Tag: homeschooling

Gardenschooling & the Joy of Learning Together

A Bunch of Brown Thumbs

I have always loved the idea of gardening, and while I certainly enjoy being outside, I am no green thumb!

Can you relate?!

My daughter has been asking for months now to learn more about gardening, so I figured we could all get our hands dirty, and learn together!

gardenschooling

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A couple of things happen as we learn together:

  1. I am modeling that you never stop learning.   This is HUGE.
  2.  We share a unique bonding experience since we’re all in it together.  We are sharing in not only what we are doing, but also what we are learning.

Also, I must point out, this year definitely marks a shift in my perspective of homeschooling, moving from a school at home approach to homeschooling.  They are not the same.

In previous years, I would have viewed something like gardening as extra after the REAL schoolwork was done.

And being a lower capacity person, I was never able to squeeze it in.

Between negotiating with my creative child, and life in general, my energy was usually spent.

gardenschooling

This spring, one of my main goals is to learn how to garden with the kids.  It isn’t an EXTRA thing.  It is one of the main dishes!  🙂

Preparation

We didn’t, nor will we do an extensive unit study on gardening (you know the lapbooks, worksheets, extra activities,etc.)

I have done those things in the past, but find the energy I spend preparing for them is generally not matched by enthusiasm from my kids.

That makes the teacher in me sad at times but is part of the story of how we became outside the box learners.

You gotta do what works.  And frankly, the planting IS the extra activity!

So to prepare us for planting, I gathered some books on gardening for the kids.  That got the “brain juices” flowing…

gardenschooling

Here are the books we explored together:

101 Kid-Friendly Plants

 

 

 

 

Container Gardening for Kids

Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots (this is a great one to OWN!)

Start small

Part of what has kept me from gardening is a false idea that I needed to have our garden all planned out.

Like anything, sometimes you need to just start somewhere.  This is something I have to tell my perfectionist self ALL. THE. TIME.

So, though still in the process of planning out our veggie garden, when the bug hit us this past Monday (while out running errands in the gorgeous weather!)  we decided to stop at the store and just get a few plants that the kids had read about and were excited to plant.

Their plants of choice were Pansies and Marigolds.

gardenschooling

 

 

 

 

Starting small can apply to anything your kids want to try (building something, sewing, computer coding, baking, cooking, etc).  You don’t need to go all out. 

Keep it simple.  Start with watching a video or getting a book on whatever they’re interested in.

A Rich Learning Experience

Although we only spent about an hour doing the planting, the conversations that happened during that time were so rich.

We discussed the parable of the sowers.

We hypothesized what would happen if there were strong winds.

Would they ruin the flowers since they’re still so small and newly planted?

That led us to talk about the importance of being rooted in our faith and God’s Word.

It was truly a beautiful time.

And they were so happy to be planting and so proud of themselves.  Their excitement towards gardening only grew from this relatively small experience.

In fact, when we went back into the house they were reading more from their gardening books and they had a richer context for what they were reading.

Their brains are now more engaged and primed for learning about flowers, plants, and gardening.

gardenschooling

And as we move towards starting our vegetable garden, we ALL have more confidence and excitement!

Sometimes, when you’re treading into waters (or soil… ha!) completely foreign to you, you just need to do something and take a small first step.

What have you been learning alongside your kids?

 

 

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Why we chose NOT to do a homeschool co-op (this year)

Co-ops are an important part of the homeschool world.  And for good reason.  Doing this homeschool thing alone is a tough gig and it’s so much easier to do it in community!

Homeschool co-ops provide opportunities for kids to learn with other kids, friendships, adult interaction for the moms, and a place where you know you’re part of the group!

Our family has been part of many different co-ops during our homeschool journey.

My first few years of homeschooling were lonely. During those early years, co-ops were my lifeline.  And they were a weak lifeline at that, mainly because I wasn’t able to fully engage as much as I wanted to.  This was due to various circumstances, such as a new baby, or one year where our middle son did a Brain Balance program.

I’m not one of those moms who can juggle it all.  I’m actually a self-admitted NON-multi-tasker.   I can have a few things on my plate at a time, and THAT’S IT.

Finding homeschool friends after moving

In 2016, we made the move from Illinois to Wisconsin.  It was a move that turned our lives more upside down than we anticipated.  We spent the first 4 months after our move doing NOTHING besides staying at home reading aloud, writing, and doing our math (and taking my son to OT).

