Upcoming Events
Aug 13 - Venia's Vacation: Belarusse, Vienna, and..
Aug - 6 Topanga Beach Day (boogie boards and sandcastles)
July 30 - Summer Parkday
July 23 - Leather Stamping
July 16 - Ancient Rome
July 9 - Japan Past & Present
July 2 - Independence & H2O
June 25 Beach Day
June 18 Tenzi Frenzi
June 11 - Juggling Craft and Fun
June 4 - Stokes Theater & Plays
May 28 - Christina's Family Yogatime
May 21 - Bring your crafty projects & Potluck
May 14- Career Day
May 7 - Mother's Day Tea
April 30 - Art Show & Painting
Apr 23 - Earthday Show & Tell and Planting
Apr16 - 19 Joshua Tree Annual Family Campout
Apr 9 - HexiFlexigons - rescheduled
Apr 2 - Magic Tricks & Juggling Sticks
Mar 26 - HexiFlexigons - Geometry Gone Wild
Mar 19 - Potluck & Nat Amer Kid Presentations
Mar 12 - Nat Amer 2: Plains & Tipi's
Mar 5 - Native American 1: Inuit & Carving
Feb 28 - The Art of Debate
Feb 19 - Potluck & Chinese New Year & Korean, Vietnamese
Feb 12 - Valentyne's Day exchange
Feb 5 - Favorite Books
Jan 29 - Build an African Kalimba
Jan 22 - Patents and Inventors
Jan 15 Potluck, Patents and Inventors
Jan 8 - Boardgames and Beginnings
Jan 1st New Year's Playday
Dec 25 Merry Christmas No Parkday
Dec 18 Kwanza; Hannukah; Xmas; Solstice Celebration & Lunch Potluck
Dec 15 Caroling at Retirement Homes
Dec 11 Holiday Craft Day
Dec 4 Idioms by Maria Wheee!
Nov 27 Happy Thanksgiving No Parkday
Nov 20 Venezuela by Enrique & Potluck
Nov 13 Science Bloopers
Nov 6 Inside a Courtroom
Nov 4 Take your Kid to Vote
Oct 30 Costume Halloween Party
Oct 23 Bring a Poem
Oct 19 Campfire Potluck &Talent Show
Oct 16 Poetry Play Day & Potluck
Oct 9 Save Big Cats & Habitats
Oct 2 Making & Launching Rockets
Sept 28 Watts Tower Drumming Festival 10-4pm
Sept 25 Basket Weaving with NewsPaper
Sept 18 M&B Family Campout @ Sequoia Nat'l Park (No parkday)
Sept 11 OuterSpace Aeronautics or
Sustainable Farming & Husbandry (if cool enough for goats to visit)
Sep 10 M&B Free @ LA County Fair
Sep 2 Amazing Aeronautics
Aug 28 Beach Day
Aug 21 Pioneer Day
Aug 14 Five Year M&B Anniversary
Aug 7 Solar Ovens Part III
Jul 31 Solar Ovens Part II
Jul 24 Solar Ovens Part I @ Beach
Jul 17 Balloon Fun/Physics
Jul 10 Blind as a Bat (Braille & Sonar)
Jul 3rd (No Parkday Independence)
Jun 26 Tal Family
Jun 19 Kinetic Ball Run & Squirt bottle motion & Potluck
Jun 12 Summer Festival & Games
Jun 11 Full Moon Hike
Jun 5 Let's Get Tiny - Cells (Animal & Plant)
May 29 Lets get tiny - Cells (Animal & Plant)
May 22 Famous People
May 15 Beach Day & Potluck
May 8 Celebrating Mothers
May 1 Secrets of Water
Apr 24 Earthday & Planting
Apr 17 Games & Crafts Bring Your OWN
Apr 10 Nat'l Poetry Month
Apr 3 Cotton Magic
Mar 27 Bacteria Fun
Mar 20 Potluck & Organ Day!
