There are some Junior Ranger programs that can be completed at home. The Girl has been working super hard on her Web Ranger, and The Boy completed the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail program -- in fact, he's their newest Junior Ranger -- the patch just came in the mail.
We have gotten our mitts on some spelling programs that we will be hitting hard (it's actually kind of infuriating because I can ask them to spell something, and they can do so correctly, but then they start cranking out stuff like this and it's like: what? It's made me realize that we need to work on editing as much as spelling). BUT, when you list taking a chicken as a necessary item if hiking the Lewis and Clark trail (right after your asthma medication) because they can "lay eggs and eat incects"... well, then my guess is that conventional spelling doesn't play a huge role in your little world.
I read the literature about Lewis and Clark that came along in his packet: 8,000 miles? Three horrible weeks just to maneuver around some waterfalls? 28 months? Rancid food, horrible insects (Holy crap! I seriously just realized as I typed that that my kid is a freaking genius... Now, I get his answer... Chickens really are the answer... fresh eggs... eating the insects... Okay, I feel better about our future now...). Anyway, I went to an interesting discussion last week on note taking and how different types of "note taking" engage different parts of your brain, etc. So, while I was reading the literature out loud to the kiddos they "took notes" -- by drawing what they wanted.
I hate to complain about the elements right after thinking about what Sacajawea, the 16-year old, went through with that new baby... BUT, it was really cold today. Our physical education came down to us throwing a football around in the gym (Me to Judd the Red Chicken: "Never throw a ball at somebody's head." The Girl to me: "That's kind of funny, since you just hit me in the head... like two minutes ago... really hard..." Me to The Girl: "That was different. You should have caught it."). And then this:
Why, yes. Yes, those are castors for garbage cans. And yes, those castors are probably kicking up a nice little breeze full of shed skin and hair right into their faces... See, that's a gift from the public school system: once your kids have shared pencils and held hands with kids that have arrived via NYC public transportation, some things don't seem quite so gross... You know, statistically speaking, being as only one person died on the Lewis and Clark expedition, taking NYC public transportation is probably more hazardous. I'm just saying. Maybe we need to carry a chicken around...
