Field Trips

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility it provides our family. We get to set our own schedule and adjust it however we want.

I try to keep it to a consistent schedule. Right now, ours look something like this:

7:00 am - kids wake up and eat breakfast

7:30 am - chores

8:15 am - begin school. We do our unit study lesson for the day, which may include Bible, science, history, and social studies, but not necessarily all subjects every day. After that we do math and language arts. 

11:30 am - break for lunch

1:00 pm - Silas goes for a nap, and the girls and I read aloud, practice piano, and take care of other household duties. 

It is nice to have a routine and something predictable for the kids so they know what to expect in a day.

But as a homeschooler, I have the freedom to switch that up whenever and however I want in order to fit in all of the other activities in which we like to participate. Other activities include Bible studies, homeschool co-op, play dates, and even grocery store trips if needed.

This week, we switched up our normal routine in order to take advantage of a couple good deals for homeschoolers in the metro area.

Thursday was homeschool day at the children's museum. We were able to receive four free passes just for being homeschoolers. This is only the second time we've ever gone to the children's museum, and the kids love it there so much.

Today (Friday), we went to the Wapiti Buckskinner Rendezvous, A historical fair of sorts with all sorts of displays and demonstration of early pioneer life. The kids had the opportunity to throw tomahawks, make handmade beeswax candles, Watch a blacksmithing demonstration, learn how to spin yarn, and much more. Unfortunately, they barely participated in any of the activities that they could have, and mostly we just walked around and looked at all of the cool stuff. 

Highlights were watching a Canon getting fired, watching the Blacksmith at work, and tasting maple candy just like we read about Laura Ingalls having in the Little House books we are currently reading.

Also, I tasted buffalo tongue. It tasted like a cross between a pork chop, liver, and hot dog. The kids would not try it.

I got the girls each a "grab bag" that had all sorts of little trinkets in them, from Native American beads to strips of fur, leather and seashells. Silas got a wooden pistol. 

There is no question that homeschooling is challenging. I truly and literally have my kids with me all of the time and take them with me everywhere I go. It is exhausting. And it is beautiful, and wonderful, and precious time spent with the people I love the most. When they remember going on field trips, they will remember me. When they read C-A-T for the first time, it will be with me. It is truly the most wonderful job in the world.