September activities

We have been more busy than we planned this September which is both nice and exhausting! There are so many things to do and many new worldschoolers have joined us which we are really happy about. I think there is almost room to divide Prague in local area groups if someone else want to join me in organizing the worldschoolers. Otherwise we will continue with activities mainly in Prague 7 and sometimes for the other areas.

We dont often go to Prague 4. I think its a rather messy modern part of town that is slightly hard for us to reach. But there is the beautiful forest Kunratice les, and many activities are there as well. So we have gone there a couple of times this month.

We went to a artisan workshop activity with a friend where we could try different things. My son tried being a blacksmith and with some help made his own nail. The kids also made necklaces and bounced on the trampoline. They seem to have this kind of place in the different areas of Prague. Its so nice! We then went to a fun park with a swimming fountain place and where the held an RC plane competition on the grass.

My littlest one became sick this week. With school starting again comes also school germs and since worldschooled kids hang in the same places as school kids they get it as well. We arranged a BBQ this week for the worldschoolers. But more than half that were suppose to come were sick. And my littlest one had a really tough time with 3 nights in a row of trouble to sleep because of all the snot. I felt like a wandering zombie from being seriously sleep deprived thinking how should i proceed with this day? But we made it anyway - me and our two eldest boys and we had a really nice time. To my surprise a couple of new really nice families turned up, and there was good weather and a fire and happy kids and parents so it turned out well anyway.

Because so many were sick we are doing a 2nd BBQ this friday so they can join and some families from last time would go again I think. The weather is cooler now so it will be nice also. This friday we will also have a Bitcoin tour of Holesovice prior to the BBQ. Those that are really interested in Bitcoin and austrian economics but cant make it this Friday will have another opportunity in a couple of weeks time.

The week after this one we plan to take a break from organized worldschooling activities as we will be busy with family and attending the decentralization conference "Hackers congress". They usually have talks on education and unschooling also. Bitcoin and unschooling goes hand in hand. The tickets for this event is sold out since spring time but some people that cant attend are selling their tickets here. I can highly recommend this conference having attended two years in a row before.

Bitcoin family-picnic in Stromovka

It's nice that there are enough families here to get together a bitcoin family picnic. I had invited our bitcoin friends and families who were interested in bitcoin. Bitcoin has a lot in common with unschooling..I wish more would see the connection! We packed the stroller full of chocolate muffins and salmon sandwiches which we had prepared in the morning. The picnic area was decorated with yellow balloons with the bitcoin "₿" on. There were 3 Swedish families plus some more swedes and Kristyna which was the only czech person as well as a Brazilian / Finnish family who found us by chance. The majority of us were Swedish speakers except 3 people, which was extraordinary because its not usually like that. 

In the background, you can see the boat which you pull with the rope to get to the "island" of the dam.

Picture taken by Mikaela. Here you can see exactly what it is like to not let go of a running one-year-old with your eyes while making coffee at the portable gas stove!

Advanced bitcoin-talk going on.

The water was a little too cold to swim in today so Edward was happy with just pouring with the water can. Next week it will be around 29 degrees again.

In the dam on the other side there were huge fishes that looked like carps as you can see in the picture if you look closely. There were perchants as well.

The new family. One can see that Edward has been on the go and spread popcorn everywhere on the picnic blanket.

Practical to breastfeed wherever you are!

Play fighting with 3 little boys.

We decided to move on because of the beer-needy adults and the need for a change of environment.

The Vozovna playground has a restaurant / pub attached so the children can run around at the large playground or climb the trees next to us while the adults take it easy.

With the exception of Edward of course. One person can never relax as to make sure that he doesnt hurt himself or run away.

The Stromovka Park has really got a facelift. Renovation is still underway, but there are many beautiful parts, and it is nice to have greenery here when you live in town.

Want to learn more about bitcoin in Prague? Visit the unique bitcoin café Paralelni Polis! Do you want to know where the beautiful park is located? Here is a map! The map needle is located near the pond by the boat. The playground pub / restaurant is called Restaurace Vozovna.

