Let me start my inaugural blog post with a disclaimer...I am not the writer in the family. Devin (a former journalist and journalism teacher) has always been a gifted writer. I think the girls take after their daddy because, as they were writing their first blog posts, Gracie was talking about how writers use humor and Claire was making sure to include "juicy words" in her writing. I'll try to take some tips from my family of writers, but I'll be honest...I'm a little intimidated having my writing appear next to theirs!
As I'm sure you've read, our family has just returned from our vacation to South Dakota. One of my favorite things about vacations is that they open the door to so many new experiences. The world is a classroom, filled with endless things we can learn from and passions waiting to be discovered. Before this trip; burro, buffalo, prairie dog and cave were all just words-pictures in a book or an image on TV to my children. Now they are something they have experienced first hand.
Not only have they now seen a prairie dog, but they know what it eats and the sound it makes. They've observed buffalo interacting with one another. They've seen the total blackness that can only be found deep within a cave. They are able to compare the begging burros of Custer State Park to our own begging pets at home.
After visiting Mt. Rushmore and listening to Pink's "Dear Mr. President" on the radio, Gracie began asking lots of great questions about the presidents and political parties. She decided that she wants to learn more about George Washington and George W. Bush. She is anxious to get back to school to see if her teacher has some books that might help her out. Her inquiry started outside of the classroom walls, but her passion for the topic will bring it back to school.
The vacation is over, but we've got 6 more weeks of summer left...let the learning continue!
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| Prairie dogs make a high pitched squeak if you get too close! |
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| Although the Badlands look hard as a rock, they are actually made of soft dirt, rock and clay and erode at the rate of an inch a year. They will be completely gone in 500,000 years! |
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| We learned that these burros aren't a bit afraid of people and have learned to rely on them as a food source |
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| Buffalo herd |
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| First time tubing for the girls- Sheridan Lake |
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