Young Euntreprenuers

The weather is warm here in New Hampshire and the kids wanted to make some money on their own. We decided to have another lemonade stand after last years success. This year we added fresh popcorn to their "menu".

One way in which my children never cease to keep me in awe is their ability to handle money. None of the kids ever had any kind of math lessons or workbooks, quizzes or instruction, but yet they have learned how to make change!

Last year I helped Tiff make change for people. This year she asked me not to help. No matter how much money someone would give her, she would know what to give them back. I thought this was so cool! Ivy and Devin helped her out, even though it was kind of her gig this year and the three of them were the cutest sight ever waving and smiling as cars drove by...

I am sure this was one of many lemonade and/or popcorn stands that they will have this year, but this one was special. It was a glimpse into their personal growth and ability in such a unique way.

Fire Play

Devin has been focused on fire lately. He wants to build fires everyday... sometimes three times a day! Luckily we have a lot of extra scrap wood that he can use.

Cultural voices scream at us from every direction that a child shouldn't be "playing with fire".

Devin has a primitive, natural, passionate curiosity toward fire and I we really want to nurture that.

I trust my son. I have seen the respect he has with fire and I know that even if I am inside he will be responsible. I am no more worried with him building fires than I am with anything else he chooses to do. Sometimes he will invite me outside to check out the fire he built. Today was one of those days...

I love the smell of smoke on his clothes after a day of fire building. I hold him close and hug his strong man-child body against mine and breathe in the scent of his passion.

My fear of him playing with fire is gone and the trust of his abilty with "dangerous" things such as fire is ever-growing. I look forward to soon hearing, "Mom! Come check out the fire I built!"

Book Success

Our book, "Radical Unschooling: A Revolution Has Begun" has been more successful than we had ever dreamed after only a week..

The response has been so overwhelmingly positive and I am so grateful to be able to bring this message to the World about the rights and respect of children.

I have had some great reviews on Amazon that I would like to share:

A monumental contribution to the evolution of parenting intelligence, June 19, 2009
By Barbara A. Lundgren "always rethinking" (colleyville, tx usa) - I loved this straightforward, wisdom-laden book of loving, respectful, intelligent parenting advice. Taken to heart, the information in this book will indeed revolutionize the way our culture views and treats children, and peace, empowerment and self-ownership will become the happy result.

Jennifer A. Croce "jencroce" (Billerica, MA) - I am new to unschooling and found this book to be exactly what I needed to help me know I am on the right path. Dayna is straightforward, honest and genuine. She helps you see the joys of unschooling and makes it seem completely natural. She also explains some of the obstacles and how to work through them. I highly recommend this book even if you don't live a radical unschooling lifestyle, anyone who reads it will benefit from it.

jilli - I just finished reading this and would definitely recommend it to anyone. I've read most unschooling books that have been written and i really think this book does a great job of explaining radical unschooling. It would be a good read for a seasoned unschooler or perfect for someone just learning about unschooling.

Excellent book about a free life, June 17, 2009

As an experienced Radical Unschooler I enjoyed this book VERY much. It rekindled the spark and passion in me that I have for living this life. An excellent peak into the real life of a Radical Unschooling family demonstrating that it is possible to live a joyful life with our children respecting them as human beings with idividual desires and dreams that they have a right to not only pursue but experience NOW. I recommend this book to everyone!! It totally opens the mind to the possibility that we can all be free and all of our citizens have the right to pursuing of their desires, not just those 16 and older. The ripple effects of having the opportunity to live this life are tremendous. Thank you Dayna for writing this book! You lay it out in an easy to read format that will inspire veterans and new comers alike!

I am so grateful for the wonderful reviews!

~Dayna

Discovering Great Artists

Today we all explored the many different Art Styles throughout history.

We learned about the Renaissance and Post Renaissance time period and created some lovely pieces that are now hanging in our home..

Tiff loved Picasso. Devin loved Da Vinci.. Ivy enjoyed learning about Van Gogh..

We have been very creative lately with all of the rain in New Hampshire and our home is brimming with beautiful art inspired by many artists throughout history.

I highly recommend the book, " Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art For Children in the Styles of the Great Masters" by MaryAnn Kohl and Kim Solga.

This is a fabulous book which shares the techniques of so many artists throughout history.

Replanting Herbs

Today my friend Lynette came over and brought us a bountiful assortment of herbs.. We had a great afternoon replanting them in big pots. Sage, Lemon-Thyme, Dill and Oregeno... Ivy was very excited to have fresh herbs for her cooking ventures and really enjoyed repottting these! We spent time researching what reciepes we could use them all in.. The kids are all excited to use them tomorrow for our meals..

Ivy's Passion

Out of all of our kids, Ivy loves to cook. She watches cooking shows with me, and asks me everyday, what we are making for meals.. Lately she has taken to role of the Martin Family Chef.. Even though she is only 4, she creates the most amazing meals!

Last night just topped them all! Sweet and Sour Pork, Corn on the Cob with garlic, chive butter, zucchini and summer squash with tomatoes and rice...

I am so in awe of her cooking abilities and passion at such a young age!

