Coming out of a long winter can be exhilarating with the newness of Spring. That is, unless you're a student stuck on the stuffy side of a window pane. One of the fabulous things about homeschooling, however, is that the options served up are so broad and flexible, our students don't have to be stuck on the inside looking out.

Coping with Spring Fever is one of the most exciting challenges of being a homeschooling parent. It can be used as a springboard to discovery, to channeling pent-up energy toward learning, and investigation.

One of the activities my students found enthralling was Water Collection. Spring time brings different places for water to gather, buckets, puddles, gutters, dog dishes, rain right from the sky, and of course, the tap. By examining various specimens under the microscope, your student will discover a whole new world of aquatic life. What are those moving things? Why can't I see them without the microscope? Why are there more in the puddle water that the drop of rain?

The Local Wildlife holds some interesting dilemmas of its own. Your student can take pictures of the wildflowers and the birds flitting from bush to tree, to find their names, compare them to last season, last summer. Have him list the flowers and animals that he sees during that particular season, take samples where apropos and save them to compare with next years crop. Did you know that the Blue Bird Society wants bird watchers to report when they sight a blue bird?

The anticipation for Picnicking can reach 10 on the Richter Scale. But clever homeschooling parents turn it into a learning experience. What goes into making an organized picnic? You just can't take anything. One has to be neat and environment-conscious. A well-organized, well-stashed picnic can be packed in one basket, blanket included. Doesn't your student have these organizing capabilities, yet? Use the Picnic to teach them.

My students were crazy about Tent Design, and it brought out their creativity. I gave them a few large, old blankets and some clothespins and sicked them on the clothesline. They would come up with all kinds of designs and learn how to get the most of each blanket. They'd have to solve problems such as weighing the blanket down in the wind, making rooms, and room for 'storage'. They attached some old shower curtains and made it water resistant. I heard no complaints when they had to do their homework out there in the rain!

This last suggestion is not for everyone, though my daughter and I found it to be a fascinating, although sobering, endeavor: Cemetery Hopping. We went to a small, out-of-the-way graveyard at first. We found many interesting markers and epitaphs. But we noticed that those buried there were all very young. Why? In the course of her research, my daughter found that this small, Texas town had almost been wiped out by an epidemic early in the 20th century. By asking rhetorical questions at each marker we also found many story ideas, learned a bit of history, the culture of the area, what ethnic group lived there, and how big families got to be.

On a cool, overcast day, bring out the bar-b-que pit, fire her up, and Roast Marshmallows. By having 'adult' conversations with your students, they learn words way beyond their years. My fifteen-year-old still boggles the minds of our adult friends, because of his wit and command of the English language. OR You don't need a lesson plan. Just enjoy the company, and chew the fat or the marshmallows, as the case may be.

Then there are the relay races, kite design-construct-flying, starting gardens, field trips to local botanical or herb gardens. Yep, it is possible to use Spring Fever as a springboard to many worthwhile activities. Spring, anyone?