Genuine Learnin'

I know what my goals are and what we do that I count as "official homeschooling" (as relative as *that* is) but what often gets overlooked, or at least not communicated to others are the countless occasions during each day that we've just plain learned something new.

Like today, during our May Day celebration (a tea-party-breakfast held outside in the Fairies' honor,) we spontaneously inspected some Dandelions. We learned that a single flower is not actually that-it's a lot of single flowers bunched together. I remembered that I had a nature story filed away on the subject, too, and after telling it in a magical, imaginative way for my 6 yr. old, my 10 yr. old and I read up on the "facts." (My 8 yr. old listened to both! lol)

Did you know (we didn't) that Dandelions are so named for their leaves? I bet you also thought they were named for their golden "manes." Well, no. The word comes from the French, "Dent de Lion," describing the leaves' tendency to look like a lion's teeth.

Fishing With My Dad

It was nothing fancy. Just a can of corn and a couple of poles. Dad took me after church sometimes. I’d usually catch more branches than fish. The first time I took the hook out myself I cried, thinking the fish was hurt, but stopped when the gill sliced my hand and I got mad. Listening to the birds, the lapping of the water, the sound the paddles made as our canoe sliced through the lake. The fish never smelled like fish, but like the lake instead. Once I hooked my dad’s arm, I thought I’d be in trouble but he just removed the hook, smiled and gave it back to me. I was hooked too. Now I take my own daughter and my two boys every chance I get!