Spring Fun

Our school days have been mostly filled with time outside and trips to the park during the day, and to the soccer fields in the evenings. The weather seems to be screaming "unschool" to us, and it's been hard to find any lessons that are worth bringing the kids indoors during this unseasonably perfect early spring.

Today we met up with some other homeschoolers at a favorite park. The kids got to meet new people, I got to meet new people, and we also hung out with some old friends. The group normally organizes outings and field trips about an hour from here, so I was very excited when someone suggested an outing to this particular park that's only about 20 minutes away from us. While the group is not officially "nonreligious," during the three hours we were around each other, we talked about nature and homeschooling, but not religion. We walked trails, played in the creek, identified wildflowers, played on the playground, and generally enjoyed this gorgeous spring day in Kentucky. The group is planning once-monthly meetings at the same park, and one of the moms is a biologist and naturalist, willing to lead various lessons and games about ecology with the older kids. WIN!

Also today, we received our first post cards since joining postcrossing. The kids loved this beautiful Dutch card from The Netherlands:

As well as this card from a 22 year old student in Taiwan:

When we originally signed up, I didn't realize how much I'd enjoy the little messages and stories written on each card. I think this will be a fun little journey for all of us.

And the final fun homeschooling news of the day is that our starter kit for the Kentucky State Parks Family Adventure Quest arrived in the mail.

"Challenges will take your team across the state to parks and historic sites in search of your next adventure and photo op. While some challenges will require seeking answers through park visits, most will require use of a digital camera." Hoping to do lots of camping and other fun family activities as we try to complete this adventure between now and December.