Teachable moments

Can you homeschool in the car on the way to Target? Yes, you can. In fact, I think that a large portion of those magical 'teachable moments' when I know Colton is actually listening and getting what I'm saying - when we're having a REAL conversation - are in the car. Er, van. And usually they occur when I'm most distracted and secretly wanting to turn on the radio and just veg out. THAT is when he wants to learn. Go figure.

This happens so often that I am starting to count them in my day. The trip to band practice last week (about a 40 minute drive) was spent discussing what kinds of things you would need to survive if the world was suddenly overtaken by zombies. (13 year-old male. . .need I say more?) This conversation touched on everything from where you would want to live, what tools would be essential, how you could build traps and weapons (13 year-old male, again) and what BOOKS (surprise!) you might want to have with you. He read Hatchet last year and has been currently reading the sequels The River and Brian's Winter, so he thought those books would be particularly useful. He didn't mention needing his X-Box, but did acknowledge that his video game experience could be helpful as preparation for living in Zombie-land. We both enjoyed the conversation and I found myself feeling a bit proud that my son said that I might also be a pretty good zombie hunter - or at least be handy at stitching up everyone else's wounds from their late night zombie encounters. (He could have suggested I would be great bait for a zombie trap. So, I'll take that compliment.) But in that 40 minute conversation we touched on 6 or more subjects: reading comprehension, physics, nutrition, general science, math, and home economics. (haha)




On the drive home, we discussed if it could be possible that every person sees colors differently (I see purple where you see red, but we don't know it because we just know what we're "told" the color is.) In this discussion, we went all the way into how the brain perceives colors and how cones and rods work in the eye. We decided between ourselves that this is indeed possible, but we'll probably never know for sure. We also talked about black holes (Mom, there could really be a blackhole in your purse and you wouldn't know it! Yes son, I know it's there. It's called the VISA card.)





So, why does this happen in the car? Why not at the kitchen table when the books are open and the lessons laid out? Maybe it is the experience of the shared destination that opens the door. Maybe we're just trapped in the same small space and bored. Maybe it is because it doesn't "feel" like learning, or teaching for that matter. I'm thinking it's a little of each. Maybe it is how children all over the planet learn most of the time. . . when we're not looking.

My love/hate relationship with paper

I imagine that the person who first figured out how to create paper was very excited at the possibilities of communicating in this new and exciting way. But could that person have ever imagined what our world is like now with paper EVERYTHING?

Paper towels, paper plates, toilet paper, printer paper, paper-wrapped food, paper bags, newspaper, paper napkins, paper cups, paper envelopes, paper inside paper envelopes, and of course books, magazines, newsletters, flyers, sales circulars, checks, BILLS, notebooks, folders, cards, photos, and don't even get me started on cardboard.

I am so overwhelmed by paper that if I were to strike a match at this moment, there would be plenty of paper fuel around me to keep the fire burning for a day or so. I was so excited the day I got my laptop because I realized that this could potentially reduce the amount of times per day I pick up a piece of paper and wonder what the heck to do with it. Do I recycle it, throw it away, shred it, burn it, file it, read it, or send it to someone else (in a paper envelope or cardboard box?)

But take me to a bookstore and I can't get enough. I tried to use my handy-dandy laptop to read a book and it didn't go so well. Maybe it was the fact that you can't read a book lying on your side in bed with it, or that it got too hot, or that I hated "clicking" through the pages, I don't know. I think it was the smell. Nothing smells better than a new book and nothing feels better in your hands than a new paperback with the spine all shiny and smooth. Also, nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing a book after I've read it, all bent and ugly. It feels like devouring a good meal and looking at the leftovers.

One thing I know is that this aversion to paper does not translate to other things that occupy too much space in my world - like yarn. I could have a million skeens and still buy more. If you knit or crochet, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "If yarn was like meth, I'd be toothless." Yep. That would be me.

I started to wonder if this aversion started because of what the paper represents - bills, statements, taxes, all that grown-up stuff we're forced to contend with. Paper, in its weird way, represents time and work. In a good way, the more you work, the more paper you generate. In a bad way, the more paper you generate, the more you work. At least that's how I see it.

(If only that were true with the yarn/knit/crochet scenario. With yarn, the less work you do, the more yarn you have to store.)

Does this post have a point? Nope. Just sitting here within touching distance of three bank statements, a Charter bill, 2 birthday cards, a paper cupcake wrapper (which was delicious, by the way) and a magazine order from my cousin's daughter in Georgia. How many magazines did I just order? THREE.

::sigh::

I surrender.

Why I love camping. . .

Sherri's Top Ten List

1. Fire. I love fire. I love the satisfying feeling of building a fire. I love baking my front and then my back (not necessarily in that order) in the heat. I love the smell of smoke. I love feeding it and making the wood stack like a log cabin when it really gets going. And I love s'mores.

2. No electronic devices. I love "bored" kids who make stuff to entertain themselves. I love watching them trying to sail their boat and catching it before it sinks.

3. The sound of the river.

4. The Scenery

5. Watching Bill try to make cool camping perks, like a shower hanging from a tree. Look closely. He's climbing that tree wearing flip-flops.

6. Having my three babies in the same place at the same time.

7. Yawning trees

8. Wasting time

9. Hillbilly Hot Tub

10. Making Rock People