Expectations

Kids don't complain about being cold, tired or hungry almost no matter what. If they are, they learn and do better for themselves the next time. On this five mile walk at dusk, the girls pointed out beaver dam hotspots, demonstrated moose calls, talked about snow-go engines, and explained why the snow melts on one side of the mountain before the other. Multiple intelligences, eh?

I sometimes forget life and survival are completely different here than from anything that most of us know. Here, children learn about life and survival through experience, from watching one another, and through trial and error. Kids learn fast because they have no other choice. Decisions here carry a lot of weight; life and death weight. In many communities this type of "learning" would be considered neglect, but here, it's just life. Unlike anywhere else I've ever lived, kids here are not micromanaged, but rather are given full responsibility for themselves and for their families starting at a very young age, and they rise to the occasion.