Little Hearts Big Purpose: Oops! We learned something!

Incidental learning or I was having fun and oops, I learned something, is such an integral part of childhood. Incidental learning is learning that takes place without any intent to learn. (source)

When I think of my own experiences with language and geography, for example, I received formal second language training when working on my degrees. I learned a great deal from my amazing professors, books and studies and am so grateful for those opportunities. However, the majority of my fluency and knowledge of culture and geography came by traveling, spending time within the culture or with people from other cultures.

There were no books or classroom involved in these experiences. These were simply things I loved to do, but learned a great deal along the way.

This is exactly what I want for our children, as well as do most parents, I suspect.

All this to say, homeschooling has allowed us so much flexibility. A world of opportunity is open for us to learn, explore and discover daily. We take advantage of this by taking at least one "field trip" or exploration every week. Whether it be the beach, a park, a museum or another city, state or country. This family loves to go!

Most recently, we took a day trip to Holland, Michigan for the annual Tulip Time Festival. It's like getting a little taste of the Netherlands right here in the Midwest.

This was such a great opportunity to learn about Dutch culture, check out the beautiful tulips, wooden clogs, and windmills.