Cutting out all the extra running has been WONDERFUL! It's been so much more relaxing and pleasant around the house. We still do the things that we love, and we still do extras, just not crazy extra.
We went on a field trip to Brown County State Park last Friday. We got to explore the Discovery Trail (which was very fun) and we got to see the Nature Center and see birds up close. We then had a picnic lunch and played at a playground.
While at the park, a nice older couple sat next to us with their children and grandchildren. They started up a conversation with me, and turns out they were retired school teachers. I don't know what they thought about our rowdy group of homeschoolers, but I think offended them and scared them away because their granddaughter started bawling when one of our parents accidentally scared her. They left right after that without so much as a good-bye. Oh well.
We went to Apple Works today, and got to tour the facilities, pick our own apples, go on a hayride, pet animals at the petting zoo, and pick our own pumpkins. How fun was that??? Even the yellow jackets enjoyed it.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy!
I finally did it. I got too many activities scheduled and I am officially tired of running around and keeping the tires on my car hot. There are so many things that we like to do, and there are so many things that are necessary, and then there are all sorts of commitments made that can't be avoided.
Groceries, Food pick-ups, museums, HS group, music, gymnastics, library, story time, hair cuts, dentist, orthodontist, playdates, concerts, park visits...the list goes on and on. It might not be so bad except that we live out in the middle of nowhere, which means we spend countless hours in the car just to go somewhere. The nearest activity we go to is 15 minutes away, and the furthest is 45 minutes.
I'm going to sit back and take a hard look at everything going on in our lives and see where we can cut back on "extra" activities and see what is truly important to us and what is merely nice to do. Even though we "primarily" unschool (see previous post), I think that running ourselves ragged is contrary to an enriching learning environment.
Even when we listen to books on CD in the car, and even if they learn something at every location we go (that's the nature of unschooling), we end up exhausted and don't want to put forth any more effort than is absolutely necessary. We end up too tired to do the things in life that we really love, like walking through the yard, painting, crafting, snuggling, reading, hunting, etc.
Where do I draw the line?
.
Groceries, Food pick-ups, museums, HS group, music, gymnastics, library, story time, hair cuts, dentist, orthodontist, playdates, concerts, park visits...the list goes on and on. It might not be so bad except that we live out in the middle of nowhere, which means we spend countless hours in the car just to go somewhere. The nearest activity we go to is 15 minutes away, and the furthest is 45 minutes.
I'm going to sit back and take a hard look at everything going on in our lives and see where we can cut back on "extra" activities and see what is truly important to us and what is merely nice to do. Even though we "primarily" unschool (see previous post), I think that running ourselves ragged is contrary to an enriching learning environment.
Even when we listen to books on CD in the car, and even if they learn something at every location we go (that's the nature of unschooling), we end up exhausted and don't want to put forth any more effort than is absolutely necessary. We end up too tired to do the things in life that we really love, like walking through the yard, painting, crafting, snuggling, reading, hunting, etc.
Where do I draw the line?
.
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