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Mama, you will not regret the days you chose life learning over curriculum. The days you go hiking, bake together, or work in the garden will be more memorable than any workbook.
These days aren’t days off. You aren’t playing hooky or slacking in your homeschool. In fact, it’s the opposite.
When you look at the state standards, the number of hours you are required to homeschool, and any other legal obligations from your state… almost anything you do with your kids can meet these requirements.
For example, when you and your kids are hiking in the woods, you are:
- doing physical education
- real life science as you learn about and study plants, animals, bugs, weather, etc
- learning about health as you forage or identify medicinal plants
- making connections to books your family has read (“doesn’t picking mulberries along the path like this remind you of the book Blueberries for Sal??”)
- using your research skills to look up plants and insects you find
- learning map skills
But even more than the academics your kids are learning, these are the days that will shape your child more than any curriculum ever will. The memories you make together and the skills you learn will outlast even the greatest curriculum.
The perseverance, curiosity, and critical thinking that comes from everyday life learning cannot be found in a workbook. When your two mile hike turns into a seven mile hike (true story ;) your family learns how to push through hard things, problem solve, etc.
The times that you help your kids problem solve through a challenging relationship situation are building character and creating skills that will go forward and last a lifetime.
So put aside the guilt you feel when the sunshine calls you outside and your kids spend more time in the dirt than in the books. You are doing more than teaching your kids to read and write. You’re shaping a whole person, who is more than their academics.
Don’t forget that.