A Season of Larnin'

Geez, I coulda sworn I'd posted here more recently than October.

Spring is upon us. I will attempt to recall significant things we did, unschooling-wise, over the winter.

Kaleigh displayed her rock collection at the Illinois State Museum's Junior Collector's Day.

Today K and I went to see My Heart in a Suitcase, at Sangamon Auditorium. It's about a Jewish girl in Berlin at the time the National Socialists are coming to power. It was emotionally intense. It surprised me how, in just a matter of months, conditions went from Jews getting banned from working in banking, to Jewish parents shipping their kids off to England to save their lives. Whew!! We were both a little verklemmt after all that. It was a terrific performance, though. At the climax, when the girl was getting ready to board the kindertransport, it looked like the young woman playing her really was about ready to break down.

Kaleigh and Carey read their way through the Little House books again, and are now almost done with the Rose books, about Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. Good stuff.

At the moment, K and I are reading Larklight, a young adult novel by Philip Reeve. It's science fiction, but in an early 19th century vein. Spaceships that look like sailing ships; alchemical engines; spacefish, er, Aetheric Icthyomorphs, that flap through the aether. And all kinds of fascinating (and scary, and friendly) aliens on the moon, Mars, Venus, and more. The book has plenty of scary parts, but I assured K that it's one of those where they always manage to escape, and now she seems more willing to continue reading it. I've read ahead in it, and quite enjoyed it. (Thanks Ran for the recommendation!)

K has dabbled in rock identification (for the show at the museum) and birdwatching. One day she discovered/realized we had binoculars, and started staring out the window for long periods at the birds around the feeder in the yard. We got books from the library and learned about some different kinds of birds. I think all the ones we see in our yard, Carey and I already knew. Typical midwestern urban birds.

Lately, the robins have been coming back, for Spring. We've been doing gardening, which K helps out with. She even picked out several kinds of seeds for pretty plants she wants to grow. A lot of them are vines, which can grow on her playhouse in the yard.

The other day she helped Mike with putting up shelves in her room. I hope she grows up more handy than I am :)

K has been taking various gymnastics classes, and art, and swimming, which seems like normal stuff for us now.

I'm sure there's more. There's always more. Worksheets, arts and crafts, fashion shows, spontaneous generosity, playing with folks of all ages, cooking. But now it's Carey's turn for the screen.