Homeschooling is a Lifestyle....even in New Zealand

As we completed today's activities and prepared to travel to our next destination, we started to recount all the lessons we had learned today. By the time we finished, we discovered that we had put in a full day's worth of school!

We covered math first....we had to covert the outside temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit because it was -1 C this morning !! Then we discovered we were doing math all day as we were converting metric measurements (kilometers to miles; kilometers per hour to miles per hour, etc.) By the end of the day, we were getting faster at this conversion process.

Next, we covered economics as we discussed the issues of cattle and sheep farming as we would pass miles and miles of pasture land full of herds of cows or sheep. I often thought about our Almighty and the phrase “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills”.

Then we visited a Maori village, where we toured a “live” thermal village. You can see their website at www.whakarewarewa.com. Our tour was fascinating to say the least and it covered such topics as cultural studies, history, language, science, home economics, and religion. How did we cove so much in one stop? The Maori people and their history enthralled us for almost two hours as we walked this village and listened to Anita, our tour guide who was a 4th generation Maori guide. Very personal, warm, kind, and friendly is how we would describe Anita. She shared the history of her people, their current cultural practices and some of their language as she escorted us through the village. This is a picture of a Maori sleeping house used in previous times (not currently).....









We covered science principles and home economics as she explained the active geothermal activity of bubbling mud pools, boiling mineral springs, silica terraces, and erupting geysers. This is Anita, explaining the thermal springs to us...










Here is a picture of a mud pool...they used to sell their mud for medicinal purposes but could not keep up with the demand so they stopped. They only use it for their people.

When she opened the hangi, she taught us how they cook their meals using this thermal activity to steam whatever they are cooking. Here is someone's dinner in a hangi.....


She also taught us how they use the thermal pools to blanch vegetables and cook puddings. Finally, Anita took us to one of the churches in the village. It happened to be an Anglican church and there is also a Catholic church. It surprised us that they had churches in their village. It surprised us more when she said “It doesn't matter what church you go to, at the end of the day there is only one supreme being.” Sad, isn't it ? She didn't see the need for revering God as we know Him. Unfortunately she feels it is okay to have any god and every god as long as you recognize that there is only one.

From the Maori village, we traveled a few miles down the road to Wai-o-Tapu, Thermal Wonderland. Off to a major science adventure, especially if you are into geothermal formations and physical science. “This is New Zealand's most colorful and diverse volcanic area.” The pools were varying colors from yellow to orange to lime green to just mud color. You can see their website at www.waiotapu.co.nz Here are some of our pictures of the colored pools.....

Thanks for joining us at school today.