Some of our golden days were the product of homeschooling, but any family can treasure moments of learning together.

     "Where's Krystal?"  I asked.  "She's supposed to be doing her math."  I looked out our second story bedroom window and spied her on the warm driveway, stomach down, busily working problems in her Saxon math book.  Not a bad study place, for she could look down the steep driveway and into a green meadow of hay, beyond which horses and a few cows grazed.  Our home was Pennsylvania.       Our children were in grades eight, four, and one when we embarked on our homeschool journey.  I soon found that all three learned differently.  Jackie retained more if she could rehearse, discuss, and soak in information audibly.  Krystal didn't "hear" anything unless she read the printed page first.  And Sam needed to touch, observe, and apply in order to learn.    Everywhere around us, nature supplied opportunities.    My youngest son, Sam once gathered a bowl of chipmunks on the hill above our house before I could think, "oh no, those are rodents."  For some goofy reason, the little creatures allowed his gentle hands to scoop them up and nestle them in a cool whip container.  It was a hoot.  "A bowl of chipmunks!  Sam has a bowl of chipmunks."      On another occasion, he uncovered a possom skeleton in the backyard.  He painstakingly cleaned and assembled it.  What a wonderful anatomy lesson!  His curiosity about living things has even grown through time.      Our oldest, Jackie, liked to cook.  She made the other kids "Buddy breakfast" and played goofy games with them.  She also read Krystal and Sam more books than my husband or I read.  We discovered The Chronicles of Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, The Indian in the Cupboard.  Those were tranquil moments. In contrast, we played uproarious games in order to learn Latin root words or memorize the presidents of the United States.     Every day, the girls plugged in aerobics tapes.  All the kids roller skated in the garage for exercise.  There were only three of them, but they seemed like half a dozen!      Today, Krystal is a junior in college.  Jackie graduated and teaches 3rd grade elementary school.  We put Sam into public school in the 9th grade.  Still, our deep conversations continue.  We all share what we're learning this week.  I'm taking college courses myself, and Sam is preparing by computer courses to take his SAT. When the girls first came home from college on weekends, they would tote their books home and share all they were learning with me.  It was like taking a mini-course with them!      Our experiences in learning together are not unique.  A life-long love of knowledge enhances us, enables us to interpret events of our lives with wisdom.  Any family can foster a love of learning that brings each member close together.   What are some secrets to creating an atmosphere of learning?    1.  Talk about experiences, television shows, and books.  Compare, analyze.   2.  Keep your library card handy, and use it often!    3. Purchase classic books and high quality magazines.     4.  Use proper grammar, even around the house     5.  Demonstrate that math and science skills touch us every day.  Show your kids how to add check book entries. 

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