A Geocaching Education

[Braid Beards Gang]

I wanted to take a moment this day to thank all of the great cache placers in this great state of Wisconsin.

My daughter is in fourth grade. Her school’s curriculum for social studies and geography focuses on our great state. This morning her teacher asked to speak to me for a moment. It seems that every week they discuss a state park or natural feature in Wisconsin. She said she was concerned, because every week my daughter always states that she has been there. This week they were talking about Natural Bridge State Park and she began questioning herself if my daughter actually has been to all of these places (Stephens’ falls, Cave of the Mounds, Devils Lake, Harrington Beach, Cherney Maribel Caves, etc.), so she thought she would ask me. She wondered because in her 20 + years of teaching this unit, she hasn’t had a student that has explored the state as much as my daughter. I informed her of our hobby and said if she had any other doubts, I would gladly provide photos. She stated that my daughter offered the photos as well. I am posting this to thank all of you on aiding my daughter in her educational Journey through the caches you place.

I hope they don’t talk about anything North of Hwy 10 soon, because we have yet to explore that far north.

[Mister Greenthumb]

This is by far the best geocaching story that I have heard. We have had similar instances like this with our 8 year old grandson Eric who has a photographic memory and remembers almost every cache he has found. Every year when school starts and the teacher asks what you did on your summer vacation the tales begin. Kudos to all the kids who love geocaching.

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[wegakempf]

Nice story Braid Beard. I do have to agree geocaching has expanded our trips to some locations we haven’t been and in process educated my kids further. Although we have always gone to state parks, it has taken us to ones we haven’t yet been to and additional county parks. It is great indeed. Thank you to the many that place the caches.

[zuma]

Great story.

zuma

[Northwoods Tom]

As a teacher for many years, and a geocacher for not yet 2 years, this is an activity I wish I had discovered much earlier. I have incorporated this into my curriculum and am glad to see other teachers doing the same.

The applications to so many different subjects makes the activity a valuable asset and tool for any teacher out there.

I look forward to the day when mom and dad sit down around the dinner table and ask the kid(s) what they learned today in school and the discussion turns to Geocaching and the multitude of its various life skills that they are learning, such as coordinates, earthcaches, geography, history, ________, (fill in the blank with your own answer)…

A big THANK YOU to all of you who place those wonderful caches!

[Team_Sandman]

Thats a great story thanks for sharing this with us all

[sandlanders]

I always love reading logs of your caching adventures with your daughters, Chris. Your older one is willing to go almost anywhere with you to find a cache, and they both are willing to pose for the camera with big smiles.

That in itself says enough, but the education you are giving your girls is an added bonus to the quality time you spend with them. You may be thanking the Wisconsin caching community for putting out these caches around the state, but we all should be thanking and praising you (and those like you) for being great dads and moms (and grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors…) and for sharing this activity we enjoy with the young people in your lives.

[spd2662]

Every time we go caching we find ourselves saying, “Cool, I didn’t know this was here”.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

What a wonderful tribute to the value this silly game can provide. Thanks for sharing this!

[Jstajlr]

I have a similar story with my daughter Stubbs13. For one of her classes she did a report on the first geocacher. I learned something from her on that one. In science class she did a project on satellites and how they work with the gps. Her enthusiasm for geocaching must have been pretty infectious because she caught her teaching checking out the GC.com website during class. He said he couldn’t wait until his son was a little older to take him out.
As a family it has been great for us. I bought my first State Park sticker in probably 20 years. I’m sure we visited at least 10 state parks this year, and some were revisited multiple times. I’m sure we are creating some childhood memories they will never forget.

[BigJim]

@Braid Beard’s Gang wrote:

I hope they don’t talk about anything North of Hwy 10 soon, because we have yet to explore that far north.

What’s the teacher’s e-mail. I’ll send her a note that she should discuss the state’s 2nd-largest wildlife area; Mead Wildlife Area, just north of Hwy 10. About a dozen caches, so far 😆

All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.

[Timberline Echoes]

Or the source of the WI River…. that is up in our neck of the woods…
TE

[Trekkin and Birdin]

There’s also a nice, new unfound EarthCache up in Amnicon Falls State Park!
Heck, I think the Wisconsin counties final is just north of 10, near Neillsville. There’s a goal for you! 😉

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