Clips

When the winter winds are howling, your lips and fingers have turned blue and the mucus in your nose starts to freeze, it’s time to head inside. Sometime this winter every family needs an indoor activity day that gets them out of the house.

Museum of the Rockies has something to interest every age and enough variety to keep you busy for most of a day. Before you go, log onto their website for games and activities that will fuel your children’s excitement for a visit to the museum. To help kids get more out of their museum experience, I like to peruse the website and make a list of things we will see. The list can be used for a scavenger hunt during the visit.

Start the morning with a tour of the museum. Either call ahead to find out when the next docent-led tour is, or lead yourselves. Older kids will enjoy the Mesozoic Media Center where they can watch videos of field archaeology and interact with touch-screens that provide access to paleontological activities and information.

Younger children will appreciate a trip upstairs to the Martin Discovery Room where they can climb, slide, try on costumes and cook a meal in a log cabin.

Everyone loves the Hall of Giants and the Hall of Horns and Teeth where real fossils mingle with replicas and life-size dinos. In addition to learning about paleontology and dinosaur growth and behavior, kids can view the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skull in the world, the world’s most complete Triceratops growth series, and a massive Edmontosaurus tail with fossilized skin impressions.

From now until May 3, the “Tree Houses: Look Who’s Living in the Trees!” exhibit provides entertainment and learning for kids of all ages. Visitors are encouraged to climb through the sustainably harvested and locally milled wood of the tree houses while they look for animal clues and listen to the sounds of the forest.

Next head down to the basement to enjoy the sack lunches you brought, or across the street to a restaurant (keep your stickers and receipt for reentry).

After lunch, catch a show at the Taylor Planetarium—the 40-foot, 104-seat domed theater where you can almost touch the stars. There are a few standards, but some of the shows change throughout the year. Whether it’s astronomy, dinosaurs or Lewis and Clark, the planetarium is the perfect way to wind down a day at the museum.

What you need to know to go:
www.museumoftherockies.org 994.DINO (3466)
600 West Kagy Boulevard
Winter Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5pm; Sun 12:30-5pm (Martin Discovery Room closes at 4:30pm).
Adults $10, Children 5-18 $7, Children 4 and under free, Seniors $9

Montana Parent
April 2009

In the 1980s Karilee Valeriano read A Way Home by Mary Pride and it planted the idea of homeschooling in her head. Years later, after she had married and moved just north of Livingston, she met a group of people who were homeschooling their children. So impressed by the homeschooled kids, Valeriano decided to teach her own children. Her five kids, ages 7-15, have been homeschooled throughout their entire lives. Like many homeschoolers, Valeriano sees it more as an extension of family life than a replica of a classroom.

Homeschooling may be the single fastest growing educational trend in the United States, and that trend is expanding worldwide. Dr. Brian Ray, a leading homeschool researcher, estimates that homeschooling has increased 15% per year over the past several years. While accurate statistics on the number of families homeschooling are difficult to come by, Dr. Ray’s estimates are supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Household Education Survey program.

In 1999 the Department of Education estimated that there were about 850,000 homeschoolers nationwide and that number had increased to about 1.1 million by 2003. Ray estimated there were between 1.7 and 2.1 million homeschoolers at the end of that period, and that currently, there are between 2.5 and 4 million homeschoolers nationwide.

Why Homeschool?
Every family has their own reasons for homeschooling their children, but there is one common thread with all homeschooling parents: public schools do not provide the learning environment that these parents want for their children. Some parents may want their children in a religious environment; others find that public schools are not meeting their kids’ needs. Some families wish to travel or have the flexibility to come and go without adhering to a traditional school schedule. Others find their children do not thrive in group settings.

The list of reasons for homeschooling goes on and on:
• Parents are with their children all day.
• Parents know and understand their children, and are influential in their lives, even as they enter the teen years.
• Children are allowed to mature at their own speeds.
• Parents and other adults are the primary role models for homeschooled children.
• Homeschooled children are largely free from peer pressure.
• Homeschooled children are comfortable interacting with people of all ages.
• Family values and beliefs are central to social, emotional and academic development.
• Family life revolves around its own needs and priorities rather than the demands of school.
• Homeschooling promotes good communication and emotional closeness within a family.
• Each child's education can be tailored to his or her unique interests, pace, and learning style.

