So much to learn, so little time!

The last couple of years of our homeschooling/unschooling journey have been joyous ones.  I’ve been lucky enough to witness these incredible learning moments, that literally (*POOF*) come out of thin air.  My daughters have had a steady diet of music and movies,  IMing and role-playing, TV (can’t forget the all-powerful TV), and books.  Lots and lots of books, and library visits.  Very little in the way of structured learning activities (some workbook-type stuff, two or three texts over the years, etc.), and yet they possess as much knowledge and know-how (two different things, IMO) than any other child I’ve met (schooled or not).  The really wonderful thing is that if they want to know something, they ask questions.  They feel challenged, often, to find the answers themselves.  (Well, to be fair, they’re probably just used to me yelling “Goog it!” when I’m asked certain questions). 

Today, for example, Ashlyn asked me why “they” named Staunton (our hometown) “Staunton”?  This was followed by “Why did they call Virginia “Virginia”?  It sounds just like Vir-gina”. 

While I could handle the Virginia part of her query (Virginia was named after Queen Elizabeth I, who was known as the “Virgin Queen”…nothing to do with yonis or woo-woos), I had to do a little digging to find out why Staunton was named “Staunton”. 

I know you’re dying to know.  Here’s the word, from Staunton city’s website: 

Staunton (pronounced STAN-ton) was named for Lady Rebecca Staunton, wife of the Colonial Governor of Virginia William Gooch. No one really knows why Staunton is pronounced the way that it is. Some believe that the pronunciation is because “that is the way that the family pronounced the name (although Staunton descendants pronounce the “u”.)  It has also been suggested that since most area settlers were Scots-Irish and Germans and not English like the Staunton name that when Staunton was pronounced by those with Irish and/or German accents, it sounded like it did not contain a “u”.  It is anyone’s guess!

So, I’ve got my answer, and I’ll tell Ashlyn all about it tomorrow.  Who knew we’d be covering Local History so early in the “school year”?

Filed under Learning in freedom, Homeschooling methodology, Unschooling |