learning all the time

Every unschooler says it- living and learning are inseparable.  People are wired to learn and seek out new information.  They don’t need to be within the confines of a school and taught by certified teachers to gain an education.  I was reminded today of John Taylor Gatto‘s description of open source learning where “anyone with something to offer can teach” and “the student determines who is or is not a teacher…”

Here we are, enjoying an absolutely beautiful afternoon at the park.  We’re swinging, running, playing, and then we decide to go throw some rocks in the river.  There we met a rather interesting teacher.  As we arrived, the sixty or seventy-something  gentleman was in the river with his boots on and some unknown equipment.  Josh, being always inquisitive and friendly, went over to say hello and find out what he was doing (darn those homeschoolers with their lack of social skills).

As it turns out he was panning for gold and even showed us what may be a few flecks in the water (although we also learned it could be mica and not in fact gold).  Josh spent the better part of the afternoon watching and helping. Our new friend and teacher told us stories of the gold and rocks and gemstones he’d found traveling out west, and explained that there is, in fact, also some gold to be found around here (who knew?!).  Josh was thoroughly fascinated and in the end of the day was requesting a library trip tomorrow to learn more about geology… and gold panning of course.  You just never know who you might meet and what you might learn on a trip to the park at noon.  I hear the school kids are getting ready to take their PSSA tests.

I hope you enjoyed this beautiful day as much as we did!