Here’s the proof:

Snowballs  small and large…

A snow pirate?

Then we decided to work together on a little project…

Superboy sculpted the head…

I made the middle…

JBug added the tail…

And together we had our very own snow serpent!

I’m glad we did it while we could because the snow is now long gone, along with any evidence of strange white creatures stalking the banks of Sitka harbor.

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I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

EB White

Here’s to tossing out the plans.

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It isn’t that our “approach” to education is terribly unique. Lots of people are relaxed, eclectic, hands-on, unschoolish, whatever, home learners. I see it more and more every day, people loosening up, handing the educational reins over a bit more to their kids. Tweaking things until they fit just right. So, nothing groundbreaking happening here in the educational theory department by a long shot. We did not invent the idea of following a child’s interests, of tailoring teaching methods to a child’s learning styles, of learning through living life and following passions.

What I DO feel is unique about our homeschool is  how all that plays out here in real life. Where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Because we, each of us here at Lapaz, bring to the table our own unique set of talents and challenges, interests and abilities, our homeschool is out of necessity going to look very different from any other. We are a unique combination, the bunch of us, in a unique set of  circumstances, the combination of which is not to be duplicated anywhere else on earth. And so our homeschool, being a mad blend of all that, is one unique concoction.

(“Thank heavens!” some might say, and I’d be apt to agree, LOL!)

But anyway, my point in all of this is that our unique situation means that we make choices of materials that may or may not resonate with other homeschooling families.

Case in point: Here is what Superboy just finished reading.

The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself

It is the autobiography of Rodney Mullen- an excellent book, well written, and very readable. Superboy blazed through it in a day and one long, late night.

In our school, I “count” it as history.

And why not? Isn’t history the story of people and events that influence the future?  Well, Rodney Mullen is profoundly influential in the lives of many, many people worldwide, young and old. He has a great life story of overcoming some profound obstacles to achieve his dreams. He was innovative, passionate, and driven and earned his place as an all-time great in his sport. I mean, he pretty much invented the ollie, for goodness sake! I consider that historic.

But what is more important, is that Superboy considers it historic. It is history that is relevant to him, right now.

And by respecting his choice of historical reading I am telling him that the study of history doesn’t have to be the way I learned it- an endless parade of  empires and battles, rises and falls, dates and places strange and distant, as dry and dusty as books hidden away on a library back shelf. Instead, I am telling him history can be living and breathing, close to home, and as relevant as his very own skateboard.

Because of this book we had some great conversations.

One was about Y2K  and the apocalypse that wasn’t (imagine, that craziness is history now!) because in the book Rodney Mullen shares how it haunted his thoughts for a time. I shared how that big hullabaloo was handled in our household(totally ignored) and by folks I knew (stocking up on survival foods).

Another conversation was about the age-old parental dilemma of encouraging talents in our children (like a young Rodney Mullen or Shawn White, Leonardo DaVinci or Joshua Bell) vs preparing them for reality (we can’t all be Rodney Mullen or Shawn White, Leonardo DaVinci or Joshua Bell, right? Some of us have to get real jobs…) How does a parent know which way to go?

History can be pretty personal. I want him to see that. To understand that history is about real people and the choices they make.

And armed with this much more intimate view of history,I think there is a much greater chance he will continue to want to learn history, to enjoy it and not close his mind to it, or write it off as irrelevant the way I did at his age. Hopefully the Romans and Greeks, the Medicis and the Minuit-men, all of those iconic historical figures will also become his companions, in time.

And with that in mind, I’d love to open the comments to suggestions for history books that you love, the ones  that make history alive for you.

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Go check it out, there’s lots to see!

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The place is ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR. (honestly, these  pictures do it no justice.)

Huge trees, moss-carpeted forest floor, fantastic long-range views…so beautiful! And (other than my noisy kiddos) utterly quiet.

I really love that part.

And JBug once again lived up to her hiking moniker,

“Bearbait.”

