If I Home School My Kid... How Do I Get Time Off??!!!

I was asked what the right amount of time to spend with our kids is, and I can't answer that question. Every person and every relationship is different. But what I can say is that to build a life together requires time and purpose. For sure we need a little play time with our kids, but most of the time working with our children is the ideal. How to do this well depends entirely on the work you do.

Figuring out how to fit children into our work is literally The Challenge of parenting. When Anders was a baby I mostly cooked, cleaned, did yard work, and errands. He fit perfectly into this work. When he got older I spent time writing, and he fit perfectly into this work. There was a period of adjustment while we learned to do our work together, but we always figured it out.

Children learn the work they are exposed to. Children of shoe-makers can make shoes at a very young age. Children of hunters can hunt at a very young age. Though they are exploration oriented rather than goal oriented, children constantly surprise me with their competence at things no one thinks a child their age can do (see this videos of Anders cooking breakfast when he was barely two-years-old https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNRroZ1gcMo).

That being said, I have not yet figured out how to fit Anders in to Tom's work life at his office, but then, I have never tried. I imagine that if that was our goal, Anders and I would need a month and then we would figure out how to be helpful at Tom's office. Or maybe it wouldn't work out, and we would decide to start Anders on office work when he was seven or so as people have in the past. This is why having two parents is a lot easier than having one. Though having twenty, as the hunter-gatherer groups or the extended family arrangements of the past had, would be even better.

But onto what I know that may possibly be helpful to other parents today.

Infants are awake ten to twelve hours a day. That means a minimum 70-hour work week for the stay-at-home parent or 35-hours a week for each parent. Having a baby is not one, but TWO full time jobs.

In less than a year, the infant sleeps less and becomes an even bigger time commitment–84 hours a week. That only lasts a year or two, and then the energetic preschooler is awake for 98 to 112 hours a week depending on sleep habits. That is THREE full time jobs.

No parent is "working" with the child every minute it is awake. The child will get involved in Doing Something and that leaves the parent time to care for the child in other ways–cooking and cleaning.

Either way, a stay-at-home parent cannot be expected to work 112 hours a week and not become extremely unhappy or insane. Neither can two parents split the work equally while also maintaining a 40-hour week outside the home without the same consequences.

A century ago history was not studied gratuitously. No one memorized dates and facts. We looked to other times (and other places) to see how our fellow human beings solved the problems we were up against. So–

In the average hunter-gatherer group, infants were in the care of others for four hours each day, which means Mom got four hours "off" each day. She slept with her baby at night, so they spent on average 20 hours each day together, 6-8 of which were awake.

By the time a child was two or three it joined in play with the other children. The children's playgroup was overseen by the grandparents. Mom, no longer needing to nurse her baby throughout the day, was often three miles away gathering food with the other women of the tribe. This mom got four to six hours "off" each day. She still slept with her baby at night, so she spent, on average, 18 hours with her child, about 6-8 of which were awake.

Similarly, in many times and places in the past, children were raised in extended families. The main caretakers of the very young were the older-young (kids 8-12) and the old (grandparents).

In fact, evolutionary scientists argue that humans would not live as long as they do if it did not contribute to the survival of the young. Most animals do not live long after their children are grown and have children of their own. But human grandparents (and especially grandmothers) made such important contributions to the survival of their grandchildren (by caring for them and freeing their mothers to gather more food) humans evolved to live longer and longer.

Evolutionarily speaking, grandparents exist to be of service to their grandchildren. Today the opposite is generally true. Grandparents do not serve their grandchildren but rather TAKE from them in the time and resources that they take from the child's parents. It is not surprising at all that we are seeing a fall in average lifespan.

It is insane to me that any grandparent would take from his or her grandchildren, and yet I hear nothing but demands from grandparents. Grandparents often see themselves as "matriarchs" and "patriarchs" of a clan whom everyone should bend over backward to care for and please. But, as I said in my last piece, I believe this is a mistake.

Those over 70, whose brains function at the same speed as a 5-year-old, are not and should not be the leaders of their clan. They should be advisors who serve the current leaders. This is how I plan to do it anyway. (For more on this idea, see http://roslynross.blogspot.com/2016/07/living-right-story-parents-as-kings-and.html#comments)

But, though I can be that contributing-grandparent for my children one day, I don't have that for myself, and I imagine you don't either. In a world without contributing Grandparents (and older cousins) to help the young couple with a baby, how is a couple to survive their 112-hour a week time commitment (not to mention the other 40 to 80 hours a week required to acquire money for food and shelter!) without going insane or becoming severely depressed or turning to government schools because after working 112 hours a week for six years they are so desperate for relief?

Tangent: I highly recommend thinking this out BEFORE you have kids. Better yet, think this out before you graduate from college. Because, if you think you will have kids one day, instead of focusing on the perfect job, maybe move to a place where you have the most social capital–i.e. make finding people who share your parenting ideals a priority, live near them, and create your life/income stream there.

But enough of these ideals, here is what I actually did to survive my first 4 1/2 years with Anders:

*Note my arrangement with my husband is that I am 100% responsible for Anders's care. Tom has an extremely demanding job and though spending time with Anders is a priority for him, I must plan my life to never rely on it. On average, I get three to five hours a week off from Tom, which, brings my work load from 112 hours-a-week to 107 on a good week. I am not complaining here; I am very happy with our arrangement, especially now (on the farm). I was less happy with it when we lived in Los Angeles for reasons I will make clear below, and even less happy when I expected him to pull a certain number of hours per week and was constantly frustrated when his job got in the way.

INFANCY

When Anders was an infant I followed RIE parenting methods and had plenty of time off as Anders entertained himself for long periods of time. Long attention spans and ability to play independently from infancy are two of the things RIE teaches.

*Note that "attachment parenting" is the style of parenting that is quite well-known in respectful parenting circles, and I do not advocate it at all. Here is a post I wrote about it: http://roslynross.blogspot.com/2015/02/attachment-parenting.html

When I needed time out of the house by myself, I hired a babysitter.

TODDLER

When Anders got older, I became friends with a RIE teacher who had four children, one of whom was a 10-year-old girl. She became a "mother's helper" for me. I hired her to come to my house to play with Anders while I rested.

