Home schoolers go indigenous!

We had the pleasure of going on a field trip to the Caribbean Indigenous Arts and Crafts Museum at Cane Bay! Whew, what a mouthful! This trip, although open to all ages, ended up being all elementary kids. There were three girls and three boys - what a great group they were too!

The kids arrived and were instantly captivated by Kelly the Parrot who sand Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, some opera, and cried like a baby!  She was really cute and hates to not be the center of attention.  Anyway, after talking and interacting with Kelly, they all went over to the open air picnic area and took their seats.

The children learned all sorts of fascinating things about Tainos. Tainos were the indigenous people who lived here on St. Croix from PreColumbian times up until shortly after Columbus "discovered" the Virgin Islands.  They were one of the most populous groups of Native peoples in the Caribbean. They farmed, hunted, gathered, and created beautiful works of art.  It is thought that their farming techniques were so far advanced that they only had to dedicate 2 hours a week to gardening. They produced such food stuff as pineapples, cassava(or yucca), peanuts, and sweet potatoes. They also grew cotton. Apparently when Columbus came by he noted, as did other explorers, that the island of St. Croix was heavily terraced and farmed with cotton plants.

Some of the islands in the caribbean still retain their Taino names. Some of these islands are Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti.  It is thought that St. Croix's name was AyAy which means The River. Now, why would St. Croix be named The River? There are no rivers or flowing bodies of water here! Well, way before the plantation industry got going here, St. Croix was FULL of rivers and streams and guts. With the advent of plantation farming, all the trees were either burned or cut down and it stopped raining here.  Once the rain stopped, guess what else stopped? THE RIVER!! Salt River is named just that because there was a river of water that flowed out of the hills and into the ocean. When we have tremendous rains, our guts fill and flow into the old path of our ancient river. I wonder what St.Croix would look like today if those plantation owners hadn't deforested our island - don't you?

ANYWAY back to some facts that our group thought was neato:

1. There were between 20 and 30,000 people living on St. Croix at the time of Columbus' arrival
2. A Taino woman shot one of the Spaniards with bow and arrow when Columbus' men came ashore
3. Columbus never actually set foot on St. Croix
4. Tainos had parrots
5. Tainos used blowguns
6. Spent a lot of time making very cool art
7. They wore feathered hats
8. Taino Indians were some of the first Indians to live on St. Croix
9. Many words came from the Taino Arawak language

So folks, if you get a chance to go visit Brian and his wife Jill at the  Caribbean Indigenous Arts and Crafts Museum at Cane Bay, please let us know what you think.  This is a great resource for artists, collectors, and children to learn a bit about our history here on St. Croix before the European conquest.

Horseback riding field trip with InterXchange!

InterXchange a non-profit organization promoting social change via Xchanges invites homeschool students to participate in "Horses for Change" on Monday, October 1, 2012 at 9:00 am across from Off the Wall restaurant in Cane Bay.  This program is an initiative of InterXchange to promote caring and sharing with horses.  These horses are friendly and love the care from those who ride them. You will learn how to feed, saddle and ride the horses.  This is a great activity for ages (4 yrs. & up).  A minimum of 20 participants are required for a donation of $10 per student.  Please leave a comment to the blog no later than Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012 by 5 pm.  Thanks and we look forward to seeing you there!

Taino Museum Tour at Cane Bay

Due to the popular vote, we will be participating in the Mueum Tour ONLY.

Date: Monday September 17, 2012

Time: 9:00 AM

Where: Virgin Kayak above EAT at Cane Bay.

Cost: FREE

Plan to come for an hour or two to learn about Taino artifacts from St. Croix, their history, and view original and reproduction works of art.

Bring a lunch and stay for a beach day if you wish afterwards at Cane Bay.

Please leave a comment below to confirm the amount of children and adults in your group.

Taino Museum Tour

September 17, 2012 at 9am

Come and tour the Taino Museum run by Brain and Jill Updyke out at Cane Bay. See original pieces and also reproductions.  Learn about their art work and their every day pieces that are amazing.  