Mar14-16 Joshua Tree Annual Spring Family Campout
Mar 13 - No Theme due to weekend Campout
Mar 6- Birdwatching & Nesting Day
Feb 27 - Physics of Bowling due to Rain
Feb 20 - The Winter Olympics
Feb 14-17 Backyard Bird Count
Feb 13 - VOLUNTEER PLEASE. Valentines Day
Feb 6 - Taxonomy & the Darwin Challenge
Jan 30 - Lunar New Year of the Horse
Jan 23 - Simple Machines II - Pulleys & Levers
Jan 16 - Habitats & Keystone Species & Noon Potluck
Jan 9 - Cogs & Cams: Simple Machines
Jan 2 - Reconnecting after holidays & New Year's Celebrations
Dec 26 - No Parkday Happy Holidays
Dec 19 - Celebrate Holidays: Winter Solstice, Kwanza, Christmas & Hanukkah
Dec 12 - Solar Fun & Mask Making with Michelle
Dec 5 - Monarch Magic & Eucalyptus
Nov 28 - Happy Thanksgiving - No Parkday
Nov 23 - Fieldtrip to Monarch Groves in Goleta
Nov 21 - Monarchs & Eucalyptus Trees postponed
Nov 14 - Atoms, Protons, Electrons, Oh My!
Nov 7 - Autumn Leaves & Sewing with Heather
Oct 31 - Halloween Festival
Oct 24 - Spooky SeeSaw Algebra
Oct 17 - 3 City Geography & Int'l Potluck & 6:00pm Talent Show
Oct 10 - 2nd M&B Bug Faire
Oct 3 - Abacus Math Magic
Sept 26 - Bark Painting & Spirit Animals
Sep 19-23 Annual Sequoia Family Campout
Sep 14 Fieldtrip to Point Vicente
Sep 12 - Lighthouses & Prisms II
Sep 5 - Build Splash Toys @ Pool
Aug 29 - Lighthouses & Light I
Aug 22 - DeSalination @ Beach PD
Aug 15 - Weaving yarn or old clothes
Aug 8 - Hula Hoop II
Aug 1 - Hula Hoop I @ Beach A
Jul 25 - M&B's 4th Anniversary
All ages Talent Show
Jul 18 - Hawaii Day & Potluck
Jul 11 - Bubble Science Fun
July 4 No Parkday HOLIDAY
Jun 27 No Parkday HOLIDAY
Jun 20 - Crafts Free for All
Jun 13 - Gold Mining & BoomTowns
Jun 6 - Anyone? Or Lemonade Stands
May 31-Jun 2 Family Campout at Montano De Oro
May 30 - MayDay PlayDay II
May 23 - MayDay PlayDay
May 16 - Bats, Owl Pellets & Potluck
May 9 - Primitive Arts & Indian Trading Blanket
May 2 - Painting & Poems
Apr 25- Help Our Wildlife Thrive
Apr 18 - M&B Earthday & Potluck 5pm
Apr 11 - Missouri Day / Bees Part 2
HoneyLove.org
Apr 4 - Bees ($3/kid for candlemaking)
Ula's Birthday
Mar 28 - Feathers, Microscopes & Origami Cranes
Mar 21 - History of Sugar; Plant own sugarcane
Mar 14 - Robots & Circuitry $3/kid
Mar 7 - Rainy Day @ Skirball Free
Feb 28 - Felting & Fiber Arts
Feb 21 - Morocco II
and Islamic Prayer
Feb 14 Valentines & Asian New Year Traditions
Feb 7 - Huichol Yarn Paintings
& Esme's Bday
Jan 31 - Birth of a Nation
Jan 24 - Cancelled
due to RAIN
Jan 17 - Craft parkday
Jan 15 - USA Tour @ Skirball
Jan 10- Morocco Senses & Allah
Jan 3 - Free for All Playday
Dec 27 - Free For All Playday
Dec 20 - Xmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Divali & Winter Solstice (Carols & Potluck)
Dec 13 - Morocco, Art & Mint Tea
Dec 6 - Pompeii Part II & Archeology
Nov 29 - Let's BOWL
due to Rain
Nov 22 - Thanksgiving - No Parkday
Nov 15 - Duct Tape Crafts & creations by C & C
and Lunch Potluck
Nov 8 - Ancient Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius
Nov 1 - Election & Voting Debate:
More trees or Waterslide
Oct 25 - Trunk or Treat; Dress-up
Halloween
Oct 18 - Peace Building &
Anger drop
Oct 11 - Superhero Rain
Oct 4 - Inks from Nature
Sep 27 Ireland Fun & Culture
Sep 20 -Sequoia-sized Boardgames
Sep 13 - 3rd Sequoia Campout
Sep 6- Heroes and Heroines - Kids Presentations
Aug 30 - Simile, Metaphors & Figures of Speech
Aug 23- Letterboxing II
Aug 16 - Letterboxing I
Aug 9 - Beach Day
Aug 2 - Modern Olympics II
July 26 - Ancient Olympics I
