hunt’s The Unschooling Unmanual. I don’t have this one but it seems like a good alternative for an easy to read book with practical unschooling ideas.

photo credit: jakesmome

Letting my fears go and my toddler paint with aquarelles

Monica — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:31:36 +0000

I’ve always liked watercolor painting, at least for as long as I can remember. I used to spend long hours during summer vacations or weekends playing with my watercolors, sometimes getting to the results I wanted and other times getting frustrated with the flooded construction paper.

Anyway, at the end of my high school years I started taking painting classes and the best of it was that the teacher asked for good painting materials. During my first years at university I took aquarelle classes as well, on an on an off basis. The best part again was that I was introduced to new techniques and officially allowed to use aquarelle paper and other good materials that prevented the frustrating floods.

I then painted a fair amount of aquarelles and even got to sell some of them to friends and gave them as gifts for weddings and other special occasions. However, even during my golden years as an artist I still wasted paper, eventually got discouraged with a finished product and ended up throwing my work to the garbage can. Just as when I was a child and got those frustrating floods.

aquarelles by me, at my mom's

My child has also shown interest in watercolor painting. For me it’s been a 3yo process to let him use my “quality” supplies. I started 3 years ago by providing him with some construction paper, medium quality aquarelles and my quality brushes. About 2 years ago I gave him my Grumbacher aquarelle paintings and decided he will eventually learn how to use them properly. However, I still kept my professional aquarelle paper pieces with me until YESTERDAY.

In fact those papers were bought about 7 or 8 years ago, when I intended to make a work of art from them. I’ve been keeping them all this time with no purpose since I haven’t painted in a long time. Anyway, those are “expensive” and I thought I needed to give them a good use (meaning “adult use”.)

Yesterday I let them go when I saw my child struggling with a watercolor flood. I felt a kind of compassion for him while I recalled my childhood and how frustrating it was to have that flooded paper. I felt the impulse to offer him my “expensive” watercolor paper, and I’m glad I didn’t give it a second thought. After a few seconds there he was painting as a professional, with my “expensive” Grumbacher watercolor paintings, the “expensive” brushes, on “expensive” paper.

I didn’t mention him how “expensive” and “good quality” the paper was. I just told him I had some watercolor paper and asked if he wanted to try on it. Obviously he felt the difference and got into painting until my collection of 10 pieces of different sizes all turned into art work.

Wow, it took me all this time to realize he needed them more than I, but at least I’m happy I was able to realize a way to help him with his watercolor self learning.

If you have a child struggling with watercolor floods, tell him or her that I understand the frustration and please try to get him a better quality paper.

Here’s a picture of his work with the watercolor paper. It would be quite impossible to achieve something like this (I mean on this size-see the pen for a reference), using regular paper.

Carlos' watercolor painting of today. I really like this one.

The ideal child friendly place

Monica — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:28:15 +0000

What’s your ideal of a child friendly place?

For me it’s certainly not the over stuffed environment featuring tv characters, cute images and lots of colors. On the other site, I’ve found other adult oriented places suit us better, like the Botanic Garden in Quito, for example (above a picture of Carlos during a visit to the Garden.)

These are some characteristics of a Child Friendly Place, according to my family, of course:

- The place has outdoor facilities, or at least the possibility to go in and out

- No crowds – it´s good to have people around but not lots of people

- Clean and comfortable bathrooms. Diaper changers are good when clean, but otherwise I didn’t use them when my son was an infant. Instead I tried Elimination Communication

- The possibility to take your lunch or snacks, and a place to sit down and eat. A bench or some stairs that are not crowded would be enough for us

- The possiblity of wondering around without guidance, or at least to wonder around after the guided visit.

What is your ideal child friendly place like?