The Best Homeschool Day Ever

Gigi has looked forward to our return to the states probably more than all of us (maybe combined), looking forward to swimming, playing at the beach, and for the past several months Gigi has counted down the days until she was going to swim with the dolphins. Somewhere along the way we agreed to a trip to Disney World as well…so for an 8 year old girl Florida is next door to heaven.

Dolphin Tricks

We all look forward to “Field Trips”, substituting getting out and seeing, touch, and exploring sights instead of reading about them in a book or studying other not as fun subjects. To this end we were all looking forward to our Dolphin Field Trip, a chance to learn about these amazing creatures and get a firsthand experience with them.

There are a number of places that you can swim with the dolphins in Florida, we chose the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key Florida, about 45 minutes South of Key Largo. The DRC is a non-profit education and research facility whose mission is to

While not much to look at from the front, inside the gates is an incredible sanctuary for dolphins, with some 20 dolphins housed in coral pools in the Gulf of Mexico with fencing to protect the dolphins from large predators…including people. At the same time the dolphins can easily jump the fencing and get out, but as most of the dolphins have actually been born at the DRC this is their home and open water is a scary proposition. We were told that one of the boy dolphins frequently “escapes” and swims around to the other side of the lagoon and jumps back over the fence to be with the females.

Gigi and Gina

The facility is organized around individual lagoons with between 2 and 4 dolphins in each lagoon. A nice covered (read shady) boardwalk runs through the middle of the lagoons with benches available for sitting and observing (and talking to) the dolphins. Each lagoon has a display with the dolphins pictures, bio, and some facts about the DRC facility. Every ½ hour there is an opportunity to watch the researchers/trainers interact with the dolphins and learn something about their behavior and abilities, ask questions, and really have a great time being entertained by these amazing creatures.

While most groups are between 6 and 16 people, Gigi and Gina had an opportunity to get into the water with only themselves, the trainer, and 2 of the dolphins.  This gave them a bunch of hands on time with the dolphins and Gigi was able to pet and pet and pet the dolphins for the entier 1/2 hour.  She had a blast, and as the smile on Gina’s face can attest…so did she.

You can find out much more from the Dolphin Research Center website as well as make reservations for one of their many dolphin programs.

The day was a hit, and the kids proclaimed the day the best homeschool day ever!

Click on the above photos to see ALL of the Dolphin Photos…

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