Snail Mail as part of Homeschooling

It has been almost 4 months since I introduced postal penpals as part of my homeschool curriculum. I wasn't sure at first how my children would take to the idea of snail mail since everything today is so fast paced and children are practically born into a world of high tech gadgets where everyone seems in a hurry all the time. I remember though as a child, running to the mailbox every afternoon to see if I had received any letters from my penpals overseas. This feeling of anticipation coupled with the joy of holding a long awaited letter (and sometimes little gifts from afar) was truly wonderful. (Incidentally, I'm still writing to two of my penpals who live in London and Portugal) Initially only Dalton and Dale were writing letters as part of their writing curriculum, (my other three looked on with interest though skeptical of the whole thing) then like the flu bug, this penpal craze suddenly took off and soon all my children were having penpals! Individual penpals soon became family penpals, and now we have entire families writing to us, from New York, Texas and even Spain and Canada. The benefits of having snail mail pals are amazing. My children have learnt so much from this experience. From letter writing skills to world geography to social studies..... Dalton and Dale's spelling and penmanship improved dramatically and they have learnt (and are continually learning with each letter they write and receive) how alike people are despite all their differences (and vice versa), how schools differ across the oceans and they've learnt to recognize the different continents, countries etc.

This learning experience extends to Math as well for they've learnt how to weigh the letters themselves at the self automated machines and how to match different denominations of stamps to get the right amount required for their letters and how to count money to make sure they pay the correct amount. Many countries also feature stamps with pictures unique to their country of origin so we discuss the stamps and in doing so, our knowledge of geography/history expands in leaps and bounds! For myself, it is always such a joy to see their faces light up each time they check the mailbox and find a letter addressed to them. At least now, my mailbox has something other than bills!!!