Posted in School

Sometime in the last 3 weeks I seem to have forgotten what "school" is.  I think my kids have too.  Let me see... is it when my almost-6-year-old son watches the man who's putting up drywall in the basement - watches him hammer the nails in, and put "mud" on the wall and sand it down once it's dry?  Is he also doing "school" when for the fun of it he counts up 2000 numbers higher each night with the goal of reaching 10,000 by the end of the week? 

Or is it when I come home from an appointment with the midwife and give the kids a play-by-play of what happened while they were busy doing arts and crafts with their aunt?  Is it when we talk about what a Cesarean section is and why I might need one for their baby sisters to come out?  Maybe it's when we all go to the chiropractor for initial exams and then find out what subluxations are and where we have them, as we did tonight. 

Perhaps it's the weekly trips to the library to find Nancy Drew and American Girls mystery books for my 7-year-old daughter, and Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robots books for my son, among many others, of course.  Are nightly devotions part of school?  Or maybe it's watching the packages from Grandma being delivered for Christmas...and seeing the volume shrink as I've unpacked and wrapped many of the items to free up space in our house!  Some of those presents hold academic treasures, as Grandma was given my "wish list" of homeschool books for the kids, and seems to have done a good job shopping for them. 

Is it "school" when the kids learn how to play with their 21-month-old sister without making her cry?  When they read (and memorize) Mother Goose rhymes or sing Christmas songs to her?   

Maybe we "rediscovered" school tonight as Joe and I each sat down with a kid to go over Awana sections for Wednesday.  Our son has been progressing quite steadily through his book, while our daughter seems to have lost motivation - my husband has a wonderful way of helping her build her confidence, and just from tonight's work, she already has a section ready to say in 2 days.

I guess none of this is "school", and yet, in a way, all of it is school.  I like the fact that the kids can direct their own learning to a large degree and work at getting along with each other too.  Even more, I like the fact that they are learning so much with very little direction from me...and that so much of their learning at the moment is practical - they're sure to remember it far better than the academic things I try so hard to teach them when I focus on doing "school" with them.  What's more difficult is that their learning can't be quantified or measured by some kind of exam.  Yet I know there will be plenty of time for tests some other time, when the needs of the family aren't so pressing.  And besides, I know my kids are ahead in the basic academics and are growing in ways that are much more valuable than anything "school" can teach them.