Daniel's Trip To Firenze, (or... Is reading about it really as good as being there?)

Several years ago, two of our oldest children left on missions at the same time... one to Canada and the other to Croatia. This separation was so traumatic for all of us (including them) that we decided our then sixteen year-old son should see some of the world, too. We hoped that an adventure abroad would eliminate some of the Missionary Training Center "drop-off blues" for him when it was his time to serve a mission. He chose Italy... mostly because he loved the country already (his father and I both served missions there), he LOVED history - especially the Renaissance, and we knew a family near Milano that was willing to host him for a few months.

The adventure turned out to be a great experience for him and his love for the country increased. Of course at the end of his visit of about two months, we decided we needed to travel to Italy and accompany him home. Neither of us had been back since serving as young missionaries. I can't remember when I have ever been more excited. The thought that I would be touching down in Italy again was almost more excitement than I could bear. I served in Southern Italy and was eager to see people I had left behind. But I was also excited to see many of the places in northern Italy where my husband served, and  that I had written about in my curriculum program.

After meeting up with Daniel in Bergamo, we traveled around some of the major cities of the north, finishing the leg of the trip in Florence. We spent two days in that beautiful city. We hiked the 450+ steps to the top of the Duomo, ascending a stairwell that would have never been allowed in the U.S. It was narrow and often dark. Traffic was climbing up and returning down - certainly not to ADA code, but what an experience not to be missed! As we emerged through a small hatch to the daylight above us on the roof, I think I actually gasped. It was one of the most breathtaking sites I have ever seen. It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful city I have ever visited! That afternoon we also saw Michelangelo's David, and other beautiful statues created by the masters.

Later that evening, after paying €6,00 for gelato (worth every cent), we headed over to Ponte Vecchio. As we climbed the cobblestone bridge just as the sun was setting, we sensed a reverance. None of us spoke. We just looked... and thought. After a while I happened to look over at Daniel and was surprised to see my teenage son with eyes full of tears. "What's wrong, Daniel? Are you alright?," I asked. When he was able to speak, he answered, "Mom, do you realize who has crossed this bridge... who has stood in the same place I am standing now?" Of course I knew to whom he was referring... DaVinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Galileo... I was moved at his realization. His appreciation of everything he had learned about this place in our curriculum suddenly multiplied - it was real. There was no way I would have ever been able to create this experience for him by telling him about it.

So what am I saying here? That it's best to visit every place you learn about in your homeschool? Well, financially that's not possible for most families. What I am saying is that any lesson sticks best when it is accompanied by emotion and more than one of the six senses (the Spirit being one of the senses).

I will never forget the day I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Grove. I had been asked to speak at a Homeschool convention in Kirtland and noticed while looking at a map on the flight over that Palmyra was only about an inch away (as maps go). I rented a car the day after I presented and seized the chance to visit the place I had testified to people about for years. Would I be the same person had I not gone? Probably, but I would have regretted it for the rest of my life, had I chosen not to go. It was worth every minute.

Homeschool families have the freedom to see the world - even if it is only within a one-hundred mile radius of their home. As you educate yout children, get them out of the house often and allow them to see, feel, and experience the world they are learning about. Let them help in saving and planning to visit a place that you all want to see and make a family goal to take at least one major trip per year. Be mobile, flexible, and creative. You never know when you are making a lasting impression on your child - or when someone else is.... even if they haven't walked the earth for hundreds of years.

And the rest of the story... Daniel is now 21. He returned just last week from Italy, after serving an LDS mission to Catania, Italy... the same mission where I served many years ago.  :)


More later about home education and life experience...