We spent about two weeks preparing for a Market Day at our homeschool co-op. During those two weeks our home buzzed with quiet industry and focus. The experience yielded valuable lessons in ordering, inventory, budgeting, pricing and perseverance. The actual event was a success: her hand-painted wooden families and gnomes were a hit, and his sweets sold quickly as soon as lunch was over. Now she is exploring the possibilities of opening an Etsy shop, and he talks of new recipes to try.
During the Market Day festivities, a fellow homeschooling mama asked me how we manage to fit creative endeavors into our school days. I explained that, when given this sort of opportunity to practice and refine real-world skills, we basically abandon most of our formal lessons and throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the project at hand. In other words, teaching my kids how to earn a living sometimes trumps first conjugation pluperfect tense. I suppose that wraps up my homeschooling philosophy in a nutshell.