Wednesday, November 21, 2007

My babies!

We love learning, playing, making messes and being all together at home. The philosophy of unschooling can start from day one by providing our precious children with the least restrictive environment and by giving them all sorts of resources strewn in their path to choose from. I called my husband down from his office upstairs to take these pictures of the kids. I feel like as my children grow, unschooling will just change and flourish in really nifty and complicated ways. I welcome all comments and questions about how this lifestyle works for us!


Here's Funnyboy playing with spices while I cooked. He loves to "help" us cook, meaning he clings to our hips and says, "hah, hah" (hot) while pointing to the boiling water or whatever and then repeatedly blows in the direction of the stovetop. Very helpful. I love to allow him to participate and have always allowed my children to help with pouring, stirring, etc., but sometimes a mama needs a break, so I flung these spices his way, after very tightly closing the covers. He totally surprised me by immediately building a tower! He then performed a tiny toddler dance and we congratulated him on a job well done. More posts later where you can actually see his face.

Here's Feistygirl working on a collage at the table. We covered the paper entirely with black crayon, and then she chose which elements she wanted to glue onto it - hemp yarn, buttons and fuschia thread. It came out quite beautiful. She's very intense while she works on these wonderful, open-ended art projects. I'm a concrete firm believer in the process, not the product, especially for three year olds. Okay, especially for everybody. Come on over to our house and make some messes with us - you never know what you may create once you squelch your preconceived notions. Just pretend to be three.



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful children...Hooray for Funnyboy :0) I fear I may have ruined my little one forever by playing a crashing game with his blocks from the start...he is yet to add a block to any tower, preferring to crash it as fast as you can build it ;0) I agree unschooling can start from the start, and am certain (despite the mess) that all children would be far better for it.
http://www.freewebs.com/ohthethinksyoucanthink/index.htm

Stephanie said...

Oh they are soooo cute!
How exciting for your family that you are living this way from the start!!!
Talk about messes, the kids just played science experiment with leftover pie dough, red dye, flour and water...

Erica said...

They are such beautiful children!! I love seeing families living an unschooling life right from the start!

Jenny said...

We're a lot like you, it seems, except the kids are starting to grow up a bit ... 6,4, and 1. So now we officially "are unschooling."

Hilaree said...

Hi there Shell, Stephanie, Sierra Mama, and Jenny!

I'm so sorry to have not responded to your posts earlier. I'm just getting the hang of this stuff. I COMPLETELY appreciate all the love and support I've felt from you all! Go, mommies! Go, unschoolers! Thank you so much for saying my children are attractive. Hee hee hee. I hope you guys keep visiting me. Thanks again and more posts to come - I promise!

curioso said...

Hey Hil,

(it's me! guess who?!) Yes it has been forgotten that art is an age old human process of ritual, communication with our seen and unseen nature and an important source of narrative for our lives. This is best realized in childhood when we still know it. Actually I am going to say this so you remind me, but I am still hoping to work on that book "Creative Work for the No Nonsense Home" on creating art spaces for children at home. Simple, but productive. Keep asking me.