Knights Becoming and a Lady in Waiting

Geo-what?

I have to tell you what I did with my kids today (with the gracious help of another homeschooling mom and her cool 12-year-old daughter).  We went Geocaching.

I'm not, strictly speaking, a Geo-neo.  We did some caches before Princess Moo (6mo) came along.  But this is the first time I tried to do the sport with three boys (6, 4, 2) and one baby.  Whew!  Talk about taking a little extra effort. *laughter*

For those who don't know what Geocaching is, you go on the Geocaching website, you find a cache near you, you put in the coordinates, and you go find "hidden treasure."  Sounds simple, right?  Well, GPS-r's (receivers) are not perfect; they're usually off, at best, by 30 feet or more.  Caches aren't always large items; film cannister-sized caches are pretty common.  So, imagine trying to find a film cannister in a space roughly 60 feet by 60 feet.  (Quick!  One of you with older children ask them how many square feet that is!  I've only relearned my additions tables at this point.)

Maggie Hogan lists Geocaching as a great tool for helping your kids with geography.  After all, it uses latitude and longitude, can be used with elevation, and can take you into some pretty neat environments.  I'll admit, I do it as much for the sheer frustration factor as anything else.  I am NOT a good hide'n'seeker-- at least, not a seeker.  I may be a good hider, but I haven't tried to put my own cache out, yet.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested in Geocaching, here are a few sites to get you started:

• Geocaching Kids at www.geocachingkids.com is a great site for learning how to Geocache with the little ones (or not so little) in tow.  While there is a little bit of self-advertisement on the page, it's worth the information.
• Geocaching U at www.geocacher-u.com is the perfect place to learn the basics.  Take the Geocaching 101 course (free, online) or learn about basic caches.  There's plenty here to get you started.
• When you decide to get started, go to the Groundspeak Forums at forums.groundspeak.com to find out the best GPS-receiver to buy, how to get started, or even ways to use a GPS in education.

If you do go caching, drop me a line.  :)

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10:31 PM, Apr. 24, 2006 .. Posted by WaitingontheLord

We love geocaching! So Fun!!! We haven't done it very much yet, though.

hey,

5:22 AM, Apr. 25, 2006 .. Posted by Juliestew

i think nancy at Lessons Learned on the Farm (www.homeschoolblogger.com/tn3jcarter) has done this. i remember her family enjoying it so much.
thanks for the offer of another little critter but i think i'm good with one. i think he's a male. scared he'd fight with another male and scared he get a female pregnant. what would i do with all those babies? i'd have to get a snake then. yuck!!!
have a great day. it's 6am here. i couldn't sleep anymore. hubbie is going to salisbury nc to day for a job interview. not sure i want to move. pray.
julie

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8:59 PM, Apr. 25, 2006 .. Posted by nsremom

This is the second blog I've read recently about this. What did you get at the end of your trouble? Is it something tangible? or just the thrill of finding something. I'm curious...just curious enough to check out your links...thanks.

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2:31 PM, Apr. 26, 2006 .. Posted by HoweyHomestead

I have never heard of this. It sounds fascinating!!
Robbin

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9:48 PM, Apr. 26, 2006 .. Posted by eyecorn

This sounds like fun! Are you looking for an actual thing that you go and pick up??? I guess I was confused on what was cyber and what was real world....am I making sense???

Geo-whating?!?

5:57 PM, Apr. 29, 2006 .. Posted by FreeStuffForHomeschoolers

I've read about this before and have thought about doing it with my boys! Thanks for the reminder!