A Week in Osceola National Forest

Today’s post was written by our daughter Emelie, age 9. She is interested in contributing to the blog more often and we’re excited to be able to share our journey from her perspective as well! I have not edited her text in any way, except to add some pictures and hyperlinks. She worked hard on this post, so leave her……

An Afternoon at the Seashore Trolley Museum

Some two-year-olds are passionate about animals, or dinosaurs, or bugs. Micah is also interested in these things, but what really lights him up are vehicles. Anything that makes a noise and moves absorbs his attention. Tractors, lawn mowers, cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses… he knows their names and he sees them all. He can spot an airplane when it’s a tiny……

Loving History at Old Sturbridge Village

Fall in New England. The phrase conjures images of cool breezes and warm apple cider, the brilliant oranges and reds of leaves by day and campfires by night. After months of following summer weather and balmy temperatures, we welcome the changing seasons. We are digging sweaters out of the backs of closets and dusting off our space heaters. So far,……

Celebrating Peter – A Day at Discovery Cube

Back in November, Peter turned six! In keeping with the ideas that guide our family’s life, we don’t do extravagant birthdays, but we do have a few little traditions to mark the day. We focus on celebrating the person, being together, and the things that person loves best. On the day we celebrated Peter, it was all about ninjas, science,……

Fossil Studies: Dinosaur National Monument

Not far from Red Fleet State Park, in the northeastern part of Utah referred to as Dinosaurland, is Dinosaur National Monument. This amazing national park was the climax of our fossil studies and a dream come true for our dinosaur loving kids. We parked for three nights at the Outlaw Trail RV Park in Jensen, UT and spent several days……

Fossil Studies: Dino Tracks!

After walking in pioneer footsteps at the Guernsey wagon ruts, our next stop was in northeast Utah in search of slightly older footsteps. Flaming Gorge We exited the interstate and drove the beautiful Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway (US Highway 191). Sections of this road were steeper than we are accustomed to towing, but it was manageable with smart driving techniques…….

Fossil Studies: Agate Fossil Beds

Before we left Nebraska, while staying at Scotts Bluff, we took a day trip up to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Parallel to our studies of the Oregon Trail, the kids were also learning about fossils as we anticipated traveling through some of the most fossil-rich areas of the country. Just as the Oregon Trail and the adventures of the……

Along the Oregon Trail: Chimney Rock

After week upon week of flat, open landscapes, its appearance is startling and unmistakable. Chimney Rock rises out of the prairie like the tall spire of a hidden cathedral, a landmark unchanged since the days of the pioneers in covered wagons. Its message to us was the same as to them: the landscape is changing. There are mountains ahead. We’d……

Discovering Omaha

There aren’t too many states left where we can say it’s a new state for all 5 of us. Iowa was one. Nebraska was another. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about Nebraska before we started planning our fall itinerary. After spending more than two weeks there, we can now say that it is so much more than a “fly-over……

Living History Farms

After our amazing weekend diving into the world of modern farming, our next stop was to learn more about farming the way it used to be done. Before the climate controlled tractors and combines that harvest 12 rows at a time, like those we experienced in Stratford, people were farming land in central Iowa by much more simple means. A……

Stratford upon Iowa

Our kids went through a phase – a relatively long phase – during which every time we sat down to eat, they wanted to know where all their food came from. They were not satisfied with “the egg came from a chicken” or “meatballs come from cows” but wanted to know how on earth a macaroni could come from a……

Summer in Sweden

Vi hade iallafall tur med vädret. Roughly translated: At least we had good luck with the weather. Our Swedish readers are already chuckling to themselves a little bit. In the (somewhat likely) event that you’re not Swedish, allow me to explain. This is a well-known expression in Sweden that comes from the title of a made-for-TV movie from 1980. The……

Our Favorite Things – Homeschool Resources

I started out homeschooling determined to do it for free, or as close to it as I could depending on how you count supplies like paper, crayons, scissors, etc. There are so many resources available for free online and whatever I couldn’t find I could just create. It would be like college! Spending hours creating fun, creative lesson plans on……

Our First Full-time Families Rally

“Is this your first rally?” someone asked us. We nodded. “I thought so. You have that lost, wide-eyed, deer in the headlights kind of look about you. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine. This is going to be great!” It’s taken me a few weeks to be able to write about our experiences at our first FtF (Full-time Families)……

Solar Eclipse

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility to learn from what is happening around us and I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to do that. So when we heard there was going to be a solar eclipse visible from where we live, we dropped everything and shifted our focus to the science of eclipses. The eclipse……