Cost: FREE

Stay for a beach day on the beach afterwards.

Buck Island Field Trip Update

The field trip to Buck Island to study/learn about the PreHispanic peoples is on!  So far we have 35 people(students and chaperones) going. The cost of the trip is going to be $20 for kids under 12 and $25 for kids over 12.  We will be going on MileMark Watersports glass bottom boat.  We need a minimum of 30 to go. If the pricing effects your plans, please let me know ASAP.  

I would like to turn the money into MileMark by August 20, 2012. If you are going, please contact me to make arrangements to either mail me the money or meet me somewhere so I can gather it all up and pay for the trip in advance.  

Remember, we will be gone from 8am until at least1:30/2:00 - you will need to pack lunch, snacks, drinks, good shoes for hiking/trail walking(although I will wear flip flops, so plan however you want), gardening gloves, and safety glasses. 

Please pass the word along!

Explore the Pre Hispanic Culture at Buck Island

Did you know people used to LIVE at Buck Island? Did you know there are archeological sites on BuckIsland that date back to Pre Hispanic Native People's? Would you like to see where those sites are, learn how to make some tools that they might have used, and explore some of the lesser known areas of Buck?

YES??

Details:
Monday August 27, 2012 at 8:00 at Green Cay we will go from there to Buck Island for at least 3 - 4 hours.  You need to bring food, water, hiking shoes, safety glasses, and gardening gloves.

What I need from you:
Amount of people in your group - divided by Kids(their ages), and adults.

What we REALLY need:

BOATS. If we can't get enough boats to take us out there from our group, we will not be able to do this. There is a possibility of renting a boat to go out(from MileMark), but then we may pay a fee per head. I will get a cost back to the group, but I think it wouldn't be much.

Also I will send out some reading if you want to go to this that might help you ask great questions to the NPS people.

Hatchling Watch at Sandy Point - sign up

Back in April, we went to see a leatherback mama come ashore and lay her eggs at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge.  Now it's time for us to trek back out to Sandy Point and see some hatchlings come into the world. When you ask?


Saturday July 7, 2012 at 5:15 pm to 8:00 pm


Here is the info from Jennifer Travis - our coordinator.


"Arrive on your reserved date at 5:15pm at the parking lot at the Refuge with your group of 15 to 30 participants....  We cannot enter the Refuge with fewer than 15 participants. 

We will enter the Refuge as a group at 5:30pm.  The gate is locked behind us; no one may enter late nor leave early.   The program is usually over by 8pm."

If you are interested in taking part in this activity PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE reply here on the blog.  

Reptile Ramble

FREE EVENT IF YOU BRING A CHILD:


It's time for SEA's popular Reptile Ramble at Southgate Coastal Reserve! Join Jennifer Valiulis, herpetologist from GeoGraphic Consulting LLC, and SEA staff member Carol Cramer-Burke this Saturday, June 23 at 10 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This is a fun reptile search with lots of cold-blooded facts about our island reptiles! Children 5 years and older will especially enjoy this activity. Free for SEA members and children, $10 for non-member adults. Please bring water to drink, wear shoes that you don't mind getting muddy and sun protection.
Registration is not required, but appreciated ... 340-773-1989.

EXCITING Field Trips for July, August, and September!

We have been offered some EXCITING field trips and kid activities opportunities during the Summer months. Some of these trips are free and some have a small cost associated with them. All of these trips have me super excited and pumped up. I hope you will be just as excited.  If you want to do any of these trips, please indicate which trip and how many students vs. adults in the comments section below.

Trip #1:

 July TBA(probably between the 15th and 23rd), 2012

Learning about Bush with Ms. Veronica Gordon at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens.

