PEN-F – The Dad Hatter

He loves building, with a wide variety of toys. Today it’s all about LEGO.

They had a great time today playing with Ponies together. They started by brushing hair and building the castle, and the game continued from there.

We spent the whole morning at the coffee shop, reading and listening to music.

He’s been creative with his building lately. Today he created the Sun.

More ponies! They’ve had a blast with them al week long.

She’s decided that taking notes while reading is a great way to learn.

The kids decided to plan out their day, and N immediately set to work writing up a list of the things he wanted to do.

December 23, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 51

Week 51 of our 365 photo project exploring our Unschooling life.

They found sizeable Mantis after chirch this morning and had a great time watching it and coaxing it onto their hands.

We spent the morning at DMNS, enjoying the eclipse and accompanying activities.

They always seem to find something with which to pursue a new experiment.

She absolutely loves this series!

We’re nearing the end of our current book and the growing tension is keeping them remarkably engaged.

He loves building his own circuits!

Another month, another Bitsbox! This week it’s about monsters and aliens. They don’t waste any time diving in once a new kit arrived!

August 26, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 34

It was a busy week! Insects, an eclipse, playgrounds, books, programming, physics and more!

Live animals are still the true purpose of visiting the zoo, but a temporary exhibit of animatronic Dinos is a lot of fun.

Knitters gonna knit!

Well, maybe not a master yet, but he is very good at puzzles. More importantly, he has a lot of fun working on them.

It’s nice to take some time off. So the day before my birthday I did just that, and among other things spent time in the Vikings exhibit at DMNS.

A cloudy sunset over Boulder valley.

We had a LOT of fun at the pool this morning.

July 22, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 29

Week 29 of my 365 photo project exploring our Unschooling life.

M is absolutely shark-crazed right now. He plays with shark figures and stuffed animals, reads shark books, talks about sharks constantly, and especially enjoys watching documentaries about sharks!

We encountered a fair bit of rain while backpackingl, but N was prepared!

He’s geared up and ready to go!

It’s always fun to look at the assortment of books the kids pick out at the library. Their varied interests are well reflected, though books about animals usually make up the bulk of their borrowing.

Novels and Minecraft books make for a nice, quiet morning.

N found a recipe for Ice Cream Sundaes that he thinks looks delicious, and set to work reading it so he can make them properly.

She’s still working on mastering her chosen second language!

July 15, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 28

Week 28 of my 365 photo project exploring our Unschooling life.

It doesn’t matter how grown up they seem to be getting, a good picture book always captures the attention of the whole family.

This morning we headed up to NCAR to study weather. The Cloud and Tornado exhibits are always a big hit.

July 4th always seems to be one of the best days to go to the museum. Most people seem to want to be doing things out of doors, which means we get to enjoy a favorite museum and a new exhibit without the normal crowds!

He really loves trains. Good Guy Trains, Villain Trains, Robot Mech Fighting Trains, you name it. Today he was building Police Trains.

I love this picture. He looks akward and there are some wonky reflections on his glasses, but he’s been practicing some trademark grins lately, and this seems to be one of his favorites.

This is a pretty good way to spend an evening before heading to bed. Building puzzles and coloring in some new Star Wars coloring books.

July 8, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 27

Week 27 of my 365 photo project exploring our Unschooling life.

The kids have recently found a new favorite show. Masterchef Jr., which seems pretty perfect for kids who love to cook.

We set put on a hike today above Boulder. We didnt quite get to our destination thanks to my bad knee, but we covered over six miles and had a lot of fun.

A didn’t want what the rest of us were eating so he was given permission to find his own dinner. He settled on reheating a bowl of peas and comsumed them with gusto.

T loves books. Luckily she has a lot of people to read to her.

We spent some time this afternoon learning a new board game, Kiwetin. Despite a few problems with the rules, we managed to have quite a lot of fun.

She spent a good long while coloring this page for Mrs. hatter as a “welcome home picture”.

A loves math and has a natiral flair for constructing interesting symmetrical patterns. He was dissapointed to run out of tiles.

July 1, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 26

Week 26 of my 365 photo project exploring our Unschooling life.

A said he wasn’t going to go easy on his Papa, and he didn’t. He also didn’t win, but it was a very good game. His chess skills are improving rapidly.

Our first attempt at a backpacking trip didn’t go to well, but N had fun and is excited for our next attempt.

They’ve begun playing their first Legend of Zelda game and love it.

My kids really like the Cars movies, so I took them to Cars 3 today. I actually liked it more than the previous two (though that isn’t saying much) and the kids absolutely loved it.

T and Mrs. Hatter spent the morning at the farm and had a whole lot of fun. T loved the birds and the ponies and the stairs and the trees. Basically everything about the place filled her with wonder and excitement.

The kids really enjoyed visiting the Art Museum today, especially this particularly colorful exhibit.

These two spent the better part of an hour plaing with old micro machines. They really love trains right now.

June 24, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 25

Week 25 of my 365 project exploring our Unschooling life.

A big family lunch to celebrate graduation day for the kids’ Aunt and Uncle! N particularly enjoyed sitting next to his Uncle, telling jokes, making silly videos and talking about our hiking plans for the next couple summers.

N was very proud of today’s build. It is, obviously, a power generator designed to power a large energy sheild. It can be dissasembled for repaid and includes a number of tools on a rack for maintainance. He told me exactly what each of them is for and how it all works. Clearly he put a LOT of thought into this.

The kids have been interested in playing chess more competitively, so we’ve been having small family tournaments so they can practice using clocks and other tournament rules. We did this twice this week, and they had a blast!

N actually took this picture at the Zoo. He’s been interested in using my camera instead of just their small tough camera, and today he was practicing with my telephoto lens. He really liked this picture, and so do I!

Not satisfied with regular buildings and log cabins, A has been using the Lincoln Logs in more creative ways recently. This is a work in progress – a quadruple catapult. It didn’t work quite as well as he hoped, but maybe next time he’ll solve his problems.

M has an infectious personality when he’s happy. And as you can see, he was very happy walking around with Mrs. Hatter, who took this picture.

Before eating he simply had to build something out of DUPLOs. Thus the Boat-O-Mech was born! G was very proud of this creation, as he is of everything he builds.

May 27, 2017February 18, 2018

The Unschooled Lens – Week 21

Week 21 of my 365 photo project exploring out Unschooling life.

We had the park almost to ourselves for a picnic lunch. The kids had an absolute blast!

We started revamping our home library spaces, ut he couldn’ wait for us to finish. He had to have books!

She recently learned to cook one of her favorite foods, and decided to make dinner for the whole family. It was delicious!

He seasoned and mixed the beef, formed the patties and started learning how to use the grill. Another delicious dinner.

May in Colorado usually has one good snowfall, and this year was no exception. These three simply watched the snow fall for the better part of an hour.