It Can Be Done!

Homeschooling is truly about embracing the limitless possibilities available to our children.  Done properly, it is freeing your children from the "normal" confines and expectations, allowing them to grow and learn beyond what you ever thought possible. When you keep your mind and your options open, you never know what opportunities and experiences may come your way!  This young lady is a lovely example of all of this.

Hiking in the Rain!

Today we braved the unseasonable weather and headed down to Sherwood, OR, for some fun and learnin'.  After a class on trees and forestry, we hiked through the wet, wet woods and learned so much!  We learned about the wildlife (clear down to buds and slugs!  Did you know that when you rub a millipede it releases a form of cyanide that smells exactly like almond extract?  Is it wrong that I thought the poison smelled delicious?) plants and trees.  (What to eat, what not to eat, how to handle nettle, what to wipe with -if necessary- and how to cure bee stings were just a few of the items covered.)  Our guide was amazing...knowledgeable, patient and very, very fun. We want to go back and take Daddy on a drier day so we can catch snakes and lizards, too!  It was gorgeous...no one even minded the storm!

Columbia Springs

Today we visited a hatchery right off of the Columbia River.  First was a class where everyone learned all the parts of a fish, inside and out.  That knowledge was immediately put to use when everyone got a tiny little steelhead (3 months old) in a cup to draw, trying to get every part in the right place!  Next we went on a gorgeous hike through the forest, split up into groups.  Each group had a clipboard and instructions to mark down everything they saw, whether plant, animal, or evidence thereof (Elora found a tooth.) because each thing there was a part of the ecosystem for the fish.  After hiking for about a half hour, we came to an observation platform and everyone, after stating their most interesting discovery, was given a handful of food to throw to the trout.  Everyone was extremely excited as rainbow trout eagerly came to the surface, gobbling up their snack.  It was so much fun, the girls want to take Joel back, if only for the hike.

Fort Vancouver

We went on a field trip to Fort Vancouver, the oldest fort on the West Coast, and I was actually surprised to find out that the Fort was not American, but English. Local Native Americans brought in fur to trade at the mercantile, where everything was priced in beavers (so many minks = one beaver pelt, etc.).  You could buy an ax, but it would be dull, so then you'd have to buy something to sharpen it with, etc.  When they entered the fort they immediately saw a large white house (paint = prosperity) with two cannons aimed at you.  The cannons kept the peace, but were never fired.  The blacksmiths showed us how they made traps and fire, and we learned that fur trading was not for the impatient.... a round trip sending furs to England and returning with goods took 3 years.  The most fun part of the tour were the outhouses, which cracked Elora up,  the tower with cannons in it ("Look over here!  You can see the freeway!  Cool!") and just plain wandering around.