tarced's VirtualTourist Home Page

We enjoy traveling and stopped for a while because we thought it would be too hard to do with children. We've come up with a happy medium, though. Most of our activities are geared toward our children, but we do include things that would not hold their interest for long. We just make sure that these activities are surrounded by what appeals to them more and bring "quiet activities" for them, too. We usually find ways, though, to make it more exciting by doing some research to tell them stories about what we're seeing. As a result, our children love to travel and are always looking forward to our next trip!

The best thing about traveling is being able to do things that you can't do where you live. While we were in South Dakota, we went to the Mammoth Site, where our boys took part in a Junior Paleontologist program. They learned so much and because everything was "hands-on", it was so much fun for them!

We believe that traveling has given our children advantages in their schooling and development as well. They understand that other people don't have the same views and that they don't do the same things. They are interested in other places, other languages, and other cultures and love to see and experience new things. When we took them to Epcot, they loved going to the different "countries" and filling out their "passports". They were so excited to apply for their real ones!

Being a French teacher definitely has its advantages and its disadvantages. Since so many people think Spanish is easier to learn, I constantly have to "sell" my program to keep my job. One way that I sell my program is to take a trip to Europe every other year or so. I've been lucky enough to have my husband accompany us when I've gone - he is wonderfully supportive and helps me immensely with logistics, picture taking, and just someone to vent to when something doesn't go quite right.

Taking a group of teenagers to Europe presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, it's truly amazing to take children who have never even been on a plane before to see things they've only seen in books and on tv. I get to watch them grow amazingly fast (especially for adolescents!) in a very short amount of time. I love to see their expressions when they first see the Eiffel Tower and their sense of accomplishment when they speak French to buy a stamp or telephone card. (Generally speaking, I have found the French to be wonderfully patient with my students while they practice their French - contrary to popular opinion!) One difficulty is that their parents have different rules for them than I do. All of a sudden, they have an 11:00 p.m. curfew and I expect them to eat breakfast - how unreasonable of me!