Our Unschooling Adventure - which officially started in Lowell in the Fall of 2005 - now continues in Berlin.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Supriya's Karate

Supriya started karate 2 weeks ago and received her first promotion today, from white belt to white belt with yellow bar (en route to yellow belt). She is psyched. It happened so fast because of her dedication. She almost always stays on for a second class every time and she does Fridays also. She wants to go every day and I have no doubt she would if she could! It also helps that the instructor is wonderful and that she gets plenty of individual instruction (because this satellite location is new).

Saturday, June 17, 2006

"Jason and the Argonauts"

Supriya and I just got done watching "Jason and the Argonauts", her first exposure to Greek mythology. Apparently the movie was among the first made with stop-motion photography. Very impressive. We also watched the interview with Ray Harryhausen, the pioneer of this technique.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

All Together Now Concert

All Together Now, the homeschooling family chorus that I co-direct, had our end of the year performance last Saturday. It went very well, and Supriya sang most of the songs by Manisha's account. Supriya has really grown to like chorus and that gives me a warm feeling. The music team sang a barbershop arrangement of "Sentimental Journey" that was very satisfying musically. Here we are - Jan, I, Rachael and Christina (with Miles in the sling). Posted by Picasa

Supriya's Karate

Supriya has found her calling in life - or so it seems! She went for her first karate class at Alan Kessler Karate Center on Tuesday and she is hooked. This is a satelite location in Westford which they are trying to grow. There were only 4 kids in the class on Tuesday and Supriya was the oldest & the most recent. She got to do quite a bit of advanced stuff (like kicks and katas) and she loved it. Manisha said she has never seen Supriya as excited about something - and that's saying a lot. She could not wait to go back. So today we went for the second class. She was excited to get her gi and had another good class (this time with only one other student). She is getting a lot of personal attention and it looks like she is working up to it.

Aseem and I were outside playing when the first class ended. Then Supriya peeked out and said, "P & M [the instructor's sons; both junior black-belts] are here - can I stay on for the next class?" So she stayed on for another class! I did not see what and how she did, but the instructor seemed happy about it when I talked to him
afterwards. And she still wants to do go every day and can't wait to go back. This is what calling looks like (and unschooling as well, if I may say so). Posted by Picasa

Monday, June 12, 2006

CATO Unbound

CATO Unbound's current "issue" has this very interesting essay called "The Future of the American Workforce in the Global Creative Economy" by Richard Florida. Definitely worth reading for all unschoolers...

Friday, June 02, 2006

Supriya's Drawings

A couple of recent drawings from this week. The first one is of a race-track, with many helicopters hovering above. The second one is a tow-truck towing a car.

New Haircut

Supriya and I went to Supercuts to get our haircuts on Tuesday. I think this is the right haircut for her, given her tomboy nature. We think she will appreciate it even more once she goes swimming.

And the things she is holding in her hands are her own creations, robots and such...

Duct-tape Craft

We missed the Duct-tape Magic FUNShop at the NEU Conference, but we did see the objects that could be made with duct-tape. The teenage boy who ran the FUNShop had a bag made out of duct-tape and decorated with studs. He explained to Supriya and me how to get started. Apparently that was all she needed. After we got back home she was busy at work at the dining table, and pretty soon had a bag ready. Today she asked me for ideas. I told her to make a bag for a book that was lying there. So she went off for an hour and came back with this!