29 September, 2016

It is 10:40 pm and has been a long day (see below), so I am going to keep this short.

Today was exactly what we needed.

Off the top of my head I know that we talked about how predator animals are often portrayed as “bad” in cartoons and talked about why they are not actually bad at all, studied the differences in crocodiles and alligators, learned about and fed horseshoe crabs, Chase attended a short lecture on salt marsh life….and, my brain just fried because I know there was a lot more. But, long story short, there was a lot of learning that happened today.

Today we

1. Rode the 10 am ferry to Fort Fisher.
2. Spent a couple good hours at the aquarium.
3. Had a picnic under the maritime forest canopy at Fort Fisher.
4. Climbed trees.
5. Walked around the fort.
6. Played on the beach.
7. Did some school in the car.
8. Rode the 4pm ferry to Southport.
9. Eliza and I went to the last sea turtle nest excavation of the season.
10. I wish there was a 10 but there isn’t, so to make it even I will tell you that I bought fried chicken from the new Lowes for dinner and it was fantastic.

 

We won’t always be able to spend the day out of the house, but today was a good break from books and workbooks, and I KNOW the kids not only had a good time but also learned quite a bit. Tomorrow we have co-op activity and class, then I intend to expand on today by reading to the kids from our book about the salt marsh and having them draw some salt marsh art.

Fingers crossed for more good days ahead.

Oh. I remember what 10. is!

10. Took lots and lots of photos of all the fun we had.

21 September, 2016

Today was field trip day!

We took a break from school to visit Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter on Oak Island with a small group of homeschoolers from BCHAG. Ms. Mary Ellen runs a non-profit bird rehab and educational facility on the island. She and her volunteer taught the children about and introduced them to several birds, some long time residents and some just passing through, including eastern screech owls, pelicans, red tail hawks, a barred own and a raven. The children toured the examination room, the living area, the outdoor pens, and got to watch Mary Ellen feed several of the birds. They even got to pet a pelican!

One thing I love about this facility (we have met Mary Ellen several times. Chip has taken baby birds to her, and we have visited with her at Earth Day and Bartrum Day celebrations, but this was our first time visiting her at her own center) is that Mary Ellen’s passion is clear and she doesn’t dumb anything down for the children. She has to do a certain number of educational events each year to be able to keep unreleasable wild birds long term as opposed to euthanizing them. She is clear about that with the children, clear about what happens when birds get tangled in fishing equipment or are fed at piers and restaurants and become dependent upon people. She is clear about what they eat (many eat dead mice or chicks) and allows the kids to be hands on yet respectful with the birds.

I also love the old school Wesley Woods vibe I get from Sea Biscuit (for those of you who don’t know, I worked at an environmental education camp for four summers after attending as a camper for seven years.)

We decided to take the rest of the day off from school, and picked up lunch on our way to the park. The kids got some good play time in, there is frozen yogurt in our future, and Chase and I will read at some point before the day is over.

We are all a fan of field trip days.