A Water Evaporated Rocky Road Review

Home school has begun. We are following Natural Learning tenets with some Math curricula from Queensland Education. Given Boy’s hatred of institutionalized education, we have been attempting to unschool in the most functional and productive way we know: don’t let Boy into our excitement of the teachable moments in any given situation.

Because Tuesdays are cheap movie days at our local cinema, we have agreed that going to the movies is included in his home school hours. In return for this compromise, Boy has to achieve some sort of movie review. What does a good home school Mum do – the research on what goes into a movie review. Would Boy play the game? No. He refuses to hand write and is slow on the key board (he said that all the numbers, letters and symbols confuse him). Searching for creative ways to review what he has seen, we have come up with a range of creative options for Boy to choose from on the days his Aspergers demands opposition.

After watching Arthur and the Invisibles (see Boy’s movie review, I think he did a great first job – he spoke, I typed.) Boy displayed a natural curiosity in water storage and irrigation. “Yes, it’s okay to make an aqueduct from straws,” I said. “That can be your movie review project. You’ll be showing us what you liked best from the movie and what your learning has been.” NO STRAWS in the drawer!!! Oh no, please don't have a melt down Boy.

Instead, we found a water evaporation project and Boy happily followed the simple instructions to a T. Boy has placed his two cups of water in the sun on the end of our pool diving board. One is covered with plastic wrap, the other open. Looking up at the dark clouds in the sky I think we might be in for a monsoonal down pour this afternoon and Boy will either have to start his experiment again or learn about water measurement. Either way, Arthur and the Incredibles has led to some fun water experiments and I have one very happy little boy who doesn’t realise the value he’s gained from sitting in the air conditioned cinema.

Our other home school project for the day is for Boy to teach me how to make Rocky Road. After the movie, we bought the ingredients and Boy was adamant in his choices of jelly lollies (snakes) and marshmallows (tiny wee things in every colour of the rainbow). He swears by the recipe made frequently by his stepmother and he’s sick of me asking him to get some Rocky Road when he goes out with his step Dad. Given Boys Aspergers and hatred of anything that smells or tastes like school, I figure that his cooking instruction to me can only be good for his self esteem and learning in home economics.

Love this home schooling. How come I was never afforded the privilege when I was a kid?