Real Life Learning

One of the things I love about homeschooling are the opportunities for real life learning. I remember as a school teacher having to teach my second graders about the proper formation of a letter and how to address an envelope. Of course, I wanted this to be a real life experience for them, but often, we ended up using a workbook page or something, just so they could get lots of practice. With homeschooling, these things are learned in the context of real life. This week, my son wanted to write a get-well letter to a friend. He used the inspiration from his Bible reading and drew a lovely picture and put some encouraging words for this friend. Then we put it in an envelope, and in the context of this real experience, he began to learn about the proper way to address an envelope. With this experience, he has a reason to learn. And that is motivating. For student and for mommy!