Unschool Homelife #1 - What we're up to lately

I think one of the things I see most online is people asking what unschoolers do...well, that varies.  A lot.  Here's a bit of what we're up to as of late:

 Dani has been on a major art-kick for the past month.  She very suddenly started painting figures and was coloring almost constantly.  She actually dried up an almost-new set of markers from use!  She has also creating robot pictures with foam sticker shapes.  Aaron did one robot with her and she copied it again and again almost exactly.  We also made some other animal robots (bunnies, cats).  Besides her artistic interests Dani also enjoys making up songs, pretending, dancing, cooking with us, reading books together, and watching for big "machines" when we're out driving.  Garbage trucks seem to be one of her favorites, currently.  Lots of big questions from her too!  Lately she's been curious about biology and the human body (blood and bones in particular as well as the reproductive system brought on by newly hatched chicks), weather (why is it raining NOW?), and geography (Dani and her friend Ella were very curious about the map and globe we keep at hand).  I've also been printing off and binding the free books from Progressive Phonics for her as well as letting her play games over at Starfall...then there are the dozens of books we read together on a daily basis...lol

A painting of Aunt Bonnie, complete with "fingers".

Aaron did the top left, Dani copied it again and again.

Oscar started walking.  He's into everything!  He loves to follow Dani around and explore the house.  Lately he's been doing more babbling and has finally started showing an interest in food....and water!  Water is his favorite, either to play with or to drink.

He is QUICK

We've all been spending a lot of time outside since the weather has warmed up.  Dani and Oscar both enjoy the yard, playing in the dirt, and splashing in the pool  Bubbles have also been a big hit this spring.  I put together a mud-pie kitchen for them to mess with as well.

Even rain doesn't stop us!

This year we've done a lot more with gardening.  We would really like to have our own crop of tomatoes to make plenty of Grandma Mary's famous salsa.  It's the best salsa I've ever had!  Dani helped me plant seeds and care for the saplings.  This week we will be putting them in the ground.  We've also been reading about plants and gardening.  I highly recommend Seed, Soil, Sun for a good kid-friendly book about how we grow food.

Newly sprouted.

A bit older and bigger here.

In general we've been doing a lot of stuff out in nature: collecting violets with friends to cook up some violet jelly, collecting shark eggs at the beach, and collecting eggs from our friend's chickens.

Our yard had more violets this year than I have ever seen!

Shark egg sacks from the ocean.

Amanda's chickens. She has newly hatched ones now too!

Speaking of friends...we've got a pretty busy social calendar.  Every 1st and 3rd Monday we meet up with other unschoolers at the park to play or the library if the weather is poor.  On Thursdays we can go to a Homeschool skate at the roller rink (Dani really likes skating!).  We also have a variety of regular playdates and activities we do with friends and family whenever we feel like it (Dani loves to go and do, so this is often).

I LOVE this photo of the girls together.  Ella & Dani have been friends since they were babies.

Dani took to skating really well

Then there's the adults in our home: Aaron and I both have been playing a lot of Munchkin to gear up for game-night with friends.  We've also been reading A Song of Ice & Fire (aka Game of Thrones) which has lead to looking up a number of medieval warfare terms (like "Trebuchet").  I've been doing a 52 book a year challenge, knitting, sewing and folding window stars.  Aaron has been grilling and cooking a lot.  Between America's Test Kitchen and Barbeque University there has been a lot of experimentation going on.

What is YOUR family up to?