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WINTER 2018
HOMESCHOOL IOWA 23
I enjoyed watching my son and his father experience
wilderness as much as they enjoyed seeing their first bear in
Yellowstone National Park. We planned for extra stops. And
this ‘bear’ sighting was worth every moment.
aware, all the educational presentations use evolution descrip-
tions and not creation-based references in educational talks.
Traveling through the park, we rerouted for long road con-
struction delays due to weeks of late snow and rains. Planning
for unexpected weather, roads, and animals is helpful, and you’ll
enjoy the trip more. We had some lovely talks with other travel-
ers stuck at construction sites.
Print maps and download apps offered by Yellowstone. With
no GPS available, you’ll want a printed or saved map available.
The value of field trip homeschooling cannot simply be mea-
sured by a test score. Watching our son experience wildlife
through the binoculars and read books for hours as we traveled
gives me confidence to say it was well worth the planning and
research to provide this foundation for him at home. Get out
there and plan a field trip with your students!
Laura Carlson is an Iowa born, raised, and educated writer living in central
Iowa. She is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked as a dish-
washer, website developer, and addictions therapist. Her motto is “Life: Live It.”
This missile site is not well-known, but is directly on the way
along Interstate 90 into Wall Drug. If you are traveling this
way, we recommend stopping for the movie and museum. Ben
spent a year studying the Cold War years. And as a future
historian, this was a stop he was excited to visit.
Balancing a teenager’s day includes permitting time to include
shopping for books and games he is interested in. The missile
site was a highlight for Ben’s trip.