Saturday, January 12, 2008

The Northwest Passage

We had some really heavy rains that left us with awesome run-off streams, waterfalls, and pools. The kids decided to check it out and have some fun in the woods. A couple of hours after they took off, Sophie called me on her cell phone. She asked me if I could bring a plastic container because Alex had found a crayfish he wanted to bring home.

When I brought the container, Sophie informed me that she was Sacajawea, Ella was Kaya, Alex was Lewis, and Max was Clark. She said they had discovered the Pacific Ocean. How cool is that? Funny how we have never studied this topic, done a unit on it, or any other such stuff. They just knew this information through following their passions, living life, having fun.

They ended up bringing the crayfish home and worked together to create a habitat. Sophie immediately looked up what crayfish eat so they could get it some food. Today, they decided to put the crayfish back in the stream where they found it. They figured it was too much of a hassle to keep it fed, and they felt a bit of a responsibility since they took it out of it's natural habitat.

John went down with them so they could show him where they had been exploring. On the way out the door, he asked the kids how they knew all that stuff about Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea. Sophie said she just knew. Alex said he remembered the Simpsons episode highlighting Lewis and Clark's adventures. Following their passions, living their lives, having fun...and learning all the time!

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