AMPED up on fun

Recently we went to Science world to check out their new exhibit. The boys had such a fun time. Will definitely have to go back on a day when it is less busy.

There was all sorts of fun tools to play with that the music industry uses. The kids got to try their hand at playing, singing and mixing.

DJ in the future?

Another year of NOT going to school

Today is the first day back to school for many children in my area. With living kiddie corner from a school we see the daily activity, the coming and going of a hundred or so of little children.  My Facebook has been covered with first day of school pictures and most of them look completely adorable.Wearing new clothes with a new haircut, ready to head off on a new adventure.
My boys looked nothing like that today.

They are clothed in the same old clothes. Well the older two are , lil is rejecting clothes today ( he had at least a shirt on earlier ) There are no new back packs or pencils. There honestly is nothing new or special about today. They have watched a bit of TV, played lego and read some books. Later they will have lunch and do something that interests them.  Later this week we will get together with some other home learners and have a picnic in the park. The children will play and run and laugh. 

Sure this year will be different Bug is in Grade 2 and Bobo is in kindergarten. Which pretty much means I have doubled my reporting work load but that is about it for change. We will continue our daily lives in a fairly relaxed fashion and life will go on.

More than just building blocks

Blocks are wonderful things. The boys spend a fair amount of time building things. When they are working with the blocks they are learning so much more.

The belly also needed a picture. 19 weeks

As they are building the are developing so many skills for life. Spatial awareness, hand eye coordination and more things that I'm not even sure about. The thing is when they just look like they are playing, they are doing so much more. Remember a child's work is their play. 

Creative learning

One of the biggest advantages to homeschooling is learning can take place anywhere and at anytime. Math puzzles can be done while snuggling on the couch. Language Arts discussed while swinging on the swings. The seasons and environmental questions can be asked in nature, where these questions are best answered.


It is easy to get creative with learning if you stop thinking about learning. Think about fun things and exciting things to do stop expecting learning and allow experiences to come. They will come with doing :)



Here bug is just trying to make the most number of pie pieces with 4 cuts. Does he realize he is learning fractions? Nope. Is he having fun? For sure. He is spending time figuring out a puzzle. there was no wrong answer. He didn't have any expectations other than try and figure out the puzzle he picked to do.

Marsh mellows and toothpicks make for lots of fun that everyone can get into. Sure it's geometry but they don't care they are making shapes and trying to get the to stand up.

Life is full of wonder and so much fun. Get creative! 

The right to choose

I like to give my kids choices. Sometimes the choices aren't what they would like, but they do get to choose. Giving children choices gives them a feeling of control in their lives. Children need to learn how to make choices when they are young. They need to know that their opinion matters.

This is so true in school work. There are few places where children are programmed as much as they are in brick and mortar schools. Teacher can't really give children choices about the work that they are going to do. When you have 30 some odd kids to tend to it is just not feasible. You can't just let them choose what they want to learn. This is an unfortunate condition of brick and mortar schools.

With home learning you have a lot more freedom to follow your child. To see where their passions truly lie. Kids are generally full of wonder and want to know more about their environment. Allowing them to have choices allow them to feel like they can control their own life. They have the ability to grow where they want to grow.

Now in our family there are a few things that I feel must be covered, basic math, reading and writing. I give choices in these area of what to do. We try and make it fun, we play games for math, because generally I find math boring and worksheets me me want to go to sleep. Why would I ask my son to do something that I would never do if I had the choice. Though I do leave the option there for him, some days he does it for fun. We write as a family and we read as a family. We really try to keep things less stressful.

This year I am really focusing on enjoying learning. Part of enjoying learning is finding passion. Finding passion is a lot easier when you can choose. We don't do book work everyday or even every week, but we learn all the time.

If you give your child the option to choose to learn about what interests them and how it interests them, you might be very surprised but what they will do.                                

Let them be little

Most adults I know wish they could be kids again, free from the worries and stresses of the world. Most kids cant wait to grow up. I cant blame the kids or really the adults, while you are young adult life is so amazing. We constantly are getting kids to grow up or think about the future. You know what who cares what they want to be when they grow up. They are kids they have years to grow up. Right now my son tells me he wants to be a superhero who saves the world. Great! there is nothing that he needs to do right now to prep for that because it could change next week. If he wants to be a doctor, great! At 6 he doesn't need to do anything. Right now he needs to be a kid. He needs to explore life and find out what he likes. He doesnèt have to think about getting old and getting a job right now. That will come with time. Right now he needs to be little and have fun. Don't try and get your kids to grow up to fast, childhood is short let them live it.

Pirate SuperHeros

archaeologist 

Musician

World explorer

Scientist

Navigator

He can be whatever he wants when he grows up but right now he can be a kid!

Force and motion

Don't you just love how learning can happen anywhere at anytime? I find it truly amazing how smart my boys are. They can figure things out pretty easily for themselves. Then what they don't know they ask questions. Questions are wonderful tools to facilitate learning. Questions start conversations, and conversations can lead to amazing learning.

I have found that a lot of newer parks are full of amazing pieces of equipment that allow children to explore the use of their bodies through force and motion. Recently we were at a park with this interesting device. I have this thing with hopping on playground equipment before examining what it is going to do. This looked harmless enough right? WRONG! I felt a teeny bit nauseated after this but as I was spinning in circles clinging on for dear life, the boys got interested. They wanted to know how it worked. So while I was trying very hard to not toss my dinner Darling Hubby showed the boys how it worked. Then asked Bug a wonderful question. "Why do you think it works like that?"  " Energy and gravity!" Bug shouted. Gee what smart little boys they have. Darling Hubby is very much into Science and did well in school with all that stuff. He is the go to guy in the house for the advanced math and science things. He did a little explanation and demonstration for the boys and we continued playing. Who knows what they retained but learning by life is so much more fun than learning from a book.

Look for learning options embrace them and let life teach you. The kids are little sponges when they are young. They learn so much just by answering questions.