oh my…. Finding a moment to come here and sit for a spell is becoming more and more difficult.  I create those type of babies that adore me so much they can’t be set down, even for the briefest of spells and it seems bobbling, babbling baby on my knee and typing is becoming err… hard.  So bear with me.  I will visit.  But, likely less frequently.  For now.  

A few weeks ago we ordered Oak Meadow’s Kindergarten curriculum.  I was truly hesitant.  While I believe our life style is that of self-directed learning, and will continue to be so, for now, I wanted something to direct me!  These long winter days, where the sky turns black far before we are ready, made me yourn for a bit more of a routine than we had prior.  Let me tell you, I am loving this little change.  The lessons are brief, and seasonal, and oh so sweet.  The stories are thought-provoking and beautifully written.  They entice the boys to play the sweetest type of pretend games and inspire their drawings in a whole new way.  And you know what else?  They are proud of their work.  Miles holds his Main Lesson book up to show his daddy each time there is a new addition with those famous crescent moon eyes and crinkled nose and you can literally just feel the enthusiasm beam from him.

This is not to say they haven’t been busy (really busy) with other endeavours.  An ongoing obsession with dog sledding to the north pole has all but consumed my boys.  Librarians, neighbors, family, and pets are all very much involved.  We are becoming quite the fact books on The Arctic and it is almost as intriguing to the grown folks as the little ones it turns out.  Sitting on the couch recovering from a (nother) wild bed time routine, Lee and I dreamt of actually vacationing up there on the steppe.  We smiled at each other with a knowing truth that we had caught the bug.  Those arctic fox pups are just too fluffy to resist I suppose.

Education can take so many forms.  It looks different in every family.  In every child.  In every human!  But one thing they all have in common is when real learning takes place, it is so very enjoyable.  I think about our choice to home school more these days as we have now entered the time where we can register Miles with the state and I have never felt more confident.  From the hammering in the basement, as he chips away at the “dogsled” he is building, to the research books on the arctic, to the songs in our morning circle, this boy is learning, and enjoying himself immensely.  And that is all any mama really can ask for, isn’t it?

That beautiful smile.