Maybe you have homeschooled for years or maybe this spring was your first attempt. Either way, you have learned the joy of watching “the light come on” when your child made a discovery or grasped a concept. As the joys of summer vacations here, there, and everywhere begin I’d like to share a few tips to keep the joy of learning and discovering going through the summer and into the fall and winter.

• Notice what stimulates your child’s curiosity.
• Allow your child to formulate questions through his/her observations but don’t answer the questions.
• Encourage active exploration, interactions, and discussions with peers and adults (this is so much more important than giving the answers).
• Allow children to gather data through their senses (let them touch stuff, smell stuff, and safely taste stuff like wild berries that you are familiar with).
• Provide items and opportunities that will stimulate your child’s imagination and creativity.
• Let your child know you think his/her discoveries are amazing and cool.
• Give your child a journal and colored pencils or markers or crayons to draw and write about questions and discoveries from his/her everyday experiences.

This fall you’ll be able to slip right into “school” without the groans because your child will have discovered the joy in learning.

“Where else does an old turtle crossing the path make all the difference in the world?”

— Patricia MacLachlan All the Places to Love 

Blessings, Gail Cartee