Watching the Iditarod - That's how it all started...
It's been 9 years since we've been enjoying the "Last Great Race" and followed the GPS trackers of the mushers who travel 1000 miles with a team of 14-16 dogs. A lot has happened since we first started watching! I've asked Mom to share her side of the story on how this home school project had results far beyond what she expected. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Encouraging Kids to Pursue their Interests
It’s Iditarod time again and the common question at our
house is “Who’s ahead?” For several
years we took a break from our regular school studies and did learning projects
based on the race during this time of the year.
Now we all just keep checking the stats and the GPS tracker, watching
the videos, or asking Matt how the race is going.
It all started as a simple homeschool project. We were studying Alaska and I knew some public-school
teachers followed the Iditarod Sled Dog race with their classrooms. We looked it up on the internet, found the
site where we could follow the race, everyone picked a musher to follow and the
kids settled in the living room to watch the start of the race. Then there was the discovery that we had to
buy the subscription to be able to watch it.
“Mom, it’s $33, can we get it?” I
give in easily to “educational purchases” and so we started on a journey of
learning about mushing. The kids would
read and watch everything they could on the internet and then go outside and
play Iditarod. We had a kick sled my Dad
had bought years ago, and they would take turns being hooked to it as dogs or
being the musher. It was complete with
checkpoints, straw and such.
Pictures from the first year
When the Iditarod ended, Matt’s interest didn’t. At age 8, it
became a dream for him to have a team of sled dogs. The following January, a sled dog
demonstration was given at a local nature center and Matt was given the opportunity
to ride down the hill on the sled pulled by one dog. Then there was no turning back. The gal who gave the demonstration became his
mentor and helped him find dogs (and warned us that the sport was addictive and
a money pit).
Matt and one of his first two dogs
The following years consisted of watching races, reading,
building dog houses and kennels, buying dogs, working with his dogs even when
they didn’t want to run, figuring out a trail and packing it with snowshoes,
and lots of help and support from his siblings. Not once in all those years,
did we need to remind him to take care of those dogs. He was solely responsible for the project.
A couple pictures from last year
This winter, at age 16, Matt ran his first two races. He
took full responsibility for preparing, entering, driving, and being at the
race. Emily, who has been his “dog
handler” over the years, went along as his winter camping partner. Matt enjoyed
not only the races but the opportunity to visit with other mushers. Now he’s looking for faster dogs and has his
sights set on running longer races.
On the trail heading to the finish line at his second racing event.
So glad he got to run these races with his first dogs!
Comments
Post a Comment