Here I sit...

...in my too warm house wishing it was cooler so I could do more with the kiddos. I decided to take July off of HSing (probably August too) because it's just too damn hot in my non-air conditioned house. Oh how I hate summer :/

Now, does that mean they haven't learned anything? Of course! Ha, got you! Nah, they learn all the time. They've had swimming lessons, soccer 3x3 league, one play down, another play in progress, a multitude of library programs, reading, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, watching educational shows (latest one being something about crocodiles), and more.

Not to mention the week long trip to Wyoming and South Dakota where they got to camp and visit Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, Custer Park, Minuteman Missile Site, the Badlands and the Mammoth Site. I think they managed to collect 5 Junior Ranger badges each over the course of that week.

OMB, can I just bitch a bit about the Junior Ranger program. Overall, I like it. It gets the kids doing some thinking while they are out and about. Nature and the environment are very important to us and in general. But for heaven's sake, every stinking JR is different. For this one, ages x&y do these pages and ages a&b do these plus 3 other things. Another one is do as much as you can. Another is do 5 pages and 1 ranger talk. Another is do 8 pages and a ranger led activity and a video. I get that not everyone has the same resources, but can we make a general framework? Like x number of things from list A and x number of things from list B.

And why, Bob why, do we have to have useless workbook pages? My kids are homeschooled. We don't do busy work. These worksheets are busy work at its finest. A word find. A fill in the blank. Match this to that. Unscramble these words. Sometimes there is a draw a picture of something that appeals to you in the park - hooray! But mostly it's tedious and they don't learn a thing from it because it's a "get it done" activity. Thank goodness for the Ranger talks and activities - those are so very worthwhile.