Homeschool wonderworld

Yesterday Canaan came to understand the absolute joy of homeschooling. We had just finished reading time, and were about to transition to math, and he asked if he could have a snack. I told him he could have some fruit. He went to the fridge, picked out a plum, and came back to tell me, "Mom - we use to have four plums, one for each person in the family, but I am eating one, so now we only have three". My immediate response was "Let's put that in different words. 4 take away one, or minus one, equals three." And for some reason, that clicked with him. He counted everything throughout lunch, adding and subtracting. He still has to actually count to get the answer - we counted grapes, animal crackers - but the concept is there. And that is what I love about homeschooling. In school, a teacher will have a word problem, with pictures in a book, of "Johnny had three apples, but he ate one. How many are left?" My 5 year old had actual plums, and grapes to work with. Math time did not end when math time was over. He voluntarily carried it over into lunch time. And that is why homeschooling works for me. Neither family time nor school ever end. They are both constantly happening. Life is learning. 

 My friend Carrie called me to ask for a recipe the other day. It is for peanut butter cookies, and it is a recipe I have been making for YEARS - one of those "church cookbook" things. It was originally for 13 dozen. I clearly remember when I was studying fractions, around 9 or 10 years old, one of my school projects was to cut that recipe in half. It is written there in the cookbook, 1 1/4 cups sugar, instead of 2 1/2, 2 1/2 tsp soda, rather than 5, etc. That was school. I am pretty sure my friend Michelle, who was also homeschooled, was over that day. We probably weren't actually doing any bookwork - but my Mom had the idea to have us make cookies. Picking a recipe and finding it in the table of contents was reading. Cutting it in half was math. Watching the chemical reaction of mixing, then baking was science. She probably came up with a way to have history thrown in there too, knowing my Mom. I am not saying that every day of my education was like that - obviously I had to actually read history, and literature (like that was a hard subject to talk me into!) and learn algebra and biology - but my life as a homeschooler was full of LIFE skills. I really want to pass that along to my kids. 

 Having Canaan just "get it" while doing something totally not school related was thrilling for me. It reminded me, and confirmed to me, that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.