Take Note

Post it notes. I have them all over my house! Light loves to jot things down, and then post them everywhere! They are on my kitchen wall, hallway walls, cabinets, and even on the floor!

He makes signs and directions. There is a sign that has been up for months now that states: "$5 billion thousand dollar penalty....Employees only.....Stay out....we really mean it!" He makes maps, charts, general notations, just about anything! I have a hard time keeping any paper around for myself! He sees a pad of paper and he just has to write something down. I honestly don't know how many journals and notebooks and pads of paper we have purchased for him in his lifetime! Many a tree has given the ultimate sacrifice to be part of Light's journaling need! We were recently out with some other unschooling families at a local bookstore and Light came across a great little book of notes to pass to friends. He was passing notes to everyone!

It amazes me the things he thinks of and then feels compelled to write down, I just wish I could convince him that the post it notes really don't go with my decor!

Recipe for fun

"Mom, I just learned something new! Flour floats in water.... unless of course you add too much in one spot, and it sinks."

"What are you doing in there?" I ask.

"Nothing, just making some clay, or something. It looks like I made some slightly purplish fudge."

"Are you following a recipe?"

"Nope. I'm just making it up as I go along. It is just an experiment, Mom. Don't worry."



Ahh, doing things his way! My only rule has been "Don't blow up the house," so some harmless mixing in the kitchen is to be expected. It was great watching him measure ingredients with precision, and commenting on amounts. "I have twice as much flour as salt here. Maybe I should add more flour. Mom, did you know that 1 and 1/2 teaspoons is 1/2 of a Tablespoon?"

At one point he sniffed his creation and commented "It doesn't smell so good. We must need to bake it."



It was great listening to him observing what floats, sinks, mixes, etc. He had a blast, and even cleaned up after himself! He ended up baking his mixture, at "400 degrees Fahrenheit exactly for 15 minutes." It didn't quite turn out how he expected! It was great for him to see that baking soda and baking powder will cause things to rise, and that his "creation" did not come out hard, like pottery, but rather more like funny smelling little cakes. Needless to say, we didn't eat them, but the process was fun!

Welcoming Fall

This week had no major events, but it was fun as usual!

Violin lessons are going great, and Light’s music theory is growing by leaps and bounds! He is working thorough the Suzuki Violin book, and he is learning that his mind is way ahead of his body, but with practice and determination his body is learning to make the music that his mind so clearly hears. His math background really paved the way for a great foundation in understanding music, but he continues to amaze his instructor and me as his grasp of the math in music is displayed. Light’s ability to understand fifths and positions and scales and octaves and rhythm and time signatures and lots of musical stuff astounds me and although he can only “play” 3 songs right now (Twinkle, Twinkle, Lightly Row, and Song of the Wind), his musical knowledge and understanding well surpasses any aspirations I had when he began lessons 9 months ago. He has even begun to compose his own songs and it fascinates me to see him thinking about music. His instructor commented as we were leaving the lesson last Monday, “Keep this kid composing, he really has the mind for it.”

Swimming is also becoming another area of strength. Light has tried organized sports and none have really resonated with him, but he is active and loves to move! This summer he really became a “fish” and would spend HOURS in our pool, diving under and spending most of his time underwater and treading in the deep end. He really is a home in the water! With fall finally here and his need to be in the water we have continued with YMCA swim lessons and he is doing great. His strokes are becoming more and more refined, and he can swim the length of the pool with ease (we are still working on finesse) and often swims as far and deep as he can on his last entry into the pool at the end of the lesson, to prolong getting out of the pool! I think in the weeks to come we will be scheduling 2 or 3 lessons a week, as he really wants to be in the water as much as possible. Light has even stated he would love to be on a swim team, so I am exploring those options in our area.

Lego’s and K’nex got a lot of use this week. Light goes through building phases. I love to see what he will come up with. This was the most fascinating design this week, and I have honestly not seen anything like it in any of his Lego kits or books. He continues to amaze me with his creations.



The main levels are a building with floors and the “elevator” slides up and down the shaft. The elevator opens up inside the building and to the outside as well. I thought it was quite clever!

Light got to stay over at his grandparent’s house this weekend, and he went exploring with Grandma on her wonderful property. He came home with a box of great finds he gathered! He told me all about Blue Spruce trees, burning bush, Osage orange trees, pine cones, thyme, Sycamore trees and their giant leaves, and lots of other nature finds. They took light sensitive paper and made a print of some leaves they found. Light described the process to me, “For this activity pick a day when the sunlight is really strong, put the light sensitive paper in the sun for 5 minutes with leaves on the paper to make a design. After 5 minutes, put the paper in water for 2 minutes and watch the paper develop. You end up with a really cool design!”



All in all, we had a great week! We read (Light is currently reading Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, still reading about Chemistry, also reading about Earth Science, and reading a book about Pythagoras), hung out with other home schoolers, enjoyed the weather, and welcomed fall!