The advantages of home schooling....

Ok, so we're not home schooling veterans by any means, and are not necessarily sold on the idea either, but it does definitely have its merits. The advantages...well, certainly it is a more flexible program than "real" school, and the curriculum available today is pretty good. Another advantage is that you are able to build life skills into your week. In Daniel's case, he takes guitar class every Tuesday, drum class every Wednesday, and goes to an a.m. Bible study with me most Fridays.

Another cool thing are field trips (I'll talk about the negatives of home schooling in another post sometimes...because they definitely exist!). Yesterday we had a "field day" and I told him to pick a museum in Mexico City that he wanted to visit. Well, he never really picked one, so I picked one...the presidential palace right off the zócalo in downtown Mexico City. I picked it basically for one reason...I had never been there.

I've been tens, if not hundreds of times, to other museums. To the point of frustration I've trekked up the sun pyramid of Teotihuacan, a dry, life-less mound of rock that everyone wants to visit. I've ridden on the colorful, smelly canals of Xochimilco more times than I care to remember. I've been to the Templo Mayor, the Cathedral, Bellas Artes, the Latin American Tower, Chapultepec Castle with every group that comes down. But I had never visited the Presidential Palace. I'm embarrassed to admit it!

Daniel and I had to go through two separate metal detector check-points. Then we were treated like children repeatedly, told not to touch anything or we would be kicked out...but finally our tour began, with a 5-screen multi-media presentation. A 76-year-old man, Leonel, quickly made friends with Daniel, and the three of spent the next 3 hours wandering around what was and is an impressive collection of history and Mexican tradition. Among the highlights...seeing a bunch of flags from Mexican history, official paintings of all the presidents, the bones of the leaders of Independence (weird) and the former parliament chambers.

Leonel was so nice that we thought that maybe he was an angel that God sent to accompany us. You never know. But Daniel remembered that he said a word that wasn't very nice once...so maybe not!

Here are some pics!