Learning All the Time

After reading magazines and books on homeschooling, I realized that I'm going to have to make some behavioral changes in order to get the most benefit from teaching my children at home.  I'm going to have to create an educational atmosphere for my kids.  This means that I'm going to have to start taking advantage of those "educational opportunities" that happen in every day life--in addition to following a structured curriculum.  What seems like a long wait at a restaurant needs to be a chance to discuss foods and culture.  Or what seems to be a simple trip to the pharmacy can turn into an interesting discussion of diseases and treatments.  Or what starts out as a mundane weekly trip to the grocery store can be a chance to practice using a calculator.  Or what is a simple walk to the park can be a chance to learn about leaves and trees (or to find snakes which is way easier to do than I thought!).  Basically, anything can be tweaked to become an educational experience.  I just have to find a way to make experiences count. 

Last week we had the perfect opportunity to focus on a specific subject: snow and sleet.  It occurred to me that I had purchased and received some winter-related books for my new homeschool book collection (which has grown exponentially in the last month).  So last Friday when we were completely iced into our house, I pulled out It's Snowing by Gail Gibbons with the intent to teach the boys about snow. 

I was blown away by how Ms. Gibbons managed to compile so much science and simplicity in one little book. We learned how snow, sleet, and freezing rain are formed.  We learned that Antarctica gets the least amount of snowfall yearly as compared to the other continents (weird huh?).  We learned that it actually snows in the desert sometimes.  And we learned why snow causes power outages.  The book also referenced a guy named Frederick Bentley who was the first person to photograph snowflakes. 

When I read about Mr. Bentley and his snowflakes, I got all excited.  As it turns out, I also have another book in my homeschool collection entitled, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.  Upon this realization, I HAD to read this to my son too.  Although I definitely wasn't expecting this book to be a biography, it turned out to be a beautiful book about the life and science behind Frederick Bentley's work.  Amazing! 

Of course, reading this book led to more discussions about freezing points, photography, and proper winter attire.  What a week of science we have had around here!  A week that we would not have enjoyed had I not considered pulling a snow book off of our bookshelf.  

I don't know why it has taken me this long to realize that sometimes the best learning happens OUTSIDE of the classroom setting.  For whatever reason, my institution-trained self forgets that my most memorable educational experiences happened apart from a textbook.  In spite of my dullness, Mr. Wonderful has a knack for "teaching" while playing (as a result of playing X-box with his daddy, my son can tell you all about the Battle of Midway).  Now Mommy needs to find ways to enrich our everyday lives with learning opportunities too.  I'm sure it can be done, but it's going to require some work on my part.  Thank goodness for writers like Gail Gibbons who have created wonderful books to help mommies out! Check out more books by Gail Gibbons at Amazon.  You can also find Snowflake Bentley there as well.