Unassuming. Intimate. Incredible. Those words barely begin to describe Safari West. (Click on any of the photos to see them in a larger format.) We went up on Friday to spend the night in a canvas tent cabin and then join a Girl Scout tour in the morning. Located just above Santa Rosa (it was… More Safari West: Best Animal Experience Ever

(This is part two of two on our trip to Gold Country.)We arrived at Columbia State Park just as the sun was setting. We quickly found our Bed and Breakfast, The Harlan House, which was more than adorable. We had the “wine cellar” which means we had a lot of space, the whole downstairs and… More Gold Rush Continues: Columbia State Park Takes Us Back in Time

(This is part one of two on our trip to Gold Country.) Living in California rocks. Um, hard rocks. Like in hard rock mining?!? Katie didn’t get much Gold Rush education in fourth grade (I am sure it was too taxing for her poor teacher). So I wanted to pick it up as part of… More Bringing the Gold Rush to Life: Hard Rock Mining and More!

If you grow up in Santa Cruz County it’s inevitable you will end up going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium every year for a field trip. So of course we went on a field trip with Ocean – our home school team. We went on Monday and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We got to… More Great Field Trip: Monterey Bay Aquarium Welcomes Homeschoolers

At one of the first parent support groups, one of the things the experienced parents talked about was giving Katie time to “de-program” from her experiences at public school. I had no idea what they meant but I listened and watched because I figured they knew what they were talking about. Turns out, they were… More Public School “Deprogramming”: I Think We Did It!

We have the coolest place in Santa Cruz – it’s called Roaring Camp and they have old steam engine trains that take trips through the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains. And on Halloween, they have the ghost train based on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. So, of course, I had to do it… More Halloween Homeschool! The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Trains!

We are always looking for interesting ways to tie-things together so Katie can engage with a subject in different ways. With the release of Amelia, the movie, we decided to dive into Amelia Earhart. On Sunday, we took our friend Sandra to the movie with us. Although it was a little long, we really enjoyed… More Bringing Amelia Earhart Back to Life

A couple of weeks ago Katie came home all excited because she found out she could bring one of her pets to share at school. This would be the end of one of the “inquiry days” and all she has to do was sign up to introduce one of her pets to the class. And… More Show and Tell: Home School Style (this would never happen in public school!)

We took two friends to lunch today downtown to the Saturn Cafe. It’s uber Santa Cruzy – a vegetarian restaurant (I know! I eat there!) with the best FLT (that fake bacon) and grilled cheese in the world. And fat fries. Yum. Anyway, we come outside to see another uber Santa Cruz moment – the… More Hot Dog! The Kid’s a Grass Roots Activist! It’s all about 350!

I was born independent. My mom will swear to it. It was nature not nurture (I am sure my mom would have paid good money to get me to stop at many points during my life). Starting in third grade, I had a run-in with every principal of every school I attended.Interesting story – in… More Independence, Values and Helping Our Kids Find Their Way