Emma's Epiphany

On the ride to PA, I taught Emma how to subtract in columns and borrow from the Tens. she got it right away! Soren learned how to do some simple subtraction without the hundreds chart, using apples, although she can subtract double digit numbers using the hundreds chart.

I am anxious to get the rest of the Miquon books so we can start using the Cuisenaire rods to really get S. to understand units, tens, etc.

On to the epiphany! As we were talking about math, Soren insisted something was "second grade level" and I gave a little philosophical speech about how, now that we're homeschooling, we aren't going to use "grade levels," which are arbitrary in nature anyway, and that we will just learn whatever we're ready to learn, regardless of what "level" it may be. I went on to talk about how unnatural I believe it is to learn in a classroom full of other 5 or 8 year olds and how it was so much better to learn from life, and to be mixed up with people of all ages.

I could literally see the lightbulb go on over Emma's head, just like in the cartoons!

She said, "I really love that idea! All schools should be like that!" I told her that i know of one that is similar.

All three of us then had a fascinating discussion about what learning is, and what forms it can take. We came up with learning about physics (levers and pendulums) from doing gymnastics and how our bodies moved. Soren wants to learn more about how paper is made. Emma wants to learn more about pollution (Note to self: I have a great book about this for kids). We talked about how it's not all book learning - we can learn about who we are inside, and who we want to be, and what kind of friend we are or what to be, etc. The kids were so into it!

Emma also spent a good bit of the day in the car reading her Redwall book - at least an hour. It was a good and productive trip!