Unschooling NYC

A couple of weeks ago I started keeping a daily log of our activities so that when the next quarterly reports are due, I have something to refer to that will help me remember all the ‘learning’ that went on in our home.   Writing things down make me very aware that on some days the only thing we do is play, or have friends over, or watch movies….  And although I know that learning is happening no matter what, on those days it’s not something I can point to and say “we learned this“.

Then there are days like … Read more

My friend Anna, who is Hungarian, told me once that when she was in school in Hungary, studying English, she took a course on doing business in America.  (Maybe that wasn’t the title, but that was the topic.)    One of  the things they stressed as a key to being successful in business dealings with Americans was to be familiar with the names and current records of sports teams.   Because there is no better way ‘in’ than , “Hey, how about those [fill in name of appropriate sports team here]?  Think they can go all the way this year?”

When I … Read more

Finally, finally, Spring seems to be in full control, five weeks in to the official season.   We’ve enjoyed weather in the 70’s for two days in a row, and today we spent the afternoon in Riverside Park which is currently awash with flowering trees.   Central Park gets all the good press, but Riverside is more beautiful in the Spring.

Today is also Ulysses S. Grant’s birthday, and his tomb is in Riverside Park.  Friends of ours went to see the ‘festivities’, which turned out to be a re-enactment of his funeral  (odd choice for a birthday celebration) and the … Read more

We have days in our family when communication breaks down.  Usually this involves an assumption combined with not listening or talking over the other person.    Joshua and I sometimes think we know what the other one would say and act accordingly, and then it turns out we were wrong.   I always think how simple it would be to avoid all mis-communication by just asking some version of “What do you think about this?”.   Of course remembering that in the moment when I am consumed with my own thoughts to the exclusion of all else is the hard part.

When it … Read more

One of the great joys of life learning, in my opinion, is the ability to sleep – or not – without worrying about it making you late if you slept too long, or of not being able to focus on some all important- your life will be nothing without this knowledge- kind of lesson or class if you didn’t sleep enough.    In our family, the four of us have varying sleep schedules, which would never, ever work if we all had to wake up, eat breakfast and then get out the door at the same time every morning.

For instance:   … Read more

This morning (after the Easter Bunny made his annual appearance)  my Mom and I attended Easter services at All Souls Unitarian Church here in Manhattan.   If I was going to participate in organized religious services anywhere, it would be at All Souls.   Unitarians are not Christians, contrary to what some might think.    They believe that every human being was created from the same source, whatever that source may be.   God is not an all powerful Being who lays down laws that his followers must obey or be damned, but a dynamic spirit or energy within and around us all.   Unitarians … Read more

Today we went to see “Born to be Wild” with my Mom and the kids.   If you haven’t heard of it, it is a film about two amazing women,  Dame Daphne Sheldrick in Kenya and  Dr. Biruke Galdikas in Borneo.   These two women have devoted their lives to rescuing, raising, and re-introducing to the wild orphaned elephants and orangutans, respectively.   Not only is the film beautifully made, but at a mere 45 minutes long, it packs a wallop and leaves you with a sense of urgency.   We are on the verge of either losing some of these creatures forever due … Read more

So funny that I was watching a Tivo’d episode of Letterman today and saw Steve Martin perform “Athiests don’t have no songs” together with the Steep Canyon Rangers.    It is the perfect afterword to my blog post yesterday.

My Mom is visiting for the weekend, and the kids are thus in high spirits.   We always have a good time when she’s here.   Sunday we are going to attend the All Souls Unitarian Church Easter Service, primarily for…you guessed it – the music.

Happy Easter (Good Friday)/Passover/Earth Day!

… Read more

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”   (psst.  Unless the others don’t observe the ‘right’ religion – in which case the Golden Rule doesn’t really apply.)

That’s my basic problem with religions.   By their very existence they create an ‘other’ that is perceived as undeserving, or lost.   Let me just say up front that I also believe most religions – at least, the ones I am familiar with – to have good in them.    I have friends who are born again Christians, others who are Orthodox Jews, a few who are Muslims, a couple of Buddhists,  … Read more

I’m working on another rather complicated subject at the moment – how we, as a life learning family handle religion given that Joshua is Jewish (ethnically, not religiously) and I am not.

In the meantime, thanks to my friend Jane Kellner, here are some quotes that bear repeating, and after that, photos from our day.

“No one imagines that symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale.  The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it.  It is the same, I … Read more