Is it hookey?
Today was a beautiful day in town. Warm and full of sunshine. Friends, who are also making the leap into homeschooling, invited us on a hike at a local trail system. While the kids were exploring the shortcuts and throwing rocks into the river, I felt giddy and a little bit guilty. Were we just playing hookey? While the rest of the town's children were sitting at their desks, we were out enjoying what nature had to offer. In the end, we could adjust our schedule to go on the hike when it made sense (sunny and warm!) and do more "bookish" studies in the afternoon as the sun was setting.
Learning goes on ALL THE TIME, not just between 8am-2pm!
But even if we hadn't done any "schooling", would the kids have learned something that day? Would they learn math from a book? No. Writing complete sentences with proper punctuation? No. But would they have learned anything at all? Socializing with children of different ages? Treating nature with respect? Learning to enjoy the beauty of trees along a river? Learning why the river level was so high compared to the last time they were there? Yes. Yes. And yes!
Slow down!
The best thing we're doing as a family is slowing down. We still rush from time to time for one reason or another. We still get frustrated when the kids don't put on their shoes until the fourth time we've asked. But overall, we're changing our lifestyle to fit our newfound schedule and we're slowing down. So, on this hike, I found it nice to not compete with other families for space on this beautiful day. We adults had no other agenda, so we were not pushing to "get there". We were able to go at the kids' pace as they touched curious items along the way, asked questions, walked alone, walked together, and explored in general.
No comments:
Post a Comment