It was glorious EXCEPT that we really had no homeschool friends.  And so, in January 2017, we decided to join a local Classical Conversations community.  I was unfamiliar with CC at first but came to discover that many of the things we did at home already, aligned with it.

We did CC for half a year.  And then I tutored (similar to a teacher role) the next year for CC.  We made some great friends and I’m thankful for our time in that community.

Ch-ch-ch changes…

Then in June we found out our community would be dissolving and so I needed to make a decision…  Would we join a different co-op?

This decision was especially difficult because of the loneliness I felt in my beginning years of homeschooling.  But after much agonizing, verbally processing my husband’s ear off, and loads of prayer, I decided we were NOT going to do a formal co-op and we would instead do our own thing.   This was the decision that gave me the most PEACE.

And this blog birthed out of that time…  When I was realizing we were going to be OK doing our own “outside-the-box” thing.

And in fact, it may have been a blessing (for us at least) that our CC community dissolved.  You see, my daughter is not a big fan of despised the rote memorization, and the writing program that CC uses.  Two pretty big parts of the program actually.  So this year we were freed up and fired up to try the Bravewriter program, which has been a much better fit for us!

God knew what this year was going to look like.  He knew that my son was going to be in Vision Therapy, which takes up one morning a week PLUS the daily exercises.  And He knew that any more on my plate might have put me over the edge…

I’m not saying we’ll never do a co-op again, BUT I think there are seasons when it’s OK to not be part of a co-op.   For us, that season is now.

Have you ever been in a season where a co-op was just not right for your family?  Please share below, in the comments!

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4 Things I Would Do Differently My First Year of Homeschooling

I’m in my 6th year of homeschooling.  I started when my daughter was in Kindergarten. That first year I wanted to keep things as simple as possible, so I bought an all-in-one boxed curriculum.  This did not work the best for my oldest child and you can read a little about that here where I talk about how we became outside-the-box learners.

I had very few homeschool mentors in those early years, not to mention hardly any homeschool friends.  I was not homeschooled (13 years of public school here!)  And I did not have a ton of direction.  And having the background of being a classroom teacher, I very much thought of homeschooling as doing school at home.

I think having a few people that can help and come alongside you during those first few years is CRUCIAL and is part of the reason I’m passionate about my blog and hopefully providing encouragement to moms, especially moms out there homeschooling their outside-the-box kids.

I know it’s not good to dwell in the past, but I do often think about what I would do differently if I could turn back time.  So if you’re new to homeschooling (especially if you’re homeschooling a kindergartener or 1st grader) or just need some encouragement that homeschooling DOES not need to look like school at home, read on!

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

4 things I would do differently my first year of homeschooling

1) I would skip the language arts curriculum- and just read aloud to them! 

Turn your child on to the beauty of great stories!  Read, read, and then read some more!  Two books that have great read-aloud suggestions are Honey For A Child’s Heart and Books Children Love.

2) I would rest in the fact that homeschooling can be FUN and doesn’t have to be painful feel like school. 

My first year I tried to do “circle time”- morning time with the weather and days of the week, number of days of school, etc..  My daughter despised circle time but I felt like I needed to do it because that was what kids did at school.  Oh, how I wish I could go back and ditch the circle time.

If your child has an interest, it is ok to go along with that interest, and go deep with it!  Get tons of books on whatever topic they’re interested in!  Play games, take nature walks, bake together…  enjoy each other!

3) I would have focused on hand-strength and letter formation in other mediums (sand, salt, shaving cream, play dough, etc.) over actual handwriting…

ESPECIALLY for my son with fine motor issues, and I would’ve waited until AT LEAST age 6 to get out the handwriting workbooks!    If kids are interested in handwriting, then that’s different, let them write!  

First Year of Homeschooling

 

I also would’ve gotten Thinking Putty (great for building hand strength, which is necessary for fine motor skills) for my kids to play with during read-aloud.

We have about ten cans now (they get some each year for Christmas and birthdays!), and just today they enjoyed playing with their thinking putty during our read-aloud time.  My daughter specifically chose her Super Scarab Putty to go along with our story which is set in Ancient Egypt!

4) I would’ve ditched the math curriculum and DEFINITELY would have ditched the timed tests!

IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR A 6 OR 7-YEAR-OLD TO DO TIMED MATH TESTS!  Oh, the tears that didn’t need to be shed…  Makes this mama’s heart break.   Now if you have a kid who loves timed tests, go for it!  But if you don’t, know there are plenty of other ways to learn the facts.

 

If I could go back to kindergarten and 1st grade for my oldest child, I would play lots of number games that focus on the facts and number sense.  Most kids these days do not have a good foundation with their facts, which means everything math-related is going to be more difficult.

This book has great ideas for math games:

Hopefully, my loss can be your gain.  Homeschooling does not need to be a difficult thing.  It can, and SHOULD be enjoyable.

First Year of Homeschooling

 

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The rare occasion a list works for our ‘right-brained’ creative kid…

I am a list person.

Checking off boxes makes me happy.  There is even this super handy app called “Doit.im” that helps me keep my life in order. I get to check off boxes every day or very easily move them to another day.  I seriously think checking off boxes releases dopamine in my brain.  Kinda twisted, I know…  Unless maybe you’re a list checker yourself, then you get it!

I also happen to be the mom to an amazing young lady, who is NOT a list person.

A girl who is creative, non-linear, super right-brained, and definitely outside the box!  She is a huge part of the reason I don’t do a ton of homeschool planning, and why I plan backwards.  She doesn’t like to do things in any particular order and is often almost always thinking of something new to create.  I do print out weekly lists of the individual core things(math, writing, chores, piano practice) that need to be done each day, but usually I am cattle prodding a bit to make sure those things get done (besides piano, I usually don’t have to cattle prod her to get that completed).

But there’s a phenomenon that happens occasionally in our home.

And I can’t remember the first time it happened.  And I can’t quite figure out why it works so well.  It goes like this… I leave the house for a few hours and she is left in the care of my husband or my parents.  I leave her with a list to complete.   She doesn’t complain.   I come home 2 hours later.   The list is complete.  WHAT?!

I’m still trying to figure out WHY this works.

In fact, I almost look forward to days I have to leave for a bit because there is little to no battling.     I’m trying to figure out how to replicate this on our typical days.  But I think that’s part of it… me leaving for a few hours is not a typical day and she craves novelty and non-typical.

I have my other hypotheses…  Like maybe she loves being independent and this is foreshadowing of how she will do “in the real world”.   Or maybe it feels like it’s a ‘beat the clock’ type thing and there is a little fire under her tush once I leave the house.  Whatever it is, I welcome it!  Especially in our current season, where my 8-year-old is doing 9 months of Vision Therapy, and I occasionally leave my daughter with my mom or dad.  I can leave her with a list, and know it will get done!

Are you a list person or do you loathe them? How about your kids? If you’re not a list person, what motivates you to get stuff done?

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6 Delightful Math Games to Boost Learning

 

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!) 

We love using math games in our homeschool to mix things up and “add” in some fun and fierce friendly competition.  The best part about playing math games is that it’s a DELIGHTFUL way to learn. No pressure. No dread. Just fun!

I’ve picked out our favorite, most played, math games that we use to boost learning in our home.  They are categorized by what math skill they build.

Math facts:

4 Way Countdown
Math Games for Learning
4 Way Countdown

The best part about this game is that it is all contained in one piece.  Rather than roll dice, the dice are contained in a popper, which is super fun!  You “pop” the dice and then use the two numbers to make a math fact – any kind of math fact (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.  You take the answer to that fact and get to flip a block.  The object of game is to be the first player to flip all 10 of your own blocks.  Suggested age: 6+     

Shut the Box

This is a great single player game.  My kids have used it on car trips and can play it over and over.  It is similar to 4 Way Countdown in that you roll the dice and then get to flip over blocks.  But shut the box focuses on addition.  It develops good number sense in kiddos and gives them the practice of simple addition facts.   Suggested age: 5+

Sum Swamp
Math Games for Learning
Sum Swamp

This is a colorful and captivating game for those kids who are new to addition and subtraction. We played this a lot when my middle child was just starting to learn basic addition. It was played nearly every day during that time!  Suggested age: 5+ 

 

Money:

PayDay
Math Games for Learning
PayDay

A favorite of my husbands from his own childhood, Payday is a great game to give kids a taste of “real life” and help them learn about loans and bills. Payday is a very engaging game that is always enjoyed! This is the updated version.   Suggested age: 8+

Probability:

Qwixx
Math Games for Learning
Qwixx

Described as a “fast family dice game”, Qwixx is one of those games that’s a little tricky to get the hang of, but once you do, it is quite addicting. It’s a favorite and can easily fit in a purse or backpack!  Suggested age: 8+

Logic:

Mastermind
Math Games for Learning
Mastermind

As a lover of codes and puzzles, Mastermind was a favorite game from my own childhood. It is the ultimate code breaking game. One player makes a code with different colored pegs and the code breaker has to try to figure out the code. This is another game that really stretches your brain!  Suggested age: 8+  *I linked to a different version than the one in the picture above.  The one we have has gone up astronomically in price!