Learning about economics - capitalism in action in Stromovka!

A fellow worldschooler friend had a great idea: to have an autumn fair where the kids could sell things they made. We thought we would arrange it on a Saturday so that the whole families could join. You never know what to expect with the worldschoolers here. If just one family or fifty turns up. They are so unpredictable! So we had no idea about today apart from that we knew for sure that four families would come.

In our home we started the day with a quick breakfast and then baking. The kids got to choose what they would bake. We have a swedish cake book and usually use recipes online for baking. We usually twist it as none of us like to follow instructions completely. Winston chose a sponge cake and Henry "kärleksmums" which means "love yum" in Swedish. It's a chocolate kind of a cake with coffee glazing. 

I got the things out and the dad took the baby out to the play ground. Henry and Winston had a bowl each. I just whipped the eggs and sugar. Otherwise they made the cakes pretty much by themselves. A lot of things to take into account. Measuring. Temperatures. What order to do things in.

They decorated their creations with the buttery glazing (coffee and chocolate for Henrys cake and vanilla for Winstons) as well as a candy topping and so we packed the stroller with all the stuff and went to the park. Elena arrived on time with her oldest displaying their waffles and cinnamon cookies. They were really cheap. A new family turned up as well with two boys. They had a table with a clear sign saying their chocolate chip cookies were only 5 Kč.

I realised we set the prices too high and wondered how the others would make a profit. We had a long discussion at home what the costs are for us and how much we need to make to not make a loss. There was some room for lower prices. Winston changed his price and I suggested a 10 Kč discount to Henry, so the "love yums" were only 20 Kč now. They have a lot of chocolate and candy on.

Winston brought the gas stove and offered coffee. It's well needed always with some caffeine for tired parents! I ordered two cups and so did some other parents. 

Seeing the amount of worldschoolers coming to buy and sell stuff from each other wasn't a huge qtty and we quickly went through our 3 "market stalls" and tried everything we understood that we had to change our plans. There were plenty of families and old people going for a stroll on the path near the tree we were under so one by one we moved closer and closer to the path and also made some new signs. And to get the attention for the passer byers we taught our children how to shout in czech swedish cakes and so you could hear Henry on the top of his voice shouting "Svedske dorty!". Winston sold out all of his cakes first and got to take over two of Henrys last cakes.

Some families stopped by and bought things. The new american/czech family had good sales. The mum was a good example of how to sell making some loud and efficient advertising for their only 5 Kč "susenky". We felt the competition against each other and improved our tactiques. By 2 hours we had sold almost everything and ate the last three kärleksmums quickly while the boys had gotten bored and were playing by the tree.

When they didnt sell anything we discussed what makes a sale? What makes people want to buy things? How to better improve for next time? We had wasps visiting Winstons cake stall and when he was running away from the wasps (and the stall) he also ran away from the customers. Many went from our stalls to the two cheaper ones. The wasp was trapped in a clear cup and hidden under the small folding table. For some reason other wasps didnt come back while this one was trapped. Maybe it sent out some kind of warning signal to keep away? 

The boys were learning so many things in this exercise. What are people prepare to spend at this kind of location? What makes them curious to come and have a closer look? And finalize the transaction? How do you set prices and how do you make a profit?

We also know our costs. We had used 1,5 packets of butter and high quality ingredients for the two cakes. The butter was our biggest expense. We should have marketed the butter a bit more. We also know that we didnt make a loss. We set the price correctly for this kind of cake. 

We know also that a clearer sign and attractive display lured more people to come closer. As we improved we had more sales. Until there was almost nothing to display anymore. The abundancy attracts as well. The boys were overall very happy with the experience and the fruits of their labour. They got to keep everything they made - contrary to the working adults that have to pay taxes! We should advance and introduce it on the next event for a learning experience as well! 

They are saving all at the moment..well they are saving up a little more to afford a nerf gun they wanted. So they are already planning on their next sales pitch for selling cakes to a nearby cafe!