July 19 - Paper Arts: Bowls, Books & Beads
July 12 - Beach Day
July 5 - Statue of Liberty - 4th July
June 28 - Storytelling & Aussie Rainsticks
June 21 - Fun Games Field day
June 14 - Mystery Math = Algebra Fun
June 7- Silly Summer Day Fun
May 31 - Build Miniature Golf
May 24 - Sewing & Haiku Part II
May 17 - Haikus & Drums & Evening Potluck
May 10 - Rock Hunter Guest Speakers
May 3 - May Day Celebrations
Apr 26 - Fibonacci & Nature
Apr 19 - Thai New Year -Songkran & Potluck
April 12 - Spring Bling & Night Crawlers Planting season
April 5- Easter /Passover Crafts
Mar 29 - Ethics & Fairytales
Mar 22 - Detective Fingerprints & Crafts
Mar 15 - Prep for Joshua Tree
Mar 8 - Marbles & Physics
Mar 1 - Make Real Dream Catchers
Feb 23 - Pirates, Sea Captains &Tall Ships
Feb 16 - Wilderness Survival - guest Speaker
Feb 9 - Anatomy Guts vs Feeling Guts
Feb 2- Gravity Fun Games
Jan 26 - Cement Bridges Part Two
Jan 19 - Kids first Rock & Gem Show
Jan 12 - Global New Years Celebration
Jan 5 - Rockets-Aquarius M&B helped launch
Dec 29 - Cement Construction hand print tile
Dec 22- Kwanza, Hannukah, Bodhi Day stories & games 12/8
Dec 15 - Amy's Anatomy Obstacle Course
Dec 8 - Painting so it POPS! w/ out wind
Dec 1 - Painting so it POPS!
Nov 24 - Happy Thanksgiving - No M&B Parkday
Nov 17 - Fun with Manners & Empowering Etiquette & And 3rd Thurs Potluck (lunchtime)!
Nov 10 - History of Photography - Make Pinhole Cameras
Nov 3 - Butterfly & Bug Faire & Poems & Riddles
Oct 27 - Pumpkin Festival *Dress UP!!
Oct 20 - Empathy & Empowerment
Oct 13 - Braille & Visually Impaired
Oct 6- Atoms & Cool Molecules
Sept 29- Black Bears & Sequoias
Sept 22 - Sequoia Fires & Cones
Sept 15- Clay Creatures & Open-ended ?s
Sept 8- Beat the Heat Beach Day
Sept 1 - Lemonade Stand Commerce
Aug 25 - Back to Homeschool Play
Aug 18 - Saw Safely & make a Jacob's Ladder
Aug 11 - Biomes, Habitats & Soda Bottle Terrarium
Aug 4 - M&B 2Year Anniversary Party
July 28 - Finger Knitting & Natural Fibers
July 21 - Stone Soup Potluck & Storytime
July 14 - CrazyFun ScienceLab Experiments
July 7 - Independence Day Celebration @ Zuma Beach
June 30 - Nocturnal Creatures & Owl Pellets to dissect
June 23 - Book Exchange Circus
June 16 - Lewis & Clark, Quill pens from feathers & Potluck
June 9 ATC- Making Artists' Trading Cards
June 2 Petraglyphs, Pictoglyphs & Rafting the Grand Canyon
May 26 Historical
Figures that changed the World
all Kids Perform
May 19 Pharoahs, Pyramids & Crafts
And Potluck 5pm-sundown
May 12
Mars & Space Travel
May 5
Mother's Day
High Tea
Apr 28
Physics & Imagination=
Future Travel
Apr 21
Mask Making & Storytelling
Apr 14
Sound Waves
Apr 7
Geodesic Dome
Mar 31
Earthquakes & Tectonics
Mar 24
Show & Tell & Games
Mar 17
Family Campout Joshua Tree
Mar 10
Mardi Gras
Mar 3
Africa & Wangari Maathai
Feb 24
Brains: the Inside Story
Feb 3
Chinese New Year
Jan 27
Pioneer Parkday Part 2
Jan 20
Days of Yore
Jan 13
Fun & Safety
with Germs
Jan 6
Chess by Jahan
Dec 31
New Year's FreePlay
Dec 23
Kwanza, Hannukah
& Christmas
Dec 16
Engines & Cars
& Alternative Power
Dec 9
Microscopic World
Dec 2
Cartoon & Collage
Nov 25th
Thanksgiving Holiday
Nov 18th
Nature Crafts & Yoga
Nov 11th
Wind Turbines
Nov 4th
Indian Diwali Celebration
Oct 28th
Spooky Obstacle Course
Oct 21st
How Songs are Born
Oct 14th
Build a
Weather Station
Oct 7th
Prisms, Vision & Zoetropes
Sept 30th
Spanish CultureFest
Sept 23rd
Russian Culture & Potluck
Sept 17
Family Campout @ Sequoia Nat'l Park
Sept 9th
Chemical (molecular) Reactions
Sept 2nd
History of Flight
August 26th
