Learning is a Day at the Beach

 

Tuesday graced us with a September day in the mid 90's and on a day hubby had a day off of work! One advantage of homeschooling is the blessings that come with a family being able to take advantage of opportunities as they come up. That is exactly what we did by dropping other plans and heading out to a wonderful afternoon at the beach while other kids were sitting in classrooms at school.

 

Just the three of us as Shae decided to stay home and watch a documentary on Netflix about the history of Jamestown which we discussed when we got home.

 

The beach was a wonderful day, sitting in the shade with a cool breeze coming off the water as well as all of us jumping in, swimming and playing together in the water. A wonderful phys-ed class that was not planned out, but rather the ability to seize the opportunity as it was presented.

 

I love these days of spontaneous happenings, the ability to go with the flow kind of days. They never fail to lead  to some activity that not only are fun, but deep connections occur. It is a beautiful thing to watch unfold, and I never tire of hearing the laughter and conversations of these moments. They are stolen moments that homeschoolers are able to take full advantage of that to others, these moments would be lost on simply due to the families work  and school schedules. 

 

These moments of opportunity are certainly available to everyone of course. It just seems to be more in abundance to homeschoolers to be able  to take advantage of them. It certainly is a rare opportunity to be able to go to the beach this time of year here in Michigan so I was ecstatic we could go! It was not only fun but a day of much needed physical activity!  

Day 2: A Bit of a Fall Clean-up Day

 

 

Day 2 was a pretty busy day as it is fall, hubby was home and it was the start of a fall clean up day. Corin and Shae split the front yard mowing between them. Corin also did dishes and helped daddy make some sense of a neglected shed! Shae also did vacuuming and filling our water jugs as we get it in a large 5 gallon jug and then take that and fill 1 gallon jugs.

 

They both spent an hour reading their library books.

 

They both did a math worksheet......... I actually find this a tad humorous as I got new computer games this year. I tried out the one I installed called Baggin the Dragon and found it to be super fun but Corin told me "You know I like worksheets! I don't want a game!"  Shrugs shoulders....Go Figure! What is a mother to do but go print off some math worksheets then?

 

We also held our Family Financial Meeting which will be a regular Wednesday thing. Here we discuss how much cash we have available, what bills will be due out of that, ask questions related to income and expenses and keep  a book with these financial entries.

 

It may not sound like much but us all working together for fall clean up activities actually took up a large chunk of the day. Me and hubby were working on  things as well like getting all the scrap metal together and taken in for cash, dusting chickens (you dust for parasites) and other odd and ends.

 

It was a good and productive day with perfect weather for such activities!

 

My they are growing up so fast!

Opportunities Everywhere

It really has been a wonderful week, with perfect cool but sunny weather and the time to seize opportunities as they come up!

We spent the week writing pen-pals, continuing to learn Japanese words ( which by the way is really really hard but fun!) video-gaming, watching movies and watching all the new season shows like Raising Hope, Glee, Fringe, X factor and of course tonight Terra Nova!

Friday when hubby came home he mentioned a moving sale down the road and said town was full of garage sales so of course we grabbed the puppy and the fam piled into Bronco Bob and we headed out on our treasure hunt!  We managed to pick up an almost brand new bike for Corin for 10 bucks, an ice cream maker, a toaster and a few things hubby needed as well along with a new lamp table to go next to our couch!
Our family LOVES Garage Saling and everyone gets excited when we get to go.

Saturday had Corin asking me to take her on an extended bike ride so we went on a few mile bike ride down a country road. On our ride we came across a baby snake so of course had to bring it home for everyone to marvel just how tiny this little guy was! It was NOT easy holding him in one hand while he wiggled and squiggled while riding bike with my one free hand and NO brakes on my bike. Of course my daughter kept stopping directly in front of me but somehow I managed to always avoid the impending disaster! At home we all got a good look at him, making comments of how little he was and his need to go into hibernation soon as the weather heads into a cold season, then we took and released him back into the wild so he could go about his business.

Without time frames and rigid schedules, we are able to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves to us, one of my favorite things about this life style! It always for a spontaneous change of plan when things come up everyone would enjoy taking advantage of. We do not have to wait for anyone, or worry about being back at any given time, we are free to explore and take advantage going where the day leads us at any given moment. We take pleasure in being able to be sponaneous and free flowing going here or there and watching the contagious excitement of family members as opportunities present themselves. It's AMAZING to not be tied down to calendars or clocks and be free to do whatever, whenever and catch the wave.......