Free to be a Child

10/09/2026

Grist mill, by E5, from memory after visiting Old Sturbridge Village yesterday.

10/08/2026

Spanish class this morning.

10/07/2026

The first of what I suspect will be many trips to Old Sturbridge Village this year! We went for Homeschool Day, but we could have just gone for the blacksmith and stayed there all day! These children loved it just like L17 did when she was younger (still does), and it was a joy to share it with them!

10/06/2026

We finished our latest chapter book, and that means it's party time! This book--Big Foot, Little Foot--has SO many food choices. I thought we'd narrow down our plans today. But E9, who has strong opinions about food, felt that EVERYONE should have a say. So he made a chart for voting. He transferred my food-ideas list from the computer to a big sheet of paper, drawing all the food options and making columns for each person ("well, except C1, because he probably wouldn't understand voting") and a "totals" column. Here, E5 adds his votes while E9 reads the list of options. (I'm going to have to figure out recipes for acorn butter and walnut rumples!)

10/06/2026

L17 was listening in as I was talking with children this morning, and she recorded part of the conversation and then wrote up this post:

"It is not funny to keep going when someone says stop."
"It is funny."
"No, it is not."
"The chickens are funny."
"Yes, the chickens are funny."
"I want to pet the chicken."
"You can ask the chicken if that is ok."
*chicken flaps away*
"Chickens can’t talk, so they tell us if something is ok with their body language. If they run away, that means no."
"But I want to pet her."
"I know you do, but she said no."

This is what teaching consent looks like with 2-year-olds.

This is a very typical interaction right now, as in many settings with young children. In light of current events, the terrifying statistic that one in three women will experience SA is at the forefront of my mind. Teaching children how to quickly stop when told no is how we do our part to make a world where 3 out of 3 women are listened to when they say no, whether with words or actions. Teaching our children that anything that is not a yes is a no is key. We as a society can and must do better. In how we teach consent, and in how we proceed when it is broken.

10/05/2026

Can you find E10?

10/05/2026

E5: "Lise! I found foreshadowing in this book! Remember when there was the big accident because of the banana pudding? Look back here--I see spilled pudding!"

I remember learning about literary elements in high school and feeling intimidated. Was that symbolism? Or would the teacher say I was wrong? Homeschooling has made me realize that we learned about them too late--like this complicated knowledge that teachers held and highschoolers could only guess at. 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘 WRITER and Read-Aloud Revival taught me to introduce literary elements right away, through our read-alouds. Trusting that children are smart enough to understand literary elements at a young age, and talking about them with joy and excitement as we read, gives them the confidence to try finding them on their own. It's become a joyful scavenger hunt for us.

10/01/2026

09/30/2026

The first few weeks of the year require a lot of nap assistance for the preschoolers. But we're starting to hit a groove, allowing more naptime focus time with the homeschoolers. Today, that looked like E5 and I reading many chapters of The Wild Robot together on the couch.

09/29/2026

Today was one of those "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" type of days. We drove to our favorite apple orchard to pick apples, but it was not to be: they were closed to picking for the day. It was time for a quick pivot. So we bought big bags of seconds, played on the rocks while admiring the gorgeous view, exclaimed over discovering "our" letters on a sign, and then drove back home and started processing: slicing and peeling for dried apples, and cutting for applesauce.