Tag Archives: field trips

“Roadschooling” Around Flagstaff, Arizona

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I have dreams of being a “roadschooling” family, hopping in an RV and flitting around the country educating our children as we visit amazing places.  Alas, my husband’s job (which, thankfully, he loves) isn’t the kind that can be done remotely, so the chances of us becoming full-time roadschoolers are pretty slim.

We do the best we can, however, to take advantage of learning opportunities whenever we do manage to get away, and we recently had one of my favorite trips ever.  We were headed to Flagstaff, Arizona for a car show in which my husband’s family was participating, and we decided to take a few extra days to explore the area.  Thanks to our 4th grader, we even got into the National Parks for free!  Here are some of the places we visited during our week in Flagstaff.

Grand Canyon National Park

The one thing we knew we wanted to do as soon as we started planning this trip was visiting the Grand Canyon.  I actually decided to spend our whole year studying geology just because I knew we’d want to know what we were seeing.

So much of the information out there about the Grand Canyon tries to explain its formation from a secular worldview, and I knew that as we walked through the park, the information being thrown at the kids would similarly attempt to discuss its history without considering the Bible’s account of the early years of the earth and the catastrophic impact of the Flood of Noah’s day.  Therefore we spent some time as a family learning about what scientists with a biblical worldview say about the history of the Grand Canyon.

Here are some of the resources we used before and during our trip.

Preparation:

My husband and I also watched a few videos on our own so we could be prepared to answer some of the kids questions.  (Older kids could learn a lot from these, but I don’t think my kids could sit through them very well yet.)

Our visit

We decided to add a little extra fun to this excursion by taking the train. Grand Canyon Railway takes you 60 miles from the town of Williams (about 35 miles from Flagstaff) to the South Rim of the canyon.  The scheduled departure for the return trip left us about three and half hours to explore.  I would have liked more on my own, but that was just about the perfect amount of time for my kids.

We walked along the rim enjoying the scenic views, ate lunch at one of the lodges, then enjoyed the Native American dance presentation at Hopi House before heading back.

       

Slide Rock State Park

Okay, so this was more about fun, but the drive down to Sedona and this whole area has some amazing geological features as well.  We were there at the end of September, so the crowds were less than what I’ve heard it can be in the summer.  The water was still really cold, but we had a great time!

Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest National Park

East of Flagstaff are two great educational spots to visit.  Meteor Crater has a great visitor center to learn more about meteors in general and this site in particular.

Nearby, the Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park is like no place I’ve ever been.  It was unbelievable beautiful, and the kids could tell right away that the area was formed by volcanic activity.

Preparation:

  • Awesome Science: Explore Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest National Park (streaming or DVD)
  • study meteorites

Our visit

We did both of these in one day, but we probably could have spent the whole day driving around Petrified Forest National Park and spending time in the visitor centers.  There were several places you could stop and get out to walk around and see the petrified logs.

Montezuma Castle National Park

That 4th Grader’s National Park Pass came in handy again on the day we went to see some of the Native American ruins down south of Sedona at Montezuma Castle National Park.  The museum and trail signs gave a lot of information about the people who once lived here.  There’s also a second location that is a part of this park (Montezuma Well), but we had some little ones ready for a nap and decided to head back up to Flagstaff without stopping for that.

Walnut Canyon National Park

My husband took the older boys off to explore more Native American ruins one day while the little ones and I stayed home.  After hearing his report, I’m glad we did since he said there were a lot of stairs that wouldn’t have been fun with babies to wear or carry.  I’m glad they got to go, and this site was special because they were actually able to go into some of the ruins.

Lowell Observatory

Our trip to the Lowell Observatory one evening was the highlight of the trip for Arianna. It was my first time visiting an observatory at night, and we loved getting to look through some of their enormous telescopes to see things like the rings of Saturn, as well as listening to a presentation about the constellations visible at that time.

This is the place where Pluto was first discovered!  There is a whole room about it, which the older kids and adults found fascinating.  There is also a fabulous “SpaceGuard Academy” exhibit for kids that was a major hit with our family.  We were literally the last ones to leave the observatory when they closed that night because my children wanted to stay in that exhibit longer.

Superstition Mountain Museum

Okay, so our final stop for the week was not exactly near Flagstaff, but Ian was begging to go, so we made a little detour on the way home to visit Superstition Mountain, which is east of Phoenix.  One of his favorite books is Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach.  He has checked the audiobook out from our library multiple times, and he liked it so much he was even willing to read the second book in the series since there was no audio version available.

This little town has a fascinating history, and Ian was astounded as we went through the museum and he realized how much of those books was based on true events and real people who have lived there.  Our whole family enjoyed walking around the museum area, and I bought all three books in that series for our family library as a souvenir.  Someday I hope we can go back and spend a day on the Apache Trail, which is supposed to be a beautiful scenic drive.

And that was our week of roadschooling around Flagstaff.  If you’ve visited other great sites around Flagstaff, please share in the comments!

Posted in Parenting Resources

Ark Encounter Tour and Review

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Ark Encounter Review
Ever since I heard that there was going to be a full-size model of Noah’s Ark, I have wanted to visit.  Unfortunately it’s a couple thousand miles from where we live, so we won’t be making it out there any time soon.  My friend Keith recently took his family, and after he shared the video he made of their trip to Ark Encounter in Northern Kentucky, I asked him if I could share it.  For those of us who can’t go ourselves, he gives us a chance to get a feel for everything that’s there.

Here’s what he had to say:

If you’re curious, here’s my experience at Ark Encounter.

