“I’m Bored”. “It’s Boring Here”.  I read a text this week that talked about Boredom being the door to creativity. Time to think, act, create, try new things. Our family members get bored when they run out of books or ideas of things to draw. A learning home should be filled with nooks and cranies of games that can be played individually, manual moving items, odd craft pieces, stories on tape. Walking trails nearby seem to help as well. 

One of the joys of learning at home – is the privilege of not always being entertained or directed by others.  We are not accountable to a government to prove that our every waking moment between 8 am and 4pm has been filled with lecture, paperwork and study groups. However, many a mom, creating Public School at Home, feel the need to be the creator of filling the gaps of time.  A child will not starve to death in a home with good foods, and he will not bore himself to death with a house stocked with good activity starters. They may just need to be hungry enough to try new things on their own.

We have learned this year that boredom sometimes comes when we have a conflict with each other. The inability to fuse together as a family, use each other for company, pair up in games. We would run off to a neighbor’s home, or a community event to ignore the quiet conflict.  With that not being an option these past 5 months, we have learned to talk, focus, forgive, speak, share.

Afternoons can be spent writing, reading, walking – together or alone.

Here are a couple of shots of what happens around here with the academic books are on a break along with electronics.  Simple joy.

Nathan discovered Sail Boats. This is not him, but a neighbor instead – however, he never noticed them out on the lake before.

Jon is playing with my dominos, he found them on his own, mine from childhood, and decided to build a castle that could be knocked down by moving a single piece.

My Favorite, Happy with a Book.

Walks on the beach in the afternoon bring on many things to discuss, this is sea foam:
   

“This is thanks to phytoplankton known as diatoms – the little creatures that create sea foam. Bill Hanshumaker, public information officer for the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, said these tend to bloom in greater numbers in the spring, and seasonal storms can result in incredible sights such as foam so frothy it moves like flurries of snow across the beaches and highways.”

The article has more about the crazy things that happen on the beach in the winter around our parts!