Salt Creek on a sunny day.

With sunshine streaming in the big dining room windows this morning, we put ourselves together much more quickly than usual in order to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Picnic lunch packed, camera in hand, we headed to my personal favorite place: Salt Creek Recreation Area. 

Wild winter storms have hammered the coast this past week, and Salt Creek beach was no exception. Large chunks of barnacle lay scattered across the sand at the high water mark. Battered fish parts offered up a feast to scavenging gulls. An abundance of crab pieces added color to the grey expanse as well. The real find, however, was a large blubbery chunk of....something. Reddish purple wrinkled skin on the outside and creamy white fat and muscle inside. We poked and prodded it, flipped it over, moved it around, and made our best guesses. Sea lion? Squid/octopus?

Little R was once again keen to bring it home with us, in all its smelly wobbly glory. I felt bad saying no, once again. The size of the chunk made it prohibitive, and we currently lack a good microscope to really dive deep on something like this. I also wasn't entirely sure of the legality of removing it. I think that legal aspect will stymie a lot of her collecting urges, unfortunately. I need to do more research on what is allowed and where. 

Today was not a showy "look! we're learning stuff!" kind of day. And that's how we tend to like it around here. Today was about asking questions, and being present in the sunshine together. January in the Pacific Northwest can be a grey drizzly affair, so weather like this begs outdoor time. 

We are starting to finalize a game plan for our parks exploration concept, and once that kicks off, we'll have loads of time outdoors scheduled. I'll update as soon as we have a firmer plan. 

A "typical" homeschool-day

Is there such a thing as a "typical" homeschool day? Ask most relaxed homeschooling families and they'll laugh at the thought. Sure, there's a rhythm to the week, but often there's no strict schedule to abide by. At least in our household.

The kids have endured some rather invasive and intense grilling lately about our homeschooling. Comments ranging from "You should be taking more tests, and writing more." to "How can you spend so little time doing schoolwork each day?" and "Are you even learning anything at all??" Stressful and unnecessary for the kids to handle, and downright irritating to me. 

The individual making these comments has never addressed these questions to me however, and my opportunities for explaining our homeschooling philosophy and routine have been nonexistent. So, I thought I'd outline them here instead! A way to describe what we do and why we do it. 

We follow a relaxed homeschool method that approaches unschooling in its application. We use real-life experiences to learn subjects like math, English, science, history, etc, rather than strict curriculum, multiple choice tests, and worksheets. I follow the kids' interests and provide information and experiences that match their passions. I encourage hours of free play as a way to support curiosity and imagination. With loose parts, tools, and casual suggestion, the kids create/build and destroy. I view time spent outdoors as critical learning time. We ask questions and engage all of our senses in order to better understand our environment. We talk a lot.

Newspapers, books, magazines and hours spent at the library add to our daily information gathering. The kids are free to research any topic that interests them, and are not limited to the kids' section. We tackle the hard questions as they come up, often learning together. There is no end to the amount of talking that occurs in this house! The 5 'W's are encouraged (who, what, where, when, why). And differing opinions happen often. Did I mention the talking??

Rather than limited to same-age peers as they would be in a classroom, the kids are free to learn from people of all ages and experiences. A common phrase I used to hear at school as a kid, "We're not here to socialize, we're here to learn!" is a phrase not spoken in our house. My son counts the retirees he meets on the model airplane field as friends and peers. My daughter seeks out her grandma and her grandma's friends to talk to and learn from. No matter where we are, the kids are eager to talk to people around them. Age is not a limiting factor! 

Today was an excellent example. We ventured out to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, near Sequim, WA. One of Big B's favorite spots to visit, we were limited today by high tide and massive storm waves breaking heavily on the beach. We didn't venture out on the spit, but viewed it from several overlooks, and from the base of the cliff. Both kids chatted up the Refuge volunteer who was out doing a safety check on the beach, asking questions about rogue waves and when the tide would turn. On the return walk, we found a small dead bird along the trail. As other walkers came by, the kids showed them their find and hypothesized about possible causes of death, type of bird, and its age.

Little R was incredibly disappointed that we weren't able to bring it home with us for dissection. She's 7. She really wanted to be able to open up the belly to view its stomach contents, looking for plastics. And why would she want to do that? Well, because she's in love with animals, and we've been learning about the dangerous effects of plastics pollution in oceans the past few weeks. If the unfortunate bird had fallen in our yard, we would certainly have attempted the lab work. Being on a wildlife refuge however, we left it to be wondered at by other hikers. I'm sure it won't be the first time I'm asked to assist in dissection though!

Our days follow no script. And we like it that way. If you want to know more about our homeschooling strategy and ideas for learning, feel free to reach out and ask! We really do love to talk!

For a little reading on unschooling, check out these links:

Homeschooling and Unschooling Resources

Free-range education: Why the Unschooling movement is growing.

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A new year, a new plan!

Despite a dreary weather forecast, we headed out in the rain to a nearby city park, Lincoln Park. On the west side of town, this tends to be a park we drive by on the way to somewhere else. But, with heavy rain coming down, the tall dark trees and dense canopy cover made a welcome shelter for us this afternoon. 

Today was a bit of a test run actually. We are tentatively floating the idea of a grand tour of the parks in Washington state this year. By our count, there are 3 National Parks, 142 State Parks, 21 County Parks (in Clallam County, where we live), and 28 City Parks (in our town of Port Angeles). All which add up to 194 parks! That's a lot of public spaces available to enjoy the outdoors! By doing this grand tour, we would really get to know our state. It's also a totally crazy outrageous idea, and we're pretty big fans of totally crazy outrageous ideas in this family.

We're still hammering out the details of this adventure. What exactly constitutes a "visit"? How on earth will we afford the gas for this?? (We've applied for a Next Challenge Expedition Grant, crossing our fingers!) Where will we find a boat to get to the island State Parks? How will we record the adventure? Are we nuts?

As we figure out the particulars, we'll post updates here. 

What big plans in nature are in store for your family this year? Big or small, we would love to hear about them!