Light, Refraction & Rainbows
Aug 19
Potluck
August 12
Turtles, Tortoises & YOU
August 5th
Honey, Bees & Wasps
July 29th
M&B 1 year anniversary
July 22
Inuit Culture & Games
July 15th
Bastille Day - French Independence
June 17th
Swedish MidSummerFest
June 10th
Catapults & Parachutes
Gravity & Lift
June 3rd
Our BodyGuards
Snot & Scabs
May 27th
Pollination, Fruit & Seeds
May 20th
Hawaii & Potluck Luau!
May 13
Ladybugs, Silkworms & Praying Mantis
May 6th
Knots, Pirates & Explorers
April 29
Earth Day Part 2
April 22
40th anniversary of Earth Day
April 15th
Japanese Girls' & Boy's Day
April 8th
Bridges, Cantilevers & Treehouses
April 1st
Magnetism part II: Physical Force of Nature
March 25
Magnetism part I: I'm attracted!
March 18th
Desert Life
March 11th
Global Timelines
March 4th
Spring Bling:
Worms, Dirt & Seeds
.
…………………The Chieftain and it’s alluring crew are in port at the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard through January 23rd and will spend another week anchored in the Ventura Harbor through January 28th. After that she’s off to San Francisco (which you can board passage for a nominal fee). And then at other ports further up the coast to their homebase in Washington state. (yes Marie, Mike & Heidi she’ll port in Eureka!).
After a questionable drive from LA county in the torrential rain (that sent some of our fellow homeschooling families back around), we made it in time for the clouds to part and the puddles to gleam wistfully at us. Or was it our children gleaming at the puddles?
….N
ow it was time to learn how to navigate the ship – or in other words “How Not to Get LOST!” They understood many things really well from Aaron whose teaching style won thumbs up from all of us homeschool parents! (this included mild chiding to prevent the parents from answering for the kids!)
So much for atop ship, now we got to go below to check out the Captain’s quarters. Okay, we were not so lucky to get a gander of the Capt’n’s digs who got a room all to himself, while the other 16 hands on deck shared two rooms, but we did get to hang in the group quarters where everyone takes their meals , gets computer time and charts the maps. Here the kids learned about the Historical trade routes of the Chieftan from the mouth of the Chesapeake River in Washington DC around the Americas via the Cape of South America to the Pacific Northwest before heading off to the exotic ports in China. 
The end goal was to get spices and silk from China. But the only thing the Chinese wanted from America was sea otter pelts, as they had eradicated all of theirs already. (No endangered Species lists back then.) So to barter the pelts from the Native American tribes in the Northwest, the boat was loaded up on glass beads and iron forged into ax blades and other tools. The kids did a great job recreating the trade routes on the ancient map.
p
o
pulated, American Settlers moved west into a land they weren’t well-prepared to live in (yes, some Spanish colonies started up on the west coast), at least not in the same successful manner as Native Americans. With the lure of FREE land and the prospect of finding GOLD in rivers and mines, thousands of people set off in caravans of covered wagons to live in land they would make their own or die trying.
f
the offer of free land or being free to actually claim and own land, wasn’t enough of an incentive, the next great impetus for going West f or the prospect of Gold. And it wasn’t all found in California. Here is a brief history of the 
