One Fine Day Learning

Oh! do I love these days! It is the kind where I wish I had a video camera capturing each perfect moment. However, I know if I did, everyone would pay attention to the camera, and my actual picture would be lost.

We have plenty of "real" days. David says his eyes are tired after three pages in his reader. Leah says she can only do school with Mommy, not Sarah. Sarah gives up on our politics unit study and only wants to do her Earth science.

Occasionally we have a picture perfect day when everything flows. I want to remember this when we have more realistic days. I want to remember that this is why we are learning at home, to instill and nurture a love of learning in our children, follow their paths and connect with them in a special way.

Here is a snapshot of our fine day. It started with my morning walk. Before I left, I asked Jesse to work with Sarah on her citizenship lesson. When I returned, the activities were finished. They made webs describing their rights and responsibilities in our home, discussed how people help their communities and listed what the consequences might be when citizens do not make good decisions.

We said good-bye to Daddy and started our reading. Sarah read You’re Aboard Spaceship Earth by Patricia Lauber. David and Leah chimed in that Earth is a sphere and began collecting balls. They soon were off to play while Sarah finished. When it was time for David to read Gus the Bug with me, Sarah did “sister school” with Leah. They classified and matched shapes and colors. This was very simple for Leah. On their own initiative, they started to create more classification sheets to challenge each other further.

For David and Leah’s attribute unit, we experimented with standard and nonstandard measurement. When Sarah saw how much fun we were having, she soon joined us. How long was our big doll when she was measured with a short pencil, a long pencil, Leah’s hand, Mommy’s hand or a ruler? David also measured numerous toys to predict if they would fit in a bag. Although our monkey puppet is 10 inches wide and 38 inches long, she still fit in a 7”x10” gift bag. One of the sentences David dictated for handwriting was, “Chee-Chee [the puppet] is long but flexible.”

While I prepared lunch, Sarah wrote two letters to an alien friend who wants to visit Earth. I was so impressed to see an entire page filled with her writing. Her creativity continued with her first acrostic poem describing Earth and a letter to Ranger Rick, with yet another acrostic poem describing their magazine.

Our full, smooth day finished with Miquon Math. Sarah used Cuisenaire rods to begin her division exploration. David hopped along number lines by 2’s, 4’s, 8’s and 16’s. At the end, we were all smiles, ready for a photograph that never happened.

What special days or moments do you have with your children? As I continue to take baby-steps forward on our homeschool path, or large leaps back, I find these days more frequently. It is part of my own learning process as a parent, finding the best paths for each of us. I wish you many fine days learning with your children!

ps. Today was very "real" and is described in the second paragraph. Our "fine day" happened last month. =)