Water, water everywhere

You know what I love about the early years of homeschooling? It truly is the simplest things that capture a child's imagination and send him spinning into a world of associations and discovery. Give a five year-old a jar and instructions to catch a bug, and you have a week long unit study at your finger tips. 

For this reason alone, we are loving the Sonlight Core P 4/5 this year. The reading has been engaging and in just-right bites for the ages and personalities of my three learners. The topics hit right where their leanings are in this season. The whole guide can easily be set aside for whatever adventure we find more pressing, and yes, there is room for rabbit trails. Like this one, from week two, where the original idea was to try and water plants with solid and sieve-type containers:

But of course, if you give a kid some water, you'll end up discussing ice ...

And, eventually, steam, and rain, and the entire water cycle, and what floats and what doesn't, and how ocean water is salty but the water in the river isn't, and why salmon swim upstream, and ... and... and...