Posted in Homeschooling

Only in Maine can you take your children shopping and call it a homeschool field trip.  That's what we did yesterday.  Now don't get me wrong; I'm not saying I took my children to the mall and consider that a complete learning experience (although it may be a kind of learning experience in the wrong sort of way--I really don't know because I haven't set foot in a mall in several years!).  Rather, in honor of my husband's birthday, we took a trip to the big city of Portland.  For us country folks, that's a learning experience in itself.  We went to Portland (which incidentally is the largest city in Maine) with the express purpose of visiting the new Cabella's store.  What an amazing place!  There is a wonderful wildlife display in the middle of the store.  This display consists of many stuffed and mounted animals in a replica of their natural environments.  There is also a very large fish tank with several varieties of fresh-water fish swimming around.  Fascinating.  (I never really realized before how ugly fish are.)  The experience was so much fun and the children really did learn quite a bit and enjoyed themselves in the process.  I think, though, that what they enjoyed the most was spending the day with their Daddy.  That is what truly made it special for all of us.

Because my husband was the one planning the trip, and because the military is in his blood (having grown up on military bases), we also visited the Maine Military Museum.  While all but our oldest child (who as a 12 year old boy found it very interesting) were not all that captivated by what they saw there, it meant so much to my husband to be able to share the experience of visiting the museum with his children.  The musuem is a very simply but beautifully presented commemoration of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their families, friends, and country.  There were many interesting displays and artifacts from several different wars, beginning all the way back with the Civil War (which was my oldest son's particular area of interest).  The visual reminders of all that those men went through to pay the price for our freedom was very meaningful.

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is spending times like these with my children, learning alongside them, getting to really know them and what interests them.  I love being able to spend this kind of time as a family building relationships and making memories.  These kind of things will last far beyond the lessons in grammar or math (those things, of course, are important as well).  The joy and the friendships that result from spending time together as a family are priceless by-products of this wonderful lifestyle we call homeschooling.  I wouldn't have it any other way.