Kathy Oaks is the author of Homeschoolers Are Not Hermits: A Practical Guide to Raising Smart, Confident, and Socially Connected Kids. She has plenty of opportunity to observe home-schooled children.

It doesn’t matter that our big yard has a play structure and a climbing dome, the kids never get tired of climbing in the sugar maple tree. There’s something about a real tree that captures the imagination and challenges both the brain and the body.