Happy Gaming!
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Why I Named My Blog ‘Outside the Box Learners’

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of starting a blog, at least for me,  is all the ideas of possible posts that come to you and then having to decide what to write about next.  Well… that and the logistics of creating a website!  But to think I originally thought I might not have enough to write about!  Ha!  This has been a fun adventure for me.  Re-discovering the joy I experience while writing has been amazing, and the fact that I get to fuse it with my everyday job of homeschooling my kids makes it even better!

My blog is still very young at this point.  Before I write any more posts, I wanted to address why I named my blog  ‘Outside the Box Learners’.  It actually was my first choice for a website name and was thrilled it was available!

Defining ‘Outside the Box’

Let’s start with a definition of ‘outside the box‘.   When I hear those words I think of anything that is not conventional, or anything different from the norm.  Not mainstream.

According to Dictionary.com, ‘outside the box’ is an idiom that means:

“in an innovative or unconventional manner; with a fresh perspective”

What is an ‘Outside the Box Learner’

This might more appropriately be stated who is an outside the box learner?  People are who’s, not what’s, after all!  Unless maybe you are a character in a Dr. Seuss book. 😉

Since we’ve already covered what ‘outside the box’ means, it should be clear what an ‘outside the box learner’ is, because we’re just tagging learner to our definition.   And thus we get: A learner who learns in an innovative or unconventional manner or a learner with a fresh perspective.

When I first got the bug to start a blog, I knew I wanted to write about my homeschooling experiences both of my son with dyspraxia and also my daughter who is gifted, especially in the creativity arena.  From the little research I did about ‘outside the box’ students, it was my guess that my daughter more readily fit the stereotype usually thought of when one hears the words ‘outside the box‘.

Outside the Box Learners Learn in Unconventional Ways

Being the analytical person I am, I really thought about those words ‘outside the box’, specifically how they mean unconventional and outside the norm.  I use unconventional methods to homeschool both my 8 and 10-year-old.

For my son, I frequently make modifications to help him succeed, specifically with handwriting, which is very hard for him.  He is very asynchronous in that his reading capabilities and handwriting capabilities are lightyears apart.  If he was in a regular classroom, he would not be your typical student.  I LOVE that I am able to meet him where he’s at and he doesn’t have to feel like he’s “less than” or just “can’t keep up” due to his difficulties with handwriting.   And he is able to maintain a love for learning!

My daughter is my creative child who definitely approaches things with a fresh perspective.  She is inventive and always thinking of something new to try (as I write this she’s making sushi, which she’s done before, but this time experimenting with new ingredients!).  She is in her happiest and most peace-filled state when she is creating something new.  Her mind is in a constant state of motion. She hates worksheets and anything conventional really and learns by doing and teaching.   In my opinion, she is a poster child for an “outside the box learner”.

Emphasis On Learners

Since I knew I would be writing a lot about my kids and our homeschool, I wanted to emphasize learners in my website name.  And really the whole reason I’ve come around to homeschooling the way I do is to meet their needs, which I talk about in this post: How We Became Outside the Box Learners.

They learn in unconventional ways, so I’ve come around to teaching in unconventional ways.

 

 

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A Very Unschool-y Day

I really wanted to title this something like ‘Katie and the very good, super productive, still filled with learning, unschool-y day.’   A fun title, but way too long for a blog post title.

We Are Not Unschoolers

I am not an unschooler.  Let’s just get that out there.  I DO think unschoolers who execute it well give their children a huge gift.  There are elements of our homeschool that are unschool-esque such as many I mention in this post about how we became outside the box learners, and also the planning backwards method I use.  But at the end of the day, I do have somewhat of a plan.  I consider us more child-led homeschoolers.  If learning more about child-led homeschooling is something that interests you, I recommend the book, Educating the WholeHearted Child by Sally Clarkson.

