The Evolution of Writing

Owen is writing, and it is soooo cute.

But it's more than just cute. There is also something profound in these first clumsy attempts at written communication. My heart speeds up when I watch him shape letters, I marvel over what he perceives as so important that it must be written down. Here, other than his name, is the first document Owen's ever written himself:



It is about dwarfs, and what they do, and what they require to do what they do. Because someday, when he's old enough, Owen plans to play Dungeons and Dragons as a dwarf, and he's going to need the information on this sheet.
If you study the letters closely, you will see that he traced quite a few of them from dots that I put on the paper. Also, the words, where you can make them out, are spelled correctly; this is because he asked me how to spell the words and I told him.
But check out this next sample, the name of a store he and Luke are starting up for Poke (like Pokemon, pronounce Po-Kay) York:



It's called The Brothers Pom Pom Store, and they're planning on making pom-poms to sell, for Monopoly money, in Poke York for the Pokemon who live there. (Want to see Poke York? Click here.) You'll notice that 'Brothers' is spelled unconventionally, as is 'store.' Also, the letters are totally of his formation, not tracings of my letters.
When Luke saw this sign, I knew that he might question the mistakes. So I asked him to help Owen learn to write in the way that I wished he had learned to write: by trying to figure out which letters make which sounds to him, even if it doesn't make sense to the rest of us. Luke happily agreed, and I think he is enjoying being a teacher, even in a subject he's not all that confident in himself. Or, maybe it's because of his own lack of confidence.

In this latest sample, you can really see the evolution of Owen's writing - from me telling him what and how to write, to him sounding things out and writing them himself:



The drawing is mostly mine, but the letters that spell 'Pikachu' are all Owen's. They are, in order: P, K, E, D, E. And he sounded out the sounds in the word 'Pikachu' to get to those letters. So although it's barely legible, it is the one with the most personal meaning to him.

Being there at the very beginning of real attempts at written communication, especially when you can see how meaningful it is for the new writer, is one of the biggest joys of homeschooling so far. I can't wait to see what he writes next!

Pre-Literacy

Owen, at five, wants to read so badly. He's fascinated with letters - their formation, which ones make which sounds - but the poor kid can't make sense of them yet, try as he might.

We play rhyming games, read great books (two current favorites: Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies and the equally hilarious Way Out West with a Baby), and play games from another superb book, Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye.

But sometimes, you just want to be entertained while learning to read, and that is when we turn to YouTube. Here are some of Owen's - and Luke's, and my - absolute favorite reading/silly skits, from PBS's Between the Lions; this first one is the best:

By the end of that video, I am wiping tears of laughter off my face. Every time.

Next up, the Monkey Pop-Up Theater:

Now, the Amazing Adventures of Cliff Hanger:

And finally, Gawain's Word:

This skit is based off of Wayne's World, the movie with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, which (due to my overly silly sense of humor) makes it all the more endearing to me. We have even been known to 'do' Gawain's Word in our pool in summer!

So, maybe these skits help Owen take in the principles behind decoding text. I can tell you, watching them with him on my lap at the computer, seeing his expression as each new goofy thing happens on-screen, breathing in his little-boy smell, laughing along with him - that is what I mostly like them for.

The Acquisition of Proper English

This morning, while Luke described the trajectory of something he'd been reading about, he pronounced it with the emphasis on the first syllable so that it came out 'TRAjectory' instead of 'traJECtory,' as we would normally say it.

It made me pause and think: he mispronounced the word because he's only ever read it, and never heard it spoken. And I just found that so cool!

He's done this before, with the word 'motto' - I wrote about it here - pronouncing it 'mow-tow' and knowing of this word only from literature. Comics, actually, thus making the case that Calvin and Hobbes is truly high art.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how humans learn language, and the telling (not to mention cute!) mistakes we make along the way. Things like when Owen says "I'm pretty funny, amn't I?" He knows that it's a contraction, like isn't, but somewhere in the hard drive of his mind, he knows that isn't... well, isn't.

And then, there are the unpronounce-ables; when Luke was two or so, he used to call mustard 'shmenky,' because he just couldn't get his mouth around the word mustard. Naturally in our family we now always say 'pass the shmenky please.' He also used to say 'chip-chop cookies' instead of chocolate chip. When I was a girl, one younger brother called me 'Wee-wah' and the other called me 'Nenni' - I guess even 'Karen' can be tough for little ones!

