That Doesn't Look Like School!
I made my kids work and learn all weekend. Of course, they just think we had a fun and busy weekend.
Not all learning happens from a book or a worksheet and today was a good example of that. It's not always easy to see what my kids are learning when homeschooling does not look like school, but we've learned to embrace those times that they are learning "other" skills.
There are so many different types of skills that my kids are going to need to be successful adults and I've learned that it's OK for homeschooling to not look like school. In fact, it's kind of the point!
This weekend my kids learned the importance of hard work and perseverance. They learned life skills like cleaning and cooking.
Ian and Evan went to work at the woodworking shop with my husband. They learned how to wash cars, use the shop vac to vacuum up all the water, and helped my husband finish installing his planer.
While they were busy with dad, Alec and I went to a birthday party at a roller skating rink. He has roller skated before but it's been a long time since he's tried it. It was a two hour long learning process. I tried to give him some pointers but I find skating is one of those things you just have to teach yourself. He fell, a LOT but he always got back up and tried again. He smiled. Sometimes he gritted his teeth but he was determined to participate. I mentioned that we'd like to start going to family skate nights and even though he was sore and battered from all his falls he agreed that it sounded like fun. I loved seeing his determination and even he could see that he had made tremendous progress in the hour or so of skating time he took advantage of before he got hurt enough to need an ice pack and wanted to stop. There was only 15 minutes left to skate anyway and he had worked really hard. He also had made a few new friends; one of which offered to hold his hand to help him while he skated. It was so cute to see him and this little girl skating around holding hands.
We went sledding as a family for a little while after coming home from the party. Evan, Ian and my husband had been sledding before Alec and got home and they had tried a few different spots, a few different sleds, and were already getting pretty tired. Alec took a few turns down the hill with a few different sleds too. Evan was telling me on the way home that his sled worked better on steep hills but the blow up sled worked better on the longer more gradual hill. He talked about the brakes on his sled versus trying to bail out of his sleigh and which he prefers and why.
Alec cooked dinner for us all tonight. He made a double batch of waffles on his own. I worked with him on adding and reducing fractions. We drew pictures for all the ones he didn't know right away and I let him come up with the answers. I then left him alone to do it. I sat at our kitchen table nearby and told him I'd answer any questions but he was in charge. I'll admit the kitchen was a mess and we had flour on the counter, the floor, Alec's neck, shoulder and pant leg and we had milk, oil and baking powder on the table (once he realized the table was a better working height for him). I ignored the mess and watched the pride and learning take place. He cooked up all the waffles, made breakfast sausage links (following the package directions) and served us all a delicious dinner.
Not all learning happens from a book or a worksheet and today was a good example of that. It's not always easy to see what my kids are learning when homeschooling does not look like school, but we've learned to embrace those times that they are learning "other" skills.
There are so many different types of skills that my kids are going to need to be successful adults and I've learned that it's OK for homeschooling to not look like school. In fact, it's kind of the point!
This weekend my kids learned the importance of hard work and perseverance. They learned life skills like cleaning and cooking.
Ian and Evan went to work at the woodworking shop with my husband. They learned how to wash cars, use the shop vac to vacuum up all the water, and helped my husband finish installing his planer.
While they were busy with dad, Alec and I went to a birthday party at a roller skating rink. He has roller skated before but it's been a long time since he's tried it. It was a two hour long learning process. I tried to give him some pointers but I find skating is one of those things you just have to teach yourself. He fell, a LOT but he always got back up and tried again. He smiled. Sometimes he gritted his teeth but he was determined to participate. I mentioned that we'd like to start going to family skate nights and even though he was sore and battered from all his falls he agreed that it sounded like fun. I loved seeing his determination and even he could see that he had made tremendous progress in the hour or so of skating time he took advantage of before he got hurt enough to need an ice pack and wanted to stop. There was only 15 minutes left to skate anyway and he had worked really hard. He also had made a few new friends; one of which offered to hold his hand to help him while he skated. It was so cute to see him and this little girl skating around holding hands.
We went sledding as a family for a little while after coming home from the party. Evan, Ian and my husband had been sledding before Alec and got home and they had tried a few different spots, a few different sleds, and were already getting pretty tired. Alec took a few turns down the hill with a few different sleds too. Evan was telling me on the way home that his sled worked better on steep hills but the blow up sled worked better on the longer more gradual hill. He talked about the brakes on his sled versus trying to bail out of his sleigh and which he prefers and why.
Alec cooked dinner for us all tonight. He made a double batch of waffles on his own. I worked with him on adding and reducing fractions. We drew pictures for all the ones he didn't know right away and I let him come up with the answers. I then left him alone to do it. I sat at our kitchen table nearby and told him I'd answer any questions but he was in charge. I'll admit the kitchen was a mess and we had flour on the counter, the floor, Alec's neck, shoulder and pant leg and we had milk, oil and baking powder on the table (once he realized the table was a better working height for him). I ignored the mess and watched the pride and learning take place. He cooked up all the waffles, made breakfast sausage links (following the package directions) and served us all a delicious dinner.
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| Alec's cooking |
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| Yep, he's a bit messy.. |
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| But, wow! It sure was yummy! |
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