Google The Unplanned Homeschooler: adventure
Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Homeschooling is the best!



I've shared before that I was a wildlife biologist back before, you know, I chucked all that aside to be a full-time mom and the Unplanned Homeschooler. Well, a post I saw today in one of my favorite Facebook groups really caught my eye.

Fellow homeschooler, Kara Alysce, shared photos she'd taken when she and her daughters went for a walk and happened upon one of the most awesome unplanned learning adventures I have seen in a while.

Kara and her girls happened across this gorgeous turtle. And guess what she was doing...


Laying her eggs! Look closely and you can see one of the eggs about to emerge from the cloaca.



And here's the best part. Kara didn't stop with just observing the turtle. She called a Turtle Rescue hotline to learn more, and shared that information with her girls and with all of the homeschoolers on the Facebook group!

Here is the post she wrote, shared with permission...

  • The girls and I went for a walk and we found this Mama Turtle laying her eggs! Homeschool is the freaking best! We learned that these Painted Turtles are on their own from now on. The Mama takes off and the father(s) only serve one purpose. His sperm can stay inside her for 5 years and each baby could have a different father! They will hatch under ground in 60-90 days. When they hatch, they will stay under ground all Winter. They freeze! Their hearts stop beating and freeze and when Spring comes, their hearts start beating again and they thaw. They come out of a hole the size of thumb and go on their way. Incredible.


Homeschooling really IS the best! Keep having those unplanned learning adventures, everyone!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Another unplanned adventure: New glasses!

Life is one big unplanned adventure, isn't it? At least, it seems that way raising three kids. Today's adventure took us to the eye doctor, where my youngest was prescribed her first pair of glasses.


My older daughter had been having some trouble with her distance vision for a while. We first noticed it in the late fall, but since she was in the middle of a rapid growth spurt, we put off her eye exam until the spring. After all, we're homeschoolers. It's not like we can't get her a seat closer to the whiteboard.

Puberty is a time of big physiological changes, and as your head changes shape, so can your eyes. Lots of kids experience vision changes in puberty, and their prescription can change rapidly as they grow. But after a few months of weed-like growth, my daughter's spurt seemed to stabilize, so we got her appointment scheduled with the eye doctor, where she was prescribed glasses of her own.


She was very happy with her new glasses, of course, because now she can see again! My son and younger daughter's eye appointments were scheduled for a bit later, because the office was very busy, but I figured that was okay, since they weren't showing any signs of problems.

Imagine my surprise when it turned out my 6-year-old could see well, but only with her left eye. Her right eye, according to the doctor, is lagging a bit behind in development, so she'll need glasses for at least the next year to help out. The doctor said this is a problem not uncommon to preemies who were born small like she was.

So, back we'll go to pick up glasses for her in a few days. They're pink. And sparkly. And, although unplanned, they're going to be totally cute!