outdoors, at last!

while i'm not a big fan of the homeschooling process called "unschooling," (seems like it was invented by the same types of people who use "positive reinforcement" instead of discipline) there is something to be said for the idea of using the world as a classroom. i have an extreme dislike for being cooped up in an air-conditioned box all day, so the past couple of days have been a welcome relief for me and my shut-in kids. the weather has been unseasonably cool (a mere 85 today!) and so we've taken full advantage. not having a vehicle makes a person resourceful, so we've been exploring our neighborhood on foot.

yesterday was so nice that we just kept right on walking. we detoured along a lake, found a community pool nestled in some half-hidden back way, and talked about all sorts of things along the way. four miles and a fun sunburn later we arrived home having discussed everything from the color of school buses to the cypress knees that grow out of the swamps (swamps, of course, being the place where shrek lives).

today we were less ambitious with distance and kept it close to home. since ilya LOVES to take pictures, i armed him with the camera and a list of things to look for. we walked along the edge of our apartment complex, which butts up against "the preserve" aka "standard florida forest/swamp" providing for views of interesting bugs, birds, vines, ferns, and other flora and fauna. here are some of his pictures.