One of the key things you’ll learn as you begin homeschooling is that flexibility is a MUST. I’m pretty structured in how we do school–there is a schedule for every day of what is being done and when–so that we stay on track. All three of us are ADHD so without the schedule we’d never get anything done. But even within that schedule, I’ve learned that I must remain flexible. Heck, you can see that here in this blog series! I planned on covering a week of homeschool philosophies, but life had other things planned, and so here I sit, typing this out quickly just to get a post up. I will get back to the plan, soon!
Anyhow, this is a great example of what happens in homeschooling. A printer goes down. A child gets sick. You find one of your kids is suddenly fascinated by a topic, so you decide to dive into it headfirst and explore it further. Someone has trouble understanding a lesson and needs to repeat it multiple days to finally master it. All of these have happened to us recently! I’ve been snapping pictures along the way (of course!) and thought I’d share with you a few quick examples of how being flexible has lead to great learning moments in our homeschool.
Recently Fall Fever struck. The desire to get out of the house and into nature was strong for all of us. Everyone was tired of being cooped up and was having trouble focusing on their work, adults included. Ninety minutes later the truck was packed and we headed out for a couple of nights in Daniel Boone National Forest. During our three days there we learned about our own family’s roots in the mountains, observed the unique geology in rock formations in the Red River Gorge area, and explored some of the area where Daniel Boone would have travelled. (We have studied Boone in our Kentucky history lessons.) Even more everyone unplugged and relaxed, enjoying the beautiful surroundings. 
We even managed to get in a little astronomy.
Today the monkeys decided they just weren’t doing creative writing. No way, no how. However, they were incredibly interested in Kentucky history, and JD volunteered to teach. (This has long been an area of interest for him.) While it messes with my schedule, the goal of homeschooling for us is to teach them to be self-directed learners–so I stepped back and let them learn!
Apparently, Black Beauty unit studies are more fun in the window than at your desk!
And last, JD insisted he not be left out of the window modeling session, so we had a quick lesson on the use of shadows in photography and art in general. Whatever mom, just take my picture!