I also love the substitutions, words that get put in place of the actual words; Owen calls Sprite 'Sprout' on the rare occasions he gets to have it. Again when I was a girl, one brother jokingly told my family that he was feeling sick to his stomach; he reported: "I'm nauseating!" We haven't heard a substitution from Luke for quite a while, and then a week or so ago he came out with this one while we were out on a walk, overlooking a fast-running stream: "Hey, look at those jimmies!" Ben and I exchanged glances, trying to figure out what a jimmy might be, and then it clicked - he meant eddies, those little whirlpools that you see in fast-running water.

Another word that he's read, but never heard, and another chance for me think: that is so cool!

'Plowing' Into the Field Trip Wars

Topsy and Firefly Mom have been dueling over field trips for the last few weeks, and finally I think we here at the Stone Age Techie are able to enter the fray, with our recent visit to Old Sturbridge Village.

We've been there several times, but this was the best visit so far in one way: it was Homeschool Day there, which meant that most of the people, and virtually all the kids, were homeschooled. It was one of the only times where we could be reasonably certain that nobody would ask us why the kids weren't in school, where we fit in, if that makes any sense. It was good fun! Here are some highlights:

First, we took a cider-pressing class with some buddies. This series of pictures shows the kids putting apples into the press, grinding them into mush, and then pressing the mush to extract the juice:

Not shown: us gulping down our cider after all this hard work! I was bummed out only because, while we were able to press this cider, we weren't able to try the cider we pressed; it's not pasteurized. I seem to remember pressing apples into cider as a kid, and miraculously not dying from it, but I guess times have changed and so now, we are one step removed from the bounty on the trees around us. Still, the cider we did taste at the end of the class was pretty good.

We then poked around the village, checked out a shooting match (and saw the coolest thing that I didn't have my camera out for - a smoke ring, let off as one of the guns fired, that floated above the spectators' heads and into the woods. Amazing!), met a baby calf, and Owen got to help with the year-end plowing:

Yes, that is my youngest, plowing for all he is worth behind two huge, very well-behaved oxen! Watching him put his heart and soul into the work, and then running back to me, huge grin plastered on his face, has me thinking that someday he might make a good farmer.

Later, we got to meet the oxen, Lance and Henry, and their driver who patiently answered questions for half an hour before heading off to get their 'dinner':

This was one in a string of amazing visits to Old Sturbridge Village. We count ourselves very lucky to have such a place within driving distance!

Interesting Reading

If you haven't seen it yet, the Carnival of Unschooled Life is up over at The Expanding Life. Some favorite posts: Exploring The Universe and What's Up With Us. Both are in the Life at Home section of the Carnival, which I guess just shows you what kind of mood I've been in lately. I'm feeling very curl-up-with-a-good-book-and-a-cup-of-tea, I guess, and I love to read about what families are doing while hanging out at home.

I also got wind of a great article about homeschooling, Confessions of a Homeschooler, the first in a series of articles at Salon online about homeschooling. Author Andrew O'Heir is the working-outside-the-home dad in a homeschooling family, and at least five times while reading this article, I laughed out loud at some question or thought that has come up for us, in our homeschooling family. It's a fun, thoughtful take on this crazy (in a good way, of course!)life, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Inspiration

We watched President Obama address the nation's children today, and, though Owen played more with his blocks than watched and listened, the speech hit home with Luke, especially this part:

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same... That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

Luke's life goal is to be a paleontologist - at nine, he is researching universities that specialize in his chosen subject, and deciding where he'd like to do some field work; right now it's kind of a tie between The Burgess Shale in western Canada, and the Dinosaur Highway in the western USA. But he seems to think that the fossils will find him rather than the other way around, he doesn't understand that paleontologists work for years without any glory whatsoever. And, while Ben and I wholeheartedly want Luke to pursue his dream, we'd like him to remove the rose-colored glasses, to realize that there is physical work involved in paleontology (not Luke's forte, physical work).

