At breakfast this morning Layla was drawing and asked where paper comes from? After talking about it I asked her if she wanted to make recycle paper today and of course her response was an enthusiastic YES!
So, off starts life ...I mean "school."
We needed panty hose to make our screens for our recycled paper and since this was Layla's project she had to buy them. Out comes the piggy bank....This is using math skills in real life, not some worksheet....I mean it's "MATH" time.. ..... Counting money...How much is a dime worth? How many make a dollar? Counting by 10s...same with quarters...25, .50, .75, $1.00....Ok, got enough! Let's go!
Found the panty hose.....how much are they? $2.59, so let's estimate...Whats that closest to? $2 or $3? Estimating always comes with shopping with Mom..every time. Then she found a treat she wanted to purchase too. How much is it? $1.19. What is it closest to? $1 or $2? Do we have enough money to buy them both? We have $7, and $3+$1= $4 (estimate), so YES! We have enough! Time to check out!
This is my favorite part. I love watching people's face when they realize my 6 year old is going to count out her money to pay. No rush, take your time dear. :) This time, the cashier was actually a homeschooler too, so that was awesome!
Now comes the fun part. Of course to know HOW to make the paper we have to READ the instructions on how to make recycled paper. Again, it's not forced. She reads most of it alone and I help with parts that are difficult. No pressure...just life.
At first she chose to mix all kinds of colored tissue paper just to see what color it would make once it is all blended up. Then, we started talking about colors. If we mixed certain colors they'd make a whole new color! She was an expert at this because she is artsy, but my 3 year old was amazed..."It's MAGIC!" he said!
Time to measure the water and add it to the pieces of paper....time to blend it up into PULP. What is pulp?
We placed our panty hose over some picture frames we had around the house. ..tied a knot at the end and tada! Paper making screen! Ready to sift out the pulp!
Well, now that the paper is dry it is time to make some cards and letters to our friends and families. She made some into books, letters, and drawing master pieces! Of course no one made her write the letter to Nana or the books with fantastic sentences all on her own! She wanted to because who wouldn't want to decorate such pretty paper with words to share with a friend?
Once she finished her letter heart for Nana, she got an envelope to mail it. This prompted a conversation about the correct way to address an envelope and why. We couldn't just write, To:Nana. If it wasn't addressed correctly then the mailman wouldn't know how to get it to Nana. So, we talked about our new address and why we have a P.O.box and not a physical mailing address (we live in a tiny town). Then, she counted out more money to purchase a stamp and we were off to the post office!
AND that is how a day of Unschooling begins.....
So, to review....What did my "Kindergardener" do today?
- saving/spending
- counting by 10s
- counting by 25
- how many dimes= $1
- how many quarters=$1
- adding money
- estimating
- rounding
- subtracting
- reading to find what she is looking for at the grocery store
- reading and understanding prices
- communicating with a proffesionals (cashier and post office worker)
- counting out required money to pay
- paying with money
- counting change
- Reading directions
- Following directions
- creativity
- review of primary colors
- mixing colors = hypothesis and testing her theory
- measuring
- definition of recycle
- Where does paper come from?
- patience (waiting for them to dry)
- writing
- correct spelling
- phonetically spelling
- communicating by letter
- writing a book
- titles
- punctuation
- capital letters
- addressing an envelope
- reviewing our address, city, and state
- abbreviation for Utah = UT
- socializing with real people at the post office and grocery store
- self esteem and pride in what she accomplished all by herself
- independence to try new things
So, as you can see, she really didn't learn very much today and would have experienced and received a much better education by sitting in a desk in a room for 8 hours completing worksheets (said sarcastically).
NOPE, we didn't fill a bucket today, WE LIT A FIRE!
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