I said to a friend when asked how homeschooling was going, "I guess our homeschooling has taken on an unschooling philosophy but may possibly be headed toward nonschooling territory" Is that really true? I wondered to myself. Have I really just been on an extended vacation all this time. But yesterday as Hailey emerged from her bedroom dressed, clutching her Whales and Dolphins book heading for the front door "mom, I'm just going to run down the the students so I can identify the skull they brought back from their trip" and in a blaze was out the door, I realized that it is working. There are a few more clues too. Hailey has taken it upon herself to construct an alphabet and numbers wall for Colter.

and it's Hailey who seems to be better at helping Colter identify certain letters and sing ABC's. of course. And, in addition to Hailey's field journal
she is also making a book for Colter's Birthday...shhhhhhh
At times, Colter will follow Tom around the field station and work with Julio on the grounds and fix the boats with Cosme. He grabs his tools and heads off accross the patio. When he's not working with Tom, he seems to have a great connection with paint.
This one is titled "Monkey Witch"
Of course the greatest gift of real learning happens in moments barely detectable to the naked eye.
Times in tidepools when my camera is far away, or riding back in the ponga with our almost four year old on the road cracking up everytime we hit washboards. Or the first time Colter and Tom saw Pilot whales and the camera was burried in the dry bag. The way Hailey's confidence has exploded with every wave she has body surfed and person she has met. I will never know where we would have gone without this experience but I do know that I love learning where we are headed with it.