A Vacation From The Books Was One For The Books
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is, without question, the flexibility that it allows. I love that we can go at our own pace & change things that aren’t working for us. But I would be lying if I said this relaxed and easy-going attitude comes naturally to me. I love a good schedule and a calendar all marked up with our plans and activities makes me happy. Especially when we get to stick to it and mark things off!
So when my husband mentioned his plans for taking some time off during our fifth week of school (instead of the seventh week, which was what I had planned), I had to take a deep breath and remind myself WHY I love homeschooling. It’s the flexibility, the spontaneity, even the unpredictability that so appeals to me! Like the ability to take a break and hit the road whenever we want. And that’s just what we did!! The week that the public schools began their school year, we decided to leave town on our own little adventure.
Leading up to our trip, several friends shared how great it is that we can just pack up our homeschool & go where ever we want, whenever we want! To be clear, like many homeschoolers, I love our curriculum & textbooks, but the thing is I had no intention of “packing up our homeschool” or taking any of our school books with us. With the exception of the books the kids were reading for pleasure, everything stayed behind.
As homeschoolers, one of our top priorities is to foster within our kids a genuine love of learning. Something that hopefully lasts a lifetime. We want them to feel free to be curious and explore the world without feeling like every question will be followed with, “Look it up!” Now, you can’t always get around that, but there is something to be said for the freedom to explore & wonder without feeling like everything needs an answer. We also want our kids to understand that learning can take place in all sorts of places & situations. You don’t have to be at a table where books are present in order to learn something! Because of this, we left all things homeschooling at home while knowing that the kids would in fact be learning, maybe with out even realizing it!
So off we went. We headed out of town to a teeny tiny cabin just far enough away that the responsibilities of home would have to wait. We left the computer & school books at home but loaded the minivan with plenty of snacks, pillows & blankets, inner tubes & snorkels, fishing poles & board games. As we drove off, I laughed knowing we looked an awful lot like a scene from a Family Vacation movie. And all for only a few days away from home!
In the area that we were staying, there’s an amazing fresh water spring that has crystal clear water and tons of wildlife to observe. We floated down that river not once, but twice! The kids saw so many beautiful fish & native plants while hanging face down over their inner tubes! As we traveled down river, we heard lots of “Hey Mom! Look at that!” or “Dad, what’s this?”. Curiosity & wonder at God’s creation were at an all time high.
Our kids spent three days playing, fishing, exploring their surroundings and simply enjoying life. These are the moments that I cherish as a mom and a teacher. They’re the moments that I hope my kids take with them and look back on with fondness as they grow up. And as we wrapped up our little adventure, we all agreed that it was a wonderful way to spend Daddy’s days off, however, we were ALL ready to get home to our own beds in our own rooms. And I was ready to get back to our regular homeschool routine…textbooks and all!
