A little "real life" conversation . . .

I have mentioned before that our oldest two daughters attended public school for a few years. It was an interesting, learning experience, to say the least. One of the changes that I have seen, is the fact that they talk to us so much more. I don't know if this is because we are with them more, or not. I just know that I LOVE every minute of it. Sometimes the conversations are general, sometimes educational, and sometimes personal. Whatever they are, I love that I have these little conversations with them.

What I think is funny, is that before home educating, I would have told you that we had great conversations and that they talked to me about everything. They did, so I thought. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I especially like the "real life" conversations. Since they are home always, they get to see more the day to day things that I do. For example, the other day, Ky and I were running some errands and she asked me about debt and why it is not a good choice ( my husband and I have been watching Dave Ramsey DVD's with some other adults). So I took the opportunity to explain to her that when you borrow money you become indebted or even enslaved to the person you owe money to. You then can not spend money on what you want to because you owe someone else money. That you basically now have a master over your money until the debt is paid. She is almost ten and saw the value of not being in debt. What a great, real life lesson.

Would I be having these conversations with them if I didn't have them with me all day? Probably. Would they still have the opportunity to learn these life lessons otherwise? Maybe.

I think of home education as a type of osmosis. You have all heard the joke, "learning by osmosis" right? If only one could learn everything a book teaches, just by touching it. It is true that you can learn a lot from reading and studying, but to live and experience something is such a profound "teaching" tool.