House Organizing

Our house has fallen into a bit of disarray.  Ok, not really… but for this clutter-phobic mom, it has.  And eventually, the clutter really starts to get to me!  Winter is coming and all the winter gear is about to come out of the attic and there is no place to put it.  Well, there wasn’t… until our very unschool-y day.

My youngest is doing a year of pre-k this year and the days he has school are when we get the most done, naturally.  I’m sure any of you who have busy, mischievous 4-year olds who wake up at 5:30 a.m. ready to conquer the world destroy the house, understand.  I digress…

Since my youngest had off school yesterday I decided earlier in the week it would be an organizing day for me/unschool-y day for the kids.  Of course, I relied a bit on my lovely daughter to entertain her 4-year old little brother for parts of the day.  Which she is really good at!   I managed to get a TON done.  And I really think my less cluttered house will allow me to be a more productive mom, as outward clutter definitely exasperates my already cluttered, trying it’s best to multi-task, mind.

Where the Unschool-y Day Took Us

The great thing about organizing is discovering things you haven’t used in a while. Such as this Discovery Kids Activity World Map that we’ve had for 5 years (but haven’t used for 2 years).  It’s meant to hang on the wall, but we found it to be just as fun on the ground.  Joe spent a good chunk of time, putting all the labels in their place!

As usual, much of the day was spent with a nose in a book.

Unschooling

And another discovery, a wooden tangram tetris puzzle, found in our mudroom while I was organizing!

Unschooling

And it wouldn’t be an unschool-y (or a typical day for that matter), without a creation made by our in-house baker.

The creation of the day: Homemade Oatmeal Packets

Child-led learning

Joe and I had a chance to venture out in the marsh in our backyard. We both needed some fresh air and activity!  Because it’s so thick back there, we have to wait until the plants all die to hike there, which is now through the end of winter.  If you go far enough you run into the creek!

Unschooling

And here Joe is classifying volcanic rocks with his Rocks Activity Kit.

Unschooling

Also, we were able to finish The Tale of Despereaux, our book club book for November.  This was accomplished because I was able to get the audiobook from my library app.  We did not expect to finish it in one week, but the kids loved it and kept requesting more.  Also, it was a pretty quick read, or ‘listen’!  As a side note, I just discovered there is full motion picture for this story.  It will be fun to watch it and compare to the book.

All in all a pretty good day!

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

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Letting Go of Normal: Homeschool vs. School at Home

Normal.  What is normal anyway? I don’t have the answer to that.  I know our current version of normal, and it probably looks different from yours, and that’s ok!

Homeschool vs. School at Home

This post is as much for me as it is for anyone reading this.  Writing helps me process my thoughts.  It helps me sort them out.  And I’m needing a heavy dose of reminding of what homeschooling is all about.  And it is NOT the same as school at home!

I am a recovering “School at Home-er”.  Is that a thing?  Part of it stems from my few years in the classroom as a 4th-grade teacher.  And part of it just stems from my rule-following, slightly rigid personality.   If you’ve read my post: How We Became Outside the Box Learners, then you already know that our homeschool has transformed from what it originally was.  I’ve had to tweak things over the years to find a rhythm that works for our family.  It is a constant work in progress by the way.  And it’s been a bumpy road at times getting here.

A Unique Start to the Year

We had a unique start to this school year.   The first few weeks of the year were spent out west in Yellowstone National Park!  That actually stressed me out a bit.  I mean, I wanted to start strong with our routine here at home.   It’s part of my rule-following nature.  But truly, what nature experience can compare to Yellowstone.  My kids learned a ton – a ton of info that will actually stick since it was interesting and in the context of real life, not just a textbook.  

When the kids arrived home from the trip, I got sick and we lost a couple of days.  The days were not really lost but I had to command the ship from the bed  – which shouldn’t have but did leave me to feel defeated.    Then we had a few days with appointments and such.   And now, it’s October!  Aaaagh!

Breathe Katie, breathe…

Checking or NOT checking the boxes

So, here I am reminding myself that homeschool is not the same as school at home.  It’s ok if the boxes aren’t all checked each day…  It’s ok that the first few weeks of the year were not at our house.  It’s ok if some days we spend a few hours on math, but zero on reading.  Or if we spend the day or part of the day serving together as a family, but don’t get to read as much.   Or if handwriting for the day is writing something completely unrelated to what’s in our handwriting workbook.  I am constantly learning to watch for cues of my kiddo’s brains being engaged and then trying to run with that.

