That's funny, I thought we got rid of cable, yet the TV is always on...hmmm. See I knew we wouldn't miss cable. We have enough DVDs to keep us busy for months. How's my Italian coming you say?? Yeah, I'll get right on that. Demand's French is coming along though. Planning is half the fun. The Sloths plus Obscure have been having a blast planning our European adventure. We've been teaching Demand some French phrases as well and she knows her heritage, the girl is flawless in her pronunciation.
Yesterday I came up with the idea to make a scrapbook/treasure hunt for her. I'll put together pages with things we plan on seeing for her to study ahead of time so she'll recognize people/places/things as we go and there will be space for her to add to the book as we go via post cards, coloring, stickers, etc. Think North American Dora meets Europe. Over the weekend she watched "Ratatouille" for the ump-teenth time, and turned to me and asked, "I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower!?".
As you can guess our Europe trip is taking up a good amount of our time. Just prior to the fourth of July fireworks we were talking to Demand about the things she was going to see; Eiffel Tower, Vatican, lots of Churches...Well she had some reservations about the fireworks. As soon as they started she started screaming and clinging to Mr. Sloth. In the midst of screaming she declared "I want to see churches". Sanctuary anyone??
In case anyone is curious this trip is more than a vacation. In the past few years whenever we've discussed the education of our children we've always mentioned traveling. Not only have we learned a lot from traveling but many of the smartest people we know grew up exposed various cultures. The more cultural experiences we can expose our children to (under our supervision) the better. Mr. Sloth and I both love to travel and have new experiences and we love sharing that with our children. That has brought us to our next conclusion. Homeschooling.
Our plan is to homeschool at least preschool and kindergarten and then see where we want to go. And as I jokingly mentioned to Mr. Sloth, "Well we're homeschooling her now, because this trip to Europe is tuition money." Homeschooling will allow us to travel at will and in fact make travel a part of our lessons. How fantastic would it have been if you just drove to Gettysburg in the middle of studying the Civil War? I think it would have been awesome.
Arrivederci!! (See I'm learning something)
The Sloths
Lazywife, Mr. Sloth, Demand, Prophet, Rooster, and King
2 comments:
I think it's great that you guys are taking the kids to Europe at such a young age. Shawn and I aren't necessarily planning on homeschooling, but we belive wholeheartedly in that concept of "experiential learning." Our kids had better be good little travelers! :)
The scrapbook/treasure thingy is a great idea! What a good way to keep Demand interested in the trip. We recently made a trip to Germany and Italy, but left our 4.5 year old at home - wasn't sure what she would remember of it. I'll have to try teaching her in advance for future trips. Anyway, I look forward to reading about your travels!
(Got to your blog through a friend of a friend, I also knew Mr. Sloth in college and I think you know my sister Teresa.)
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