Unschool's Cool: What's Up

Life has been good to us. The Beautiful weather has brought many new learning opportunities and chances to continue being involved. Ah. The World. It is a Beautiful place...Samantha has developed a strong love for art, sparked by a friend. Her friend, R, has a 12 year old sister who loves art and always teaches R her new techniques. And R shows Samantha all the new things she has learned. This got Samantha out of the "cut and dry, stick figures with standard clothes" kind of drawings and really opened some doors from her. This change was sudden, and now Samantha spends hours and hours on end drawing everything she sees. Her drawings have become intricate and detailed. All of her "characters" have names, back stories, and emotions. She depicts things she sees around her, from family interacting, to a game of football, sick people, to Civil War scenes.

Speaking of Civil War, Samantha has begun learning, by choice, about the Civil War. (It is amazing what the purchase of a $2.00 Civil War Reenactment set from a yard sale can do for a child!) She began with playing for several hours, first with just the horses, then with the soldiers, asking questions about which soldiers were which and where the Civil War took place. Amazing thing is, we have the Chickamauga Battle Field National Park practically in our back yard! Onward-This calls for a trip the museum! Per Samantha's request, of course. I wrote a letter to her here about the trip. It was unbelievable for her when she found out that the war, did in fact take place in our community. That the ground we are walking on is indeed historical. And this made it all more real to her, kindling her fire. Books are being shipped as I type. Soldiers are being set up into large brigades as she tried to reenact the war the way she thinks it all happened. Drawings of the Battle Field line the walls. Life as we know it has changed. Our house has been transformed into a war zone.

Coming up Samantha also has Field Day-her very first Field Day. I have already warned the board not to let me down on this one, as Field Day was the highlight of my school years, and I want Samantha to experience that excitement that I did. Of course she loves games, board games, group games, computer games, you name it. Friday is Homeschool Day at Lake Winnie! Woot Woot! Half price admission for homeschoolers! We are in! This will also be her very first trip to an amusement park. And measuring in at 4 foot 1 inches, she is able to ride every ride! She says she will be fearless, but this could go either way. As for non group related activities, we will be trekking to a local art museum downtown to see the 2014 exhibits. How I wish I could find a museum close by with all her favorite paintings by Van Gough and DaVinci. (Oh, yes! Samantha has been preparing to paint The Starry Night since I bought her a poster of it this weekend. She made a rough sketch and started preparing a large piece of cardboard, which we will tack on to her ceiling once she is done. It will be like looking up at the stars!)

The end of the CHEA year is coming up so fast. (Of course ours will keep going.) But how has this happened? Wasn't it just yesterday that we were joining CHEA and Samantha was making new friends? Now Samantha has built relationships and made best friends that she can't imagine life without. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were the newcomers? Now we have been to every holiday party and major annual event, know what to expect for next year, and will even be a part of it! In fact, we will be expected to welcome and guide others at the Annual Not Back to School Picnic. Not to mention, I received an email recently asking if I would like to serve on the board for 2014-2015. Yes, indeed! My dream! As Secretary, I will keep track of the Minutes, assist with event planning, be one of the go-to people for information. And will also be tag teaming responsibility for the Nature Club... Gee, where has the time gone?

Here are some pics of what we have been up to. At the bottom I posted pictures of her most recent drawings. I know that they are not museum quality, but I am very proud of the detail that she puts into each of her pieces.