Time Well Spent

Assalam alykom:

I just checked a book out of the library called Help for the Harried Homeschooler. It is a practical guide to balancing your child's education with the rest of your life. It had an advice that I really think is great. It said to set aside time to do things together. Well while your homeschooling you are already together. How does setting more time aside for each other help? Are you not a little tired of one another? After all, you are only together all the time. Well I just finished the first semester with my kids and took some time off for the Eid. I even had activities that we spent time together. It was really great. I took the kids shopping for things they need. We did not have to rush home to finish our Math or take a spelling test. We could look around and go to different stores to buy the things we needed. When we are homeschooling it is a 2 hour rush only to Wal-mart to get everything that is needed. If they have what we need that is good if not there is no time to look anywhere else.

One place we took the kids was a state park called Deleon Springs. It is a beautiful park because it has a natural spring. Here is a picture of where the water flows.

At the park there is a unique restaurant that is an old sugar mill. The restaurant serves all you can eat pancakes and you make them yourself right at the table.

After we were stuffed with pancakes, we rented one canoe and one peddle boat and ventured down the river that is connected to the spring.

The next day I took the kids for ice-cream and a trip to the local park. Even though we spent a lot of time together, it helps us to be refreshed to spend a lot more time together homeschooling. Sometimes as homeschoolers we may feel burnt out with it all. Taking a little time to spend together can do wonders and make everyone feel refreshed to start again