today's homeschool burn-out buster is... driving. pack a snack or lunch, a clipboard for note-taking and perhaps a digital camera or two. i promise you, public and parochial schools cannot teach this way. and guess what? we're getting our unsocialized homeschooled children "out into the real world," you know, so they can function? smile, wink, nod. okay here's what i mean:

-you can learn obtuse, acute and right angles by looking at pitches on buildings and houses.

-you can also locate the vertices.

-for younger ones they can learn square, triangles, etc., this way! just look at all the street signs and their shapes... include color learning, too.

-parallel, intersecting lines, etc, can be learned at a 4 way traffic stop or any crossroads.

-learn decimal reading each time you pump gas... just look at the gallons.

-you might want to pull off and watch a building being erected. we watched the first wall go up at our new walgreen store. parked in the bank parking lot and had front row seats!

-don't forget to note your millage before and after the trip-- subtract to see how far you went!

-discover old buildings in your town! we have an old fire department which is being used for offices, an old post office, court house and an old high school, all of which have the dates embedded into the brick walls. figure out how old they are! (subtraction).

-where does the mayor work? what does he do? who is he?

-our town used to have an old opera house... we discussed and pointed it out.

-you can stop at a park and have your kids run around the perimeter of the baseball field. "perimeter learning."

-does your car need washing? run through the car wash... discuss how and where the water comes from: in our case detroit. and all city water is paid for by the owners.

-we have an old vineyard in our town... point it out.

-get out and have your children figure the radius and diameter of your tire. and the rim.

-watch for birds and identify them.

-point out turrets, different weathervanes and cupulo's.

-find a pole barn and discuss the structure difference from a regular barn.

-my favorite... noticing the brick work on different buildings!

-point out flora and fauna.

most of all, make good memories and don't forget to belly-laugh!

the list can go on and on... i would love to hear some of your ideas for car-learning! leave it in my comments and we'll give it a try!