Homeschooling boys is such an adventure!

That is an understatement.  A rough generalization puts us at 30 parts noise, 30 parts flexibility (hands-on learning, discovery, imagination and exploration fit in here somewhere), 30 parts chaos, and the last 10 parts are split between "normal sit in your seat school instruction" and what I like to call, "learning while on the move."  Despite this, my kids are really thriving academically, and the ability to learn while doing is a big reason that I am a huge fan of homeschooling...especially with boys, but really with any kids.  So much of what we do is hands on and reading aloud.  I do limit textbook learning because it really does frustrate them.  We use math texts and English texts, and that's generally the limit right now.

I know as they grow older that I must teach them the disciple of sitting still, and text learning will also be a way that they are taught down the road.  But, right now, as they are in this season of youthful vigor, endless energy, and the wiggles, we try and keep learning as fun and interesting as possible.

Yesterday, Samuel randomly decided that he wanted to teach Marcus about contractions, something he's been learning about in his somewhat boring textbook.  Not the baby-having kind, but the "word squishing kind" as they have been so-named here.  The boys went on to create this elaborate machine on the whiteboard that is pictured below.  It was inspired by Leap Frog.  On the left you can see the word "cannot" going into the machine.  The machine takes the "o's" and "n's" (they were pictured later) out and sends them away, and on the other side of the belt we have the new word, "can't."  It is so rewarding to see my kids being creative while they are learning.