Anyway, he took President Obama's words to heart, and spent the latter half of the day figuring out how to see what the physical side of paleontology involves. He and Owen found a bunch of odds and ends to bury outside:

From summer 09

From summer 09

One of my favorite overheard conversations during the burying-and-digging-up phase of the day was about paleontology vs. archaeology. Owen, it turns out, wants to be an archaeologist, and 'dig up royal things,' so the pipe cleaners, feathers, and popsicle sticks which he buried and dug up weren't dinosaurs at all - much to Luke's chagrin. I think a truce was called around 2PM, when they started setting up for a more long-term dig:

From summer 09

From summer 09

And then, questions began regarding 'food supply.' I guess that whatever kind of dig you happen to be on, archaeological or paleontological, you still need a parent around to feed you!

They begged to sleep in the tent, to achieve a good idea of what roughing it on a dig would be like (minus, one presumes, the cocoa puffs and roasted marshmallows that were tonight's dinner). I fretted about skunks, and also about the truly awful night's sleep that would await Ben and I if the kids really slept out in the yard - so fortunately, we reached a compromise: they are now in the tent, on the screen porch, as much 'in' as 'out.' And, they look so cute!

From summer 09

From summer 09

I don't know if the dreams Luke and Owen have today will become reality for them, but I do know this: giving children the power of that simple idea - that we each set our own goals for our own education - that is what it's all about.

Negativity

A few weeks ago, the homeschool group to which we belong held a meeting about dealing with negativity from relatives or friends who don't homeschool. Interestingly, the fifteen or so parents at the meeting made a discovery: we are pretty well our own worst critics. We dread even thinking about what other people are thinking, it seems.

In this group, I opened up about my secret fear that Luke and Owen will grow up Math Illiterates, without even basic concepts to help them get through life. My really secret fear about this secret fear is that somewhere down the line, when this gross oversight in their education finally comes to light, everyone will point to me - and then the torches and pickaxes, a la Frankenstein, will inevitably follow. "Look at those two boys! They could have been accepted into Harvard... but their mother refused to teach them any math!" Much head-shaking will ensue, and my boys will move out into life unable to recite their times tables or figure out how much to tip the wait staff in restaurants. They will die, friendless and alone, because their mother didn't do her job.

At the meeting, we all reassured each other about our fears of criticism, and remarked upon how we all expect the negativity to come from the outside - but how in fact we are really our own worst critics.

The parents, especially those of older children, made me feel so much better about the lack of math in the lives of my two interest-led learners! They pointed out that, when math becomes interesting to Luke and Owen, it will take precedence. Also, they reminded me that just because a kid sits in class while math is being taught, doesn't mean the child actually learns any math. And, they helped me remember that math comes in different forms, several of which the boys love - logic is Luke's specialty, while Owen adores geometry and patterns.

It turns out, what I've really been worrying about is arithmetic - and that is why God invented calculators, which nowadays are acceptable at high levels anyway.

I went home feeling better, realizing that much of the negativity comes from my own mind, and not the outside world at all. What does come from the outside world can be addressed and dealt with so much more easily, when I set out with the positive notion that the boys are learning in the best style for them, and also that their timetables (oh, ha ha) for learning are the most important ones.

The funniest thing was that the morning after this meeting, Luke came to me asking to play Mythmatical Battles, a great card game that utilizes the multiplication tables up to nine in Yu-Gi-Oh-esque battles. We've since played Mythmatical Battles several times, and gotten a link to an awesome video game that teaches the multiplication tables, Timez Attack (with a great free download for stingy folks like me!)

Suddenly, arithmetic is in, leaving me laughing at my biggest critic - myself.

Dragons

Luke is obsessed. He's passionately reading any book he can get his hands on right now about dragons.

In addition to Dragonology and How to Raise and Keep a Dragon, Luke read Christopher Paolini's Eragon, the fantasy tale of the boy Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, over the course of five days last week. Five days! He is eight years old. This is a 700+ page book. I am in awe, not so much because of the speed with which he reads, but more because Luke's comprehension is astounding. Eight years old!

The book that captivates him most right now - until he dives into the Eragon sequel, Eldest, is The Dragonology Handbook: A Practical Course in Dragons. The book is set up as a course, with homework assignments and lessons, and I think that is part of Luke's fascination: it's like he has a private tutor about his current favorite subject!

Luke has taken to sketching dragons, and after some serious begging we now allow him to go out in the woods behind our house - alone! we are truly raising a Free-Range kid - and search for dragons to observe and draw. In case you missed that, let me just reiterate the point - Luke. In the woods. Drawing!

