Homeschooling through experiences
Believe it or not, I didn't initially set out with the intent to homeschool my kids. I personally always went to public school and honestly didn't even know hardly any homeschoolers growing up.
It wasn't until my oldest was nearing school age that I started to think about our options. Long story short, nothing seemed to set just right with me except the possibility of homeschool... which was slightly terrifying because I had zero experience with homeschool or teaching. Still, it just seemed like the best option for us at the time.
The more I started to learn about homeschool, mainly from Pinterest, the more excited I became. Then I stumbled upon Nat On The Wall's Blog and reading through her experiences with homeschooling her kids inspired me more than ever.
What intrigued me most was seeing how Natalie takes her kids to experience things... which, honestly, most the time is the best way to learn.
I'll be honest... when we first started homeschool, I wanted to be the type of mom who would plan out all these amazing school trips, filled with experiences and educating moments, but in reality...it hardly ever happens (at least not in the way I pictured in my head).
I'm pretty much a homebody unless we are traveling, and the thought of planning educational outings became too overwhelming and expensive for me.
Then slowly but surely, I realized that experiences don't have to be this grand planned out thing. In fact, now, after homeschooling for a few years, I bet most homeschool moms don't go out of their way to plan these "dream" outings... it just happens when it happens.
Looking at many of the fun outings that Natalie writes about on her blog, their educational excursions are also very simple.
Part of the magic of homeschool is using simple & everyday experiences to help teach your kids.
For example......
When my oldest was in kindergarten, I planned a trip to the apple orchard nearby one Fall day. That whole week we had the theme of apples (I use theme very loosely), and I thought... what better way to end our week than with an educational trip to the apple orchard.
You know.... because every kid on a "field trip" is primarily focused on education and not the fact that they are doing something exciting that is out of the normal day-to-day.
As we walked up and down some of the paths between the apple trees, signs explained how apples are grown. I stopped and started reading, asking, "isn't that cool?" "so how do apples grow?" and my sweet kindergartener responded with excitement.....
"can we get the apple cider doughnuts now?!"
.... one thing on her mind.... the doughnuts!
(honestly can't blame her; they were delicious)
Of course, I had the moment when I felt like I wasn't doing well at getting her excited to learn.... not even a trip to the apple orchard worked.
But then I reminded myself:
1) She's a kid
2) Who can concentrate when there are doughnuts?
3) Little things learned over time will stick.
As we sat in the shade to enjoy our treat, she looked at the sign that showed the doughnuts' prices.
She said, "$2 for doughnuts." I casually replied, "yes, and we got two of them... so it's 2+2.
I honestly wasn't expecting a response, but she said, "so it's 4!"
YESS!!!
And at that moment, I realized how simple everyday experiences could be the best teachers sometimes.
It wasn't a big planned-out trip, just a simple experience. Sure she wasn't as interested in the life cycle of an apple, but she was learning.
She was focused and learning what interested her.... how to get the doughnuts!
