Tag: summer vacation

Summer Learning, Had Us a Blast!

Summer in the desert isn’t a time for a lot of outdoor play. It’s much too hot for riding bikes all day. We tend to save our fooling around outside for evenings and cooler seasons. Unfortunately, summer on the farm is also not a time to travel and get away from the oppressive heat. Because of the odd constraints of farm life and climate, summer tends to be a season of indoor play and learning around here. It also tends to become a time of staying up late and sleeping more during the day.

This summer has certainly been a time of learning. Strangely enough, that “coincides” with this being a summer in which I wasn’t determined to “educate” the children. Last summer marked the beginning of our unschooling journey and my girls spent most of it deschooling. Continue Reading

Fun in the Sun with Mum

When I was a child, my two favourite schooldays were the first day of the year, when everything was new and shiny, and the last day of the year, when we were about to be set FREE for summer holidays! In between those two days, it certainly wasn’t all bad, but there sure was a lot of jumping through hoops (which can get very tiring, I have to say!) and going through the motions that had been chosen for me. And those motions and routines did not serve to switch on my brain any more than their cessation would serve to switch it off. The learning didn’t begin upon entering the school gate and cease upon departure. Continue Reading