Ms. Gordon is our locally renown "bush lady". She is extremely knowlegable about bush and how to use it to improve your health, remove aches and pains, and where it origianlly came from. This is a great opportunity to come and learn from an expert.  In this informative field trip, we learn about our native bush, it's medicianal, homeopathic, and culinary properties. We will get to taste, touch, and smell real bush and enjoy a quiet morning at the Gardens.  Once the field trip is done, feel free to stay for lunch, art time, rambling, etc. The field trip will take about 1.5 hours. Cost is $2 per visitor(not including really little ones).

Trip #2:

mid to late August 2012

The Archeological wonders of Buck Island!

Did you know there are Pre Hispanic archeological sites hiding in plain sight on Buck Island?  I didn't and now we can learn about those sites, visit and explore them, PLUS make pre hispanic tools just like those first inhabitants on Buck Island did.  During this trip, students will visit Fort Christiansvaern and then take a trip out to Buck Island National Monument to explore those site we learn about in the fort.  This is a first come first serve trip. All ages welcome.  I NEED to know numbers ASAP so we can arrange for boats to take us out there and then get dates.  FREE


Trip #3


Reef Ranger Kids Program(ages 8-12) sponsored by the NPS. This program teaches boat safety, how to use flare guns, docking, anchoring, etc.  It is limited to 10 children per group. This is a 2 day program where kids spend it doing hands on activities related to water and boating safety, there is also an opportunity to go snorkeling at Buck Island.  This program is being held the 3rd weekend in July for two consecutive Saturdays, then again in August, and September. If you want more info or to register, please contact David at the NPS office.  FREE.


Trip #4(potentially)

Walking tour of Free Gut

Do you know where Free Gut is? Do you know what it is? I didn't..... Free Gut is an area where freed blacks lived during the colonial times. These free men and women built many of the structures that are part of Christiansted today, such as the Steeple Building, the Fort, the Old Post Office aka the Slave Market, etc. Out of Free Gut, the US got their first black millionaire, the first black US Ambassador, etc. This is a fascinating area that needs to be explored and experienced.  If you would like to see this tour set up, PLEASE leave feedback in the comments section and I will get it on the books. FREE


AGAIN, if any of these tours appeal to you, please let me know via the comments section of the blog.  In the case of the Reef Ranger program, please feel free to contact David at NPS yourself and set up your days with him.  If perhaps we have a HUGE group interest in this, I may be able to talk him into doing a 2 day mini class during the week during the school year.

Upcoming Events

Kiki and the Flaming Gypsies will be giving our homeschoolers a Poi and Hooping demo at a future PE Day at the YWAM base behind the old Diamond Cinema.  Look for updates and get ready to mark your calendars!  Kiki has also offered to give classes and will get back to us on pricing.  This is a very cool sport and one that I know would be great fun to learn how to do.

Also on the calendar in the near future is a field trip to view the local Taino artifacts and reproduction pieces at the Taino Museum in Cane Bay. Date, details, and time TBA.

Need a music class? Ms. Elizabeth Robb gives Piano Classes. She gives classes to ALL ages and abilities.  Contact her directly at 340-773-7684 or via email at Earz.vi@gmail.com  Her fall semester begins September 1, 2012. If you are a returning student you MUST confirm your continuation by May 1, 2012.

How about a field trip to Whim Plantation, the Lawaetz Family Museum, and the VI Sustainable Farm Institute? - it can be arranged. Email me to tell me you are interested and I will set one up :)  The kids can learn a little about our local history, learn how to farm sustainably, and see the rainforest while we are at it.

Learn to make rugs at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts in Frederiksted. The class is FREE. Call 340-772-2622, taught by Daphne McIntosh-Rodriguez.

Eco Fair at the St. George Botanical Gardens

If you have a 3 - 6th grader, please don't forget to sign up for the Eco Fair and Litter Stomp held at the St. George Village Botanical Gardens on April 17th and 18th.  This event is sponsored by the St. Croix Environmental Association, and VIWMA(Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority).  This year's theme is sustainability.  There will be many activities for all ages. Please email Lynnea at SEA to sign up.