this is a series where i’m going to try to document our unschooling field trips for the summer, in which i will get lazy halfway through and fail at the documentation. sounds good.

we packed a lunch today and headed to the park of roses here in columbus. we take an annual trip up there to see the beauty in bloom. we spent a whopping 4 hours browsing the blooms and various growing things. the thing that suits me so well with unschooling is that with minimal planning darla and i filled 4 hours of our day with outdoor learning and guess what, at the end of it she took a nap. bam! that’s my kind of education.

we of course learned about roses and took time to smell the different kinds and examine their differences. i love to take her places where she can explore and be in charge of what we learn next. the most fortuitous learning discovery was the herb garden which provided plenty of horticultural information. after examining some of the herbs darla has requested we grow chamomile and chives so we’ll be researching those together tomorrow.

we brought along her nature journal and drew pics of our favorite roses. then she decided we were in a pyramid and the drawings would be gifts for the mummies. sure. fine. wherever her imagination wants to take it is good.

the day was relaxed and fun and i really feel we learned a good deal. and the thing is, we learned it together. and that’s what i keep coming back to with this unschooling thing. maybe i can do this after all.

we shall see.