Each time he heads off into the woods, my heart is in my throat; when he returns, flushed with fresh air and the excitement of dragon-seeking, I realize that letting him go is the right thing to do.

On the Virtual Field Trip

Finally, the big day arrives!

Good morning, and welcome to the Virtual Field Trip! Please make sure that you are sitting comfortably:

From winter 08 09

Also, have your passport ready for better service.

From winter 08 09

Previously, the bus was driven by expert driver Owen:

From winter 08 09

...but today he has graciously ceded this post to two very competent professionals, Dog and Panda.

From winter 08 09

Now, sit back, grab some cushions, blankets and a snack, and let's hit the road!

From winter 08 09

What a wonderful, wonderful trip! From the moment we heard the Magic School Bus theme song, we were hooked - and then, when Luke found out about the passport links he was jumping for joy. Anything 'official' like that really brings him in, and as Luke is a duel citizen of Canada and the US, he had a choice of official passports, so he was just over the moon.

Owen, still only 4 and not really inclined to sit in any one place for too long, enjoyed the whole passport-creation event, and some of the postings, but Luke and I sat, captivated, in the bus for more than an hour, and still only got into Utah - giving us the rest of the posts to visit later this week!

Some of Luke's favorites were Goblin Valley, the Pirate Adventure, and the Lincoln Log Cabin, especially for the 'build-a-log-cabin' game. I enjoyed the Lincoln Log Cabin too, and also Mt. Vernon in Virginia, and so many other places...

Best of all, now that the kiddos are asleep I can go back in and check out the whole trip again!

Jena, thank you so much for this. It is a true gift, from a talented blogger.

The Long View

For unschoolers, or interest-led learners, like us, planning for college takes an unusual path. Our oldest is still only 8, but each time somebody tries to frighten me with that zinger, "What are you going to do about college?", I get a little pang of fear in my stomach.

Evidently I'm not the only one worrying. To address the fears of unschoolers everywhere, my blogging friend Jena recently posted about how her interest-led, homeschooling son got into the University of Chicago on a full scholarship. The post, which includes the transcript sheets that she developed along with several helpful links, can be found right here.

If you shake in your boots each time somebody asks about college for your little dears, you should check out Jena's post. In this, as everything else interest-led, she is right on the money.

Interview with an Unschooling Friend

Special treat today! Jena, an unschooling mom who blogs at Yarns of the Heart, has allowed me to interview her here at The Stone Age Techie. Jena's 3 children have always been homeschooled, and now the oldest has gone to college and the two younger ones are of high school age.

Here's Jena and her family, on a recent trip to New York City:

From Fall Blog

I was so pleased that Jena allowed me to ask so many questions, because I love the idea of unschooling but I've been afraid to "let" my boys go without work in at least some subjects, like in writing and math.

Her ideas and experiences give me hope.

Stone Age Techie: Have your children always been homeschooled? How did you develop your unschooling philosophy?

Jena: Yes, we've always homeschooled. The only exceptions have been when Peter went to a private school in 9th grade that only met on Mondays and Wednesdays. Missa is doing public school for the first time now in 9th grade (because she really wants to). Meg has only taken art and choir at our local high school.

How did I develop my unschooling philosophy? I went to college to be a teacher and I never once thought I'd be a homeschooler. Homeschoolers were some weird off-breed of humanity who were outside my world. But when my first child was a baby, we attended a church that had a homeschooling family and they seemed pretty normal (this was around 1990). So I was intrigued. I went to her house to see what homeschooling looked like. They had desks in the kitchen and school work taped to the walls. Interesting! That got me thinking. So I went to the library and got some education books. I thought back to my schooling and it dawned on me: the purpose of education is to make "good citizens." That's not a bad thing, but I translated that to mean "good followers." I'd rather my child be a leader, a free-thinker and even a reformer. I didn't want him sucked into a system determined to maintain the status quo (I write more about this in The Socialization Question). That was the first serious push in the direction of homeschooling.

A few months later I attended a homeschooling conference (he was not even 2 years old yet) and realized this homeschooling thing really was a possibility. To think I could create my own version of school at home with my favorite students! That's heaven, in my opinion.

So now, how was I going to "do school?" It's true that humans are born learners and parents are their first teachers, so I just slid into this unschooling philosophy. My kids loved learning, and so did I. Why did we have to ruin it all with schedules and someone else's curriculum plans? I decided early on that my goal in raising children would be to "maintain the joy of childhood and the joy of learning." If my kids were interested in something, I'd help them get the resources they needed to pursue that interest, and it just kept going year after year.