I tried not to hire babysitters to "get work done." Work is something I tried to do with Anders. I "played" with him very little. Rather, I "brought him to life with me." As I said above, Anders helped me cook, clean, do errands, yard work, and make social calls. He made everything take twice as long as it would have taken otherwise, but he also made everything a lot more interesting and was extremely cute about it. I actually really hated doing errands before Anders. With Anders, errands became much more tolerable because even though I loathe the activity, at least I had someone I loved to do it with.

I did hire plenty of babysitters at this age. Anders generally slept for around 9 hours every night, leaving me with a 15-hour day. I found that a twelve hour day was doable for me, but 15 made me cranky. So I tried to make sure I got 3-4 hours off each day to take care of myself.

When I hired babysitters, I always looked for people who knew nothing about children, but were willing to read the books I gave them. (As the people who "knew" things about children generally were the opposite of what I wanted in a babysitter!)

One babysitter I used in emergencies (after Anders was 2) was YouTube. See my Anders Playlist on my YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD5CYaUtWd6SjTovWryZtPz7pSTwdMj5K

I took videos of Anders and made a playlist that lasted 60 minutes. There were also a few movies out there that I think are okay for kids at this age. See the list here:

http://roslynross.blogspot.com/2016/03/anderss-bibliography-by-age.html

I tried used these as babysitters sparingly though, about once a week.

At this age I also read the Little House books to Anders, and they helped me to feel a lot better about my extremely hour-intensive work-week.

PRESCHOOL AGE

I moved to a farm in Nicaragua. Here, maids and cooks cost a dollar an hour, so I have virtually no cooking or cleaning responsibilities.

And the kids who live on the farm across the street come over to play every day. One is 5, her name is Jesslyn. Her brother takes care of her and is always with her. He is 12, and his name is Yesnir. Moises and Ramon, from a different family nearby, also come over, but not every day. The kids join Anders in watching the workers; they swim; they run around; they pick fruit they can reach; they pick carrots; they paint; they play legos; sometimes they find a way to help the workers with a project; they play with the dog, the cats, and give treats to the chickens; they helped feed the cow when we had one. When they are ready to sit down, they ask me for their workbooks. They think their math and reading Kumon workbooks are super fun. We also play board games, do puzzles, and lots of brain teasers. We are watching the Families of the World series on my computer. They also love the documentaries we own. We watch these sporadically, maybe every third or fourth day.

Most days here the kids play for four to eight hours, so I get plenty of time off. Do I worry about the local kids' influence on Anders? Not very much. They are very respectful kids. They are more tough and less empathetic than I am raising Anders to be, but because Anders gets plenty of exposure to empathy and compassion with me and at camps in the US, I think the exposure to the tougher kids may be a good thing. Also they are almost always at my house where I can make requests regarding their behavior which makes me more comfortable as well! But we will see as time goes on.

Here at the farm Anders and I get to see a lot more of Tom, and that is another reason why our life here is really working out.

At this age, the work I do is managing the workers, overseeing construction, shopping for decorating, and writing. Anders now does these things with me. When I want to write, I tell Anders, and he says he is going to write too and works on his little scribble books for an hour at a time. The result is that he is very motivated to learn to read and write. I also spend time each week computing hours and wages and paying our workers. He fits perfectly into this work, siting patiently and watching while I count money and put it into envelopes. The result of this is that he is very motivated to be better at math. He often walks around the construction area with paper and pen and "takes notes" about improvements that need to be made. He is less interested in the decorating, but is very good at it–his opinion is valuable.

When Anders and I travel to Los Angeles, he does camps–theater camp and gymnastics camp last spring. This summer he will do a Montessori summer camp. A camp day is six hours long. Six hours is the maximum number of hours I would want Anders to be raised by other people (for now). Unless it was a close friend who I knew shared similar values maybe.

When baby number two comes (hopefully in late 2017), now that I live here at the farm, I think it will not be nearly as hard. Baby 2 will be so lucky to have not just me to bond with as an infant, but a whole farm full of people. Not to mention that Anders idealizes Yesnir and hopes to take care of his little sister the way Yesnir takes care of his. (In Anders's head it is definitely a sister.) I am SO glad that I have waited five years for baby number 2. I will let you know how it works out, but right now it feels very ideal.

Is There a School Out There Better Than Homeschool? Even the Best Private School in the World Isn't as Good for One reason: the Family

I have gotten some emails from parents who do not want to homeschool their kids and are desperate to know what their other options are. I have been sent links to at least two dozen alternative schools. Most had all the same problems as the current standard indoctrination-education we call school but with fancy wording on their websites, but some are really trying to be different. It has been wonderful for me to see some of the options out there. It's heartwarming to know that there exists a tiny free market still alive in education trying to make the world a better place.

That being said, my conclusion so far is that being with Mom and Dad (or the person whose job your kid wants or a small, committed community) is best. More on this below, but here is the "gun to my head" (as one reader put it) answer to the question: "If it were absolutely impossible for you to keep your sons with you, what would you do?"

My first response is that I cannot imagine a situation in which it would be "absolutely impossible." But, okay, I will play along. If it were "absolutely impossible" for Anders and Henrik to stay with me, this is what I would do:

A RIE daycare, ages 0-1
A Montessori preschool, ages 2-6 (making sure it's a real one)
Thales Academy, ages 6-10
Apprenticeships
Higher education when wanted and only if truly necessary

BUT I would be willing to suffer so much pain to avoid any of these, because:

1.  It doesn't matter what school is chosen, I would not be the one raising my kid.

I have often thought of taking on two or three children from other people and teaching them along with Anders and Henrik. But that would not be ideal because the parent is not raising his or her own child. If I raised your kid, your kid and I would get along really well! But is that your goal? For your kid to get along really well with me? [More on this below]

2. The greatest predictor of Anders's and Henrik's future career choices are what their parents do. If Tom and I do not "bring Anders and Henrik to our life with us," we are depriving them of an education in the career they are most likely to pursue as adults. [More on this below as well]

More on Point 1: Why It Is So Important To Me That I Raise My Children

The vision of parenting sold to parents today is that we are birds. We raise our young, and then they fly away. That is what parenting was for my parents. They suffered through the rearing of their children and will spend the rest of their lives tolerating those adult-children at family holidays. If that. There is a lot of lip-service to the importance of family, but let's be honest: We can barely tolerate each other long enough to get through holidays. And even in families that like one another, they don't share their lives, just a couple days a year.

When I think about this model of family life I... would rather not have kids. Luckily, I know I am not a bird.

