Not Back to School!

It's been a crazy summer, and I saw lots of yellow school buses out today. However, since we're NOT going back to school, our summer does not officially end until September 23! Just one of the many advantages of unschooling. . . plus we get to buy any "school supplies" and clothes after they've all been marked down. Joy!

In any case, I just love this time of year because I get so excited to think about various classes we can all take. On the menu (but not ordered yet) for fall are ninja classes for Ezra, Jiu Jitsu for Ezra and Papa, maybe "open build" art and science classes for both kids, swimming lessons for both kids, yoga for Mama (and hopefully kickboxing, too), possibly some Japanese tutoring for Ezra, and we shall see what else. Just waiting for that big paycheck to come in. . . the one we've been waiting for for weeks.

Right now Ezra, who is 7, is still really into martial arts. He's also teaching himself Japanese. Right now he's using a CD/book called Teach Me More. . . Japanese and he is in love with it! Both kids have also requested that I get them the Spanish version from the library. Ezra has also morphed over the spring and summer from being somewhat obsessed with The Civil War and guns, to moving on to submarines, and now he has expanded to be obsessed with World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He spends many hours every day drawing and building battleships, submarines, and aircraft carriers. He is also on a Jesse James kick and he and Ottar spent an entire afternoon last week re-enacting his death.

What I'm trying to work out now is creating a more structured life. As many of you avid fans may recall, I tried doing a schedule last winter (read here). Well, that crashed and burned immediately. I think it is because it was not the kind of thing that is true to my nature. In fact my whole life was untrue to my nature. But now that we're living on the river and close to the Twin Cities, let me start that over. That will be my topic for tomorrow.

Free Range Kids

How many of you have checked out the book or the website Free Range Kids? It's excellent!

I know that is a totally lame review, but I have never claimed to be a non-lame reviewer! Actually I haven't read the book yet, but I get posts from the website, which are always scandalous and usually make me extremely glad I'm raising my kids counterculturally.

Oh, and here's a good one about gun play, which I know is a popular topic amongst almost everyone I know (and around my house). It's called "Do toy guns turn kids into killers?"

Writing Projects

Well, never mind all that Parental Controls stuff for now.

I don't think I've written about all the books Ezra has written, and I would like to scan in some of them, but our scanner is not working. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, in the past 3 days I transcribed 2 books for him. The first was called "Gangster Busters" and the second was "Night of the Maverick." These two he dictated, I wrote down, and then he illustrated them. They are secret fantasy stories, where a boy named Jim shoots his baby brother repeatedly with a Nerf dart gun. Then "the neighborhood bully" comes over and he shoots him with "ballpoint darts" and he bleeds, passes out, tries to attack Jim again, and then passes out again. At first I was totally horrified, and I told him that was the last book I was going to transcribe for him if they're going to be all violent and gorey! But then I felt better last night when I was listening to a Naomi Aldort CD, and she was talking about how she often does counseling with kids where she has them draw a picture of their anger, or act it out with dolls, etc.. And so, I guess if Ezra wants to act out his vengeance at his brother and "bullies" on paper, I think that's a pretty good choice.

Today he started a book called "The Wrath of Jim," but this one he is writing all by himself, because a couple days ago he told me he couldn't write the books himself because he didn't know lowercase letters. !!! So today I wrote down the alphabet for him in lowercase letters, and was about to do the whole lame school thing where you make the dotted lines to copy, etc., but he was totally weirded out by that, and just started writing his book and looking back at the letters for reference. Duh!! Why on EARTH do they make kids copy those letters over and over for half a year??? All they have to do is WANT to write something, and then they will figure out how to do it. Apparently. At least *this* kid. . . and I'm sure I was the same way. I hated all that letter tracing and copying as a kid.

Anyway, he wrote the entire book by himself today while Ottar and I went for a jog around the cemetary. I have not yet read it, because he has to put the finishing touches on the last page. But I am excited! He is currently taking a break for a bath with his little brother. :)

About Time for an Update, No?