After all, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire”.  

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Homeschooling in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons: Part Two

You can find Part One of this series here and Part Three here.

We had a fantastic time in Yellowstone. We had amazing weather – sunny and 70’s every day. Surprisingly, it was very crowded which we were not expecting as it was after Labor Day.

Roosevelt Arch, the original entrance to Yellowstone

Yellowstone’s Geysers!

Geysers were definitely the high point of our time in Yellowstone. We also learned about fumaroles, mud pots and hot springs.  Yellowstone was a piece of heaven on earth for Nature Smart kiddo.  To learn more about the 8 great smarts, check out this post.  

Geyser eruptions were abundant and we made it to almost every geyser basin in the park.  It felt a bit like Disney (running around to get on your Fast pass ride!) as we were rushing around to see all the erupting geysers.

While at the park we learned about an app called NPS Yellowstone Geysers. If we ever go back we will definitely use that app to maximize our viewing of geyser eruptions!

5 Geyser Basins

We went to five geyser basins. All with their own unique qualities.

1)Norris Geyser Basin

Norris geyser basin, which is one of the larger geyser basins, was the first one we checked out. We didn’t get to see many erupting geysers there but there was a geyser we nicknamed Little Faithful. The actual name for that geyser was Vixen Geyser, and it erupted many times each hour.

North geyser basin is the home of Steamboat Geyser – the biggest geyser at Yellowstone. It erupted the day before we visited and it was still steaming.

2) Lower Geyser Basin

Lower Geyser Basin is actually divided into two locations. Our most favorite geyser moments of the trip happened in the second lower geyser basin we visited. We got to see Great Fountain Geyser erupt!

Great Fountain Geyser

Great Fountain Geyser is bigger than Old Faithful and you are able to get a closer view. It only erupts twice a day. While waiting for Great Fountain to erupt we could see White Dome Geyser erupting in the background.

And on our way out of that geyser basin, we got to see Pink Cone Geyser which is adorable little geyser that erupts every 18-25 hours.

That was icing on the cake! We were flying high as we left Lower Geyser Basin.

3) Upper Geyser Basin

Perhaps the biggest mistake of our time in Yellowstone was not spending more time at Upper Geyser Basin. We arrived there late in the afternoon right before dinner time, which was a beautiful time to be there. However, there is so much to see that you need at least 3 to 4 days if you are even somewhat of a geyser enthusiast.

Upper Geyser Basin is home to Old Faithful and is also the hub of Yellowstone. Besides all of the natural wonders you will find there, they have an amazing lodge, inn, and visitor center with videos and a mini-museum type area all about geysers!

We watched Old Faithful erupt and then Joe and I did the 3-mile trail to see even more geysers and hot springs. Since that was a very busy day, Joe was tired and I had to give him a few piggyback rides, but it was worth it. We got to see Morning Glory Pool which is just stunning.

And on our walk back to the lodge, we had the privilege of seeing Riverside Geyser erupt.

What a treat! Joe also got to see Beehive Geyser which is one that he was looking forward to checking out.

4) Midway Geyser Basin

This is probably the smallest geyser basin but, WOW, worth visiting. I would say we were out of there within 30 minutes. Midway Geyser Basin is the home to the Grand Prismatic Spring.

5) West Thumb

We visited West Thumb Geyser Basin on the way out of the park. Joe had been anticipating West Thumb for a while. West Thumb is unique because it is right on Yellowstone Lake which makes it such a contrasting backdrop to the geysers and hot springs

Other Geothermal Features

We also went to Mud Volcano which was smelly yet interesting!

We were staying in the Mammoth Hot Springs area so we got to see them every day and we did a hike of it one morning. Pretty magnificent!

Here Joe got to see the Liberty Cone, which is now dormant (dormant is the newest word in Joe’s vocabulary).

My mom bought Joe Some Like it Hot: Yellowstone’s Geysers and Hot Springs. It was a great little book packed with lots of info and pictures.

Wildlife

We didn’t get to see as much wildlife in Yellowstone as we had hoped. Thankfully we were staying in the Mammoth Hot Springs area which is where the elk congregated at night. We got to witness the mail elk bugling to attract the females, which was amusing AND amazing! We also saw a coyote, mule deer, Buffalo and an osprey nest with two baby Ospreys.  Bears are a very real threat and wonder to behold in Yellowstone.  We would have loved to see a bear from afar but that did not happen.  We did get an education in how to use Bear Spray as we chose to rent some to use for our two-mile hike to a waterfall.

