School today: we took advantage of living in the boonies and having a couple of ponds and lots of trees and great rocks. First we hiked up the big hill to the fishing pond. The kids checked out the muskrat hole which keeps the pond lower than it was years ago. Then a little rock climbing and a bunch of tree climbing.
The nerdy teacher in me makes mental lists that go something like this:
1. physical fitness with walking, climbing. hand-eye coordination with climbing and balancing and running on very uneven ground.
2. physics: introduction to the laws of motion; when Caiden got plowed over by the big dog in the driveway before we even got started. (they were both excited to be going for a walk and totally collided, unfortunately for at least a few more years, I'm sure the dog will always be the moving force in these lessons...haha)
3. ecology: observing the habitat of pond snails and then collecting each part to go into jars for home observation.
4. communication: as Caiden told Ady where to reach into murky water to find slimy snails. Taking our finds to the field to show daddy who was appropriately awed and encouraging about our adventurous morning.
5. planning: we left the second pond to go gather buckets, shovels, and change clothes for better gathering/wading.
I really feel blessed to be homeschooling my two kiddos. There is such a peace about spending the day learning. It was a wonderful simple joy to spend the whole morning out in nature observing and finding and learning. The kids have been very peaceful learning together and thoroughly enjoyed exploring together. Each of them calls to the other to show their new-found treasure and they each always want to be a part of the other's adventures.
Now, how long until the snail jars stink? or..are filled with overcrowded dead snails?
2 comments:
Wow! You are doing some wonderful things with your kids--They are lucky to have such and education! Are you able to network with other homeschoolers? How much do you need to budget to homeschool for materials, field trips, etc?
I don't have a huge network at this point. we live in a very rural area, networking means an hour drive one way....so we take advantage of seasonal sports, and church activities for friendships.
I try to be frugal and get the best deals on materials. I don't buy a curriculum in a box...too much teacher training behind me to buy a box set! Thank goodness for the internet, and the well trained mind. all of which allow me to find free and frugal stuff!
Field trips, I have tried to work into family trips this year and figure I'm using whatever gas I would have used in driving them to public school. (15 miles one way)
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