"This is science, right Mom?"
Blogging has taken a backseat to real life. In the past 3 weekends, we have celebrated Easter with my family, then I went on a Girls' trip with my mom and sisters, and then Behn and I ran the 10-mile Broadstreet Run in Philadelphia with some family. The weeks fly by, with homeschooling, work, commuting, and making big life decisions (house-related...more on that another time). Besides lots of running to train for the race, I've also been taking some riding lessons again. Samuel is still in preschool for another month, and the other two have schoolwork and tumbling class. Whew! Thankfully our calendar is clear for the foreseeable future. We need a break.
I did want to pop in on here to share a few thoughts about homeschooling and something Graham said yesterday. He and Patrick caught TEN toads in the yard and put them all into a giant plastic bin, full of dirt, rocks, weeds, etc, creating the best habitat that they could. In the middle of it all, Graham exclaimed, 'This is science, right Mom??' Yes, my dear. This is science.
And herein lies one of my favorite homeschooling perks: student-led, interest-led learning. They find the toads. But how will they keep them alive? We need a habitat. What do they eat? Better go on an insect hunt. Will they eat worms? Will they eat dead flies? How do they drink? Better add a bin of water for them to soak in, because they drink by absorbing water through their skin. And of course, with 10 toads, there happened to be males and females and some of them 'found' each other. Are they mating? Now what? What do toad eggs look like vs frog eggs? Can different native species of toads mate successfully? What are the native toads to this area? Why are they important? Let's check out some books about toads. And here's a YouTube video with lots of information, too.
And it goes on. The intrinsic value of interest, wonder, and responsibility learned in 24 hours with 10 toads cannot be measured. I just completed my 2nd homeschool review with my county, and although I provided plenty of "proof" (worksheets from our fun Classical Conversations science experiments using The Scientific Method- also important!), I feel that so much more has been learned than can be put on a checklist. Wandering around the yard on a spring Monday afternoon is exactly why I want them at home and not in a school building.
As we wrap up this year, I feel more confident in and blessed by our homeschool decision than ever before. We are definitely planning on continuing next year, with excitement!
I did want to pop in on here to share a few thoughts about homeschooling and something Graham said yesterday. He and Patrick caught TEN toads in the yard and put them all into a giant plastic bin, full of dirt, rocks, weeds, etc, creating the best habitat that they could. In the middle of it all, Graham exclaimed, 'This is science, right Mom??' Yes, my dear. This is science.
And herein lies one of my favorite homeschooling perks: student-led, interest-led learning. They find the toads. But how will they keep them alive? We need a habitat. What do they eat? Better go on an insect hunt. Will they eat worms? Will they eat dead flies? How do they drink? Better add a bin of water for them to soak in, because they drink by absorbing water through their skin. And of course, with 10 toads, there happened to be males and females and some of them 'found' each other. Are they mating? Now what? What do toad eggs look like vs frog eggs? Can different native species of toads mate successfully? What are the native toads to this area? Why are they important? Let's check out some books about toads. And here's a YouTube video with lots of information, too.
And it goes on. The intrinsic value of interest, wonder, and responsibility learned in 24 hours with 10 toads cannot be measured. I just completed my 2nd homeschool review with my county, and although I provided plenty of "proof" (worksheets from our fun Classical Conversations science experiments using The Scientific Method- also important!), I feel that so much more has been learned than can be put on a checklist. Wandering around the yard on a spring Monday afternoon is exactly why I want them at home and not in a school building.
As we wrap up this year, I feel more confident in and blessed by our homeschool decision than ever before. We are definitely planning on continuing next year, with excitement!
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