The world is our classroom ...

One of the major pros of homeschooling is that school can happen anytime, anyplace and anywhere.  When Glen got home from Afghanistan, he had 3 weeks off to integrate back into the family.  We were able to have school at the kitchen table without saying goodbye to daddy.  There was no rushing to the bus stop or making sure we were home at a certain time.  We were able to just enjoy having Glen home without interrupting the kids' schooling (especially since I'm still figuring out our best routine.  I've always heard the first 2 years are the hardest, but we're figuring it out.)  If we needed a day off school, or needed to have school in the evening, it was o.k.

Now that we're getting ready to move, Glen's got a lot of leave he needs to use up.  The next 2 years we're not expecting too many vacations so we're fitting them all in now and catching all the sights we said we'd see when we first moved here.  This past week was supposed to be our Utah trip.  We weighed the pros and cons and decided it was a lot of work so we decided to have a relaxing vacation here at home.  Day trips and lazy days were the order for the week.  One day, we went to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (I'll post more pictures later).  At the end of the day, Andrew said, "But mom we forgot to do school today."  Are you kidding?  It was fun to explain that school is doing more than just sitting and writing.  I know we've got a weird kid that loves worksheets, but they all loved our outdoor school days.  

April is going to be our extremely busy month;  we have Glen's parents 50th wedding anniversary/family reunion up in Washington, and the end of April we're going to see my family in Virginia.  Then we move the middle of May.  Yikes!!!  All these are trips we wouldn't have been able to make if Andrew was still enrolled in school.  The best part, it still doesn't interrupt their schooling because the world is our classroom.  And when we move in May, we won't be pulling Andrew out of school.  Carschooling all the way baby.=)

 After church yesterday, Andrew (I told you he's a math freak=) was having fun playing with the calculator.  He was excited that he could add multiple digit numbers and was able to tell us the answer.  Glen jumped on the teaching opportunity and said, "Wanna know how to do it without the calculator?"  So there they were, adding 3 digit numbers on the white board, even throwing in some carrying problems.  Milestones are being hit at their own time, and at it's perfect pace. Now we just need to keep practicing those flashcards.

I'll post pictures of our Nevada vacation later.  For now, school's back in session.