There were times I'd pull in the reigns more, question this philosophy and buy a canned curriculum. But it never lasted. It would be fine for awhile, but after it drained the fun out of life, we'd abandon it. I didn't think any curriculum was worth keeping if it taught my kids to hate learning.

I liked to look at check lists (I had the Core Knowledge Sequence and other books by E.D. Hirsch). I used those once in awhile to give me ideas of what we could be learning about, what books or videos I could check out, what field trips we could take, etc. But if my kids weren't interested, that was OK. There's always something else around the bend.

Stone Age Techie: What was it like in the early days, before homeschooling was even on the radar for much of the country? Did you homeschool before Google, while the only Internet available was really, really limited? If so, what was that like?

Jena: This question is my favorite. It never occurred to me that homeschooing before Google would be of interest, but as I think about it, I understand. Getting information is so much easier now than it was ten years ago. Maybe that's why I felt so isolated in my schooling style. But here's the answer: my kids read constantly, especially Peter, and they played dress-up and created worlds on their own. We bought and borrowed books, watched PBS, went interesting places, and just did what seemed fun. That's about it.

Stone Age Techie: (Here are my own insecurities coming out) How did your children learn "academics," especially writing and mathematics? I favor the unschooling philosophy, but I still feel reluctant to do math and writing this way. If you did unschool even these subjects, could you provide some examples of what worked for different learning styles? I'm assuming 3 kids, 3 learning styles...

Jena: Math is a natural in the world of games. Anything that requires keeping score is addition and subtraction practice. Battleship teaches x and y coordinates. Yahtzee gives multiplication practice. Denise Gaskins produced a few little booklets that I bought at a homeschooling meeting. One is Gotcha! Strategy Games for Math and Logic. They are basically ancient paper and pencil games that make you think. Family Math and other books like it were also fun resources to try out once in awhile.

I did have them memorize the multiplication tables, complete with rewards for progress. But I'm not too good at forcing things on my kids, so it wasn't a complete success. Now Peter is in college and even in the 99th percentile in math on the SAT and ACT, he can't remember basic elementary math facts. But that's true of most everyone and that's why people buy calculators.

When Peter got to 6th grade I bought a math CD. That was his first experience with formalized math. From that point on, I tried to require daily math in a workbook or computer program. When he went to the private school in 9th grade he had a wonderful teacher and a class of only three kids, so it was basically a tutoring situation. It was perfect for him. Looking back, I think I should have been more of a dictator in this subject. Find tutors, computer programs, workbooks, videos or Internet resources to keep moving forward in math. It's just too hard to cram all of elementary and highschool math for college entrance exams. For more of the actual resources we used, I've compiled most of them here.

Writing/spelling/grammar is much, much easier. Have them read examples of good writing (books) and give them a journal to express themselves anyway they want. When their imagination creates wonderful worlds, have them write it down for "posterity," not as an assignment. The computer program will alert them to spelling and grammar problems that they will naturally want to fix. Then a couple months before the ACT/SAT, teach them about the five paragraph essay and have them practice writing a few. Probably before they graduate highschool, teach them how to write a research paper. But even this is not necessary. Colleges expect to teach freshmen how to write the way that institution wants them to. Blogging, MySpace, IM, email, all are great ways to practice communicating. My kids are constantly asking me to check their spelling and grammar when they do those things--they don't want to look stupid.

The key to teaching writing? Imagination and Conventions. They can learn conventions by being exposed to them in print (by reading) and through games and workbooks (sparingly). Imagination is best developed with freedom to be themselves. My favorite, very fun book on writing conventions is Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Conner

Stone Age Techie: Have you ever had to defend homeschooling to school officials, relatives, or schooled friends? If so, how did you handle it?

Jena: Yes, but not to school officials. Since I have a teaching degree, my parents thought it was fine. They did worry about socialization, but they didn't hassle me. And over time, they saw what great kids they turned out to be and now are very glad I kept them out of school. I find it best not to argue my point but let my life and my results speak for themselves. If someone really wants to argue, I just drop it, smile and thank them for their concern. Often giving them my philosophy--maintain the joy of childhood and the joy of learning--was enough to get them to agree with me! And as far as socialization goes, I'd just mention all the lessons and activities they were in. If your kids are nearby, have them talk to this person and they'll see that homeschooled kids are often better socialized than public school kids because they aren't afraid to talk to adults in an intelligent way.