The girl just doesn’t get the concept of safety in numbers. (see Superboy and I way below?)

Luckily, Dad keeps her in check pretty well and we all made it to the top just fine. (Bearbait included). It was a wonderful day spent in a great place. And as a bonus we came home to this gorgeous sunset:

Will this ever get old? I don’t think so.

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We’ve explored high…

and low…

and discovered some really cool stuff along the way…

Cassie likes to come along on our explores.

Especially if there is water involved.

And we are really, really happy to have this guy along with us more often, too!

Yep. It’s a good life.

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Though the center treats, rehabilitates, and releases as many birds as possible, some birds are too badly injured to ever be released. Those become permanent residents at the center or are placed elsewhere.

This bald eagle is a permanent resident. These birds are so  huge and so gorgeous.

So is this Golden Eagle.

And this Great Horned Owl.

Our first day volunteering was spent helping out  by rolling up, packaging, and pricing posters for the gift shop.

That wasn’t the most thrilling job, but we knew we were helping out where needed, so that’s ok.

The next day was more exciting!

JBug got to help clean the kennels in the eagle ICU.

And feed some potatoes to some  mealworms (which in turn were fed to Katy kestral. YUM!)

Here is a look at the diets of some of the larger birds, like hawks and eagles. Looks like it’s salmon and venison for dinner! The smaller birds get mice, rats, and quail. Tasty!

Superboy was very happy with his task for the day. He got to do what every boy loves–

burning brush! Woo hoo! If it involves fire, Superboy is happy!

I think I was the luckiest of all. I got to go in and clean the bald eagle flight  training enclosure! It is a huge, open-air enclosure with natural perches, a stream running through it, and 6 0r 8 huge bald eagles flying around inside. This is only one small corner:

(You can see a young eagle up on a perch way up high there.)

It was awesome to be in there with the eagles flying right over my head!

So after 2 hours of hosing down eagle poop, scrubbing and disinfecting perches, and picking up and weighing leftover salmon bits (they keep very close track of the diets of these birds)…

I got to feed the eagles!!! And what do they eat? Salmon, of course! Truly a meal fit for these regal birds.

I felt very privileged to be in the presence of these beautiful animals and to take a small part in their care and rehabilitation, let me tell you!

In fact, we all left with a warm feeling of accomplishment for a job well done!

Definitely looking forward to next week when we can do it all again!

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In Western North Carolina it was hiking boots. In Fairbanks it was insulated snow boots. In Key Largo it was flip flops (or bare feet) .

Here in Southeast Alaska , the footwear of choice is the ubiquitous brown Xtra Tuf boot. Stylish, no?

(And as for volunteering the Raptor center, I’ll have to tell you all about that later because I am so T.I.R.E.D. I will say that it was great, we all loved it, and we will be back there on a regular basis. )

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We have SO MANY good things lined up, we really can’t wait!

Today on a whim we attended the local “World of Work”  job and career fair here in Sitka and I am so glad we did! It was a really cool event for high school students to connect with folks in various fields of study and employment. JBug had a blast chatting up the Park Ranger and trying on her nifty park service hat. Superboy made some really great contacts and though he is still too young for many of the paid internship programs available, as soon as folks found out he is homeschooled he had people falling all over him to offer him opportunities to learn while volunteering!

He already has appointments to work with:

• biologists at the local fish hatchery
• archeologists and interpreters at the National Historical Park
• job shadowing with docs at the hospital, and
• working with naturalists and veterinarians at the Raptor Rehabilitation center.

In fact, we all 4 went and oriented as volunteers at the Raptor Center today, and they want us to start right away! Even JBug will have work to do!  So,  I’m sure I’ll have some exciting stuff to share after our first day volunteering with the Raptor Rehab Center tomorrow!

Stay tuned!

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Want to pack your bags something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we’ll be gone, gone
Moon and the stars will follow the car
And then when we get to the ocean
Gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

It’s so small
Till we reach the end of the world

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