Time. Don’t you wish there was more of it in your life? Time to accomplish more, rest more, read more, laugh more, play more? Especially when your life is filled to the brim with to-do’s? I have written about this before in Slow Down and Enjoy This Time, Intentional Living, and Give Yourself a Break.
But, when it comes to homeschooling our kids, how do we find more time? After all, they’re kids, not robots! They don’t just sit and absorb endless amounts of data. And they have this habit of going off on tangents, don’t they?
Poof! There goes the schedule. . .and your stress levels.
So, what do we do? How do we find more time for learning? Well, I’m going to share a radical suggestion: Instead of pushing harder, stop and smell the roses. Surprisingly, this produces HUGE educational benefits.
Here’s a story to illustrate.
Years ago, as we were driving cross-country, my son saw on the map that we were not far from Galena, Illinois, home of President Ulysses S. Grant. This held a special fascination for Michael, because he had just recently learned that he shared a birthday with this famous man. Though we were under pressure to get to the next homeschool convention, we decided to drive the extra hour to Galena. After all, it’s not every day that a teenager wants to learn more about history!
Our Objective: Learn more about President Grant.
Truthfully, though, it grated on my nerves to leave the interstate for this slowly winding road. As time kept ticking, I became more and more anxious. . .until, finally, around one more curve, we arrived. And, it was literally breath-taking—gorgeous, stately, historic, a survivor from a different century.
At the local Tourist Bureau, we found someone who explained why this place looked so amazing. He said that, prior to the Civil War, Galena had been the site of lucrative lead mines, resulting in lots of wealthy people with lots of money for spectacular architecture. And, unlike most places in America, this mid-1800s architecture was not torn down to make room for new styles. When the city was unable to afford to dredge the river, business dried up and most folks moved away, abandoning their mansions. This was, essentially, an elegant 1800s city, frozen in time.
Remember our one objective? In taking a few extra—and incredibly fun—hours to visit Galena, we learned so much more than we had planned:
- the geography of northwestern Illinois, its topography and river systems;
- river-dredging on a tributary of the Mississippi;
- river transport;
- flood gates and river levees;
- lead for military weaponry;
- architectural styles popular among the wealthy in the early to mid-1800s;
- economics of town planning, and of housebuilding;
- U.S. Grant’s home (yes, we did get there!);
- U.S. Grant’s presidency.
All that learning, and we had a fabulous adventure, too!
And, that’s what slowing down and smelling the roses can do for you, when it comes to education. Your kids learn far more than one fact. With time to explore and discover, they come up with their own questions and find their own answers. They engage the material. They become self-motivated. Spending this extra time makes learning fascinating and memorable. And, amazingly, they will accomplish more, read more, laugh more, and play more—all while learning far more—than you would have thought possible. Go ahead, give it a try!
If you would like a curriculum to help you with this exploration and discovery, with engaging your students, and making learning both memorable and fascinating, here’s a place to start:
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