Accidental Education

Robinson Crusoe Meets The Myth Busters

September 03, 2018

"Our brains are sustained upon ideas just like our bodies are sustained by food," said Charlotte Mason. She talked about how ideas strike you just as if they are truly a living, active being.  I have seen this in my children.

Years ago, Elizabeth, our oldest, read Robinson Crusoe (sadly, she didn't love it).  Then she and the other kids watched a Myth Busters episode in which the two main guys "survived" on a deserted island mostly using Duck Tape.

The kids were taken with the thought of surviving on a deserted island. So, Armed with knowledge from Robinson Crusoe and Duck Tape inspiration from Myth Busters, they bravely trekked day after day to our neighborhood pond. Survival, their only goal.

They would make bedding, shelters, traps for minnows, spears and staves. We looked up which wild plants were edible. Many salads were made from the meadow. Salads for me to eat. For some reason they wouldn’t eat their own cooking.  They worked together, got out into nature and created memories.

I loved it! Some of the best learning cannot be planned.

Can you recall similar stories from your childhood or the lives of your children? What idea has captured their imagination? What are they exploring?