Letters of Note: To My Old Master

One of the things I love about unschooling is found curriculum. Rather like found poems. The children and I are discussing this marvel of intelligence, kindness, forthright honesty, and good manners. In fact, I'm considering having this letter framed as a work of art and inspiration. How many different layers of industrial school curricula can be found in this one letter? And consider: the author was unschooled.

In other news, today we are making laundry detergent. It works well and saves a ton of money--especially considering how much laundry a family with children generates and how insanely expensive the grocery store stuff has gotten lately. For an added bonus, I very much enjoy recycling my old laundry soap containers for reuse as laundry soap containers. Why is that especially satisfying? Here's the long recipe.
Quick recipe:
1 grated bar of soap in 4 cups of simmering water until fully melted
1/2 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda
Add dry ingredients to three gallons of warm water and stir until dissolved.
Add warm liquid soap and stir.
Allow to rest one day. Use one cup per load.

 This melted soap gets mixed into...

this bucket of minerals and warm water. Yielding approximately $10 worth of laundry detergent for about $2. Melting soap shards requires very little stirring. Just add a handful of shards at a time and wait for them to melt. Make sure you like the smell of your chosen soap because it will fill your home as it melts.