With the school year just beginning, people seem to be especially curious about how and why our family homeschools.  Questions regarding our motives, our practices, our most- and least-favorite parts of homeschooling, and more seem to come daily.

In an effort to answer some of these questions, I decided to put up periodic pieces that give a peek into our homeschooling lives.  Whether it’s exploring a particular curiosity, a lesson that arises out of our daily living, or some other highlight (or lowlight, as the case may be) of our week, it’s all part of our lives and learning.

We are fortunate to live in a place that offers many exciting opportunities for learning and fun.  Yesterday, the boys and I wandered along the Boulder Creek Path where we enjoyed three different chamber music ensembles: a string quartet, a group of woodwinds, and a quartet of percussionists.  All ensembles were subsets of the Boulder Philharmonic and played wonderfully.

I helped my boys to identify the various instruments.  We observed the way the musicians moved as they played.  We talked about the various sounds and music we heard.  But mostly, we listened.  My boys sat enthralled for over an hour as they took in the music of the string quartet.  We grabbed a snack at the Farmers Market (just a bit further along the creek path) and sat and listened to the woodwinds as we ate.  Then we encountered the percussionists.

The percussionists not only played on and with instruments you might expect, they also made use of their surroundings.  One of my boys’ favorite parts of the day was watching the musicians make music solely utilizing parts of the bicycle, as well as their hands and/or drumsticks.

It helped them to see not only see traditional music-making methods, but also to open up their thoughts to other ways of making music that don’t involve what we commonly think of as musical instruments.   My 3-year-old later announced that he could “make very quiet music on [his] Lambie [a stuffed animal].”

It was an enjoyable morning for all of us.  My boys got to experience traditional classical music, hear some contemporary pieces, and think about novel ways to create music and sound.  They even got to touch and try some of the different instruments.  And we got to experience all of this while strolling or sitting along the creek.

So much of homeschooling (and life in general!) is what you make of the opportunities around you.  Today we enjoyed music, beauty, nature, and community.  It was a wonderful way to learn and grow.

What are some of your favorite places to listen to music?  What’s the most unusual item you’ve seen used as an instrument?