Learning to Fly

I think that one of the most wonderful things about having the kids learning at home is how we have opportunities to seize "teachable" moments.

Yesterday was a school day like any other. Yes, sometimes they can get quite boring. I have not the energy nor the creativity to make each and everyday a magical wonderful adventure in learning. The kids were bored. Oh well. I just needed another cup of watered down coffee. We dutifully finished math, spelling, reading....yada yada yada.

Then at some point after lunch, Harrison (our precious second born) told me that he was going to attempt to fly. He was ready. He had a towel tied around him in a very SuperMan-esque way. I asked him precisely what his intentions were. He told me that he was going to "jump off something high" catch a bit of wind perhaps and then sail away into the sunset. (The poetic imagery was added by me for emphasis.)
So in the way of mothers, I told him that his plan was doomed for failure. He was skeptical. He told me he would build some wings then. I shook my head. An umbrella? No. A home made parachute? Nope. He shrugged and sighed with frustration and said "Well what can I do to fly!?" My suggestion of flying in an airplane was totally unsatisfactory. That's not what he meant and I knew it.

Reluctantly I told him about people who actually jump out of airplanes with parachutes for fun or off of steep cliffs with hang gliders. They were intrigued. They wanted to know more. Then it was off to youtube we went to find actual footage of (Insane!) people skydiving, or hang gliding, or even going up in hot air balloons. All this led to how hot air balloons work. Again, thanks to youtube, we found a video that showed us how to do a fun teabag experiment that illustrates how a hot air balloon works. We did the experiment to the delight of all the kids, even Jakey.

I suppose if my kids grow up to be sky divin' daredevils, I'll only have myself to blame.