Homeschooling Concerns
Like any major decision a family makes, there are many factors to consider. Can both parents work and homeschool or can the family afford to have one breadwinner? (In Bozeman there are homeschooling families where both parents work, one parent works and single parents.) Will a homeschooled child be able to get into college? (Many colleges are now courting homeschooled kids and have special applications to fit their unique schooling experience.) Will a homeschool parent go nuts spending so much time with their children? Will a parent know how to deal with a learning disability?

The number one concern that tends to come up is that homeschooled children will not be properly socialized. To this, homeschoolers argue that their children spend their days in the “real world” interacting with a variety of people. They claim this is a better way to socialize than to be in a room with kids of the same age and similar socio-economic background all day.

Kathryn Hainsworth has homeschooled her two children (ages 12 and 10) for their whole lives and is a member of the Bozeman Homeschool Network. She believes the family is a more natural setting than the classroom. “My children interact with all ages from infants to 90 year-olds and they are very comfortable talking to people of different ages and different backgrounds,” she says.

Additionally, many local organizations such as the Bozeman Swim Center, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and the Missoula Children’s Theater run programs geared toward homeschooled families that provide an opportunity for kids to interact with their peers. Of course, all non-school-associated sports teams are open to whoever wishes to participate. “One of the biggest issues,” Hainsworth says, “is learning to say no. There are so many wonderful opportunities around here and there are always things going on.”

Another concern parents may have is that they are worried they won’t know how to teach. Hainsworth has a degree in education and found that she spent many years “unlearning the things I learned in college.” Instead she had to figure out her children’s learning styles. For parents who like a little structure or educational backup there are lots of homeschooling curricula available for purchase.

How to Homeschool
In Montana parents must file an intent to homeschool with the Superintendent of Schools and keep track of the hours they spend homeschooling each day. Everything else is up to the parents and the needs of their children.

The philosophies of homeschoolers vary widely. Some people are more comfortable purchasing a curriculum and running their household more like a traditional classroom. On the other end of the spectrum is unschooling: also known as interest driven, child-led, natural, organic, eclectic, or self-directed learning, which is generally thought of as homeschooling that doesn't use a fixed curriculum and in which the child decides what how and when he or she wants to learn.

Most homeschoolers fall somewhere in between. Hainsworth’s children use a math curriculum and read everyday, but the rest of their lives is dictated by their farm. “We live pretty cyclically,” she notes. Valeriano uses a “hodgepodge of curricula” in combination with other real world experiences. Her children, as well as herself, all run home businesses where they learn about budgeting, sales and all the other aspects of running a business. “Life skills are important,” she notes, “even if they aren’t taught in (traditional) school.”

To find out more about homeschooling check out www.homeschoolfacts.com or google “homeschooling”. There are about a million resources out there.

Montana Parent

Retired biologist Al Smith was walking his dog along the rail bed that runs behind Tantramar Regional High School in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1997 when it occurred to him that it would be a great place for a freshwater impoundment. He took this idea to Science Department Head Chris Porter, who quickly latched on to Smith’s vision. Now the Tantramar Wetlands Centre has 40 acres of wetlands, two full-time staff and runs research and education programs year-round for more than 4,000 participants.

Historically, in pre-settlement times the area around the high school was almost entirely saltwater marshes. In the 1600s, the Acadians settled in the area, draining and dyking the marshlands for agriculture. In 1775, English settlers moved in, further draining the marshes. It was about two centuries later than Porter began the project that would restore a part of the Tantramar marshes, benefiting students in the process.

The restoration of the wetlands was “a pretty big engineering requirement,” says Rick Wishart, Director of Education for Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). DUC carried out the construction and financed, along with other key partners, what would become the Tantramar Wetlands Centre (TWC).

