Ten years ago next month, we went on our last big family vacation.
At that time, my kids were 7, 9, 15 and 16. The older kids were already so busy that we knew it would only get harder to fit in a big vacation before they went off to college or moved out on their own. It was a bittersweet feeling, knowing this would probably be our last family trip with all four kids together.
In the movie “Wall-E,” people have become tubs of lard who sit in the futuristic equivalent of wheelchairs, being entertained while they gulp soda and stuff their faces with food.
This article about the increasing number of children (not just in the U.S., but around the world) who spend hours indoors eating in front of mindless entertainment offers a depiction that’s uncomfortably similar to the people in “Wall-E.”
Children need healthy food, exercise in the fresh air and parents who will make sure they get both. Homeschooling is a lifestyle that makes this particularly easy. But it requires parents who will chase the kids away from the refrigerator and the big screen and out into the yard.
When I was a kid, we played freely in our neighborhood every day after school. Today we walked to the park with our son and only saw two kids outside. Two! In a city with over 40,000 people, I’d expect to see more than two kids out after school on one of the first warm afternoons of spring.
Sometimes I think our affluence came with too high of a price. What do you think?
Gever Tulley’s Tinkering School sounds like a lot of fun, and it’s just the kind of experience today’s overscheduled, classroom-imprisoned kids need. But at $1200 for 6 days, it’s out of the reach of many parents.
But why couldn’t a few parents get together to provide a similar experience for their kids? Maybe hang out in someone’s garage with a bunch of power tools and some donated lumber, and let the kids loose (with some parental guidance) to tinker to their hearts’ content?
As long as the parents teach the kids how to use the power tools safely, I think this would be an awesome learning experience. Perhaps a homeschool support group could sponsor a day-long tinkering workshop for kids. I mean, who wouldn’t want to build their own roller coaster?
(Here’s another Tulley video; it’s called “Five Dangerous Things for Kids.”)
Last week, I posted about the questions I’ve been getting lately having to do with surviving the homeschooling life. It occurs to me now that while I addressed some difficulties that come with homeschooling and how to handle them, I should also remind those newer to homeschooling of all the advantages of this lifestyle.
My husband bought me an amaryllis bulb kit for Christmas. We’ve really enjoyed watching the plant grow the past few weeks. The red looks so pretty against the snow.