With the half year of practise we've now had behind us, I can see that the relaxed/natural/unschooling approach, whatever you like to call it, actually requires a bit of ingenuity on the part of parents to get kids to do activities of educational value without actually knowing or considering it to be "work". I'm still learning on the job but it's suiting us better than the old style of dragging them to the table kicking and screaming all the way. (Well it wasn't as bad as that but often used to feel like it). I'm still writing my weekly wrap-ups although I haven't been posting them here as I used to do earlier in the year. I'm beginning to classify different activities under headings for my own benefit and it's been great fun. So here are some of the things that have been happening recently.

1) Science Experiment. To make a plastic substance out of milk and vinegar. You heat one cup of milk over the stove until it's hot, pour in a quarter cup of vinegar and stir until a thick substance separates from a more liquidy fluid. Then you strain the lot through an old hanky, form it into a ball and leave it at room temperature for a few hours until it hardens. This demonstrates chemical reactions that happen when something is heated, in this case, the milk.

This was actually a flop for us, as many of our science experiments often are. Instead of ending with plastic, we got a thick, curd-like substance, but as it looked interesting, so we were happy with that.

2) Bible Study game. I thought of one which I called "Fathers and Sons" I call out the name of any Biblical man and they have to write down the names of any of his sons (or daughters) they can remember, for one point each. You can see that there is pretty good potential for points if somebody remembers all 12 sons of somebody like Jacob. We had a bit of fun with this but the game was not without tears, as my 2 older kids are quite competitive and fierce with each other at times.

You can do other variations such as "Brothers and Sisters". It's good because all you need are paper and pencils.

We tend to be a game-based family at the moment. We have Spelling games, old favourites such as "Celebrity Heads" or UNO. We've been borrowing stacks of interesting books from the library which I read with the kids. I've been reading "Milly Molly Mandy" and the Little House on the Prairie series to Emma, along with a book about old fashioned toys which has resulted in quite a fascination with her. There is a Museum of Early Childhood somewhere in the city which we'll visit soon and hopefully reinforce what they've learned.

I'm often referring to my "Unschooling Handbook" for ideas and having a challenging, but fun time. I'm always on the lookout for different, interesting and fun ideas which are fairly simple, because we're not complex people, however much I wish we were.

Have a great week everyone.