Taking School On The Road

I'm certain I've mentioned this before, but one thing I love about Otherwise Educating is the flexibility we have. It's great not being confined to a classroom. The children learn so much simply by being a part of my day.

Yesterday, we did some work in the morning and then traveled 30 miles north to have lunch with my husband. As we were driving, I noticed that my children seemed more observant than they had in the past. We talked about the pumpjacks and what their purpose is. The children noted how different the terrain is just a few miles north of where we live. (Thing 3 described it as "a barren wasteland". He prefers trees to wide open plains. I was just impressed with his vocabulary.) We talked about the horizon and how much farther you can see when you're in barren wastelands wide open spaces.

Since we are doing a rock and mineral study in Science right now, we stopped by the rock shop on the way home so the children could pick out some rocks and minerals. It was fun to look at all the rocks and talk about things they had learned in Science the day before. And I enjoyed chatting with the woman who was working at the store because she had homeschooled her children. It's always a pleasant surprise to run into people who support our decision to OE. You just never know what kind of reaction you're going to get when you have your kids out in public during school hours.

On the way home, the children did some logic puzzles together. (Gotta love those higher order thinking skills! )

Today we are taking school on the road again. A friend asked me to work at her store for a few hours. The children are thrilled about doing school at the store, and I'm thrilled to be getting out of the house and to have the opportunity to interact with big people for a few hours.

We are ready to go!