Ramblings...

Here is the list of the fun places we hit while in the US of A-finally-!

First we saw the St. Louis Arch –A must if you are in the area.-

Next we enjoyed the Indianapolis Children’s Museum – A treat from my good friend Karen, we didn’t get to spend too much time there since we were on a time crunch so it’s on the list of places to go back and spend a whole day at! I highly suggest planning to be there the whole day, it’s
AMAZING!! Completely worth spending a whole day and more. -

Afterwards we arrived in NC and checked out the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, North Carolina Museum of History – Both Free! –

While in NC we also enjoyed the Children’s Museum of Wilmington, the USS North Carolina Battleship, and the Discovery Place. There is also Discovery Place KIDS which we were close to a few times but never got around to actually going – so it’s on our to-do list for when we head back to NC for another visit-.

Before departing NC we also went up to the mountains and enjoyed a rainy day of fishing at Grandfather Trout Farm – you’re guaranteed to catch something, trust me we tested this! Despite the weather- and my lack of fishing skills- we walked away with 3 very large fish, we would have stayed longer because the boys were having a blast but we were all soaked and still needed to dry off before our dinner date with some friends-.

We also wanted to enjoy Chimney Rock while we were in the mountains but the rain prevented that, so it had to go on our to-do list for the next time we are up that way.

After leaving NC we landed in Washington and having a few days to burn before our next flight we decided to rent a car and do some exploring.

We hit Northwest Trek Wildlife Park on the recommendation of my friend Melonie – it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it if you are in the area - ,afterwards we headed to Mount Rainier National Park and had tons of fun hiking around.

Once our adventuring was over and done we boarded a plane to come back home, somehow we managed to squeeze a lot into a short amount of time, but we would have still loved to do more. There is always next time and we have a rather long list of places to enjoy!

Here is a peek into what we have been up to:





I promise I have blog goodness on its way! :)



And yes I missed the blog giveaway deadline AGAIN! No worries tomorrow morning a winner will be announced! So if you want a chance to win now is your last chance to win the free blog course!!

TBM and I spent the day lost in our little island paradise with some wonderful friends of ours. Curious as to what we could possibly get into other than our regular school work? Well check out the video below *and yes I am still avoiding the last of our 2011-2012 planning…I’m so close to being done that I need to not think about it for a bit LOL*.

I’ve talked before that we do Spiral Scouts as an alternative to Boys Scouts since we don’t agree with their policies, but we see value in scouting. This school year I wanted to establish some sort of plan of action when it comes to our Spiral Scouts activities. So I’ve decided to focus on not just certain badges/patches/awards, but an overall theme for each school year. We would then work on the badges/patches/awards that would qualify under that theme.

For this year our theme is camping and hiking *since I figure they both go hand in hand*. We will start with learning about compasses, the parts of them, how they work, when they may not work, and other things that will meet the badge requirements. After that we will learn how to make various knots, what their uses are for, and when they would use certain knots while outdoors. From there we will tackle hiking safety and what one needs to take with them on a hike. Finally we will spend time learning about the ins and outs of camping, camping safety, and then we will put all of our knowledge to use.

We school year round with us acknowledging a new year in July, so I’m planning to tackle each piece over the course of a school quarter.

July-September: Compass Knowledge

October-December: Knot Knowledge

January-March: Hiking Knowledge

April-June: Camping Knowledge and Camping Trip

This should allow us to spend plenty of time working on each piece of the puzzle, that way when we embark on our camping trip we will be fully prepared. I’m aiming for our camping trip to be in early May to beat out a lot of the heat that we encounter here and hopefully not get hit by a lot of rain either.

I’m still in the resource gathering stage but so far I have found the following:

Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids' Guide

Let’s Go Hiking

If you have resources to share that would help us with our theme please share.

Not only were T.B.M. able to learn about respecting nature, we also discussed camouflage when we came across some lizards on our hike. We talked about adaptations, evolution, and when General Disarray mentioned how lizards would turn blue or green if they were around something blue or green I asked him what color would the lizards need to be where we were. He then went on to determine that the lizards would have to be brown *which they were* since the ground was brown, and if they had been in the grassy hill area near us they would have been green. I pressed as to why he had determined this, and he went on to state that they would need to hide in order to protect themselves, they could only do that if they matched the area around them. Which is the whole point of camouflage and we didn’t need a book to learn that! Woohoo!

Aside from the unscripted learning there is the family bonding component that really makes homeschooling great for us. Due to work commitments The Spouse hasn’t had a solid block of time off of work since 2009. This was the best time for him to finally get the time that has been building up. Since we school at home there was no question that if he got the time off we were going to take it and enjoy it. We make our schedule and when we can add in quality family time we do it. It’s an advantage we wouldn’t have any other way. I can’t picture life without this advantage, T.B.M. get this amazing benefit of rare moments learning and growing with their father. Their time with him is so precious, and we are able to increase the time they have with him because they are schooled at home.

There is nothing more beautiful then hearing the laughs of your children while they run free with their hero. While homeschooling isn’t always easy, it has brought more to our lives then we ever anticipated. And for that I am truly grateful.

Copyright(c)2011 Rayven Holmes