Here is a picture of the meal that she made entirely by herself.

She looks so very serious in all of her cooking glory.. She's focused on all that she is doing... I have embraced this part of her in every way.. Everyday we look through cookbooks and visit websites about cooking.. I plan on buying her her own child-sized utensils soon..

After she tried her pork she said, "This meat is so good... I would marry it!". She cracks us up!

Natural Math

Math and Numbers aren't something we every have to "teach" our kids. Numbers are part of our life and very useful tools to help us get what we want. They aren't separate from it.

Workbook pages and quizzes are never necessary, because I know that my kids learn about Math through living life rich with numbers..

Today Tiff wanted to know how many days until her birthday in October..

Joe sat down and created a graph of numbers so that she could figure out how many days, weeks and months it was until her birthday. They spent a long time talking and working through the numbers and because it had meaning for Tiff, she was doing addition, subtraction and multiplication very easily.

Internal Motivation is the Key to Learning.... This activity proves how easily a child can learn "math" because it isn't taken out of context. It has true meaning to my daughter.. and in turn, she learned so much...

Math isn't separate from life.... Math is part of Life!

Joyful Work

We had over 200 pre-orders for our book,

"Radical Unschooling: A Revolution Has Begun"

Since the books came in, we have been busy as a family signing, packaging and mailing them all.. It has been a really fun new chapter in our lives!

The kids have learned so much through the process of me writing a book. Through working with agents, editors and publishes, the kids have been by my side asking questions with interest. They have learned about perseverance and hard work. They have learned about the perfection or details necessary during the final process. They also helped to choose the cover photo...

The entire project was embraced and worked through with my whole family part of it. Completing the book was like giving birth to my 5th child... I am so grateful for the entire experience.

Slingin' Dreams

I can't belive that Orion is almost 18 months old! The time flies by and we are all growing and evolving as a family. I really want to capture this time in our lives as a family, where Orion is my last baby.

Today Orion was sleeping in the sling. Tiff took a picture of us. I will miss the last 10 years of slanging' babes.. I am rarely seen without a baby on me.. I can't imagine life without a babe-in-arms.. I do know however, that life will only get better and better....

Motherhood Rocks! This last decade has been the greatest, most empowering time of my life.

Nurturing Brother

Since Devin became a big brother for the first time, he has always been very nurturing to his sisters.. Devin loves caring for them and brushing their hair. Ivy told me that she likes Devin brushing her hair more than me, because he is much gentler..

Brotherly love is so sweet to witness. He interacts with his siblings with such care and love. I love to see them just *being* together.. Tiff waits for her turn when Devin is in a brushing mood.. He picks them out cute clothes and the girls embrace his choices. Devin is so adored by his 3 siblings!

Toe Jam!

Orion usually hangs out on the kitchen table when we are eating meals. This morning his little foot got smushed in my toast. It was so funny when Joe called it, "Toe Jam" We all started laughing.. I know that most parents wouldn't "allow" their kids to sit on the table, but for us, we know that Orion feels empowered at eye level with us. He wants to sit where all the action is, and we embrace this about him.

Like Father, Like Son

Devin stays up late with us after the other kids fall asleep. We love our one on one time with him watching movies and eating late night snacks.

We all get really punchy late at night and I can't tell you how many funny memories we have in the wee hours of the morning.

The other night I was cleaning the kitchen and Joe and Devin came in looking like this. I just about died laughing... I had to post a picture of them.

I love my hairy men!

Soul Sisters

Have you ever met someone that you just fell in love with? I don't mean in a romantic way. I mean in a friendship, adoring way. From the first conversation with my friend Barb, I knew we would become close friends. Barb is 20 years older than me, but I have never had so much in common with anyone before.

Last week Barb flew from Texas to New Hampshire to spend 3 days with me and our family. We had such a nice time! Barb brought the kids awesome gifts, which included a cool memory game, farting salt and pepper shakers, stickers and many other unique little fun things. She made Joe and I very cool, personalized coffee mugs with inspirational sayings and images. I use mine everyday.

It isn't often that someone comes into your life and really enriches it like Barb has mine. She is genuine, and kind and thoughtful. I admire her very much. She is a mentor to me. She founded the Rethinking Education Conference and has 3 grown children who were Radically Unschooled.

During her visit, we went out for Indian food, which was so delicious! We also visited a nice Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed chips and salsa and a few margaritas and beers. I wish we could do it all over again! It was rainy for most of her time here, but I liked the feel of being able to lounge around the house, cook, talk, enjoy a nice cup of coffee and just relax together.

At night, after the little ones were asleep, I would go over to the guest room in my jammies and climb into bed with Barb and we would talk and laugh. It was very special and a time I will never forget. I feel like I have known her for much longer than I have.

I am so grateful for my sweet friend. I cried when she left and felt an emptiness in my heart. I haven't felt that kind of pain for a very long time. I look forward to moving to Texas to be able to see Barb regularly. With our combined energies there is no telling what we can do or accomplish together!

Bold TV Interview

Here is my latest interview on BoldTV. I was actually asked to host my own show during the program, which is very exciting!
Details to come!