A St. Patrick’s Day that didn’t go as planned.
Today is St. Patrick’s Day and as such I thought my son Gabriel might like to learn about Ireland. We are interest led homeschoolers. I let our son choose what he wants to learn. I may make suggestions on something I think he will enjoy learning but most days it is completely up to him. On this particular day, I thought that with all of his friends celebrating St. Patrick’s day he might want to learn a little more about the holiday and the country from which it stems.
Homeschool Plans
Here is where I messed up….I envisioned a full day of Ireland, Folk Songs, Stories, making Irish Stew, making green play-doh and Leprechauns. I got caught up in what I wanted to do for St. Patrick’s Day. Gabriel graciously humored me for about 30 minutes. He watched videos on St. Patrick, we talked about Leprechauns while he colored a picture of Ireland, and we listened to some Irish folk songs.
Then, Gabriel looked at me and said, “Honestly Momma, I just want to look up prehistoric pigs today.” That is when I remembered one of the reasons why we homeschool. We homeschool so that my son can learn the subjects that interest him and he is interested in all things prehistoric. So, I told him of course he could look up prehistoric pigs…all the while thinking to myself, “Were there prehistoric pigs?”
When your homeschool plans go the way of the dinosaurs
The answer is yes, yes there were prehistoric pigs! Who knew right? Apparently, Gabriel knew…He started on Dinohyus, also known as the Terminator Pig of the Early to Late Miocene. Did you know these pigs were 10ft long and as tall as a buffalo? Yeah, me neither. Gabriel was very excited about how powerful they were.
Gabriel then went back in time even further than the dinosaurs and got excited about the Dunkleosteus (honestly, I don’t even know how to pronounce this one), from the late Devonian time period. This was a mighty prehistoric fish with an impressive set of teeth. This fish led him to Liopleurodon (I can say this one), a 39 ft. pliosaur of the deep sea during the late Jurrasic. We had to do some calculations to figure out how much bigger a Kronosaurus was than a Liopleurodon (3 ft. bigger because 39 ft wasn’t big enough!).
Did you know that Liopleurodon had 2 sets of flippers which helped it to be extremely maneuverable and more efficient at long-distance swimming? FYI, you are not going to out swim this thing! Liopleurodon led Gabriel to Elasmosaurus, a 46 ft. fish eater of the Late Cretaceous. Did you know the Elasmosaurus had 28 neck vertebrae and 71 vertebrae total? Yeah, me neither…..
These were just a few of the many bullet points that Gabriel very enthusiastically retold to me! Our son’s face was alight with excitement as he relayed these facts to me. Learning in this way is when he is happiest, and this happiness flows into me. I find that I become excited to learn about these creatures too!
That night, after I put the kids to bed, I realized that I didn’t get to do as many St. Patrick’s Day activities with my son as I had planned. Still we both had a joyful morning and we both learned a great deal. Hence forth, I shall remember this St. Patrick’s Day as the day of the Terminator Pig! I hope he will remember fondly days like this, when he and I traveled together back in time. Just a reminder, it’s OK if your homeschool plans don’t go quite as planned. They are still learning!
Oh wow! Prehistoric pigs? I had no idea! What a cool subject to study!
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Yep, Prehistoric Pigs!!! I was astounded as well, lol! Thank you for having me Jill 🙂
What a sweet story. I love days that just kind of emerge like this. Yes, it will be a special St. Patrick’s Day that will be remembered well.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Thank You for having me Jennifer!
I love this story! I found your post on Shine! Kids are such incredible learners. They are interested in the most diverse spectrum of things. And what a resource they have, to be able to go to the internet and find facts and figures and a video too! What an amazing time to be learning!
Diverse is absolutely correct! I am never quite sure where each day will lead. Thank you for dropping by 🙂
It is a beautiful thing when you allow a child to follow their interests. I think it is awesome that you followed his lead learning about prehistoric pigs!!
Thank you Angela 🙂
I love that you went with the flow of what Gabriel was interested in rather than pushing ahead with your own plans – he obviously had a clear view of what he wanted to read about! Thank you for linking up at #sharethejoy this week x
Thanks! He always has a clear view of what he wants to learn about, lol. Most days I feel like I’m just along for the ride 🙂
Erin, thank you for sharing. Your son may enjoy the book How Big Were Dinosaurs by Lita Judge. It is useful for developing a sense of scale. Your clever son seems to already understand the relative size of dinosaurs, but it may inspire him to create his own dinosaur scale models.
Thank you Debra! I will definitely look for it 🙂
Sounds like he was teaching you :). Kids always have their agenda that’s different than ours but that’s okay.
Stepping into Motherhood
Yes Angela, most days he is teaching me LOL! He amazes me with the stuff he knows sometime.
Home schooling is something new to me and reading your blog shows how it can be fun and amazing! #Sharewithme
Awe Melinda, homeschooling is completely what you make of it. We unschool/interest led school so everyday is different…everyday an adventure 🙂 I hope you find as much love and fun in homeschooling as we did.
Ahhh so cute and what an inspiring way to learn. He certainly is a smart one with prehistoric pigs. Sorry it didn’t go to plan that would be my two. Love that they have their own mind. Thanks for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Thanks Jenny 🙂
Oh wow! I can’t pronounce half of those prehistoric dino-pigs. Dino-pigs should sooo be a term if it isn’t already.
Dino Pig! That is Awesome!!! 🙂