Most of the video is a slow walkthrough of the ark and its exhibits. I interview some other guests to get their take. My thoughts are at the end.

Rating: 7/10. Some things at the Ark Encounter could be better, especially to make it kid friendly (it’s mostly a museum for adults) — but it’s very, very cool.

They strive to be visually stunning as well as informative and meeting the challenge of skeptics. They do a much better job of the first than the second.

 

After watching Keith’s video, I’m more eager than ever to make a trip out to that part of the country and see the ark for myself!

Posted in Personal

Wrapping Up Week 3 (California Field Trip)

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We’ve barely started back to school, but we had a family wedding to attend this weekend in Northern California, so we decided to make the whole week a “field trip” to supplement our study of state history.  We read a few books beforehand to introduce topics I thought we’d have a chance to learn more about, but the whole trip ended up being more educational than I ever imagined.

Lake Tahoe

For the first part of our trip, we spent five days camping at Lake Tahoe.  Unfortunately I had some computer/printer problems right before we left, so I wasn’t able to print out the Camping Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations I planned to take to use with my little ones.  (Thankfully that’s all resolved, so they’ll probably get it next week since camping is fresh on the brain!)  I was also really disappointed that I couldn’t print out a scavenger hunt for the kids.  (There are lots of scavenger hunt lists online, but I liked this one because it was only nature items and I thought we’d be able to find most of them.)

Okay, so that’s what we DIDN’T do.  What we did do in Tahoe was having an amazing time hiking, swimming, kayaking, chopping wood, building campfires, observing insects, climbing rocks, and getting fantastically dirty.

Tahoe
One day we headed over to Virginia City, Nevada, where we had an awesome day of history lessons.  We started off taking a ride on the Virginia-Truckee Railroad, learning about the mining history of the Comstock Lode as we rode in train cars that were over 100 years old!

VTRR
Then we walked through the town and learned about the mining process and life in an old mining town.  We even got to go on a tour in an old mine.

old wagonVirginia City mine

Sacramento

In preparation for the second part of our trip, I chose to focus on three topics I knew we’d get a chance to learn more about in Sacramento: the California Gold Rush, the Pony Express, and the Transcontinental Railroad.  These three parts of history (and much more) were made more tangible for the kids as we walked the streets of Old Sacramento.

old schoolhousetelegraph

Gold Rush

So much of California’s history can be tied back to the pivotal period of the gold rush.  Sacramento grew into a town because of the masses of treasure seekers flooding into the area.  The kids learned how to pan for gold at the Sacramento History Museum, saw how gold was measured and transported at the Wells Fargo Museum, and walked along the river front where the miners stepped off the boats to seek out their fortunes.

panning for gold weighing gold
Here are other resources we used to learn about the Gold Rush:

  • By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman (The whole family listened to the recording of the book from Full Cast Audio as we drove, and it was a story even my husband and I enjoyed.)
  • Real Kids, Real Places The “Gosh Awful” Gold Rush Mystery by Carole Marsh
  • Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea by Tony Johnston (I really didn’t care for the repeated use of the word “Dang!” throughout the story, and it definitely is a “fairly fabricated story,” but it was still interesting to hear about how Levi Strauss started creating jeans.)
  • DVD Dig into History with California Jones: Gold Rush (from our local library), which unfortunately doesn’t seem to be available for purchase anywhere even though it was only made in 2009.  My kids really enjoyed this DVD and were hoping it was a whole series they could watch.  (Evidently there are two others, but our library doesn’t have them.)
  • John Sutter: California Pioneer by Chris Hayhurst
Pony Express

The Pony Express only ran for 19 months, but its importance for tying the remote state of California with the rest of the United States has given it a lasting legacy.  We saw part of the trail taken by Pony Express riders when we were on our way to Virginia City, and then we got to see where they ended their journey in Sacramento.

Pony Express exhibit Pony Express monument

Transcontinental Railroad

We saw where the western end of the Transcontinental Railroad began and learned much more about it at the California State Railroad Museum.  The museum was such a hit, we stayed for about five hours and only left because they were closing.  (I think the kids would have played at the toy train tables for at least another hour!)

Sacramento railroad California State Railroad MuseumTranscontinental Railroad
We watched two videos to learn about the Transcontinental Railroad before we went.

Finally, we visited two places that ended up adding even more to our study of California history.

Sutter’s Fort

Started back when California was a part of Mexico, Sutter’s Fort played an integral role in the development of the state.  Once the gold rush started, the city of Sacramento sprung up around the fort and it was no longer used until it was restored as a historical site.

Sutter's Fort 1 Sutter's Fort 2
We haven’t talked about the Donner Party yet, but after seeing Patty Reed’s doll (willed to Sutter’s Fort when she died out of gratitude for the part the people from the fort played in the rescue of the survivors), I’ve added the book Patty Reed’s Doll to my lesson plans for our continued study of California.

Patty Reed's doll

State Capitol

Okay, so the kids were sadly unimpressed with our visit to the beautiful State Capitol building, but I hope they learned a little bit nevertheless.  We got to peek into the chamber where the lawmakers meet together, see historically recreated rooms, talk about the different governors whose portraits line the gallery, learn a little about Ronald Reagan (who was the 33rd governor of California before becoming the 40th President), and see displays from each of the 58 counties in the state.

California State Capitol inside Capitol
Overall, we had a fantastic time on our week-long “field trip.”  The kids learned so much more than they would have by sitting in a classroom reading from a textbook!

 

Posted in Weekly Wrap Up