At the time, the big “buzz” in New Brunswick was uniting curriculum around a common theme, according to Porter, so “the timing was right” for a project that could be used to teach science, art, social studies, and vocational studies in an integrated manner.

Students were involved right from the beginning. About a dozen ninth graders teamed up and shadowed different partners. They met with site engineers to learn how to build impoundments. They learned about the importance of wetlands in the ecosystem from wildlife biologists. They discovered how to develop promotional materials from a communications firm. “It was an opportunity for enrichment for students who wanted to work with the partners,” recalls Porter.

TWC has become a regional centre that provides interdisciplinary programs for other schools. While the centerpiece is the wetlands, TWC also uses a 6,000 square foot indoor facility that provides laboratory space and a fully wired teaching theatre to support the outdoor programs.

Wetheads Teach Younger Students
Each year over 2,000 fourth graders come to TWC to be educated by high school students known as the “Wetheads.” In a field trip developed with DUC, Wetheads use hands-on activities and games to introduce younger students to the values of wetland habitats. Critter dipping, birding, relay games and mystery touch boxes are all part of this action packed field trip.

In preparation for the yearly onslaught of fourth graders, fifty Wetheads, teachers and community volunteers gather at TWC for an annual training day. A Survivorstyle competition aids in the instruction of program elements.

Programs such as Case Study of a Wetland, Population Dynamics, Wetlands through Waterfowl, and Wonders of Wetlands engage students in banding birds, sampling invertebrates, identifying birds and drawing conclusions about the quality of the wetland and the potential threats of human disturbance to its function as a habitat.

“We’re busy. We’re busy even in the winter,” laughs Porter, now the Director of TWC. They’ve added winter programs to accommodate all the visiting schools. “We’re still attracting a lot of kids who want to come down here,” adds Porter, “And we’re still hot in the eyes of the teenagers who work here.” Says 11th grade student Samantha Richard, “The wetlands centre is the most happening place in the school. I love working here.”

Reaching Teachers Too
Students are not the only ones paddling canoes and dipping for insects at TWC; educator workshops ensure teachers are as well informed as their students. Teachers can attend various workshops at the wetlands and at the nearby Jolicure Lakes Field Station during the school year and in the summer. Teacher workshops are offered in cooperation with the New Brunswick Department of Education, Educating for Sustainability in New Brunswick, and regional experiential tour companies.

Wishart says he is impressed “with the enthusiasm and ownership [the high school students] take in the program. They’ve really bought into it and own it—the teachers, too.” Wishart adds, “The teachers use the wetlands to modify what they’re doing, whether it’s math, literature or music.”

Centres of Excellence
Others are impressed, as well. TWC has won several regional and national awards including The Conference Board of Canada’s Partners in Education Award in 2000 and 2003, the Award of Excellence in Environmental Education from the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM), and the New Brunswick Environmental Leadership Award.

DUC is using TWC as a template for other schools around Canada. “We’re trying not to make this a unique thing,” says Wishart. DUC is developing a network of wetlands, what they are calling “Wetland Centres of Excellence.” Five schools currently are involved at different stages of development.

From marshes to agricultural fields and back to marshes, Tantramar wetlands have come full circle. And in the process students, teachers and TWC’s many partners have learned a great deal about the importance of wetland habitat and the benefit of integrating environmental education into the school curriculum.

Environmental Education and Training Partnership
January 18, 2006

There are a bunch of insects taped to the wall outside Michelle Boyd’s kindergarten classroom. The drawings have distinguishable heads, thoraxes, abdomens and many legs created from tracings of little hands. But the kindergarteners do more than just draw these critters; they can tell you the correct names for the insects’ body parts and the insects’ role in the environment.

Thanks to a grant Boyd received from the Livingston Education Fund, the Livingston, Montana kindergarten classes get to experience 30 weekly natural science lessons from Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS), funded by the grant and MOSS.

For over ten years, MOSS has been running interactive natural science and environmental education programs for preschool through adult learners using the diverse environments of southwest Montana as the classroom.

