I have been dipping in and out of Dayna Martin's book recently, 'Radical Unschooling: A Revolution has Begun', and when I picked it up today, a quote that she used stood out to me:

'Take the hand of your child and invite her to go out and sit with you in the grass.

The two of you may want to contemplate the green grass,

the little flowers that grow among the grasses, and the sky.

Breathing and smiling together - that is peace education.

If we know how to appreciate these beautiful things,

we will not have to search for anything else.

Peace is available in every moment, in every breath, in every step.'

Thich Nhat Hanh

Maybe it is because it is a lovely sunny day today that this quote has especial resonance with me, or maybe it is because this quote reflects the life that George and I have together, peaceful co-existence.  There is nothing better than spending time with each other, just contemplating the world around us and helping George work out his place in it and the way it works.  He learns so much better by doing and experiencing things and that is the beauty of home education: he isn't confined to the indoors, sat at a desk, learning things he really has no interest in at all.  He would probably spend most of his time looking out of the window wishing he was out there, enjoying the sunshine.  Just because a child is sat at a desk with a teacher giving a class, does not mean that the child will take in anything that is being taught.  


Today he asked me if children are given the day off school if it is a beautiful day and I said no, that they have to go in regardless.  He was surprised that children didn't get given the oppportunity on days like this to go out and enjoy the lovely weather and the nature all around them. 

So, here's to a fab, warm, sunny summer where we can spend more days outdoors with nature, learning, laughing and connecting as a family :-D