Expeditionary Learning

Today was the first day of public school in our neck of the woods - so, being the rebels we are, we took the day off (as much as a homeschooler ever does) and went out to play. We went on an expedition to a far-away-but-still-local park and had a fantastic time exploring and learning on the playground.

My brother is doing his internship for his Master's program (we're rather proud of him), and said internship takes place in a school near his university that focuses on "expeditionary learning." Know what that is? Most homeschoolers do. It's a fancy term for "unit study" - the use of one topic across many or all areas of study. We are rather fond of unit studies here - they just seem to happen - so I'll just tell you that we are glad to know that we're riding the crest of the education tidal wave.

ANYWAY... Today, we went to the park. We talked about all kinds of things:
Like nutrition

telling time,
How a backhoe works
balancing a scale
the importance of focusing on what you are doing:
pendulums,

gravity - and whether the heaviest or the lightest slides the fastest
and centrifugal force.

And that was our day at the park.

I'm tired.

And so are my children: