Home On The Range

What a glorious weekend!  We had gorgeous weather and were able to do two Walktober activities.  Saturday we did a treasure hunt walk at Dunhamtown forest.  We looked for items that were hidden and did a nature hunt, all through the forest.  It was a perfect day for this.  Sunday the kiddos stayed with my parents while we went with friends to our annual wine tasting excursion.  We spent a lot of time outside and had a wonderful time.  Today we went to Creamery Brook Bison farm to do a walk.  The kids learned all about Bison or American Buffalo and ate some bison chili for lunch.  For dinner we made bison osso bucco, or buffalo shanks cooked with onion, garlic, tomato, carrots and celery served over mushroom risotto.  The kids love bison, which makes me happy since it is low fat and practically cholesterol free.  Since this week is the letter B, in depth, our animal of the week is the buffalo.  We are going to do the color orange, the square for our shape, and pumpkins since it is seasonally appropriate. 

CJ and Eliza were able to tell me that the buffalo were herbivore, quadruped mammals.  Just by being given some information on their diet and by watching them.  Kids love to sort things, even every bit of information they get.  I think it is important to give them the proper labels for the things they sort.  There were some families on the walk that were really dumbing things down for their 8 year olds, who should be able to handle the information easily.  That drives me up a wall.  Kids are way smarter than people give them credit for.  They understand so much, and yet people think they should not use appropriate wordage for things.  I don't get it.  That is my rant for the day.  Don't think your kids are stupid people!!! 

Moving on, the farm was great.  Not only do they have bison, they also have cows, emus, peacocks, chickens, and a small wildflower maze for the kids.  We had such a great time and took some excellent pictures.  I must say that I really love field trips.  It is a great way for us to have some quality family time that extends the kids' education as well as getting us all outdoors.  Next week I think on the 20th there is a Walktober to an alpaca farm, so I think I till take the three kids on it, since we weren't able to see them last week.  What a great resource.  I am so excited to continue this homeschooling adventure.  Letter B here we come!