Stone Age Techie: We have found homeschooling works well for our whole family, in terms of fulfillment of the spirit (spending time out in our community, reading and learning, socializing...), taking care of our home, the day-to-day cooking, cleaning, and nuts-and-bolts parts of our lives. Have you found the same to be true?

Jena: Absolutely. Life and learning involves all of us together. That's the most fun of homeschooling and why I think I'm missing Peter so much, this his first month away at college.

Stone Age Techie: Is there anything you'd like to share that I haven't asked about, regarding homeschooling, parenting, or life in general?

Jena: Unschooling works best when you communicate a respect and trust of your child's innate abilities to learn and succeed. This is crucial. Listen to your child and take her seriously. See the unique contribution she has to make in the world. If her conclusions and life-direction doesn't match up with your ideal, that's ok. That's great, as a matter of fact! Your child needs the freedom to be who they are and to discover the joy of life.

[Here's Missa, Jena's youngest child, as Spidey:]

From Fall Blog

If they can get through high school with their love of learning intact, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Someone who loves learning is unstoppable. When they face an obstacle, they will know how to tackle it, be that getting into college, preparing for a job, or starting a business. In fact, I just wrote a post about this, relating to Peter's experience in his Calculus class. School has to be more than learning facts. There is a world of facts out there, but what use are facts if you're sick of them or don't know how to find and apply them? A child raised to develop his or her passions will continue to pursue passions forever and be a happy, successful adult.

Bean Bag Math

We are making the most of these wonderful, crisp fall days.

Thanks to The Siblings' Busy Book, we're enjoying the out-of-doors and doing some math work as well, with our variation on bean bags.

From Fall Blog

We agreed to work together cooperatively towards a really high score. Luke chose how many points we'd get for getting in the bin (40), for touching the outside of the bin (30), and for any bean bag landing within 1 foot (20), or 2 feet (10), of the bin.

From Fall Blog

We played 6 rounds, between the three of us scoring 350 points - pretty impressive, we thought!

The beauty of this game was, Luke kept thinking about different scoring combinations long after we finished playing. Because of the numbers he'd chosen, we were counting by tens, and thinking in terms of mathematics, all afternoon.

Finally, I love activities such as this one because there's a way for all of us to be involved; here's Owen "keeping score:"

From Fall Blog

Perpetual Saturday Morning

I can't think of anything more delicious than listening to the buses go by in the morning, while we linger in our PJ's, reading, talking, singing, finishing breakfast.

Unless it's the Not-Back-to-School Beach Day:

From Fall Blog

From Fall Blog

From Fall Blog

From Fall Blog

From Fall Blog

Recently, my Mom referred to our daily life as 'perpetual Saturday morning;' I can't say I disagree with her.

But who's to say that is a bad thing? Life learning occurs on the weekends, too.

Swimming

This time last summer, Luke was nearly 7 and deathly afraid of getting his face wet. He had a real phobia about it, which is no surprise considering I had the same phobia until age 9. Knowing that I shared his fear made him more comfortable, but real help came late in the summer, in the form of a pair of goggles.

The goggles actually kicked around all summer; then right around Labor Day Luke plucked up his courage, put them on, went under - and loved it! He was fascinated with how everything looked under the water, and so finally beat back his water-related fears.

Just before we closed our pool last summer, Luke started holding his breath for a bit longer, tentatively swimming and floating. We opened the pool this year in early June; here's a series of pictures I snagged yesterday:

My mind boggles at the difference between Luke last July, and Luke now.

The best thing about his progress (outside of how much fun he's having, and how much safer he is now that he can swim) is that it came about through play.

As an unschooling parent, I spend lots of time finding illustrations of play-as-learning for skeptical parents and friends. Well, there's no better way to show the value of play in learning than swimming, where everything Luke does is a small step in the direction of learning to swim.

But he never set out to 'be a swimmer;' instead, he wanted to see what the diving sharks looked like under water. And then he wanted to grab the diving sharks under water, and then he wanted to use his hands to pull himself along the bottom, and then he wanted to jump in from the stairs, and swim in the deep end...

And suddenly, Luke is a swimmer.