Kortney Garrison

Homeschooling With Ease

  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Just Because We Can Books

20 May 2016 by Kortney

Last weekend at Wild + Free Long Beach, Sarah Mackenzie talked about taking Just Because We Can Days in our homeschools.  Visiting the park or the nature center or the donut shop in the middle of the week….just because we can.

img005.jpgThese sorts of excursions will fuel everyone’s excitement and enthusiasm.  And some of the good will that we build will spill over into the rest of our days.  It’s the perfect practice for Pentecost–inviting the Spirit into our dusty homeschool routines.

What if we applied this same idea to our reading lists?  What if we chose books to read…just because we can?  What if we made our library lists based on serendipity instead of the history cycle?  That’s how I found the poet Tess Gallagher–her book Moon Crossing Bridge was next to the book I was looking up.  And with a title like that, how could I resist?  What if we read stacks of picture books?  What if we read Bread and Jam for Frances again and again because it’s the preschooler’s favorite?  What if we returned to our favorite novels instead of pressing on to get through as many books as we can?  What if we lingered?

Reading like this requires a different kind of attention.  And a good deal of faith.   It’s not a very efficient use of our time.  And maybe that’s the best part.  It’s a way to order our days aright.  A way to spend our days and our lives extravagantly.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: adventures, books and such

Comments

  1. dawn says

    20 May 2016 at 6:11 am

    Reading at *whim* LOVE.

    • Kortney says

      20 May 2016 at 6:17 am

      a la Alan Jacobs of course! 😉

      • dawn says

        20 May 2016 at 6:18 am

        Of course.

  2. Cymbrie says

    20 May 2016 at 11:13 am

    So great Kortney. You have touched on one of my goals for next year. More spontaneous joy in our homeschool. Hope you and your family can be a part of that!!!!

    • Kortney says

      20 May 2016 at 3:58 pm

      Can’t wait to see what this year of chasing joy will bring, Cymbrie!

Click to subscribe and receive a free ebook on observing the church year

Archives

wonder

Our life in the Jungle

Categories

(with words) 50 days of Easter 100 Days of Soul Rest 300 before 40 adventures books and such celebration daily life GWS keeping advent learning all the time show your work teaching our own The Wonder Project thirty-one days this bright world what we eat

natural Building

Some links on this website are affiliate links. That simply means I will receive a referral commission if you choose to purchase something through the link. Thanks!

Kortney Garrison © 2021

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.