Here's what's going on around here, with the kids:

1. Ezra is waaaay into his Bunjinkan (Ninjutsu) class. He wants to take it twice a week instead of once, but we don't have a car the other day that the class is offered. He does practice on a daily basis, though, of his own accord. As I type, he is in the bedroom trying to give Ottar (3 yo) lessons.

2. The "Japan Unit" went O.K. - not as well as it could have, as it seemed to be too much dependent on me gathering things (without money), etc. We did do origami one day (but then lost all the paper), we read several awesome new children's books about Japan, and Ezra works almost every day on his Hiragana alphabet - either copying it, making up direct-translation words, (i.e. he just made me a sign that says "ma-ma"). Kenny was supposed to make a Japanese dinner with him or something, but apparently the Japanese fervor is not so infectious as to affect Papa Pyefeld. He muttered several times under his breath about it, but I have yet to see any wontons or sushi.

3. Ottar is obsessed with words, asking me all day long, "what does _____ mean?" Sometimes I feel like crying, if it's the end of the day and he asks me something complex, as in last week when he kept asking for increasingly precise definitions of 'deserve'.

4. Ezra is also still a voracious Tintin reader. I cannot stop him, though I am worried because the print is so tiny, and he will read it for hours on end. I am amazed by the amount of vocabulary and geography he has learned from these books!

4. Guns, guns, guns! Ezra can now identify just about any firearm by sight, and also explain how it works, what it is for, and the materials it is made from. In yet another attempt to draw myself in to his world (because I am so NOT interested in guns), I started looking stuff up on the History Detectives website last night, and I think that if we watch some of those videos together, we may have found some common ground!

Counting Money

I have to admit we use a lot of plastic in front of our kids - "money" is something they find lying on the floor in the form of coins, to stuff into the slots in the coffee table.

It occurred to me the other day that maybe Ezra didn't know the denominations of coins (which he would, if we ever used them - he goes everywhere with us). He did not know the value of a nickel or a dime. I think I told him how much they were, but I'm sure he forgot because he wasn't interested - it was my question, not his.

But then the boy across the street told him he'd gotten a $3 cap gun at Walmart (oh joy!) and it occurred to Ezra that maybe all those pennies and random, valueless coins might add up to $3.

It was sad for me to be witnessing his exuberance for learning about money with the twin shadows of weaponry and Wal-Mart hanging over us. But whatever, right? He stacked up all his quarters and declared that he actually had SIX dollars. I pointed out that he actually had more (how I wish I hadn't felt compelled to do this!). So he asked me how much dimes and nickels are, and then we made stacks of those. He did all the addition in his own head, and figured out he had $7.95, plus eight extra pennies. After a while he figured out how to add the pennies in, too, and triumphantly shouted, "I have eight dollars and three cents!"

That was pretty exciting, and I didn't do anything but answer his questions. I did offer to get a pen and paper for him to add, but he didn't want it. I don't know where he learned how to add in his head anyway - but somehow he figures it out when he really wants to know the answer.

What could be more inspirational than knowing that you could actually almost buy THREE cap guns??

The New Phase: Toy Guns

Photo by Leo Kim

If not previously mentioned, Ezra has moved on to a self-prescribed Gun Unit. He knows more about guns than I ever thought possible. He knows about their triggers, mechanisms, ammunition, etc.

I thought there was nothing less interesting to me than rockets. But I was wrong! Guns. . . I am *so* not interested in them. And yet Ezra gives me mini-lectures about them daily.

There are days when he seems a little nutty. But I just found a photo album of "Peaceful Kids with Toy Guns" on Sandra Dodd's website. And it makes me feel better!

Anyway, luckily this interest has other branches. He is now very interested in the Civil War (something I just claimed I wouldn't teach him about for years. . . oh well.) He really wants to become a hunter now, and kill his own food. And also he has decided that instead of an aerospace engineer, he now wants to become an inventor. He invents dozens of guns every day (and then either explains them to me verbally, or draws them out and tells me to ask him questions about them.)

So, I'm just hoping the Gun Phase will be no longer lived than the Rocket Phase. . .