The Boys and The Turtle

The other day I was on a run with Amy (she wasn't running, she was sitting in her baby jogger), when I almost ran over a silver dollar sized turtle.  I ran back, picked it up (he was in the road after all), and looked in the grass for his mama.  Finding none, I put him in the baby jogger (in the basket, not with Amy) and continued my run.  When I returned home, I went in the house and announced to the boys that I found them a pet.

Sam of course was exhilirated.  I told him he could keep the turtle if he and Ben could figure out what kind it was and how to take care of it.  Sam blurted out, "Come on Ben, let's get on the internet and see how to take care of the turtle."  And that is what they did.

Ben googled "turtles" and spent the next couple of hours trying to determine what kind of turtle it was, how to take care of it.  He and Sam learned so much.  They learned the difference between box turtles, water turtles, and snapper turtles.  They learned the difference between a turtle and tortoise (apparently turtles have finger like toes  and tortoises have stump like feet).  It was awesome to see them learn so much. 

And that is one of the things that make the internet and homeschooling such a wonderful combination.  In the middle of the day, a situation arises, and the kids can turn it into a learning opportunity.  They learned more that afternoon using the internet to learn about something they wanted to learn about than they might if they had been given an assignment to learn about turtles.  I am not advocating a helter skelter approach to learning because children benefit from a disciplined approach to learning, but homeschooling allows margin for spontaneous learning. 

Oh, and by the way, the boys determined that the turtle was a water turtle and they have made an appropriate water and dry land living space for the turtle.  We will eventually have to take the little amphibian back to the lake, but for now, the boys are enjoying one of God's creatures.

Comments

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