Boyd sought the grant because she saw a need for science at the kindergarten level. “Our day is very short and very packed, and science just wasn’t being taught,” she recalls. With only two and a half hours in the regular kindergarten day, Boyd barely has time to teach reading—the main grade level emphasis—let alone science.

The Livingston Literacy Program: Sneaking in Science
Each August Livingston students are screened for possible participation in a special Literacy Program. Students with special academic or social requirements, the need for a safe environment, or a variety of other special needs, are selected to stay for a full day of kindergarten. The extended instruction focuses on reading. Fifteen of twenty children in Boyd’s class qualified for the Literacy Program, which offered her the perfect opportunity to “sneak” environmental science into her classroom.

For one hour a week during the extended kindergarten, MOSS visits the classroom. The “Science Adventures” program is designed to use the natural environment to promote student learning in science and language arts. Through literature, hands-on activities, field investigations and inquiry skills, the Livingston kindergarteners not only get science, but they improve their reading skills as well.

Science and reading both require many of the same skills—thinking, rethinking, refining, construction, reconstruction. In the same way a student rethinks his or her ideas based on something he or she read, the student rethinks the way a habitat works based on observation or an experiment. “The Science Adventures program provides an opportunity for science to be taught in the classroom, but in an interdisciplinary way,” says Krista Wright, Director of Education for MOSS. “It’s really significant for Michelle’s (Boyd) students to have an outsider come into the classroom and do a dynamic program in an hour,” adds Wright.

Interdisciplinary Instruction
The environmental themes of the Science Adventures program easily lend themselves to integrated interdisciplinary instruction. MOSS works with the teachers and librarians at the two participating schools—East Side and Winans Elementary Schools—to choose children’s literature that illustrates the science concepts the students focus on. The books are kept in the classroom during the week and may be read by the teachers during story time, looked at by the students on their own, or otherwise incorporated into the curriculum.

The MOSS instructors, all of whom have teaching credentials, arrive each week with a storyboard to introduce vocabulary and concepts. Next, weather permitting, the students head out into the school yard for a field exploration. One week, the kindergarteners may learn the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees; the next week they may focus on animal camouflage.

If the weather precludes going outside, an alternate science activity takes place in the classroom. Students might observe a tarantula or snake brought by MOSS, or compare the physical features of skulls.

Next, the MOSS instructors read a children’s book to integrate the reading and science. The program finishes up with an art project such as the insect art in the hallway or owl masks. “They love the art activities,” declares Boyd.

Skills for Teachers
A second goal of Science Adventures is “to give teachers skills to take [the program] on themselves,” says Wright. MOSS developed all the lesson plans and is giving them to the teachers to use in following years. The program combines professional development with teaching students in a way that’s very hands-on and real world for the teachers.

“I’m learning new things every day, with the kids,” says Boyd of her classroom visits from MOSS. She plans to continue with the Science Adventures program on her own.

MOSS has developed school programs for all ages and puts on several Outdoor
Science Days for local schools. With this extensive experience integrating science, literature, art, social sciences and natural history into lesson plans that are challenging, dynamic and fun, it’s no wonder MOSS was an ideal partner for the Livingston Literacy Program.

“Kids love science, and there is so much to learn. And it is the one thing that gets put on the backburner,” Boyd says. But not anymore, with a kick start from MOSS and great lesson plans, Livingston kindergarten teachers should be able to keep science in the classroom.

Environmental Education and Training Partnership
January 16, 2006

“As we interact with other cultures we learn a lot about ourselves,” says Ann Matney, Italian teacher at Alliance Française. In a room at the Emerson Cultural Center, students gather on comfy blue couches to learn languages, interact with different cultures and end up discovering something about themselves.

The Alliance Française was formed in Paris in 1883 and there are currently 1,135 Alliance Françaises in 130 countries, including Kazakhstan, Malawi, Mongolia and Cuba. In the United States alone there are 130 Alliances and more than 20,000 students. Each branch is run independently and bound with a common purpose to the Paris Alliance.

