Fishy...Fishy where are you??

This week we started off with a field trip, I don't know about my fellow homeschool friends but I love field trips, something about getting out in your community, meeting new people, watching others in their occupations, learning with a hands on approach, being involved... it fills me with joy. 

I see so much opportunity to teach when we are out in a new atmosphere, it's all new and exciting. This week we drove to the little town of Clearwater to visit their local fish hatchery. 
We went on a tour of the facility, learnt about the three different species of fish they had at their hatchery, rainbow and brook trout plus Kokanee salmon. 

We saw pictures of the eggs and we were taught of the process that it takes to reproduce these little fish from live eggs. We saw how they feed them, how they knocked them out for tagging, how they are weighed and where the fish are kept. 

I planned this tour to coincide with the stocking of a local lake near our home town. At the end of our week we got a call to meet the guides and we watch them unload 30,000 brook trout into this lake in a mere few minutes. 

The boys "saved" some fish that were stuck on the shore, watched them settle in, helped check the PH and temp of the water and also saw two loons fill their bellies with the fish 
:( 

These experiences take time, flexibility, dedication and I hope I will be able to always see the benefits in giving my children new things to see and experiences to grow in. 

The second exciting thing we did this week was Mr. I started baseball, a new adventure for him. He's learning some valuable lessons with his Dad being the coach! 
We look forward to the new schedule and hustle and bustle of this baseball season.  

We have been working on our language arts program learning lots of consonant blends, practicing long and short vowel sounds as well as reading short stories. 

As for homeschool co-op, we are without a doubt enjoying it. It's tiring to be around that many people when your not use to it and it makes me appreciate our little school that we do at home so much, yet it adds to our experience as homeschooler's. Meeting, interacting, learning with like minded people is encouraging and helpful. 

The last but not least activity or thing I would like share of our week was the Young People Concert/show we attended this week at a local theatre. The show was marvelous, John Kaplan the Magician/illusionist from Vancouver. It opened my son's eyes up to the world of magic! What fun, stimulating possibilities that I get to watch him enjoying! 

I guess this week has brought me back to realize the reasons I choose to homeschool this year. I get to watch my children grow up (slowly), I get to experience different things with them that only grow our relationship, I get to show them things I want them to learn and then show them what I don't want them to learn as well. I get to hand pick what we do and what influences them, what weaves into their character and souls. 
I have some new obstacles ahead with a new little baby coming but I do hope this upcoming year can be similar to our last with greater memories! 

Man, I LOVE this dude!!