Surprise, Surprise!

For the second camping trip in our lovely new trailer, the Kodiak, Dad announced on Friday evening that we would be leaving the very next day for an overnight at Willow Creek. After going there two other times (one dreadfully mosquito-filled, the other pleasant), we had no idea what the condition would be. Our new camper, with the pop-outs.

View of Willow Creek Campground, from the road

There weren't no mosquito's, but they weren't thick at all. Being mid-June, I only got one bite on my ankle, and that might have been it between the four of us. I did, however, pick up dozens of flea bites from sitting on the dusty beach.

The surprise previously referred to was a pair of kayaks, which Dad has been talking about buying for years. They were wildly successful, and proved to be the best part of the overnight stay. We each had two turns, one Saturday, one Sunday. They were quite a chore just to haul up the bank to the car; Dad claims they are light, but the rest of us don't agree.

We hauled the kayaks before opening up the boxes, so burning those huge boxes caused this giant fireball.

Even for just a short stay, we saw ospreys, a rattlesnake, and a river otter while kayaking.

How Do I Learn?

As a homeschooler, there are certain questions I get asked all the time. Any homeschooler will tell you that, on a weekly basis, they will be asked: Do you 'do' school during the summer? Are you properly socialized? Is your mom your teacher? Do you use curriculum?

While I'm at it, the answers are, for me, yes, yes, no, and no.  My answers surprise most people, and explanations are always in order. I'm also surprised right back when I discover that people don't really want to know the answers, or a real explanation. The briefest answer I can give will usually suffice.

The truth is, I use everything, and nothing, to help me learn. Curriculum, the most common method of teaching in either school or 'homeschool', is merely a book full of information. I can learn anything out of text book in millions of different forms, whether it is hands-on, through the internet, or though the library, any time I want to. That is why no, we do not use curriculum.

The next question, if someone really wanted to dig, would be, 'if you don't use curriculum, then how do you learn?' This makes me laugh; the question is really, in disguise, 'how do you know, or have proof, that you are learning?'

It matters not if I have proof written out in a grade. What does a grade even mean? A grade tells you not how smart you are, and 'failing' is all in context. In 'real life', outside of school, God does not grade you, or put you on a spiritual level with Christians that are in the same maturity range, or give you an F if you forget to pray. If grades do not matter in 'real life', then why should they matter if I was in school? Or not in school, staying at home and learning that way?

My life is a testament to the fact that I am learning. I have a deep passion for learning, and also teaching. Almost anyone who knows me well also knows that there are many things I have learned through my own interest, or taught myself when there was no one around to teach me. By learning through my own interest, I mean things that I have driven myself to learn, not pushed on me by my mom or a teacher.

I love learning. I can't help it. My mom is not my teacher, because she teaches me to teach myself. I go out and learn as much as I can by myself about whatever I want, because that is how I learn. My learning process is 'real life', because I make it so.

The most common question I'm asked at the moment, by both other homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers, is 'are you 'doing' school through the summer?' Of course. Learning never stops; I don't even have the power as to whether I do or don't. Learning is my life. God does not allow us a break from life, because life never comes to a standstill until it truly ends.

If my free time is my learning time, and learning time is my free time, then why would I stop? Why would I want to? If learning can be this much fun, this satisfying, this freeing.... why would you have it any other way?