“SCHOOL” HAPPENS DAILY

“Children cannot bounce off the walls if we take the walls away” - Erin Kinney

I say Kail creates his own formulas because his education is based on what he loves. It doesn’t take into consideration the needs and wants of twenty other children. I never want to squash a passion because it’s not what the other kids are into. We need all sorts of people in the world. I love that he gets to roll with his fascinations.

Kail in his protective eye gear getting ready for his next "spearmint"

I knew we would never have designated “school days.” We do year round “schooling.” Saturday and Sunday are just normal days that end in y. We don’t sit at the table for a certain amount of hours per day. Our days unfold naturally. Our day today went like this:

9:30AM - Naturally wake up

10AM - Read Dogman Unleashed in bed

10:45AM - Play Cars solo (Mama did light exercise) upstairs

11:15AM - Downstairs for breakfast - checked out The Guinness World Book of Records 2025 (it’s not even 2025 yet the book already exists!)

11:30AM - French Class on OutSchool while finishing breakfast - Madame Colleen rocks.

12:15PM - Head to Muir Woods for some nature time (loads of natural learning takes place here: salmon swimming upstream, banana slugs, bugs, birds, and so much more)

3:45PM - Swim team - (following directions, bilateral and overall coordination, physical exercise, stamina, team work)

4:45PM - Trip to Whole Foods (identifies parking spot numbers which are all in the hundreds, loves to put out of place produce into it’s correct place, helps identify and pick out groceries, socializes with cashiers, and all the more obvious stuff too.)

5:45PM - Bike Ride with Dada (balance, coordination, confidence, communication, learning road rules and hand signs to name a few)

6:30PM - Family game night - we have so many games - in a future blog I’ll tell you about some of our favorites. Some families “game school” nowadays as a primary way of learning

8:00PM - dinner - (family bonding, making recipes, trying new foods, sharing, imitating adult behaviors.)

8:45PM - upstairs wind down - read and/or watch a short show

9:45PM - Lights out

Time at the beach, museum, bike park, or a rock concert (Kail has seen The Rolling Stones, The Who, Minibar, and The Foo Fighters to name a few) all count as school in our “books.” We take what would be known as “field trips” in traditional school almost daily. Kail discovers new interests all the time and we plan the days with these things in mind. While at Muir Woods, we discovered the ginormous “banana slug.” We came home and learned so much about them. They are freaky and super cool.

This Banana Slug was huge. The photo doesn't do it justice. These facts are the more kid friendly ones. Banana Slugs have a crazy mating life. Google it. 

While I knew we wouldn’t be strict with any curriculum I wanted to find something to serve as a loose guide. When Kail was three I dove deep into research on curriculum. I decided that for the first year I wanted something that was “all in one.” It was also important to us that the curriculum be non-religious.

In my next blog, I’ll tell you about the one we decided to go with. We loved it. It’s all learning 🌎.