Learning Amidst the Chaos (Part 1)

 The past three weeks have not been particularly great for getting "formal" school work done, but there have been so many wonderful learning opportunities to be had that I am once again reminded, in so many ways, how fortunate our family is to be able to school our children at home.


The middle of April found me planning to attend the Minnesota homeschool conference in Duluth.   I had arranged child care, planned out my workshop schedule, and made my shopping list.  Then my husband decided we needed a family vacation and this would be a good time for it.  So, I took a deep breath, booked our room at the very-fun Edgewater Resort and Waterpark in Duluth, and rearranged my schedule to include family time and a couple of breaks so Jerry could attend some workshops he thought looked interesting.  I began making a packing list:  swim suits, winter boots, hot dogs for lunches, etc.  We would be leaving in a week.

Then Jerry came home and announced that he had taken an extra week off of work and was hoping we could drive on down to Arkansas to see his parents after the conference.  Another deep breath and another packing list:  swim suits, winter boots, hot dogs, shorts and t-shirts...  Lesson one for me:  flexibility.  Lesson one for the kids:  making schedules based on information they got from the resort's website.  They, of course, were worried about fitting in all the fun things a resort has to offer that we don't have here at home (fruit loops and waffles at the daily on-site breakfast, swimming, tv watching, and pizza). 

Lesson two for all of us:  basic geometry - Packing the Car.  Five people, one Ford Focus, and a week away presents puzzling challenges.  I managed to get it all in...even all the baby paraphernalia (pac-n-play, booster seat, and stroller).  Needless to say, my shopping list was cut way down.  Not a lot of room for extra books at this point.

Lesson three:  calendars and subtraction.  Simple process of counting down the days.  This offers a whole array a wonderful math opportunities and we took them all...marking off days on the calendar, counting down the days until our departure, then counting down the hours.  This was the most excruciating part.  We were packed and ready to go at noon on the appointed departure day.  Kids were strapped in the car.  Dear, very laid-back husband suddently remembered he needed to transfer money into the checking account, print out a tax form for the renters, eat lunch....  Kids back out of the car.  Another hour-by-hour countdown.  Pulled out of  town at 5.  Lesson four:  patience.

Lesson five:  exposure to The Great Lakes.  I never cease to thrill at my first sight of Lake Superior and the port city of Duluth!  Conversations about ships, barges, harbors, damns, bridges, and the great lakes were worth a trunk load of books.

The homeschool conference was just what a needed!  I really felt God directed my path as I chose the work shops to attend and browsed the used curriculum sales and perused the vendors' tables.  I had specifically prayed for a spirit of contentment as I headed over to the conference center and was blessed with a total answer to my prayers.   I spent a total of $30 on math curriculum for next year.  This included second grade Singapore (I'm missing the teacher's manual for 2A, but I think I can pull it off without it) and a second-hand Family Math book.  We're loving the Family Math book.  Wish I had the guts to use it on it's own until about 3rd grade or so, but the left-over classroom teacher in me is still a little too rigid for that.  A Grandma's Attic book, music book, and geography book finished out my purchases.  Biggest splurge throughout the conference:  Blokus (aka intro. to geometry).

My dear husband was very generous with child care during the conference and spent most of the time entertaining, feeding, and coraling the kids.  After assuring me that he REALLY could watch the kids, clean up the hotel room, and pack the car all at the same time, I was sent off to enjoy the last day of the conference on my own.  What fun!  When Jerry showed up two hours late to pick me up from the conference center, he looked pretty exhausted.  Hubby's lesson learned:  child care isn't as easy as it looks. 

So, who needs formal education after all?  We're all still learning and the most important lessons aren't in the textbooks anyway.