Why I Enjoyed School At Home Today

Not every day is an easy day and not all days are good days.  But, today was a day that helped me and encouraged me to keep on keeping on.

Today I was reading Poor Richard to Nature Girl.  Part of what we are doing in school, to encourage writing, is to do written narrations instead of oral ones (NG is not a big fan.)  Anyway, part of the Ben Franklin story was when Ben was in France watching one of the very first hot air balloon rides taken by man.

When I asked NG to do her writing, she wanted to write about the hot air balloons.  I was OK with that.  So, when we were done reading she sat down with the encyclopedia to look them up.  While trying to find info on hot air balloons, she read about the Kennedys (her curiosity is piqued in "America's royal family"), the first helicopter, Herbert Hoover, the Hoover Dam, Billy Holiday and Harry Houdini.

There was really no rush for her to find the info she needed.  So while trying to locate hot air balloons in the "H" encyclopedia, she read all about the above listed subjects.  We discussed each one for at least five minutes before she would go on to something else she found interesting.

My first inclination was to move her along, help her focus.  But, as she continued on with her list of "H" subjects, it dawned on me, she is learning.  I am learning.  She was reading about, we were talking about, stuff I am pretty sure we would not get to in school.  At least not all of it.

I don't know how much she will remember tomorrow.  Or how much that really matters.  What I thought was cool was that she was enjoying the encyclopedia and taking the time to delve into subjects that interested her and were so diverse.

I think I like these type school days best . . .