Open mouth, insert foot...

[James86004]

Like many students in the Tucson area, my 9-year-old daughter has a week long Fall Break. We took advantage to take a trip up to the Four Corners area.

We like to make our trips educational, so we visited 6 NPS sites and she earned her Junior Ranger Badge at each one. She worked hardest on the one at Chaco Canyon. She read the information pamphlet at each ruin then proceeded to be our tour guide.

With this background, we were a little bit irritated when an older couple started berating us at Aztec Ruins. They asked if she was learning enough to justify taking her out of school. It took us a little time to come to our senses, but we told them it was fall break. "Fall Break?! School just started!". Actually, her school started 4 August, so she has been in for two months.

You should have seen how red their faces got, and, with a mumbled apology, they left us in peace.

She is already working on her post of this trip for the Rover Diva blog, so look for it in a week or so.

Here she is showing off all her badges:

[LaOutbackTrail]

Pretty darn cool James! Way to go.

[Mc Taco]

D'oh. I have often looked back at my elementary school days and thought that a long absence spent traveling would have been more productive. We did some silly things in school as I recall. Good for you for using time off wisely.

[kjp1969]

Great trip, and with participation from the younguns its all the better.

(And cranky old people should mind their own beeswax.:mad:)

[iigs]

It took us a little time to come to our senses, but we told them it was fall break. "Fall Break?! School just started!". Actually, her school started 4 August, so she has been in for two months.

You should have seen how red their faces got, and, with a mumbled apology, they left us in peace.

What a mind-blowing experience. Kids seem to get shorter summers and a lot more breaks than we did 20 years ago, but October is well into the year, school didn't "just start".

I can understand (but don't agree with) someone getting on your case if you were at the grocery store or at Blockbuster, but at a national/state park? Sure sounds like neglectful parent of the year award to me! I bet you only feed your kid Cheetos and let them watch TV all day! :rolleyes:

As someone that was homeschooled for the second half of my education, I would have been pretty offended, and would have probably had to guard my actions carefully around my children.

[Monkeyboy]

We did some silly things in school as I recall. Good for you for using time off wisely.

Yup, we hid from nuclear attack under our desks :yikes:

Excellent work on the Jr Ranger badges!

[Zelix]

Yup, we hid from nuclear attack under our desks :yikes:

Excellent work on the Jr Ranger badges!

LoL... We did the nuke drills also. I remember doing the tornado drills in Oklahoma.

I'm so glad I clicked on this thread. I didn't know there was a Jr Ranger program. I'm researching now. My daughter would love it I think. :sombrero:

[James86004]

I'm so glad I clicked on this thread. I didn't know there was a Jr Ranger program. I'm researching now. My daughter would love it I think. :sombrero:

I don't think they existed when I was a kid. When she was 4, we were in the visitor center at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP and a ranger askied if she would like to become a Jr Ranger. It was all over after that. The programs are typically better at the smaller places - at Yosemite they make you jump through all sorts of ridiculous hoops, then basically hand you the badge over the counter and say congratulations. At El Malpais NM, the rangers put on their hats, brought everyone outside the visitor center to the sign out front, and at made a big deal out of her earning her badge and giving her the Jr Ranger Oath.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48036&stc=1&d=1287503371

The Arizona State Parks also have a program (the one at Tombstone Courthouse is particularly good) and now the Forest Service is getting in on it, too. The Taylor Creek Visitor Center at Lake Tahoe started one last year.

[LaOutbackTrail]

I like what you are doing with your kid- something I hope to continue also. I like seeing kids NOT become nature-deficient.

[Willman]

Way to go!

Very cool!

:)

[F5driver]

We went to The Petrified Forest, Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods and Naurual Bridges National Monument during fall break this year. It's a great time to road trip in the southwest.

[photoman]

The Jr Ranger program is great and I recommend it to everyone I know going to National Parks/Monuments.

My son got hooked on them a few years ago. He has the Official Ranger Hat full of pins and a stack of badges. Also agree that the smaller the park/monument the more the rangers are into it.


Great stuff! :victory:

[dport]

Def. a foot in mouth moment. Sounds like she is a great kid, and will be an even greater adult. BTW, even if you had taken her out of school for the trip, she would probably would have learned more at the park. :sombrero:

[James86004]

BTW, even if you had taken her out of school for the trip, she would probably would have learned more at the park. :sombrero:

That is what my wife says, and she used to be a school teacher.

[bcrez]

Awesome trip. I wish I could have done that at her age. Chaco Canyon is an amazing place, but too many people sometimes.

[racingjason]

The purpose of formal schooling is to supplement one's education in the world (as your daughter is proving very well). If the education is not applied in some meaningful way, what is its purpose? I applaud your restraint in dealing with that meddling couple, I may have been rather blunt in my response. My father often used to pull me out of school to go drag racing (on the surface an even less academic endevour). I would load the truck up with my books and off we would go. I learned more on those trips than I ever did board out of my mind in a classroom. That informal education has eventually led to an undergraduate and then a Masters degree in Engineering from a couple of very good schools. So in summary, even a bit of hooky can be a good thing! (Though I hear the attendance rules at Arizona schools can be a bit draconian).