Monkeys form strong familial bonds and live in the same band as their parents about 50% of the time. Same with hunter-gatherers. About 50% of the children in hunter-gatherer societies leave their parent's band and join another band. The other 50% stay with their parents for their entire lives. There is a risk that these parents will have a kid with whom they don't want to share their lives, but there is also a 50% chance that their child will fight for his survival with them throughout their lives!

Now those are odds I would take! In that scenario, I would have kids.

My dream is a tightly bonded family, people with whom I really share my life, people with whom I battle for survival. I don't dream of seeing adult-Anders and adult-Henrik on holidays. I dream of them living next door. Or on the same farm. I would never force it, but that is my dream.

If I raise Anders and Henrik, if I bring them to life with me, I estimate that I have a 50% chance of creating this kind of life-long bond. If I hand Anders and Henrik to other people to raise, my chances of creating this kind of bond are close to zero. Is it possible for my children to be raised by someone other than me and still turn out to be someone with whom I am truly bonded and happy to spend my time? Hypothetically--sure! But I have not seen any evidence that that actually happens.

[Incidentally, the Amish have a 90% retention rate of their children. Why? Because they do not under any circumstances allow anyone else to raise their children. They don't homeschool though. They do one-room school houses that serve three to five families only. They hire the teachers. Their children walk to school and attend for no more than three hours each day and only through eighth grade. They have absolute control over what their children are taught--from the Amish reading program, to the excellent Amish grammar program, to Amish math textbooks... this is why "going to school" works for them.

Many religious groups have schools based around their religion and do not succeed like the Amish. This is largely because they allow their children to watch (be raised by) television programs and read (be influenced by) fiction books that accomplish largely the same task as public school--the children are being raise by someone other than their parents. Amish children do not do either of these things.

If my children could attend a one-room school house with just four other families involved where I had a huge sway over the curriculums used, I would do it in a second over homeschooling! But dreaming of things that do not actually exist is not the purpose of this essay. The point of this tangent though, is that my odds are 50% whereas the Amish have odds of 90%--their method, though unavailable to me--is superior to mine.]

The trend that I saw while working with families and their children was that parents and children had very little in common. They didn't share a life; they shared a house. Four to six strangers had dinner together sometimes and suffered through vacations together. There was talk about family being important, but all I saw were roads diverging from one another. Parents loved their kids but didn't like them. Children loved their parents but didn't want to have similar lives.

Today, animosity between parent and child is considered normal. We talk a big game about how important our families are, but on holidays and at weddings, when we have to actually spend time with those weirdos... those of us who aren't lying to ourselves, can't help but be heartbroken about the arrangement, the gulf between our siblings and ourselves, our parents and ourselves.

I saw this with endless couples as well. Two people leading totally separate lives who do drugs together on the weekend (TV, video games, alcohol...).

Think of how you feel when someone is on your team, the bond of fighting a battle with them! Maybe it was a sports team in your youth. Maybe it is someone you work with today. Going to war with your partners, the people who have your back, the people on whom your survival depends: these are bonds.

More on Point 2: The Dream Is The People, Not The Job

In Not Fade Away a wealthy, dying man leaves this piece of advice for his children: Do not take the highest paying job you can find. And don't worry very much about the actual job. Work for your hero. That's all you need to do to have a good life.

I read that after I came to that conclusion on my own. I moved to Los Angeles to "be an actress." But acting in disgusting movies I can't stand with people I can't stand... didn't turn out to be much of a dream worth fighting for. If I had it to do over again, I would not have decided on the job, acting, but rather the person, Clint Eastwood. I would have worked for him. I would have gotten him coffee for free until he hired me. I would have joined his team and learned everything I could from him about telling the stories I actually wanted to tell.

But largely, I think the Dream Job is a lie.

We are pelted with these family-destroying ideas our entire lives: Get off the farm and do something with your life! As if wearing a suit and being a paper pusher in the city is a real life. Be your own man--if you do what your parents do, you are a loser. If you take over Daddy's company you have failed. If you are a stay-at-home-mom you have failed. If you and your husband work together, you are overly involved. You are supposed to have your own life. Parents who homeschool their kids are failing to let their kids go and holding them back. A child's job is not to learn to work and live well with his parents, not to create his place in that clan, but to explore his own interests, so that he can leave the nest. Our job, as parents, is to pelt our children with infinite experiences, so that they can "find their passion."

This cultural script exists partly because parents and children can't stand each other and would never want to work together.

But it also exists because many parents fail to give up the keys to the kingdom. It goes squire, warrior-king, wise man. Not squire squire squire king. The minute your child is an adult with his own child, you are not the king of your clan. You are the wise advisor. Same with women. It goes maiden, warrior-queen, wise woman. Or, in my opinion, it should.

A study came out a year or two ago showing that people who live in small, intolerant communities are happier than people who live in large, tolerant/diverse ones. Small bands of like-minded monkeys traveling through life together.... We were taught that there was a job out there that should be our dream. But what if that is not true? What if people are the dream? People with whom to fight the battle of survival who make your heart sing?

But let's say there are some people who do have One True Job Passion and Anders is one of them. Would it behoove him to have his time wasted in school because he just has to know about All Kinds Of Things or would he be better off at home, where he is allowed to pursue that One True Passion all he wants?

Moreover, I have a theory that a truly brilliant career takes at least two and usually three generations to make. I have a great post about it here--

http://roslynross.blogspot.com/2015/03/nature-versus-nurture.html

Despite the efforts made by schooling and our cultural script, the best predictor of someone's future job is still what his parents did. Yet the child who is going to grow up and be a writer like her dad anyway, wastes 22 years memorizing random things first and acquiring massive debt. Why?!

No matter how great the school, if I send my kid there, I am depriving him of learning about the career in which he will most likely end up! He could acquire his 10,000 hours in that career by the time he is 14! Or 18! Or he can waste 22 years trying to find his "passion" and start acquiring his 10,000 hours (which takes about ten years) at age 22.

So: knowing that the greatest predictor of my child's future job is my job or my husband's job, and knowing it takes 10,000 hours to become world-class at something... why on Earth would I send my child to even the best school in the world, so that he can spend 15,000 hours becoming world-class at nothing? And at the same time deprive him of excellence in the career he is most likely to have!?

I could only possibly do that if I bought into the idea that there is a One True Passion out there just waiting for Anders and Henrik to discover (if only they are exposed to this-wild-mess-of-everything that is attempted in schools). And if I believe that your job is more important than your people.

Let's say Anders is an expert at my job and Tom's job by the time he is fourteen, but he decides he doesn't want that to be his job. He still has plenty of time to do something else. And it's certainly not like he isn't exposed to a ton of other things just by going to life with me! It's only the kids shut up in school-jail all day who don't get exposed to the varieties that life has to offer since they are being deprived of actually living it. (And note that should Anders want to apprentice with someone other than me and Tom at any time, he is free to do so. Likewise should he want to go to school.)

My conclusion at this time is that there is no school better than homeschool.* Because whichever way you cut it, the child not living life with his or her parents is being raised by Not Them to be Not Like Them.

*Except Amish one room school houses and likeminded homeschooling groups.

A Nutritionally Perfect Day in Nicaragua - 100% RDA In ALL Vitamins and Minerals

Could look like this:

Breakfast

Turmeric tea

Gallo Pinto (beans and rice with minced onions and peppers)

1 egg fried in butter

Lunch

Tilapia filet with butter-parsley-lemon sauce

carrot/cabbage salad with vinegar and olive oil

rice -1/2 brown 1/2 white 

banana/mango kefir smoothie

Dinner

1 cup bone broth

Steak quesadilla made from corn tortillas and with cheese and fried in lard

Guacamole

Papaya with lime juice

*liver fritters once or twice a week instead of steak

This is a slightly-altered classic Nicaraguan diet that would provide the consumer with 100% of his RDA in all vitamins and minerals. 

The Modern Nomad's Ideal Meal - A Nutritionally Complete Combination of Foods for People on the Go

My husband, who is NOT a foodie, wanted something super easy to basically live on while working sixteen hour days that would keep him healthy (a great balance of protein carbs and fat and 100% of all vitamins and minerals).

Here is the meal we came up with that he can keep in a little fridge at his office:

1 cup high quality raw kefir (Organic Pastures brand if you live in CA)

1 can high quality sardines with bones packed in tomato sauce 

1 thick slice whole grain sourdough bread (a l'ancien from Le Pain Quotidien is a good choice)
the bread spread with raw butter and high quality raw honey

1 cup of high quality bone broth
lemon water throughout the day

-swap sardines for 1 can oysters once a week
-swap sardines for 1 can high quality liver pate once a week

-snack on apples, avocados, oranges, hazelnuts, almonds, or brazil nuts on various days of the week

-When he has lunch or dinner meetings: red meat and salads with carrots and spinach

This diet is "nutritionally perfect."

*Note that the nutritionally perfect (100% of all vitamins and minerals) is an extremely rare nutrition goal that no one pays enough attention to. Everyone who has told me they are super healthy, when I have put what they eat for a week into nutritiondata.com, I have never found someone who isn't deficient in quite a few vitamins and minerals. Overtime vitamin and mineral deficiencies cause serious health problems. I recommend that everyone do their own nutrition experiment to find out what areas of their diet they "naturally" lack in.

*Also note that it was my focus on meeting 100% of my RDA of every vitamin and mineral that led me to conclude that high fat diets are the way to go, as there is no way to meet nutrient needs of vitamins A, D, K and E without a significant amount of fat in the diet. Also, in trying to help my Paleo and vegetarian friends create nutritionally perfect meals for themselves I came to a very clear conclusions: the math simply doesn't work. These are not good diets, not if you don't want to be nutrient deficient eventually anyway. 

What I Do About Tantrums and Hitting

I was recently asked what I do when Anders throws tantrums. The short answer is: Anders doesn't throw tantrums. Or maybe he does and I just don't call it tantrums as that feels disrespectful? Because he does get upset! He doesn't throw himself on the floor, but he does throw himself into my arms. 

Anyway, what I would do if Anders or any other child--or adult--were to feel something so intensely that all he could do was lay on the floor and cry is: I would kneel down by him, if he let me I would put my hand on his stomach for comfort, and I would just be there with him while he was sad.

Sometimes I am helpless to fix someone else's pain. Perhaps my husband really wants me to go out with him, but I am too tired, and I just don't have it in me to do that for him, and it makes him super sad. I can't fix it, but I can be very compassionate and kind about the suffering he is experiencing. The same with Anders, sometimes he really wants something that I am simply not willing to buy for him, and it makes him sad. I can't fix it. But I can offer to hold him while he is sad or simply be there with him.

This is a learned skill. Ten years ago I would have thought, "What a spoiled brat!!!" and that judgement would have blocked me from feeling compassion for my son, and I would have tried to "get him" to feel better or to repress or something. Today, I simply come into my perceptual brain and perceive. I literally focus my brain on the person suffering: his face, his pain, his tears, the tightness in his body--my mirror neurons understand how he is feeling and empathy pours out naturally. 

As long as I can stay in my perceptual brain there is no guilt, no anger, no embarrassment, no judgement. There is just being with a fellow human while they are sad. It's amazing how if I don't make it about me... it really isn't about me! 

Remember that it takes two people for one person to "throw a tantrum." Let's say my husband tells me that he wants to get Chinese food for dinner and I say I want Mexican. And he says that he really needs Chinese and he is not willing to go to two different restaurants so we can both get our needs met. Now I'm a little peeved. Why don't my needs matter?! So I'm like, "Ummmm, don't I matter?" If he responds compassionately everything will be fine. But if he responds with, "Now you're going to throw a fit because you're not getting your way!" or "Go to your room until you can be grateful you get any dinner at all!" or whatever other rude thing he could say, I will get Very Peeved and possibly "throw a tantrum." But if my husband had said, "I really really want Chinese and I just don't have it in me to stop at two restaurants. Would you be able to give me the gift of meeting my needs tonight?" I might very well say that I can give him that gift and the problem is solved. It takes two people for one person to "throw a fit." The person throwing the fit is usually doing so because he wasn't heard.

Moreover, when it's a kid--you are the adult in the situation so: if your kid is throwing a fit, guess whose fault it is? That's how I think about tantrums.

So it could be answered that Anders never threw tantrums because I never gave him the opportunity.

Until 2015. Man that year was so rough! In January our housemate burnt down our kitchen. We camped in that house in Los Angeles with no kitchen and throughout the construction until JULY. It was horribly stressful. And as soon as the kitchen was done, we moved to Nicaragua. More insane stress. So what happened? For the first time in Anders's life he started having some pretty terrible emotional outbursts.

He was around 3 1/2 and one day on a playdate his friend got upset and bit him and hit him and after that whenever Anders got upset for about four months he would try to hit or bite anyone near him who upset him. 

During those moments I would say, "I'm not going to let you hit me. Can I hold your arms?" 80% of the time simply saying that would stop the hitting. 10% of the time he would say, "Yes! Hold my arms!" and I would. I would hug him, bear style, and hold his arms. Sometimes I had to hold his head to to prevent him from biting. He would generally cry and scream and when he was quiet enough I would tell him something like, "You were feeling sooooo angry! Thank you for letting me hold your arms so no one got hurt! I love you soooo much." And then we would talk about what happened. Around 10% of the time, he ask me to not hold his arms but he would continue to try to hit and bite--so I would hold his arms anyway. He would usually calm down rather quickly, but this felt too much like a punishment for me to feel very good about it.

This hasn't happened in quite some time. I was actually not expecting it to happen at all with Anders. I do blame myself for it. I have compassion for myself as well because I know how hard the year was but like I said above: a person doesn't randomly go nuts. In every circumstance where Anders became a little nuts, it was easily my fault for not paying attention soon enough to what was going on. 

After a time Anders told me that he didn't like it when I held his arms, and so we agreed that I would not hold his arms if he would not hit me. For a few months when he got upset (maybe once every two weeks or so) I would see him hold back his arm like he wanted to hit me and then change his mind. It was quite incredible. Since moving to the farm our life has calmed down quite a bit and it has been a long time since Anders tried to hurt me, so long I can't even remember the last time.

 He is 4 1/2 now. The current thing we are working on with him is his attacking other people, people who don't know his boundaries--his body and his things. He gets super pissed when adults pick him up and move him places without his permission. He believes his body is his and people don't have a right to touch it without his permission. Ditto with his property. We are working on that, on how to communicate our needs in an assertive way to people of various ages, and especially adults and younger children who have a tendency to not listen.

I want to do a skit about this for YouTube, what my Hero would do in the adult world too. Say a guy in a bar punches John Galt. Does John Galt punch him back? It is his right to punch him back, after all. That's what John Wayne would have done! Or would John Galt call the bouncer and get the guy tossed from the bar and then follow that up with a law suit? That is also his right. That's what Ayn Rand would have done! Or does John Galt turn the other cheek like Jesus would have done?

My hero, let's call him Tom Garrett instead of John Galt since Galt is Rand's. Tom Garrett swiftly gets the guy into a krav maga hold and says, "What's going on man?" and lets the guy spew out his anger which would inevitably lead to him feeling his pain which would lead to crying which would end up with Tom letting the guy out of the hold while the guy finished expressing his feelings and then after the guy was done and feeling very grateful to Tom and feeling better for having released his feelings he would look at Tom and say, "Thanks man. I'm so sorry for hitting you. That was a real dick move. What can I do to make it up to you?" 

If you want to make this skit with me let me know. :)

It is only the compassionate move that leads to a healthy community and a healed relationship. So: there is no contradiction here. How I respond to an emotional Anders is how I would like to respond to an emotional adult. If I can. I don't think there is any shame in the other responses available to me. If I can be heroic in that moment, I am, and if I can't (because I have had a very bad day myself) I punch the guy back or have him thrown out of the bar and later we make up and I talk about how I wish I would have responded and the guy talks about how he wishes he hadn't have lost it in the first place.

There is no contradiction here when it comes to parents. Let's be heroes when we can. When we can't our relationship will be damaged--but it can also be healed. Attempting to cooly control children with punishment and rewards, manipulating them, lying to them--these things will destroy a relationship. An authentic emotional outburst won't. (Unless of course it happens all the time.)

*Note that when a child is 2 and under and hits the proper thing to do is to help him find something he can hit, not to stop him from hitting. Somewhere around 2 1/2 he desire to "hit SOMETHING" turns into the desire to "hit YOU" and that is when the strategy changes.

Anders's Homeschool Curriculum (Bibliography) by Age 0-5

Last Updated 10/16

Books in red I highly recommend.

Books in blue, I recommend.

Books in black made it into my son's library.

Book in gray I did read to Anders but did not like or do not recommend.
*I have reviewed many of these books on Goodreads.com, click here to read my reviews.

What I look for:
-Subjects he is interested in (Castles, dogs, volcanos)
-Business and economics introductions
-Farm life (i.e. similar to his life experience)
-Classics (good for vocabulary building and these are the books I enjoy reading the most)
-Myths, fairy tales, religions (for social fluency and as armor against people who try to convince him their myth is the One True Myth)
-Rational thinking (for example Nate the Great)
-Ethics/Philosophy/Psychology
-Useful Information, Reality (Let's Read and Find Out Science, Biographies)

UNDER 2

No books or movies

Some youtube videos to explain different things

AGE 2

Books

Beskow, Elsa: Pelle's New Suit

Mura, David: Tools

*I read aloud to him whatever I happened to be reading at the time.

No movies, aps, or other media
Some Youtube videos to explain different things

AGE 3

Books

Beskow, Elsa: Pelle's New Suit

Andry, Andrew C. and Steven Schepp: How Babies are Made

Duvoisin, Roger: Petunia

Drummond, Ree: Charlie the Ranch Dog
Hughes, Shirley: Bathwater's Hot
Lenski, Lois: The Little Train
Lindman, Maj: Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Go To Market

Rex, Michael: My Fire Engine
Rawls, Wilson: Where the Red Fern Grows
Rylant, Cynthia: Henry and Mudge
Wilder, Laura Ingles: Little House in the Big Woods
Wilder, Laura Ingles: Little House on the Prarie

Wilder, Laura Ingles: On the Banks of Plum Creek
Wilder, Laura Ingles: By The Shores of Silver Lake
Wilder, Laura Ingles: The long Winter
Wilder, Laura Ingles: Little Town on the Prarie
Wilder, Laura Ingles: These Happy Golden Years
Wilder, Laura Ingles: The First Four Years

Wilder, Laura Ingles: Farmer Boy

Wilkes, Maria D.: Little House in Brookfield

Project On The Little Red Hen and The Three Little Pigs

Barton, Byron: The Little Red Hen

Bishop, Gavin: The Three Little Pigs

Brett, Jan: The 3 Little Dassies

Dewan, Ted: Crispin and the 3 Little Piglets

Downard, Barry: The Little Red Hen

Forest, Heather: The Little Red Hen
Galdone, Paul: The Little Red Hen
Gay, Marie-Louise: Three Little Pigs
Geist, Ken: The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark
Hooks, William H.: The Three Little Pigs and the Fox

Kellogg, Steven: The Three Little Pigs

Ketteman, Helen: The Three Little Gators

Kimmel, Eric A.: The Three Little Tamales

Laird, Donivee: The Three Little Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark

Lowell, Susan: The Three Little Javelinas

Moser, Barry The Three Little Pigs

Murawski, Darlyne and National Geographic Kids: Ultimate Bug-opedia

Pichon, Liz: The Three Horrid Little Pigs

Pinkney, Jerry: The Little Red Hen

Roberts, Tom: The Three Little Pigs

Ross, Dev: The Three Little Pigs

Rounds, Glen: Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf

Rubin, Vicky: The Three Swingin' Pigs

Salinas, Bobbi: The Three Little Pigs

Schwartz, Corey: The Three Ninja Pigs

Sidney, Margaret: Five Little Pepper and How They Grew

Teague, Mark: The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf
Weisner, David: The Three Pigs

Zemach, Margot: The Three Little Pigs

Ziefert, Harriet: The Three Little Pigs

Learning Books

BOB Books for learning to read

Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K and Kindergarten

Kumon Workbook Series for 3-year-olds

Classes
Piano and then drum lessons at Lewis Music Academy in Moorpark
Gymnastics at Matrix Gymnastics in Chatsworth

Field Trips
Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles
Natural History Museum in Los Angeles
Getty Art Museum in Los Angeles
California Science Center
KidSpace Children's Museum
Porcupine Freedom Festival
Petting Zoos
Renaissance Fair

Aps

Audubon Guides

Brain Strain

Montessori Counting Board by GrashopperAps 

Montessori Numbers by L'Escapadou
Montessori Writing Wizard by L'Escapadou

YouTube

WranglerStar YouTube Show--wonderful values to impart along with his homesteading tutorials

Television
Animal Planet: Insane Pools (researching pools)

Discovery: Man, Woman, Wild (episodes about Central America)
Discovery: Naked and Afraid (episodes about Central America)
HGTV - Building Hawaii (researching tropical building)
HGTV - House Hunters: Off The Grid
National Geographic: Live Free or Die
PBS: Inside Animal Minds (episodes on topics he was interested in)
PBS: Nature (episodes on topics he was interested in)
Travel: Hotel Amazon

Movies

A Cow's Life 
Bears by DisneyNature
An Original Duckumentary 
Babies (Anders really loved this movie)
Little Hard Hats: Farm Country Ahead
Little Hard Hats: Fire & Rescue
Little Hard Hats: House Construction Ahead
Little Hard Hats: Road Construction Ahead
Little Hard Hats: Where the Garbage Goes

March of the Penguins

More Than Honey (Anders really loved this movie)
Oceans by DisneyNature
The Crimson Wing by DisneyNature

AGE 4

BOOKS

Aesop, Aesop's Fables

Allen, JP and Marci Winters: Giraffe Juice: The Magic of Making Life Wonderful

Aliki: I'm Growing (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Andry, Andrew C. and Steven Schepp: How Babies are Made

Bancroft, Henrietta & Richard G. Van Gelder: Animals in Winter (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Berger, Melvin: Germs Make Me Sick
Berger, Melvin: Spinning Spiders (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Berger, Melvin: Switch On, Switch Off (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Beskow, Elsa: Pelle's New Suit

Blake, Robert: Togo
Blaisdell, Bob: Favorite Greek Myths
Bennett, Grace Irene: Diddle Daddle Duckling

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Food Truck Fiasco

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law

Branley, Franklyn: Earthquakes (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Bradley, Kimberly: Energy: Makes Things Happen (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Branley, Franklyn: Day Light, Night Light (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Branley, Franklyn: Down Comes the Rain (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Branley, Franklyn: Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: Gravity is a Mystery (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: Sunshine Makes the Seasons (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: The Moon Seems to Change (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: Volcanoes (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: What Makes Day and Night (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Buckley, James Jr.: Who Was Milton Hershey?
Burgan, Michael: Who Is Richard Branson?

Burnett, Frances Hodgson: A Little Princess

Burnett, Frances Hodgon: The Secret Garden

Chargot, Patricia, The Adventures of Balto: The Untold Story of Alaska's Famous Iditarod Sled Dog

Cressy, Can You Find It

Crowther, Ruth: Manly Manners

D'Aulaure, Ingri: Children of the Northlights
D'Aulaire, Ingri: D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
D'Aulaire, Ingri: Leif the Lucky
Dahle, Borge: Smajutuls in the Winter Mountain
Dorros, Arthur: Ant Cities  (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Dorros, Arthur: Feel the Wind  (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Duke, Kate: Archaeologists Dig for Clues (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Duvoisin, Roger: Petunia

Ebensen, Barbara Juster: Baby Whales Drink Milk (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Emberly, Ed: Make a World
Drummond, Ree: Charlie the Ranch Dog

Gipson, Fred: Old Yeller
Grahame, Kenneth: The Wind in the Willows
Grimm, The Brothers: Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
Heller, Ruth: Animals Born Alive and Well

Heller, Ruth: Chickens Aren't the Only Ones

Heller, Ruth: How to Hide a Butterfly

Heller, Ruth: Plants That Never Ever Bloom

Heller, Ruth: The Reason for a Flower

Hughes, Catherine D. and National Geographic Kids: Little Kids First Big Book of Space

Jenkins, Emily and G. Brian Karas: Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money

Krimms, Simon: Rollerdog

Kunhardt, Edith: Pompeii: Buried Alive!
Lauber, Patricia: Be a Friend to Trees (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Lauber, Patricia: Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Lindman, Maj: Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Go To Market

London, Jack: Call of the Wild
Love, Sandrine and Mohammad Naser, The Adventures of Andrew Price

Macaulay, David: Castle

Macaulay, David: Castle: How It Works

Macaulay, David: How Machines Work
Macaulay, David: Jet Plane: How It Works

Macaulay, David: Mill

Mackenzie, Donald A.: Scottish Fairy Tales
MacLachlan, Patricia: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Maestro, Marco and Giulio Maestro, What Do You Hear When Cows Sing?
Messner, Kate and Christopher Silas Neal: Over and Under the Snow

Milne, A.A.: Winnie-the-Pooh

Milne, A.A.: The House At Pooh Corner

Moeller, Joy and Samantha Weaver: Tucker the Tongue Finds His Spot

Montgomery, Lucy Maud: Anee of Green Gables

Otto, Carolyn: I Can Tell By Touching (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Parish, Peggy: Amelia Bedelia Helps Out

Reiser, Lynn: Margaret and Margarita

Ross, Roslyn: The Three Little Pigs: Or, To Survive You Must Plan ... And Work

Sciff, Irwin: How an Economy Grows and Why It Doesn't

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman: Nate the Great

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman: Nate the Great Goes Undercover

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman: Nate the Great and the Lost List

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman: Nate the Great and the Phony Clue

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman: Nate the Great and the Sticky Case

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman:  Nate the Great and the Missing Key

Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman:  Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail
Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman:  Nate the Great and the Musical Note
Sharmat, Marjaroie Weinman:  Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt

Showers, Paul: A Drop of Blood (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Showers, Paul: Hear your Heart (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Speedy Publishing: Fastest Animals of the World
Sloane, Eric: Diary of an Early American Boy
Smith, Patrick: Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers...
Standiford, Natalie: The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto

Titus, Eve: Anatole
Twain, Mark: The Prince and the Pauper
Viorst, Judith: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday
Winterberg, Philipp: Am I small? Soy Pequena?
Wright, Thomas: The Fisherman's Catch
Wyss, Johann: The Swiss Family Robinson

LEARNING BOOKS AND PROGRAMS
Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Kindergarten and First Grade
Kumon Workbook Series for math 

Kumon Thinking Skills Workbook Series
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

CLASSES AND CAMPS
Piano and then drum lessons at Lewis Music Academy in Moorpark
Gymnastics at Jag Gym in Culver City and Santa Barbara Gymnastics Club in Santa Barbara
Ballroom Dance at Beverly Hills Ballroom in Beverly Hills
Theater at Kids on Stage in Santa Monica
Montessori Summer Program at Montessori Center School in Goleta, emphasis on math
Kumon Math and Reading Program (in person in the Kumon center)

FIELD TRIPS
Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles
Natural History Museum in Los Angeles
Getty Art Museum in Los Angeles
California Science Center
KidSpace Children's Museum
Renaissance Fair
Santa Barbara Mission
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

APS

Montessori Counting Board by GrashopperAps 

Montessori Matching by GrashopperAps

Montessori Numbers by L'Escapadou
Montessori Writing Wizard by L'Escapadou
Montessori Crosswords by L'Escapadou

YOUTUBE

Ted Ed
WranglerStar YouTube Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFlnlGx0B5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yda8RtOcVFU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV9x79_WYbk
-Many YouTube videos his father about water systems, plumbing, and composting.
-Many videos with me on Iceland, vikings, castles

TELEVISION

BBC: Planet Dinosaur (entire series)
BBC: Walking With Dinosaurs (entire series)
National Geographic: Creatures of the Deep Collection (episodes on topics he was interested in)
National Geographic: Live Free or Die, season 2
National Geographic: Most Amazing (episodes on topics he was interested in)
National Geographic: Specials (episodes on topics he was interested in)
National Geographic: Survive the Tribe (episode about the rain forest)
National Geographic: Wild (episodes on topics he was interested in)
PBS: Inside Animal Minds (episodes on topics he was interested in)
PBS: Nature (Invasion of the Killer Whales)
PBS: Nova (Rise of the Robots, Stronger, Making Stuff Wilder, Making Stuff Colder, What Are Dreams, Rise of the Drones, Alien Planets Revealed, Chasing Pluto, Nuclear Meltdown, Himalayan Megaquake, Creatures of Light, Killer Typhoon, Meteor Strike, Why Ships Sink, Birth of the Earth)
PBS: The Mind of a Chef (episodes about Faviken)

MOVIES – DOCUMENTARIES

Fabulous Frogs 
I Am In Space (Anders didn't like this one)
IMAX Hubble (Anders really loved this movie)
King Corn: You Are What You Eat

More Than Honey
Oceans by DisneyNature
Turtle: The Incredible Journey
Dinosaur 13

MOVIES – FICTION
*We watch fiction movies on full moons. We watch them once, not over and over.

Sleeping Beauty

Ratatouille 
Winnie-the-Pooh
Balto
The Peanuts Movie
Anne of Green Gables
Zootopia

AGE 5

BOOKS
Aesop: Aesop's Fables
Alcott, Louisa May: Little Men
Aliki: I'm Growing (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Bancroft, Henrietta & Richard G. Van Gelder: Animals in Winter (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Bauer, John (illustrated by): Swedish Folk Tales
Baum, L. Frank: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Berger, Melvin: Germs Make Me Sick
Beskow, Elsa: Pelle's New Suit

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Food Truck Fiasco

Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil
Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins and the Road to Surfdom
Boyack, Connor: The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law
Branley, Franklyn: Gravity is a Mystery (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Branley, Franklyn: Sunshine Makes the Seasons (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Branley, Franklyn: Down Comes the Rain (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Burns, Marilyn: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!
Burns, Marilyn: The Greedy Triangle
Crowther, Ruth: Manly Manners
Dahl, Roald: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist (Classic Starts)
Demuth, Patricia Brennan: Who Was Bill Gates
Ebensen, Barbara Juster: Baby Whales Drink Milk (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Espeland, Pamela: Dude, That's Rude!
Duvoisin, Roger: Petunia
George, Jean Craighead: Everglades
Hass, Nicole: Freedom Bee
Heller, Ruth: Chickens Aren't the Only Ones
Iggulden, Conn: The Dangerous Book for Boys
Kimmel, Eric A: The Hero Beowulf
Kipling, Rudyard: Just So Stories
Kipling, Rudyard: The Jungle Book
Kiyosaki, Robert: Escape the Rat Race: Learn How Money Works and Become a Rich Kid
Krimms, Simon: Rollerdog
Lauber, Patricia: Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Langley, Andrew: You Wouldn't Want to Be a Viking Explorer!
Lewis, C.S.: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Lunge-Larson, Lise: The Troll With No Heart in His Body and Other Tales of Trolls from Norway
Macaulay, David: City
Macaulay, David: Jet Plane: How It Works
Macaulay, David: Pyramid
McFadden: Deanna: Robinson Crusoe
MacKenzie, Donald A.: Scottish Fairy Tales
McPhail, David: The Party
Nesbo, Jo: Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder
Olmstead, Kathleen: Oliver Twist
Orwell, George: Animal Farm
Otto, Carolyn: I Can Tell By Touching (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Pollack, Pam and Meg Belviso: Who Was Steve Jobs
Pyle, Robert: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Classic Starts)
Ross, Roslyn: The Three Little Pigs: Or, To Survive You Must Plan ... And Work
Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman: Nate the Great and the Musical Note
Showers, Paul: A Drop of Blood (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Showers, Paul: Hear Your Heart (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Showers, Paul: How Many Teeth (Let's Read and Find Out Science)
Sloane, Eric: Do's and Don's of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom
Sloane, Eric: A Reverence for Wood
Smith, Philip: Irish Fairy Tales
Sobol, Donald J: Encyclopedia Brown
Sobol, Donald J: Encyclopedia Brown Carries On
Sobol, Donald J: Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case
Sobol, Donald J: Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day
Sobol, Donald J: Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth
Stevenson, Robert Louis: Treasure Island (Classic Starts)
Snorri, Sturluson: The Prose Edda
Tait, Chris: Treasure Island
Titus, Eve: Anatole
Viorst, Judith: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday
Wilder, Laura Ingles: A Little House Traveler: Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America
Wilder, Laura Ingles: By The Shores of Silver Lake
Wilder, Laura Ingles: Farmer Boy
Wilder, Laura Ingles: Little House in the Big Woods
Wilder, Laura Ingles: The Long Winter
Wilder, Laura Ingles: On the Banks of Plum Creek
Zamorsky, Tania: Pinocchio
Zamorsky, Tania: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

COMPLETED WORKBOOKS
Kumon Workbook: Around the World
Kumon Workbook: Measurement and Length
Kumon Workbook: Logic for Kindergarteners
Kumon Workbook: Same and Different for Kindergarteners
Kumon Workbook: Spacial Reasoning for Kindergarteners
Gifted and Talented Test Preparation for Kindergarten

PROGRAMS IN PROGRESS
Kumon Math Program
Kumon Reading Program (through level 3A, then changed)
Hooked On Phonics

CLASSES AND CAMPS WHILE IN LA
Acting: Stage Left Camera Right and Young Actors Space
Ballroom Dance: Beverly Hills Ballroom
Fine Art: Renaissance Fine Art
Gymnastics: Jag Gym
Ice Skating (for Hockey): Iceland Ice Ring and Kings Valley Ice Center
Krav Maga: Krav Maga Worldwide
Math: Santa Monica Montessori School
Music: Cornerstone Music Academy and Burbank Music Academy
Science: Science Explorers Robot Camp
Spanish: Kallpachay Spanish Immersion
Theater: Performing Arts Workshop and Kids on Stage

FIELD TRIPS
Autry Museum of the American West
Los Angeles Zoo
Los Angeles Auto Show
Peterson Automotive Museum
Horseback riding at Selva Negra in Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Travel Town Train Museum
*Going to work with Papa
*Visiting the workplaces of various family friends

APS
Mathtopia

YOUTUBE
Wrangler Star (various episodes)

TELEVISION
Discovery: Naked and Afraid: The Jungle Curse, 
Discovery: When We Left Earth: Project Mercury
DVD Set: On Duty Firefighters
DVD Set: The Apprentice
History: Specials (101 Inventions That Changed the World,  101 Weapons That Changed the World, 102 Minutes that Changed America, Art of War, Crash: The Next Great Depression?, First Mothers, History's Most Extreme Airports, Invisible, Isis: The Rise of Terror, Journey to the Earth's Core, Ripped Off: Madoff and the Scamming of America, Scammed, Secret Access: Airforce One, Secret Societies, The Making of Trump, The Real Story of Thanksgiving, The Secret World of Gold, The White House: Behind Closed Doors, Transition of Power: The Presidency, Weird Warfare, What People Earn: Baseball Bats & Cowboy Hats, What People Earn: Beer, Knives, Football)
National Geographic: Creatures of the Deep Collection (episodes on topics he was interested in)
National Geographic: Explorer (Secret History of Gold, Lost Cities of the Amazon, T.Rex Walks Again)
National Geographic: Known Universe: Surviving Outer Space, Treasure Hunt, Most Powerful Stars, Extreme Space Tech, Construction Zone
National Geographic: Kids Really Wild Animals (Animal Builders)
National Geographic: Wild (Eternal Enemies)
PBS: First Peoples: Europe
PBS: Nova: The Spy Factory, Vikings Unearthed, What Darwin Never Knew
Smithsonian: Trump 757, C-17 Globemaster III, Blue Angels, Sofia 747SP

MOVIES – DOCUMENTARIES

MOVIES – FICTION
*We watch a fiction movie on full moons.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Star Wars I
Stars Wars II
Star Wars III
Star Wars IV
Star Wars V
Star Wars VI
The Jungle Book
The Wizard of Oz
WallE
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

AGE 6

BOOKS
Ames, Louise Bates: Your Six-Year-Old: Loving and Defiant
Allen JP and Marci Winters: Giraffe Juice: The Magic of Making Life Wonderful
Breslin, Theresa: An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales
Church, Lisa: Ballet Stories
Craig-Gaddis, Lora: Elsie & Pooka Stories of the Sabbats and Seasons: Yule & Imbolc
D'Aulaire, Ingri:  D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
Evert, Lori: The Christmas Wish
Kellogg, Steven: The Mysterious Tadpole
Orwell, George: Animal Farm
Osborne, Mary Pope: La Hora de los Juegos Olimpicos
Professor, Baby: Alexander the Great
Stevenson, James: Could Be Worse!
Sutcliff, Rosemary: Black Ships Before Troy
Sutcliff, Rosemary: The Wanderings of Odysseus
Tolkien, JRR: The Hobbit

COMPLETED WORKBOOKS


PROGRAMS IN PROGRESS
Kumon Math Program
Hooked On Phonics

CLASSES AND CAMPS WHILE IN LA
Acting: 
Ballroom Dance: Beverly Hills Ballroom
Fine Art: Renaissance Fine Art
Gymnastics: Jag Gym
Ice Skating (for Hockey): Iceland Ice Ring and Kings Valley Ice Center
Krav Maga: Krav Maga Worldwide
Math: Santa Monica Montessori School
Music: Cornerstone Music Academy
Science: 
Spanish: Kallpachay Spanish Immersion

FIELD TRIPS


APS
Mathtopia

YOUTUBE


TELEVISION


MOVIES – DOCUMENTARIES

MOVIES – FICTION
*We watch a fiction movie on full moons.
The Hobbit Trilogy, extended edition
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, extended edition