Cooling Off and Reflecting On Homeschooling

We spent the day at a local favorite park today which has the most fantastic creek. Michael spent the day building a dam and waterfall. Meg alternated between playing on the playground and walking through the creek.

This creek always brings out the inner scientist in my kids as they probe for answers to questions like: What attracts and repels water bugs? How can I make the dam stronger? And what will the effect of the weather be on the dam over the next week? Often their own explorations and self directed learning outshines anything I could present from a curriculum.

Its days like this when I know homeschooling makes a tremendous difference in their lives. On the way home from the park today we passed a playground which was empty as recess was long over. The playground seemed so desolate, quite the juxtaposition of the park I just left which was filled with homeschoolers. It crossed my mind that it was such a waste of a playground; used probably only 30 minutes a day seasonally. Then I thought about the children and their fleeting childhood. I suddenly felt so proud that my kids are able to enjoy their childhood fully and without the time parameters of going to school. We did not need to wait for school to be over to experience this fantastic day in the creek--it was part of our school day. We played and learned simultaneously, effortlessly, and simply.