Homeschooling and Camping

Homeschooling is a new adventure for Mi'ita and me. Science on a camping trip is such a no brainer, but I am certainly learning what flies and what doesn't.

What didn't fly:

1. There were no other kids! That was no surprise for me or John, but it was for Mi'ita. Camping for her has always been at a big campground with room to bike, swim, and play with the tons of other kids crawling all over the place. This was a working camping trip for John--he was scuba diving for the forest service fish biologists who were doing a fish count for salmon. So we were camping with a bunch of fish biologists, none of whom brought their kids. Next time, we'll invite a cousin along.

2. Assignments. Who goes camping to have assigned reading or projects, no matter how interesting they may be?

3. Bringing only nonfiction books. Maybe that was a mistake, maybe it wasn't. It forced us both to read the nonfiction and kept us bored enough to spend a LOT of time wading on the river.

What did fly:

1. Wading in the river and looking for animals. Me looking them up in field guides, talking through the process of identifying them, and sharing the information with Mi'ita. Taking bets with her about whether a lizard was a Sagebrush lizard or a Western Fence lizard, verifying with the biologists, and having her win.

2. Snuggling and reading out loud to her from biology books that taught her about things that were right there at the river--reptiles, lizards, fish, tadpoles, amphibians, and metamorphosis.

3. Reading the information posted by the forest service about salmon, spawning, local wildlife, and so on. Visiting the ranger station and going on the hikes.

4. Talking about the politics and science of endangered salmon--breaching dams; the needs of fish, farmers, loggers, and fisherman; the Endangered Species Act; and spotted owls.

5. Finding a 6 inch bullfrog tadpole (!) and learning more about invasive species.