Kiernen has become quite the young entrepreneur lately. He has discovered the joy of doing jobs for money, and that he can save his money to buy toys he really wants, without having to wait until his Birthday/Halloween/Christmas. We have been coming up with jobs for him to do outside of his normal expectations, and paying him anywhere from 50 cents to two dollars depending on the job.

He has helped fold laundry, helped me paint hive boxes, helped wash the car, gotten me a towel when I was dripping wet from the shower and towels were all the way downstairs, and helped me clean out our parking spot (carrying stuff to the house for me), and vacuumed the floor with our sweeper. Other jobs on the list we haven't yet done include weeding the garden and wiping down the lower cabinets in the kitchen - other suggestions are certainly welcome.

This has been a great opportunity for us and him, in lots of ways. He is learning about money and the different values the coins have (here in Canada we also have $1 and $2 coins, so there hasn't been very much paper money involved just yet). He is gaining more independence, and has lately very much been wanting to do things entirely on his own - he will only ask for help if he really really needs it, and he gets frustrated when he does, too. He is learning about what kinds of work he can do and what it takes to "do a job", and even what that means. "He goes to his job for money?" He is learning to think himself of things he can do for jobs - washing the car was entirely his idea, for example, as was vacuuming the floor.

It comes at a great time, too - we have enrolled in the homeschooling program at the self-design school called Wondertree. The school itself is already child-directed learning, which we practice, and for homeschooling we get $1000 to spend on educational things plus all the resources of the school itself. This includes all kinds of great opportunities for homeschoolers, which I am totally excited about taking advantage of. The world is our classroom!

Speaking of learning opportunities, in August we're going on a frog safari (to discover and learn about frogs in their home), and we're also participating in a great program offered by a local University here that gives away telescopes to families who participate in four of their starry night events and one workshop. How great is that - free telescopes PLUS you get to learn about the stars while "earning" one!?! I am so loving this whole homeschooling thing - and it hasn't even officially begun yet!

I think reading will be soon - he already knows his letters and likes to practice writing them and spelling words - he asks me to tell him how to write the whole alphabet, and I do - and then he asks me to tell him the letters in his friends' names. I think other words are right around the corner - and of course, all at his own pace.

We just finished reading a friend's copy of "Little House in the Big Woods" (aka Little House on the Prairie). I'd originally borrowed it just to read myself, as I loved the show as a kid and had never read the actual books. When Kiernen saw it on the bedside table he asked me to read it to him, so I did - a chapter or two a night, sometimes even three. He really loved it, and so did I. I'm going to keep reading the series, and I'll read them to him as long he is interested. So cool that HE asked for that!