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Homeschool TravelIn our homeschool this week… we took a last-minute “field trip” to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, tagging along with my husband who had business there. This type of homeschool travel opportunity is one of my favorite homeschooling benefits!

If you have never considered homeschooling while traveling, check out my tips for how to plan homeschool travel on Hip Homeschool Moms.

With two days to plan, I switched into high gear to put together a Wyoming unit study using free resources on the Internet and picked up a few helpful books at the library, so we could make the most of learning opportunities while on the road. In case you missed it earlier this week, here are my tips for creating a unit study on the fly.

Of course, anytime we travel as a family we are looking for adventure and fun. But as a homeschooler, I also recognize that there are so many hands-on learning opportunities that we can take advantage of when we’re “in the field” with a homeschool travel approach. For this trip, we visited the historical sites in town and toured the Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum.

Homeschol Travel Town Tou rJackson Hole

We were staying in a historical hotel, The Wort Hotel, which had its own collection of splendid art on display and historical photos adorning the halls. What a treat!

Homeschool Travel Town Tour History Jackson Hole

On our tour of town, we enjoyed learning about the area’s “wild west” history and diverse cultural influences.

And to celebrate May Day, we danced in the snow… will spring ever come to the Rocky Mountains?

Homeschool Travel Snowing Jackson Hole

The next day we took a shorter-than-planned tour in the Grand Tetons National Park… shorter because all the late spring snow made hiking nearly impossible. Instead we drove through the park looking for places to stop and watch the abundant wildlife near the road. Science and nature study time! Word on the street in Jackson Hole was that everything we were looking forward to spotting were roaming quite close to the roads.

Homeschool Travel Grand Tetons Wildlife

Despite the wintry weather, it is clearly spring in the animal kingdom! We saw a large herd of bison roaming with many new calves at their sides. We also saw families of trumpeter swans with their little gray signets swimming close by. We even saw several pairs of moose traveling together through the willows near the road. The large elk herd in the nearby elk refuge was a spectacular sight as well.

We were fortunate to have perfect “day after” snowstorm weather, which provided breathtaking views of the Grand Tetons mountains. I couldn’t stop taking pictures, but here are a few of my favorites…

Homeschool Travel Grand Tetons Homeschool Travel Grand Tetons Family

My girls favorite thing this week was… Since we didn’t spend an extra night in Jackson Hole, we were able to stop overnight to visit our homeschooling friends who now live in Casper, Wyoming. They have three daughters who are almost the exact same ages as our three girls, and they used to live around the block from us. It was great to reconnect with our friends, see their new home, and tour their new town as part of our homeschool travel schedule. I am pretty sure the girls would say this was the highlight of the trip!

VisitingFriends

Click here for my post on How to Plan Homeschool Travel

How was your homeschooling week? What highlights warmed your heart? What struggles are you dealing with? Do you ever get a chance to incorporate travel into your homeschooling plans? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

This post is part of the following link-ups:

15 Replies to “Friday Flashback: Learning on the Road”

  1. Those shots are beautiful! I just told my hubby I want to take a trip there! I have never seen that area and never been out of the south 😉 Maybe someday soon we can take a homeschool trip ourselves! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    1. We are fortunate that some of the places my husband has to travel for work are beautiful and adventure-filled locations such as Jackson Hole. We had not been back here since my eldest two daughters were very young, so this was a whole new experience for them. I highly recommend visiting there and touring the Grand Tetons & Yellowstone!
      Renée

  2. I love the pictures. The pictures of your daughter playing in the snow are priceless (even if it is May 1). Thanks for sharing your week.
    Blessings, Dawn

    1. It was a memorable trip all around — unexpected snow & lots of wildlife out and about! I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. 🙂
      Renée

  3. What beautiful pictures! We are vacationing out west this summer (we’re planning on Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain Nat’l park)…but your photos make me want to visit Grand Tetons as well. What a beautiful place!

    1. Living in Colorado, we have so many favorites in Rocky Mountain National Park, and it’s a great family destination. If you’ll be starting there, you can easily add the Grand Tetons to your trip — they are just south of Yellowstone. You won’t be disappointed! Enjoy your family vacation!
      Renée

  4. Gosh – snow in May! It certainly made for breathtaking views, though – I LOVE your photos. Really stunning.
    We’ve been enjoying some spring weather here in England – we did some of our reading aloud in the garden for the first time this year – hurray!
    Lucinda (visiting via Collage Friday)

    1. Yes, quite a bit of snow for May! Having lived in Colorado for 11 years, nothing surprises us anymore when it comes to the weather. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos! We hope to take our family to England someday since we have some family heritage there… I’d love to know when the best time to visit is. Glad you’re enjoying some nice spring weather!
      Renée

  5. SO beautiful. I haven’t been to Jackson Hole in over 20 years, although we did just take a trip to Cheyenne and surrounding areas last fall as a family. I enjoyed looking at your pictures, and I’m so happy you linked up! I’m off to explore some of the links in your post – thank you!

  6. I love your link-up Mary! I’m glad you enjoyed the post — Jackson Hole is such a beautiful & historical town to visit, and there is so much to do as a family in and around town, especially with Grand Tetons & Yellowstone close by. We were planning to stay an extra day but with the additional snow, we couldn’t do much more sight-seeing than we had already done in two days. I think we’ll surely be back for another field trip the next time we can do it as a family. Hope you get the opportunity as well!
    Renée

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