Chicken letters and corn. The lunch of preschoolers. Dad's form of entertainment. He couldn't help himself. He just taught the girls how to spell the state that their Dad and brothers were born in. He just taught them that Iowa grows corn (although more for cattle and chicken feed and for other non-consumable products, but that will be for another lesson in a couple of years).
Later that day, Dad took the boys to the auto parts store, to try to obtain information on what was wrong with his rear axle and brakes; and then to find the parts that he needed to fix them. They also weighed the pros and cons of paying for these parts, plus the tools to fix the problem, versus just taking it in to be fixed. They decided it was cheaper to fix the Jeep. They spent hours in the garage together, doing just that.
That night, we watched a documentary on deep underwater exploration, propelled by research conducted by Woods Hole Institute in Massachusetts. We learned that new species are being discovered all of the time. We learned how these species adapt down in the freezing depths of our enormous oceans. This excited the kids, as they remembered our visit to Woods Hole on a vacation and how they had touched the Alvin, the original research submersible.
The next day, we took the kids to the zoo. There they learned a lot about the mating rituals of the animals, including the peacock. We moved on and watched the baby apes playing with their parents in the same manner as we played with them at home, wrestling about on the floor. This was hysterical entertainment, but also a learning experience. The siblings would tease each other and occasionally throw food around (like the two year old at our house). The sibling apes would also get jealous of the attention mom bestowed upon the other. The girls were surprised that the young ones ate the same veggies that they enjoyed as snacks at home. I assured the kids that they were not apes, although we acted like apes quite often. This led to a lecture by our Aspie teen, on the evolution of human beings and how we shared a genetic link to the apes. (Think Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.)
Before bed, we read lots of books about animals. Our young ones chose stuffed animals to sleep with, thankful that those animals would not potty where they slept, because they were "faked". I corrected their grammar and said good-night. The older kids sat up watching Discovery Channel's, "How It's Made", as they were making European high-end vehicles. It was neat to watch their faces light up, as they recalled the different tasks they worked on with dad, on the Jeep.
These are primary examples of our weekends. Yours may include sports, as ours have in the past. Maybe your days include music lessons after school, or swim classes, or camping trips. Do you take your kids to work? Do you cook with them; take them shopping; make them mow the lawn? These are all tasks that teach. These are all lessons from home.
Great parents homeschool. They may then take their kids to public or private school during the weekdays, 186 days a school year, but then they bring them home and teach them. Great parents spend time with their kids, take them on walks, field trips, read to them and play games with them. This is homeschool.
Do you agree or disagree? Are you a homeschool parent?
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