Beyond

I hope I never lose my sense of wonder. If that makes me naive, then so be it.

Tuesday 20 May 2008

the end, and yet not

School is ending this week. Math is finished today, grammar by week's end. Government study is almost wrapped up and may lead to a field trip next week to downtown Ottawa.

Of course, as with most homeschoolers, the "end of school" is a bit nebulous. We start this Thursday a four-lesson unit study with a group of families on botany and wilderness understanding and survival, all led by a naturalist whose wisdom and knowledge we had a chance to learn from once a few years ago. Over the next four weeks the girls will learn much from field trips and hands-on activities.

Economics is the other non-ending course. The farmer's market starts this week, and after R and I making a batch of pickles to sell, she and D sat down to make a cost analysis of the batch so that she can both determine the selling cost and keep track of her business expenses. It was also a lesson on scrupulous cleanliness in the kitchen, since the product will be going to other people's homes. This week we plan to make several jellies to take to the market next Saturday morning.

Global food production was another lesson gained this weekend, as I talked to a beekeeper at the farmer's market and learned that some so-called Canadian honey is only 5% Canadian, the rest coming from Argentina or China. I had no idea.

And A and I had an overnight away in beautiful Merrickville to celebrate (early) her 10th birthday. It's a tradition we started with R, a night away with Mom in a lovely inn, dinner in the fancy restaurant, talking about the upcoming preteen years and a bit of what she can expect to see happening to herself and her friends. Rather than just "the sex talk", it was an evening and morning of connecting, celebrating the unique person she is, and having lots of fun together. R still talks about her night away, two years later.

So while school "ends" this week and the books are put away, the learning continues.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

but how did 'the talk' go?

barb said...

It was fine. We covered a lot and while there were plenty of breaks to satisfy A's inquisitive nature, she got a good understanding of things.