The Alliance has a double mission of teaching the French language and linking local cultures and the French-speaking world. Bozeman Alliance Director Brigitte Morris adds, “The Alliance Francaise is a non-profit international organization whose goals are to promote the French language and culture and to foster friendly relationships between the two people."

Morris explains that she founded the Alliance Française de Bozeman in 1987 “as a multi-lingual language school to promote the French language and culture.” She soon found that Bozemanites had an interest in additional languages, so the Alliance “geared itself to promote more languages and cultures and expanded its center to a multi-language school and cultural center,” says Morris.

Six years ago the Alliance began offering Italian classes, then Spanish classes five years ago, and Chinese classes two years ago. Last year Portuguese classes began.

While Morris is tri-lingual, the non-French classes are taught by a variety of women with different backgrounds. Sally Sanchez, Spanish instructor, graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Spanish. She moved to Madrid, Spain with the intent of staying for six months. Nine years later she finally made it back to the United States.

“You think, ‘I’ll never use my Spanish here’,” laughs Sanchez, “but, little by little things come up.” After five years teaching at the Alliance, Sanchez is still excited about her classes and students. “They are fabulous people! I always learn something from them,” she asserts.

Sanchez teaches beginning and intermediate classes using books, hand outs and lots of conversation. Like all Alliance classes, they are small—six to twelve students. Many join the classes because they are hoping to use Spanish while traveling; others took language classes in high school or college and are looking to get back to something they enjoyed when they were younger.

Michelle Flenniken, one of Sanchez’s students, is planning a five month trip to Mexico, Central and South America when she finishes school in June. Traveling “is such a different experience when you can chat with people on the bus,” she says.

In addition to improving her Spanish, Flenniken has appreciated getting to know the other students. “I get to meet people that I normally wouldn’t run into in town.” After two years together in Sanchez’s class bonds have formed. Flenniken, classmate Linda Young and others get together at a coffee shop to speak Spanish and go over homework. Through presentations in class they have learned about each other’s lives outside of class.

Young first started taking Spanish when her son was going to Chile as an exchange student. As part of the exchange, the Youngs would be hosting a Chilean student, and she wanted to be able to communicate, both in South America, and with the exchange student staying in Bozeman.

Matney, the Italian teacher, also feels like languages have tied her more closely to others in Bozeman: “I’ve been able to get to know people better in the community by teaching them.”

Matney thinks part of the reason Alliance Française classes are so well attended is that Americans are drawn to European and South American cultures and expectations. “In America there isn’t a way of doing things that’s culturally agreed upon, or if there is, it’s really loose,” she explains.

As a seventeen-year-old, Matney spent a year in Italy and was struck by the culture shock she felt. “When you go into a coffee shop in America you can ask for anything, there are no limitations,” but she remembers asking for an Americano in Italy and being refused because the coffee seller didn’t think it would taste good. “There’s no way that would happen in America, if you want to buy something they make it happen.”

Matney believes “you feel less alone in a culture like that,” where the rules are spelled out and there is a specific way of doing things.

The Italian group bonds, appropriately, over coffee every Saturday at the International Coffee Traders, where they can order anything they want. “You can get so much grammar and use up that part of your brain,” Matney says, “then you need the repetition.”

The repetition that comes up when talking to students and instructors at the Alliance is how much they love languages and culture. The Alliance has grown because of Morris’s devotion to French and other cultures. As the volunteer Director she hosts French book clubs and panel discussions about different countries and cultural activities. Book discussions in Italian and Spanish start in January and March.

French-born Morris moved to Bozeman twenty years ago. She says, “I wanted to be involved with French culture, and later on with languages.” And she found a relatively large Francophile community in Montana. The Alliance now has 100 members and about 70 language students. They also offer translation services in French, Spanish and Italian. Morris says they have translated everything from scientific papers, to historical and legal documents.

Learning about languages, cultures, each other and themselves, students and instructors at the Alliance Française have gained much from speaking other languages. “I get so much out of it,” Sanchez says with a smile.

Balance
January 03, 2006