~the freedom of home learning~

This morning it is chilly. I woke up snuggled under my duvet, wrapped in 2 small children who giggled with glee at the coziness of it all. There is something so special about cuddling up under loads of blankets in a room that is so chilly you can almost see your breath. (I know, its august, but at this high elevation Autumn seems to come early). These low temperatures and dismal skies bring me a feeling of comfort. Its time to make pots of hearty soup, ( herb and Chicken tonight!) warm muffins, loaves of nutty spelt bread. I am so excited to actually have time to do these things again! This summer has been such a whirl of activity that I was actually compelled to order pizza a few times...and for me, Ms. make-it-from-scratch, that is really saying something!



I also love the preparation for the coming school year that seems to dominate my head space these days. This year both Alden and Willow will be joining us in more official "morning lessons". Because we are "unschoolers," (as in we used no set curriculum, but rather do what interests the kids, shifting as their needs/interests shift) I find that the best way for me to facilitate our children's learning is to designate the morning as mama and kids time. Basically this means that during the morning I am all theirs...no chores, laundry, yard work, phone calls, visitors....nothing to distract me from my guys. I used to just leave it open but I found that it was so easy for me to get lost amongst my to-do list and chores, and them amongst the play loft and yard that we would get to the end of the week and find we hadn't accomplished half of what we had wanted to. And so morning lesson was born. We leave our afternoons open for hikes, lessons (skating, riding, music), visits to the library, play dates, etc. It works really well for us. I think we all have a hunger at this time of year for the calming rhythm that this season brings.



This year will be a bit different in that there is a good possibility we will be spending a big chunk of the fall travelling. As soon as our house sells we are loading up a travel trailer and heading across Canada. This is so exciting! Last year we spent the autumn studying Canadian history/geography/politics and this year we get to actually LIVE what we learned! How cool is that??!! We are planning to take our time and visit all the historical/scientific/natural land marks along the way. I soooooo love the freedom that home learning allows us. Lets take it to the road, into the tangible.....living our learning in a way that neither the children or Adam and I will ever forget!