[LACamper]

Good Job!

And here I am thinking your daughter said something embarrasing. LIke mine did a few years back...
I found a bunch of old burned CD's that I had backed up. My daughter at about age 5 had never paid any attention to what I had on the radio on the way to school. I came across 'March of Cambreath' by Heather Alexander (if you don't know it you're missing something important- go pull it up on Youtube now!).
Anyway, we pulled up in front of school, she hopped out and started singing out loud 'Kill the basterds! Kill the Basterds!' in front of half the faculty...
NOW that was embarrasing!

[nwoods]

At El Malpais NM, the rangers put on their hats, brought everyone outside the visitor center to the sign out front, and at made a big deal out of her earning her badge and giving her the Jr Ranger Oath.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48036&stc=1&d=1287503371

.

What an awesome photo!

[Airmonger]

I wonder why people cant just stuff a sock in it. I blame the internet. Anyway sounds like a cool program and way to go on the badges.

[jay3253]

Way to go but I wonder what they would have said if you had told them you home schooled. They probably would have exploded.

[Riptide]

My kid loves the Jr Ranger program. We seek them out whenever we can; the rangers we've encountered have really made it alot of fun for her. My kid takes the oath pretty seriously, and we really trump it up so she feels a sense of accomplishment. We have her badges and pins in a prominent place in the camper; she's always pointing them out to people, and rattles off the stuff she learned in the process. It impresses the heck out of me what she's retained...

I want her to have sense of ownership in the Park system, and this country in general. So far, it's working pretty well.

[xpdishn]

Great thread. It's very enjoyable to read about responsible parents. Very cool.

[Honu]

very cool did not know about the junior ranger thing :)

[camit34]

Awesome...!!!

[Nullifier]

Great job but I would not have been able to contain myself. 2 weeks ago my mother and sister in law took our daughter up to Georgia. We started getting text messages from my wifes cousins lecturing us on why we need to have out 16 month old face forward in her car seat. Finally I got on the phone, texted and said don't ever call or text us with parenting advise. We will make the safety decisions for our children that we see fit. If you want your kids forward facing great go for it, other wise but out.

Now if was letting my 16 month old play in the street, or you had you had yours at a casino for the day learning to deal cards, sure. But who are these people that think they can but into your kids safety educational experience. Fact is the kid probably learned more that day then in "school". Sorry, I have issues end of rant.

[SChandler]

I can think of two or three times during school that my parents took my sister and I on adventures that kept us out of school for a week or more. One was a trip from Oregon to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, back through the lava fields in Montana, then home. We missed the first week of class the year I entered 5th grade and my sister entered 3rd. My parents arranged ahead of time for our teachers to give us homework for that week and we were required to keep a journal of what we saw and did each day. When we got back home, we gave a report to our respective classes regarding our trip. A learning experience for all involved and no harm done to our education. Another trip was done over Spring Break and the following week. Again, parents arranged for homework so that we wouldn't be behind when we got back and my love of engineering was given a big boost. That trip involved the London Bridge, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, and Bryce Canyon. We loved those trips, did our homework every night by lantern, and had amazing places to tell our classmates about.

Missing school doesn't mean the learning stops.

[chirigringo]

A few years ago when my son was about 2 we drove Wheeler Lake trail in our old 4Runner (with a group). At the top there was an older couple who had hiked up. When they saw our son and a couple other kids in the group, the wife turned to my wife and said "I would disown my daughter-in-law if I found out she was taking my grandchild on a trail like this." We were so stunned all we could do was pretend to ignore her. It was one of those "I should have said ______" moments.
Yellowstone also has a great Junior Ranger program that the rangers really get into. They made an announcement in the ranger station when they awarded my son's badge. He got a little embarrassed but it's good for him.
-Michael

[61rover]

I took my son out of school for the Land Rover National Rally last month. We had a blast and he learned 1,000 more than he missed in class.

[BajaBus]

I'm a little late to the party but you should feel proud for the restraint you showed. My middle fingers would have been creeping up I'm afraid.

Our kids have been home-schooled for the last three years. When my oldest daughter was twelve she had a 14 yr old boy in class who every single day sexually harassed her until she finally told us and our eyes were opened to just how bad things are in Calif. public schools. The teacher and principals both told us to get over it. So we did. She never went back.

We always hear the "But what about social interaction with other kids?" Our response is "They get more quality social interaction than any other kids we know." We basically can't go out in public without being told that our kids are the happiest, most well-behaved and well-adjusted kids around. How many kids do you know who do their schoolwork from beaches in Baja or the Yucatan or the Caribbean?

Keep doing a great job with your little gal, James and take care of her! She's a jewel! :sombrero: