Can We Learn Anything During Our Lazy days of Spring?

I've heard of the lazy, hazy days of summer but today was definitely a lazy spring day. 

Myself and my middle son are both still in our pajamas and it's already after lunch!

I went to bed early and slept late this morning but I'm still feeling very tired and un-energized for some reason.  Luckily, we had no pressing plans for today and so I decided to just go with it. 



Evan woke up asking me to help him pack his bag for a sleepover he's having tonight so I helped him and then made breakfast for everyone while they watched The science of Disney Imagineering: Friction.

Once the movie was done they started playing and working on their geography fair projects.  The fair is next week so we're trying to finish up.  Ian's board is all done and we've packed up the Lincoln Logs and books to go with it.  He spent part of his morning reading Klondike Gold, since the book only came in yesterday and I thought it looked like a nice easy read all about the Klondike gold rush.  He argued his project was done but I argued that people may ask him questions about his area that he needs to be prepared to answer.  It didn't take much persuasion on my part anyway since Ian likes to read and he's obsessed with gold mining-- past and present.

Evan finished up writing the names of some animals found in Florida and helping me find pictures on the Internet of crops that are grown in Florida.  Alec finished typing up a list of plants from the rain forest and finding pictures to go with the list to attach to his board and moved onto making a 3- D model of the layers of the rain forest using a toy tree and toy animals from around the house.

I love that he had this idea!  It will take a bit more work but what a great visual display. 

It was a very productive morning!
    
 Once they were done working they pulled out tons of toys and built houses out of Lincoln logs, built using Evan's new Lego's, lined up all the trucks, boats and spaceships for some sort of elaborate play.



Alec worked on his color by number book and finished two pictures.  He asked me to help him and we had a fun time coloring and spending time together just us two while his brothers' played together upstairs.  Ian came down and helped us color for a bit too and then we cleaned up to get ready for lunch.




      
The boys put in a new Liberty's Kids DVD and were very excited to recognize several scenes, names, and places from the Magic Treehouse book we started yesterday.  I love that they watched three episodes and didn't seem to be at all bored that they were learning all about American history.
    
 I read a few more chapters of James and the Giant Peach. We left off where they're all fearing they'll be eaten by the sharks attacking the peach.  What a great cliff- hanger to stop reading and let them think overnight of their own solutions and predictions.
     
They ended up talking me into keeping screens on for the afternoon and spent some time watching some new Wild Kratts shows about leopards and spider monkeys.  I can't tell you how many times Alec quotes these shows to me when we're out and about.
     
 I was feeling like we accomplished nothing on this lazy day and yet, looking back on our day, I realize we worked on geography, history, science, and English. They applied real life logic, reasoning, problem solving and architectural design. 

I'm sure there were other small moments of learning during our day like always.

  • This morning when Alec came to me and asked "do you spell tooth like t- o-o-t-h?"  
  • When Evan looked at our list of crops from Florida and found "corn" and tried to read some of the other words on our list
  • Alec told me he got had $20 and received $5 more so he has $25 dollars he can spend so if the animals he wants are $7 each he can buy three of them. 
Honestly, I live for those spontaneous little 3 minute lessons they initiate.  I think that's when real learning takes place.  Those questions or things that they point out to me are of dire importance to them at the moment and they're trying to make sure they understand the world around them in a way that has so much more meaning for them.

So see, even on those lazy days of spring we're still learning! 

Comments

  1. A typical homeschool day it sounds like :) Perfect!

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