Virtual Field Trips - Meet Me At the Corner

Looking for virtual field trips? Meet Me At the Corner is a fun website which focuses on sharing short, educational videos which get kids thinking about a wide variety of topics.

I've been receiving the Meet Me At the Corner virtual field trips newsletter for several months now and I've been really impressed with the range of topics. Recent topics include:

• Canine Companions for Independence
• Falconry at the United States Air Force Academy
• An American Cowboy Interview
• Homing Pigeons

These all sound great to me. It's too bad that my computer is not letting me view the videos - hopefully you'll have better luck. Upcoming topics sound great too and include: Cable Cars; The History of Chemistry; and Wolf Rescue.

As well as the videos, Meet Me At the Corner provides related websites, quizzes, and reading suggestions to accompany the virtual field trips. You can also submit your own field trips to share with other homeschooling families and there are lessons on how to make a podcast.

Do you have another virtual field trip site to share? What do you think about virtual field trips compared to live field trips?

Learning Links

Web page tabs are stacking up fast again and it's time to share learning links. Here are some great links that are laying around unused by me and you might as well have them :-)

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a vast collection of information on their website. Your family might like to join in with Project Feederwatch. Check out their wonderful Homeschoolers Guide to Project Feederwatch. I love our little feathered friends; anyone else wish they could fly?
• My bloggy friend Janet at Adventures in the 32-Aker Wood pointed me to I Love Mountains. Janet lives right next to a place where a mountain top is being removed for coal mining. Understandably she has had quite a lot to say about this recently. I'm still trying to process all of it. The I Love Mountains website allows you to track companies who are cutting off mountain tops and see whether the coal from these mines is being used by your local electricity supplier. Personally I do love mountains and I'd like to do something to help... still thinking about what that should be.
• If you want to find bloggers who live close to you, http://feedjit.com/ is a great resource. I guess they know from your ISP address where you are located and they serve you up local blogs with the highest rated at the top. What a useful little tool if you want to locate others nearby who share your interests.
• Watch out for the computer virus that comes in an e-mail and pretends to be UPS or FedEx trying to deliver a package to you. Read about the UPS/FedEx Delivery Failure Virus at Snopes.com. Actually my computer virus checker detected this on an e-mail I received this morning. If you've not received it yet it's likely only a matter of time!
• A week or so ago I somehow managed to discover something called Reborn Baby Dolls. These are baby dolls that ladies spend hours hand painting and crafting so that they are VERY realistic baby look-alikes. Although some of them are almost freaky, I can't help but admire the craftsmanship and patience that goes into these. Not only does the skin look very realistic, but they are weighted to resemble real newborn babies. You can read about reborn baby dolls and there are plenty of websites to browse, including DollsRealistic.com, WhoopsyDaisyBabies, and ButterflyBabiesbyBecky. If you were just wondering what to do with your spare time, take a little crawl around these sites, or look on e-bay for reborn dolls. Let me know what you think.

Brought to you by UsborneKC.com - meeting your Usborne Books needs in Kansas City and beyond (Johnson County, Kansas; Wichita, Kansas; Independence, Lee's Summit, North and South Kansas City, Pleasant Valley and Liberty, Missouri; Virginia and New Jersey).

My Family and Other Animals

My Family and Other Animals
I've never met a more eccentric homeschooling family than Gerald Durrell's. Many homeschool families have one or two pets, a few have lots of animals, but I dare say I'll never meet a family with as many animals as Gerald Durrell ended up with. Unless of course you know better. Go on, I dare you to let me know all about your menagerie. Or what about the special pets you had growing up?

As a teen I dreamed of the freedom Gerald Durrell had as he ran wild on the island of Corfu, filled his home with nature, and shocked his family with great frequency. I felt dejected with him when he was given a stuffy tutor, rejoiced with him when he escaped, and most of all laughed with him at all his family's antics. I rescued baby birds from our cat and raised them (with mixed success). I took my dog everywhere with me, except for school, where of course she was not allowed. At one time or another I've kept every category of pet that appears in my poll list, apart from large animals.

I wanted my kids to grow up with pets. When Game Boy was 3 years old we brought two rescue cats into our lives. Being the disorganized person that I am, I can't find a photo of Big Cat to share. Let's say he looks like Dewey over there on the left, except he's tabby, not orange. Big Cat and Princess Kitty are still with us 9 years later. We've had our ups and downs with them. I thought maybe two cats would be enough to satisfy us, but I was wrong. Current pet list: Big Cat, Princess Kitty, Goldie, Sweetie Girl and Huffy Girl, The Hissers, and 4 minnows rescued from being live bait.

What animals do you share your home with? One cat, two dogs, a flock of birds, a hamster, a tarantula, caterpillars and spiders? I want to hear. Have you blogged about the animals that share your life? What part do your animals play in your homeschooling? What lessons have you learned from them? I'd like to link to you. Leave me the keyword/s to search your blog and find what you've written and complete my poll if you're so inclined. Will dogs or cats win? Or are homeschoolers into exotics or furries?

Readers who shared about their pets:

• springtreeroad who homeschools with cats and rabbits (wild) - link 1, link 2, link 3.
• jugglingpaynes has cats and includes cats on her fun homeschool comic strip - read about her cats.
  
• Who We Are......... shares her homeschool family life with cats Precious and Smudge, Toasty the budgie, and 2 fish. Her hubby does not like cats.
• Wendy has 5 cats inside and one outside. At her blog she shares the story of Pepper's first litter.
• Deborah has a dog and a guinea pig.
• Scrappymom and Family! has a lonely zebra finch named Spot!
• Randi has a dog, a cat and a teen daughter who sounds like Artist Girl - she can't wait to get her own house and fill it with animals!
  

Handyman Hubby is just growing into liking our cats after 9 years! He really feels bad for them when they get sick, which has happened more than I'd care for. And I thought moggy cats would be healthier!