Wonder World Classroom

In my other guise as a romance author, I've done a few blog hops in my day...but this Monday Mingle is a first for Wonder World Classroom!

Thanks to Tough Cookie Mommy for launching this great hop.

About our unschooling family: I have seven children, all of whom are grown except the youngest, 9-year-old Bri. Almost all were exposed to some type of homeschooling at one time or another, beginning with the oldest back in 1988. None, however, were unschooled. We knew from age 3 that we wanted to homeschool Bri exclusively, and of the various forms we've tried, unschooling has worked best by far.

Our style of unschooling is rather middle-of-the-road, meaning we're not radical unschoolers, nor are we particularly structured. What IS structured for us is a mindset, a sort of radar switch that my husband Mike and I turn on every morning. That switch allows us to focus on what Brianna is doing/saying/interested in to use these as learning tools. It might be a quick lesson on calculating tax on a new toy, research on a segment we're filming for her new YouTube Channel, or a visit to the local museum. There is learning inherent in everything we do, and for us as unschooling parents, we keep on the lookout for those light-bulb-over-the-head moments when Bri is most receptive to learning a particular concept. We also watch out for the warning alarms that say we're trying too hard to impart something she is not ready for.

Anyway, we are happy to be jumping on the blog hop circuit! I am eager to meet some fellow hoppers. Happy Monday!

One of the things we absolutely love about homeschooling  is the fact that Bri gets to socialize with kids and grownups of all ages rather than a select group of kids all the same age for 6 hours per day.  On the flip side, one of the things we struggle with in homeschooling is the fact that she doesn't get 6 hours per day of interaction with other kids. As the only child remaining in a house where the rest have grown up and gone onto other things, we have to find ways to satisfy her craving to be part of something involving groups of kids.

Several things have been tried in the past, but for various reasons, fizzled. Our homeschool group park days changed to days we're not available, a local PE program lasted for three months before she begged to stop, and attempts to contact the one and only girl scout troop in our area have not been responded to once I mentioned Bri is homeschooled.  (That will be looked into at some point soon.) She does attend the kid's club when my husband goes to the gym, but the number and ages of kids vary so much from time to time that it isn't always a good "kid time" outlet. (The last time, she was the only kid and spent her time playing with the teachers.)

Enter the dragon...or rather, the Tae Kwon Do studio by our house. She has been begging to take classes for quite a long time, and we finally signed her up this week. Not only will she be getting group interaction, physical activity, and training in self-defense, but the school has rules about students keeping their hair/teeth brushed, their rooms clean, and their attitudes respectful. She is so excited she floated three feet off the ground when she left the signup, and we're looking forward to seeing how things work out.

Brianna's first Wonder World video is here...sort of! Check it out and subscribe!

Bri is hard at work shooting her first video...except she experienced technical delays due to a disharmonious Feng Shui event in her room.

Here is her "coming soon" video!

My oldest daughter, who has a background in early education and chose to unschool her first child, came across a blog post on another homeschool "wonder" blog, Wonder Farm. I just had to turn around and share this great post here. Patricia Zaballos' insights on the subject of teaching kids to write really provided sound encouragement.

Since my husband and I are both published fiction authors, one might actually think we had at least a modicum of confidence on the subject of teaching writing to our child. Alas, it's not true. Bri from the beginning has had difficulties with penmanship and putting thoughts to paper, in part because we suspect some issues like dysgraphic and dyslexia. 

Check out this great post by following the link below. I hope you get as much out of it as I did. Thanks, Patricia!