One Thing Leads To Another

I am finding that one thing I really like about this unconventional way of educating my children is the divergent nature of their learning. Typically, children are taught to think convergently. They gather facts, narrow down the information and focus on one solution. That is an important skill to have, and there is certainly value in learning to think in that way. (Without it, we would not have Tollhouse Cookies or brownies or muffins.) However,  there is also considerable value in allowing your mind to work in reverse, starting with a single bit of information and branching out. It's sometimes good to think like the mouse in If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

Often, my son will be working on something that will spur a question about some other matter. We get totally sidetracked from our original lesson while we hop around the internet or through books following the rabbit trail of questions.

For example, today he was working on his copy work. He was copying a short paragraph that talked about Hot Springs, Arkansas. He asked, "How hot are the Hot Springs there?" So we researched that. (143 degrees F.)

Then he wondered, "What makes the Hot Springs hot?" ("Geologists believe that just the right combination of rock types and old faults exists here to permit water to perculate deep, where it is heated by surrounding rock.")

Then my daughter asked, "What's a fault?" So we talked a little bit about the Earth's crust, plates, etc.

That led us to a discussion of Earthquakes.

I think after Earthquakes, we all decided it was time for lunch. We had spent a good thirty minutes researching something we didn't even know interested us when we started our day. Both children asked if we could study more about Earthquakes next week.

It's really wonderful to have the time to indulge and encourage their curiosity.

Why I Love Otherwise Educating...Reason #174

No Homework! Our nights are so calm and unhurried now.

It's A Journey...

You would think after five days of Otherwise Educating that I would have this all figured out, wouldn't you? I would think so!

I'm not the most patient person I know. I'm not even close. So not having this all figured out is killing me.

I feel like I should be doing more. I feel like my children should be learning more. I feel like I'm not as creative as I want to be. I feel like they're bored.

What's wrong with me? It's been five days! They should know all the states and capitals by now. We should be halfway through their math curriculum. And shouldn't my 4th grader be writing a novel? Clearly, I'm a home schooling failure!

There is an adjustment period, for them and for me, but more for me. We're all trying to shake the traditional school mentality of completing an assignment and moving on to the next worksheet. I'm having trouble because I set my expectations too high. I plan to accomplish way more than we can in a day.

As much as I believe in a child's natural desire and ability to learn, I'm having trouble living in the moment and letting them soak up whatever they can. When my daughter jumped up from her spelling work to watch the hummingbird drink from the flowers outside our window, my instinct was to say, "Come back and sit down and focus on your spelling." I had to remind myself that she was learning from watching that hummingbird and that if spelling had to wait, well, then spelling had to wait.

I know we will figure it out and that everything will be fine. I just have to remember that it's a journey, not a race.


"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Albert Einstein

Why I Love Otherwise Educating...Reason #168

AC: "You know why I LOVE homeschooling, Mommy? Because I can hug you anytime I want to. I don't have to wait until 3:30."

In-School Suspension

You've always heard that girls are easier, right? WRONG! Thing 4 is going to give me a run for my money. She can't sit still and focus to save her soul has a little trouble concentrating.

I had to move her to the dining room (by herself) so she could get her Math finished and so her brother could concentrate on his work (in the other room).

And again, she makes quite the fashion statement.

Our Official First Day of School!

Much to the dismay of my older boys, we have a tradition of taking pictures outside our front door on the first day of school. It's a fun way to see how much the kids have grown from year to year by checking how tall they are compared to the door.



After taking pictures, we did a little math.



For some, math can be a bit of a challenge.



But she got it!



We met some other OE friends for donuts and then headed out to the Oxley Nature Center for a first day of school field trip. We thought it would be fun to take a little hike on the nature trails.



(My daughter is quite the fashionista with those arm warmers, doncha think?)

But approximately 30 seconds after I took that picture, it started to rain. Then it started to pour. It poured for an hour. We poked around the nature center waiting for the rain to stop...but it didn't stop.

There is a lot of cool stuff to touch in that nature center! The working beehive is particularly interesting.



The staff there was great! They answered all the questions our kiddos had, and our kiddos had a lot of questions!

We had such fun! I think I'm going to like this!

Nature Study

Thanks to my daddy, I love nature. He instilled in all of his children a deep sense of appreciation for the natural world. So it's not surprising that one thing I love most about the Charlotte Mason approach is the emphasis on Nature Study. Miss Mason believed that adults should nurture a child's love of and curiosity about the natural world through nature walks with children and close observation of things discovered in nature. Keeping a Nature Journal is a key part of the nature study.

After some looking, I found these really cool supplies at Tuesday Morning for our Nature Journals. Each child has a journal and a set of black pencils and colored pencils. I got them each a nifty little pencil box just for their Nature Journal pencils. I love these materials because they look so organic and they're made from recycled materials.





We've had a couple of opportunities in the past week to do a little nature study right in our backyard. Tonight, we looked out and noticed that we had a rather sizable mushroom growing beside our pool. We left the dinner dishes on the table, grabbed our Handbook of Nature Study (which is some of the best money I've ever spent...it's an amazing book), Nature Journals and pencils and went to check it out.



First we read all about mushrooms in our Handbook.

Then we observed.




We contemplated.



And finally we sketched.






And that was Science...and Art.