Unschooling and Homeschooling Resources

Paper models of motorcycles, rare animals and more

By Lisa - Unschooling Mom | June 18, 2009

VERY cool- hard to believe these are made out of paper.
I have not tried them yet tho I have tons of coloured paper and this would be fun to experiment with.
A great craft to do with kids of all ages.
These images have to be seen to be believed.
Images, templates and instructions are on Yamaha’s site
Yamaha

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Stereo Typing and Assumptions- My Encounter with a Witch

By Lisa - Unschooling Mom | June 16, 2009

Had something a bit funny happen over the weekend but it did make me think about the way my mind works and how I can leap to conclusions even though I THINK I am pretty open.

I was somewhere where a festival was going on. I was not a part if it put but by chance found myself plonked in the middle. The festival was a witches get together- they were not wicca but witches and in fact a lovely group of people.
I do in fact come across many wicca, witched and pagans so not that crazy that I would come upon a group of witches over the weekend and my kids ar enot phased at all by it. I believe EVERY one has a right to examine and follow their own spiritual path - it is a fundamental right of every human being.

Anyway, I noticed wuite a few of the witched had Home Depot brown paper bags stapled over their clothes. Normally I would just keep my head down and my mouth shut ( NOT!) but couldn’t let it go by- I HAD to know why.
So I asked one of the women sitting near by. She said Oh- the idea was to have very simple adornment, no flashy jewelry or clothing… Ah…. Got it.
I thought of elaborate ceremonies where they were stripped of worldly times, one with nauire and the great goddess…

Do not ask my why I thought it was okay to blurt the next thing out… I have moments of total insanity at times. An idea popped into my head and guess I thought I would sound very “with it” and “accepting” so I said- Mmm.. wouldn’t the ultimate simple adornment be to have no clothes at all.
( FWIW I embarrass my husband constantly) .
She gave me a quizzical look.. and said I guess so.. the sort of moved away from me. So apparently I was too scary even for a witch.
A couple of minutes later she looked at me and laughed adn said- Oh I get it!!!
She said that the paper bags had no religious meaning but was part of a theme.. The theme of the day was the very innocuous ” Paper Bag Princess” story from Robert Munsch children’s bookThe Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch). Gulp.

So here I was interpretation all this significance into the paper bag having some mystical meaning and there was a very simple UN- magical explanation.
A good lesson for me to a) keep my mouth b) not to make assumptions and stereotype!

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End Of Year Stuff and Organizing Homeschool Activities

By Lisa - Unschooling Mom | June 9, 2009

Thus time of year is CRAZY. As Year long activities come to an end we are going to lots of recitals , concerts and final games. On top of that lots of things starting up. This week we started up horseback rising and Sailing.
FWIT, if you are homschooler you can often get great deals on places that cater to school kids, etc. Home school kids are available during the day so lots of places are eager to make a bit of money have time slots .
This year as a group we not only did the sailing and horseback riding but down hill skiing as well - and we got phenomenal prices.
often it is as easy as making a phone call. Don’t wait for some one else to do it- organize it yourself!
I will offer some tips- get payment or deposit in advance to avoid last minute cancellations where you end up holding the financial bag.

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