One of the things I love about home educating is being able to work at each of my children’s individual pace, skipping laborious drills on things they grasp quickly while allowing them a little more time on topics they’re having trouble with.  J gets most maths concepts pretty quickly but a few random answers yesterday gave us a great opportunity for some hands-on maths fun today.

J first gathered up some things to sell in our “shop” and then set about making price tags with an enthusiasm I’ve never seen in him for any other kind of writing (“no, I want to do them all!”).  His money box, heavy with dozens of copper and silver coins, also came in handy.

C, of course, wanted to join in the fun, and we took turns playing shopkeeper, customer and shop assistant, counting out the customer’s change as we filled our baskets.

Much as I admire parents who enjoy spending hours playing  “let’s pretend”  games, I’m really not one of them.  If someone had tried to tell me a few years ago how much fun I’d have playing shop with my children, I’d have been sceptical to say the least! But the buzz of putting into practice ideas I’ve been immersing myself in since I began this wonderful home educating  journey, combined with the thrill of seeing first hand how effective they are, make for a pretty magical experience!

As an almost unschooling mom says, “it’s great to be a homeschooler”.