Since I talked about Sophia yesterday, I thought I’d talk about Ariel today.  It’s easy, as homeschool parents, to feel like our children aren’t learning anything, especially if we struggle with them over certain subjects.  But if we’re instilling a love of learning (even if it isn’t traditional “book” learning), they will be learning something, even without our help.  Ariel has made this clear to me several times over her nine years, and we saw it again yesterday.

The girls and I were discussing the National Zoo and the National Aquarium, and the fact that we really ought to plan trips to both of these places.  They wanted to know what animals are at each one, so we were browsing websites.  One of the animals we saw at the National Aquarium site was a Kookaburra, the subject of the famous song, so we decided to investigate the animal the song is all about.

As we opened the page, the first visible element was a photograph of the Kookaburra.  Astonished, Ariel exclaimed, “That looks just like a Ring-Necked Kingfisher!  Except without the ring.”  I was astonished when, scrolling down a bit farther, we read:

The laughing kookaburra is Australia’s national symbol. The kookaburra is a brown colored kingfisher…

What?!  How did she do that?  I certainly didn’t teach her that!  I didn’t have a clue.  Which is just more proof that children learn, even without our help.  (And often when they don’t even realize they’re learning.  Ariel doesn’t remember learning about kingfishers, either.)

What knowledge have your children surprised you with lately?