My Two Favorite Things About Homeschooling

 

My favorite thing about homeschooling is that our course of study is largely driven by current interests.

We did the epic unit on evolution this winter, which led to classification and taxonomy. From there we have used our field guides to identify many of our garden plants and common insects. We moved into annelids, and I did a quick internet search for "earthworm curriculum" and came up with reams of materials for our study of the worms in our vermicomposting bin. Now we're on to the habits and lifestyles of gastropods. I think it's neat how the snails' shells tie into our recent study of the Fibonacci sequence.

My other favorite thing about homeschooling is the freedom we have to use living books--that is, books that are written by experts in the field who have a real love for and understanding of the topic. This is in sharp contrast to a textbook, which is written by a committee and subject to approval by a few key schoolboards before becoming available to the nation at large. Here is a good article summing up the problems with the textbook adoption process.

Anyway, back to living books. I have been gathering materials to revisit the period of the American Revolution, something we have been doing on and around Independence Day for the past 5-6 years. When I went up to tuck in the girls tonight, C was curled up with King George: What Was His Problem?: The Whole Hilarious Story of the Revolution. Her bedtime refrain "Just one more chapter!" was especially convincing, and being as it wasn't another Terry Pratchett novel (his concept of appropriate chapter length is flawed,) I agreed.