School on Vacation? - Part II

Yesterday, I told you about some "school" we did while on vacation... a little beach time and some learning about shells. On a whim, we decided to go on an adventure after we left grandma and grandpa's house in SW Florida. Can you guess where we went?

(photo courtesy of the United States Air Force)

That's right! We went to see the last launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. I wish I could tell you the picture above is from my camera, but alas, we could not get THAT close. We did, however, make it to Titusville, FL - otherwise known as the "Space Coast" - and joined the throng of 40,000 other space fans to see the launch.

We had studied space extensively back in the fall, so this was a great follow-up for us. The pilot of the shuttle, Captain Eric Boe, is also from Georgia (he is an alum of my husband's school system, and received his Master's degree from GA Tech).

Not only was it a great lesson about the space shuttle, but it was also an EXCELLENT lesson in patience - we waited in traffic several hours around Disney World and then again nearing the space coast, and we waited in our van THREE HOURS to get out of Titusville. We REALLY love each other now. Eeek. That's a long time in a van when you're not moving.

GMan and Miss B waiting for the shuttle to take off.

Our view - you can see Kennedy Space Center in the distance, and the launchpad is on the left.

This is the picture my husband snapped after take off - we didn't want to be behind a camera when it took off, and so many people had told us to enjoy the moment - we could see plenty of professional pictures of it anyway!

And, here are some weary travelers right after lift off. I love how you can still see the smoke trail in the background.

It was a most awesome experience for all of us - one I am sure we will all look back on and say "I remember when I went to see the space shuttle!". I think it qualified as a "school day" - what do you think?

*This post is linked to the Hip Homeschool Hop!

School on Vacation? - Part I

We've just returned from several days in Florida.... probably our best day of vacation was our beach day. In the area of SW Florida we visited the beaches are gorgeous - crystal clear blue water, lots of shells, and even dolphins close to shore. Being a native on Florida I grew up around all of this, and I think I took it for granted for the first seventeen years of my life. Since that time I have lived in Texas and Georgia, and I still miss the beach.

Of course, being a homeschooling mom I see everything now through a learning lens. The minute we arrived at the boardwalk leading to the beach I was scoping out learning opportunities. As usual, they were everywhere.

I knew the names of all of these shells from little on, but my children don't - we learned the names and found several of them at the beach. The kids spent literally HOURS combing the beach for shells - there were so many.

Miss B arranged all of hers to see what she had gotten:

The thing that made me so happy was the pure JOY on their faces. We have had a long winter (by Georgia standards!) and it was just great to be barefooted and free to explore.

We have bags full of shells. I'm going to purchase the Download N Go "Sunny Seashells" for us to do this week - have to strike while the iron is hot!We saw several dolphins swimming so close to the shore - I did not get a picture because that would have required me running back to our things to retrieve the camera, and then I would have missed seeing them.

My husband, who has a long commute each day and works in a demanding IT job, enjoyed the vacation. He read his book (he NEVER gets a chance to do this - by the time he has time to read at the end of the day he usually falls asleep!)

and took a LOOONG walk with the kids down the beach. I watched them growing smaller and smaller down the beach and thanked God out loud for the gift of my family and for His beautiful creation.

I brought along a great beach read - Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. You MUST read it... I love her books and this one did not disappoint!

So yes, we had school at the beach, but wait until you see the next place we had school on our vacation! I'll tell you about it in Part II of School on Vacation?!

*This post is linked to Kris' Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Visit her site to hear about other homeschoolers' weeks.

Giving Myself a Break

If you know me personally, you know that I border on being a compulsive type A personality. I think, however, that homeschooling is really showing me the benefit (scrath that, the necessity) of slowing down once in a while. We have been schooling faithfully since the end of July. We have logged 30 days on our attendance roster, so today we are taking the day OFF!

Our holiday weekend was spent with family at the lake. It was such a wonderful time and I came home very relaxed. There's lots to do around the house. You know the drill - laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping. I declared today a work day to get all of that accomplished. Plus, I give piano lessons this afternoon, so it will be a busy day.

Initially I felt guilty about this, but then I reminded myself of a lifelong pattern I have of pushing myself to achieve. Yes, I feel like this trait has gotten me where I am today, but I also want to enjoy where I am today and not stress my kids out by being a slave to the schedule. Isn't that one of the reasons we took them out of school?

This is one of those times when I see just how new we are at homeschooling - I'm still justifying taking a Tuesday off. Oh well, with experience comes wisdom.

Better get going - it's almost 8 a.m. and my little ones aren't out of bed (which shows me they needed the sleep). It's a beautiful morning out there and I'm going to drink my coffee on the deck. Back to school tomorrow, you know!
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