Road Scholars

We finally hit the road on our long awaited RV / camping trip around the US and are now across the Mississippi, a 6 day journey so far as the Appalachians slowly unfurl into the prairies of the Midwest.

Juni adds Ohio.

    

Last night in Missouri we had a torrential downpour with flash flood warnings that lasted all night but at least we only sprang two minor leaks.  The leaks are patched up, the food and beer supplies are replenished and we are fueled up on Kansas City style ribs here in Topeka, ready for our last leg across the Prairie.  

Yesterday we were in the town of Hanibal, Missouri, the childhood home of Mark Twain and the inspiration for his Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn books. We intended to relive a childhood memory of mine, taking a paddleboat down the Mississippi, but it was a dreary rainy day so we decided to skip the boat ride.

Whitewashing

Instead, we visited the Mark Twain homestead, a highlight in a somewhat dismal town, then went straight to the Mark Twain Caverns where we were camped.  The cavern tour interwove the scenes of Tom Sawyer with the walk which suitably freaked out Emily during the scary parts, especially when the guide turned all the lights out.

We are really enjoying the freedom of having no particular place to be, stopping when we feel like it, camping on the fly and extending our stay when we like a place.  The 'flat' part of this trip has been the biggest surprise.  Originally thinking of the Midwest as something to be 'gotten through' on our way to the Rockies, we've lingered longer than planned as we've discovered interesting places.

Exploring the Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Greenfield, Indiana, where we camped for two nights, has a well-preserved, thriving downtown where Juni got quite possibly the largest kids breakfast I've ever seen, misleadingly called the "Little Lincoln".

 Nearby is the Conner Prairie Museum, the best place you've never heard of, and definitely the best interactive history exhibit I've ever seen.  It spanned the time when Indiana was still a frontier, pre-statehood, focusing on both the Native Americans and the settlers.  Outside, the children could pick a job from that time, then go around the town performing tasks.

Making beds, prairie style

Inside the museum, the kids could do engineering projects around Indiana industry, to include building several types of windmills.  I'd definitely visit this museum the next time we are in the area.

Springfield, Illinois, another two night stop was just as interesting.  The kids earned their first National Park Junior Ranger badge at the Lincoln Homestead, complete with pledge.

Juni takes his oath.

The Lincoln Presidential Museum did an excellent job presenting the full life of Abraham Lincoln and the country during the time of slavery and the Civil War, in a way that was accessible to both adults and kids.

When we're not out and about, the kids love riding their bikes around the campground and trying out all the different playgrounds (so far Wolfies Campground in Ohio is their favorite with it's huge pirate ship playground).

Wolfies Campground

Road Schooling is going well. In addition to museums, the kids write in their travel journals daily (their 'morning work'), then, depending on the day's plans, we do 'bookwork' at the campground (3Rs) followed by whatever field trip is on the agenda.

Schooltime

  If it's a driving day, they do Math drills in the car on the iPads, then listen to an audio book (biographies of historical figures on our route), then watch and discuss a science video.  By lunchtime, we are finished with the 'structured schooling' portion of the day but not with the invaluable learning they get just from being free to explore.

Tomorrow is our last haul across Kansas then  onwards to the Rockies.  Fingers crossed Tornado Alley stays quiet....
 

Meet the Lincolns

Junior Rangers

I was recently reading about an initiative called "Every Kid in a Park" which hopes to get all 4th graders and their families free admission to National Parks across the US.  This got me thinking about what a terrific resource our parks are: for playing, discovering and learning. 
 

The first badge of many.

We visited many National and State parks on our cross-country camping odyssey across the USA.  Knowing that we would be roadschooling, a friend had tipped me off prior to our departure about the Junior Rangers programs.  As we came to discover, the Junior Rangers programs are offered not only by National Parks and Monuments but also by many State Parks.

 The programs are mainly geared towards 5-13 year olds, sliced by age group, essentially teaching them about the history, the wildlife and natural resources specific to the place you are visiting.  Typically they complete an activity book , (which requires them to thoroughly explore the park and not just the visitors center) attend a Ranger led program and pick up trash.  When the kids are finished, they take the packet back to the visitors center, where the ranger reviews it, discusses anything they got wrong, swears them in and gives them a badge.


Michael gets sworn in at the Lincoln Home Monument

The kids loved collecting the Junior Ranger badges and, most of the time, loved doing the activities - although we did have a tense moment when the kids had to write quinzaine poems about the Grand Canyon as we admired it...sort of sullied the view.

Generally the programs were pretty comprehensive, not just a walk in the park so to speak, one or two were a brief scavenger hunt, but most were extensive.  Bryce Canyon's Ranger Program in particular actually took the kids two days to complete. 

Some of my favorite Junior Ranger programs were:
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT. (indepth study of the regions geology)
Bandelier National Monument, NM. (very focused on the Ancestral Puebloans and their way of life)
Great Sand Dunes National Park CO. (interactive lecture on the formation of the dunes)
Kodachrome Basin State Park, UT. (Alright, this was one of the easy booklets but the Park's nature walk was amazing so I have to give it a shout out)

By the end of our camping trip the kids shirts were jangling with badges, they'd gained a lot of new knowledge, and the patches will be wonderful mementos of our journey - just as soon as I sew them on!

Working in 'the field':


Arches NP

Mesa Verde NP

Bryce again 



Bryce Canyon NP
 

 

The swearing in ceremonies: