Zoo-schooling (notice a theme?)

Feeding nectar to the birds during an enriching day of Zoo-schooling.

Jane McEnroe

Jane loves tennis!

Ravine Schooling

Last weekend we attended the yearly Azalea Festival at Ravine Gardens State park in Palatka, FL. We couldn't believe this unique park was actually in Florida because of the vast elevation changes. We spent a fun day hiking the trails, playing in the spring fed creek and playing on the swing bridges that span the ravine.

Frog Head

Jack recently has really gotten into catching live things- frogs, lizards, bugs (ick!). And apparently, then wearing them.

Baking Bread

The kids and I decided to try our hand at serving soup in those cool bread bowls that you can find in restaurants. They enjoy helping out in the kitchen and who doesn't like to play with dough? Our bowls were a yummy success. We ate them filled with homemade chicken noodle soup.

A couple weeks later, I checked out a book from the library titled, "How to make Artisan Bread in just 5 minutes a Day." Now we can have bread bowls every day of the week!

River-schooling

We are lucky to have other homeschool friends like us, who almost always prefer a nature preserve over a metal playground. There is a delightful combination of both not far from us at Alpine Groves park. This park not only has a gorgeous playground nestled into the woods, but if you follow the boardwalk through the woods, you find a historic farmstead sitting on an embankment overlooking the St. John's river. Down a canoe trail to the river, there is a huge felled tree that the kids love to climb. It is hard tearing them away from this natural jungle gym to go to the actual playground. Often, we don't even make it there!

Valentine's Day

I was so excited about Valentine's Day because our homeschool group had decided to do a Valentine exchange. I so loved those when I was in school- decorating your shoe box, everyone going around the room putting their cards in the slots, wondering how many you would get...It was so much fun to get home and open them all up! Well, my kids could care less about my little trip down memory lane. They had zero interest in decorating the box that I lovingly handcrafted with dual slots and a divider (I didn't have any shoe boxes). Ultimately, my sentimental journey consisted of me finishing up the Valentine's and wrapping the box and then forcing them to put stickers on it an hour before we left to the park while threatening to bag the whole day. Lesson learned: I probably shouldn't guilt myself into replicating school experiences they won't enjoy for the sake of cool holiday themed blog photos! On the upside, we played a fun cupid relay game at the party, where each team member has to put on a giant diaper and shoot suction cup arrows at a target. Theme aside, the kids now have an interest in archery!

Geocaching

Over Christmas break, our friends turned us on to this fun hobby/obsession- geocaching.
From the site description: "Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment." Our first geocache was found in the base of a hollow tree off a path in the woods. We were amazed to then find out that there were at least 120 geocaches within a 5 mile radius of our house! It really changes the way you look at the world. Jack is constantly finding places that would "be great for hiding a cache." The children and I have logged in over 30 finds, including helping a travel bug find its way towards California. Some of the neatest caches we have found were in Atlanta when we were visiting Jon- it was a great way to introduce him to our new hobby.

Birdwatching

We stumbled upon the greatest bird-watching spot while eating bagels one day. It is such an unlikely nature preserve, sitting on a small inlet behind a shopping plaza but we are ever amazed at how many different species we can find there on a given day. Our most recent trip included the usual ducks, anhinga, pelican, heron, egret and great egret but also a woodpecker joined the ranks of crows and seagulls also out scavenging. It's become a weekly event for us and we even got to help save an anhinga from a discarded fishing line recently, which served as fodder for many lessons.

How to teach the days of the week

I won't post a picture of this so you will just have to take my word for it...my children have both learned the calender with a very important teaching tool...days of the week underwear. My daughter became obsessed with hers last year, requiring me to tell her not only what day it was but how to spell it so that she could find the correct pair every morning. My son, who prefers to go commando (I know, TMI) recently informed us that he would wear underpants if he could also have a days of the week pair. Thank you Gymboree, for making them in a boys sports version! I knew their lessons were well-learned the day I overheard Jack say to his sister, as they were writing letters, "Jane, could you pull your skirt up for a second so I can see what day it is?"