Linger in our Learning
I felt like we had been fast paced lately. How did we have so many assignments, to-do lists, and scheduled activities in homeschooling? I thought the benefit of homeschooling was to savor life and "echo in celebration" in love of learning? I knew I needed to cut some things, and I needed to replace them. If we didn't replace them with something purposeful, the space would get filled with idleness or more busyness. What we needed was intentional relaxation, wonder, enjoyment, and togetherness. So I built upon something we all had a mild interest in--the magnificent birds that are visiting our new yard. I gathered some books from our local library--one with great pictures and short descriptions of birds, and some with story lines so that the reading seemed leisurely rather than studious. The kids love the Smithsonian Backyard Series for this reason. After reading one, we usually make a craft of the animal--cotton balls, pipe cleaners, this type of thing. I adapted this ...