This afternoon I had a few quiet hours to write while the kids when to their grandparents’ house to earn some money. Right now they’re very interested in things they can do to earn money, so their grandparents offered to give them a few jobs to do.
So, as I started to write, it hit me as I looked out my back kitchen window, across the vacant lot beyond our backyard fence, and into the school playground.
Today would have been the kids’ last day of Kindergarten if they had gone to school this year.
I remember the first day they would have gone in the fall. I had wanted to take the kids down to the beach that day, but it was too cold.
Today, I almost missed realizing this would have been their last day of school.
What would they have learned there?
I have some idea from conversations I’ve had with other parents who have sent their children to school. No doubt they would have had some fun days and learned some interesting things.
But I also have no doubt they never would have received the incredibly customized education they experienced this year. They wouldn’t have had such a wide range of experiences and they wouldn’t have been able to decide all the types of things they wanted to learn about.
I don’t think any school curriculum would have listed most of the things on our list either. Most importantly we wouldn’t have built so many incredible memories.
So, I thought it would be fun to create an ABC list of some of the things we did this year during the time the kids would have gone to school.
I call it the ABC’s of our Not Kindergarten Year because we don’t have grades or grade levels in our family.
Some might argue when they read this list that most of the things here other children could experience or learn about outside of school hours, too.
That’s true, but this is just a tiny glimpse of what we have done. I’ve purposely made this list to include those things we did only during “school hours.” I didn’t include things we did late afternoons or evenings, weekends, or during regular school holidays. Traditional school hours and other hours all look the same here.
This lifestyle of learning means that we can have adventures and interest-led learning all the time instead of small pockets of time.
The ABC’s of Our Not Kindergarten Year
A Archery, Aquariums, & Apple Orchards
B Balancing Scales, Beluga Whales, & Beehives
C Climbing Ropes, Caves, & Conner’s Prairie
D Dressing Up, Doctor Dreadful, & Dogs
E Egypt Exhibits, Encyclopedias, & Eagles
F Feeding Goats, Floating, & Field Museum
G Gymnastics, Greek Myths, & Gravity
H Hikes, Helen Keller, & Horned Owls
I Indiana, Indians, & Insects
J Junior Monopoly, Jumping, & Jackie Chan
K Keelboats, Kaleidoscope, & Kissing Sculptures
L Legos, Lakes, & Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
M Microscopes, Molds, & Mazes
N Nursing Homes, Ninjas, & Norse Myths
O Occupy Chicago, Oil, & Oxen
P Parks, Pottery, & Photography
Q Quipu, Queen Ants & Quarters
R Roosters, Riding the El, & Reptiles
S Sand Dunes, Slides, & Scavenger Hunts
T Toy Soldiers, Theater, & Tree Tapping
U Underwear (on their heads for dress up!), Underwater Creatures, & Uncovering Fossils
V Volleyball, Vinegar, & Vegetable Growing
W Wigwams, Water Tables & Wrestling
X Xylophones, X-Rays, & Xerox Copies
Y Yahtzee, Yarn & Yolk
Z Zip lines, Zoos & Zoo Tychoon 2
Photo Credit: Double–M
What were the highlights from your year?