I Try Not to Let Schooling Get in the Way of Learning

It's hard sometimes.  My I'm-Trying-to-Be-Super-Homeschool-Mom-and-Check-off-All-the-Boxes-in-Our Curriculum Self squirms at times when things don't go according to schedule.  Take this morning, for example...

Exhibit A:
Josiah's latest self-guided project is writing the Bible.  Well, let me clarify:  copying it. By hand.  In a small 5x7 notebook with shiny red hearts on the front.  Is he adorable, or what?  :)  He started yesterday, and so far he's up to Genesis 1:11--only 31,162 verses to go!  I love his heart and determination, and I'm glad that he's gaining a new appreciation for the countless scribes throughout history who have taken it upon themselves to laboriously, painstakingly write by hand each word of the holy text.  We may not remember their names, but we can never forget their contribution.

My point in this post, however, is to record how, while Josiah was bent over his task at the school desk in the living room, I was thinking, "OK, it's time for me to tell him to stop because we need to do a lesson from First Language Lessons."   Hello?  Schoolmarm Fisher?  Anybody at home in your head?  WHY would you ask him to stop?  After all, he's writing--happily (something he doesn't always do), he's reading, he's learning grammar and sentence structure, he's reinforcing capitalization and punctuation rules, and it's the Bible!  Don't let your lesson plan get in the way of real learning!

Exhibit B:
A big yellow tractor was camped out in our neighbor's side yard, digging a hole in the ground.  We weren't sure why, but David wanted to be a detective and go outside to watch and find out.  Should I let him sit under our maple tree to observe, or should I make him stay inside and read a book about...oh, I don't know...maple trees, or tractors, or holes in the ground?  Duh.  The answer is obvious.  But what about the science books we're supposed to be reading??

Exhibit C:
Grandma was outside hanging laundry on her clothesline.  One of the boys spotted her, and the cry went up, "Grandma's outside!  Can we go down and play on her playground?"   Sure, why not?  Who needs dodgeball in P.E. class when you can swing and slide and climb a ladder and grab hold of a rope to see if you can hold your weight above the ground (probably to keep yourself safe from the vicious crocodiles on the ground all around or the lava that's flowing from a fiery volcano)?  And then our friend Ronnie, who is laying tile in my dad's old office in preparation for my parents moving into it, came out of the office and over to where my mom and three sons were.  Shortly, I saw a procession of legs walking into the office to see the progress.  Sunshine, fresh air, time with Grandma, watching a real live floor-layer in action, seeing the work that goes into putting down tile, seeing what a floor looks like under the floor--such good stuff.  But wait, I should have called them to come inside because we didn't read our Aesop's Fable for the day!  Right??

Don't get me wrong:  we are not unschoolers, we do have (loose) lesson plans (and I love our Sonlight curriculum for the flexibility it gives!), I do strive to make sure we cover all the bases so there aren't huge gaps in my children's education, and we do spend a lot of time on the couch reading books.  But I'm learning--and it's a process--that when opportunities come along for real-life education, it's time to throw the schedule out the window, and just live.

And learn.  Because that's what this homeschooling stuff is all about.