Snorkeling and Such

January 16, 2008

We've been taking a break from our regular Sonlight American History studies around here the past couple of weeks. Back when Jesse was younger, we used to do Sonlight for six weeks and then take a few weeks off to do a unit study. That's one of those things that got pushed to the back burner with the younger kids as I focused so much on Jesse as he got into middle school. Now that he's in high school and does all his work independently, I can return to a leisurely pace with Laurel and Duncan.

So we've been doing an ocean unit study. I created one for Jesse many years ago, and we've been doing that one with lots of revisions. When we're all done, I'll post it. But today I just so amazed by this game Laurel created. I didn't even notice she was doing this yesterday, and today she said, "Can we play my 'Go Fish' game?" She had made a deck of cards with pictures of sea critters on each one...

A good sized deck, I might add!


Her rules were "Go Fish" with a twist: we had to tell a fact about the fish when we laid the cards down. I was gratified to hear how much they've learned in the past 10 days!

This is one thing I love about homeschooling. Like Kristina's "Obstacle Course and a Cup of Tea," there is such a vast canvas for uninhibited creativity in one's home. There is time, and access to a box of crayons and a pile of paper, and the freedom to act upon one's creative impulses.

And also, dogs are discouraged from playing cards in public school. Or so I've heard.