Waterfalls

We got to see many waterfalls and even hike to one that was a little more remote – Mystic Falls.

The lady I sat next to on the plane on the way out had this wonderful book of hiking trails in Yellowstone. If When we go back to Yellowstone I will definitely be getting myself this book as it had tons of info on the different hiking trails in the park.

Our favorite waterfalls were:

Lower Falls

Firehole Falls

Mystic Falls (we had to hike further back to get to this one)

Moose Falls

Everyone’s MOST favorite waterfall was Moose falls. It is the smallest of all the waterfalls we visited but also the one we were able to get the nearest to. There’s just something special about being able to get so close to a waterfall and feel the mist. This is a waterfall I saw when I was a teenager and I was thrilled to visit it again with my kids. How perfect that this was our final stop in Yellowstone before heading to the Tetons!

Lovin’ Moose Falls

In part one of this series, I mentioned that we were going to use the GyPSy Guide App. Everyone in the car agreed that this was an invaluable purchase. We learned so much about the history of the park which really enhanced our experience there.

Please make sure to check out part three of this series, where I talk about our time in the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole.

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Homeschooling in Yellowstone and the Great Tetons: Part One

HOMESCHOOLING IN YELLOWSTONE

This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Check out Part Two of this series here and Part Three here.

Preparing for Yellowstone

In two days my big kids (ages 8 & 10) will head with my parents out west to the Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons. I’m excited for this amazing opportunity for them. We have been reading about and discussing their upcoming trip for months now! And since we studied U.S. History and geography last year, they will get to put real life pictures to some of the places we learned about.

Being a nature-lover myself (and maybe a little nature-smart!), I’m thrilled that I will get to fly out and join them for the second of their two weeks. (Thank you to the hubby for staying home with our 4-year-old!) In anticipation of the trip, we’ve checked out loads of books from the library and purchased some too. We have also found some great documentaries. We have studied maps, learned about geysers, and are ready to go. Excitement is high and I’m pretty sure the trip will “deliver”.

Car rides

The kids, along with my parents, will be flying out to Rapid City, SD and starting their journey there. In case you’re not up on your U.S. geography, the ride from Wisconsin to South Dakota is a pretty flat one, so they will get to bypass all the “not as interesting” terrain and start with the “good stuff”.

They will be spending a lot of their time in the car on this trip, as that is just the nature of getting from all of the beautiful Point A’s to breathtaking Point B’s. Normally my kids have their nose in a book when we are in the car. Since we want them to be looking out the window and taking in all the scenery, we got audiobooks for this trip.

Homeschooling in the Park

The only “schoolish” activity I will have my kids do while in the parks is record what they see and do in their journals. I want them to just take in their surroundings without having to worry about workbooks and such. I consider this an educational vacation. I’m hoping that all the studying up we have done in preparation will really help cement those connections of all they will see there. My son is most excited to see the geysers, and my daughter can’t wait to encounter all of the wildlife. As for me, I’m hopin’ and wishin’ we see some moose! And I can’t wait to see the mountains again.

Check out this journal designed for younger children to document their explorations. Each page has a space for a drawing and then some lines at the bottom to write a few sentences.

Other Yellowstone Educational Resources

Here are some of the resources we used to prepare for the trip:

Your Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks (True North Series)  (creationist perspective)

Who Pooped in the Park? The title should be self-explanatory…

Yellowstone National Park: Adventuring With Kids This small (yet packed with great info) book tells you what to do based on how many days you are spending in the park.

What I Saw in Yellowstone: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park This book is specifically for the kids! It is meant to be brought along to the park. There are boxes to check off things you see and write more about what you experienced, almost like a journal. He is really excited to use it in the park.

Spectacular Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks This is a giant hardcover book with STUNNING pictures.

Documentaries – We watched quite a few different documentaries from different sources (library, youtube, Netflix, Curiosity Stream).

Apps to Use While in the Park:

Yellowstone GyPSy Guide Tour This app provides commentary while you are driving in the park. It can be used offline too!

NPS Yellowstone National Park Gives lots of helpful information such as geyser eruption times and road closures.

 

 

 

 

 

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