Worldologists Omdömen 20

My son and I absolutely loved our trip to Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Everyone was very friendly, it felt very safe and I would definitely return!
Mary and Brian gave us the opportunity to do and see things most tourist probably don't get to do. We saw manatees, a sea turtle nursery and three different sloths! We also enjoyed snorkeling in a coral reef that is being restored, planting mangrove trees and hiking around their property.
We really enjoyed meeting and spending time with other homeschool families from all over the US! The kids all got along so well and formed a lot of new friendships! My son is already talking about trying to schedule a reunion. We would definitely recommend this unique experience!

This opportunity and experience in Bocas del Toro was this homeschool family’s dream. I am confident that the bar could not be set any higher. Mary has constructed such a well thought out program-our kids are challenged, encouraged, respected and permitted to dream. Words cannot express our gratitude and appreciation.

My child and I were part of the Marine Zoology trip in Bocas del Toro with Mary and Brian, and had such a good time! The surroundings are beautiful, but more than that, the breadth of knowledge Mary has to share with the students in this hands-on setting is awesome, and something that won’t soon be forgotten. We are both so grateful to have had this opportunity!

What a wonderful trip! Mary’s Marine Biology class was so informative and interesting. Having a trip to look forward to helped motivate my son all year and the trip itself exceeded our expectations. The lessons and excursions were very well planned and as adjustments needed to be made Mary made the needed changes without causing any confusion or needing to interrupt the flow of the program. We all learned a lot and my son loved the program! Highly recommend!

Great way to end a fascinating year-long course! The trip provided hands-on context for what the students studied through the course, activities were meaningful and approachable, and the opportunity to connect and learn alongside other homeschoolers was so special.
Mary and her husband were charming hosts who had a TON of patience wrangling our group of high energy kiddos. Highly recommend!

My family recently returned from Panama where my son (14.5) participated in Mary’s week long Marine Zoology / Oceanography workshop in Bocas Del Toro. It was an incredible, well organized, and well-thought out program that my son will never forget. Mary gives these kids a safe, educational, and positive environment to further learn and explore the topics that they study during her online classes, but in a hands-on and deeply meaningful way. The kids quickly bonded, and the families as well, and had a great week together. My son on day 2 said “what a great group of kids we have; I feel like I’ve known them all my life”. The experiences and “field trips” are second to none and included a jungle river boat excursion to San San Pond Sak Wetlands near the Costa Rica border where they saw wild manatees and visited a sea turtle conservation project; a tour of the Bocas Del Toro Smithsonian Field Station where they learned from scientists and the research going on there and participated in some hands-on learning; and a visit to the Caribbean Coral Restoration Center on Isla Solarte where they snorkeled and helped create new coral reef infrastructure. Mary also held classes at her incredible 13-acre, ocean front, Panamanian jungle property, Ojo Bio, where the students also had time to swim and snorkel her reef. They also were exposed to local and indigenous cultural learning activities. I can’t recommend Mary’s field program enough — it’s an opportunity not to be missed. She’s an excellent teacher and even more wonderful and passionate in person. I never felt for a moment that our kids weren’t safe and in great hands with her and her husband, Brian. We also spent a couple of nights in Panama City and took advantage of our time there and visited the Panama Canal, which we highly recommend as well. — The Alexis family

My son and I just returned from the week-long Marine Zoology trip in Bocas Del Toro. My family has now taken THREE amazing trips with Mary and Brian and I cannot recommend these experiences highly enough. They are amazing trips and the kids learn so much!

It is obvious how much thought and care Mary puts into every lesson. She creates an environment that fosters exploration, curiosity, and collaboration. The kids are actively engaged from the minute the workshop beings until they collapse at the end of the week, happy and inspired.

My family cherishes the time we have spent together with Mary and Brian in Panama and we have made some great friends all across the country as a result.

I asked my kids to share their thoughts on both the trips and the classes. Here is what they said:

"Do it!! It is great! There are so many cool spots, you might see manatees, you get to go snorkeling a lot, and most of the time you are really, really muddy. I wish I could do it 1,000 times!" - Charlie, age 12 (Marine Zoology Trip, 2025 & Vertebrate Zoology Trip, 2024)

"Miss Mary’s class taught me so much about myself and the world around me. I absolutely hated all science classes till I took hers and I will forever be grateful for that experience. The trips were an amazing opportunity that encouraged me to look for a path in restoration and marine biology " - Maggie, age 15 (Vertebrate Zoology Trip 2024, Marine Zoology Trip, 2023)

What a FNATASTIC Progrom!
Our family recently had the opportunity to participate in a one-week Marine Biology program in Panama alongside our homeschooled daughter, and it was truly an unforgettable experience.

The program offered far more than just academic learning — it provided deep immersion into the local ecosystem, culture, and way of life. Throughout the week, the students gained hands-on experience exploring marine and terrestrial environments, learning directly about food cycles, animal behavior, conservation, and scientific research methods.

What made this experience especially valuable was the balance between education and real-world exposure. The children were not simply listening to lectures; they were actively engaging with nature, observing wildlife, participating in research activities, and developing a genuine understanding of environmental interconnectedness.

As parents accompanying our daughter, we also appreciated the opportunity to experience the local community, natural beauty, and culture of Panama firsthand. The program fostered curiosity, independence, teamwork, and respect for nature in a way that traditional classroom learning rarely can.

We are incredibly grateful for this enriching experience and would highly recommend this program to homeschooling families and students who are passionate about marine biology, ecology, and experiential learning.

My daughter Veronica and I just came back from the Marine Biology workshop in Bocas del Toro. It was a life-changing experience!

We observed manatees, sea turtles, tasted different tropical fruits, made chocolate, planted mangroves, helped with coral restoration, visited Smithsonian Institute, and so much more. It's a trip that we can never arrange by ourselves.

Mary knows everything here in Panama, and she is very organized. Beside the workshop, she also gave us suggestions about lodging, travle tips, local guide, food to try, things to do. The families in our group had several outings, and the bat cave adventure was so exciting. Everyone in the group is so friendly and my daughter made some great friends here.

Mary is not only knowledgable, but has tons of experience with kids. Her workshop was lively and engaging. From tropical plants to mangrove adaptation, I learned a lot, too.

The last day when we were planting mangroves, she said, in a couple of years, when you come back, you will see the mangroves you planted to be a forest. I want to say that you also planted a seed in our kids' heart. The seed of curiosity, kindness, and independence. I can't thank you enough. Hope to see you in the near future again.

Great experience for the kids! The trip is well organized, with great connections to the local community of scientists. Activities are mostly outdoors, building connections with the curricula of the related online class. No one got really hurt despite the massive potential of tropical ecosystem. This is a great opportunity for homeschooled and passionate kids to connect with each others face to face in a very positive environment, and parents to learn from other parents’ experience of homeschooling on the side… looking forward to do this again!

We had a wonderful experience that has sparked our son's interest in science. The workshops were well thought out and well executed. Thanks so much for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Life-changing experience
My son and I had an amazing experience with the Vertebrate Zoology workshop at Gamboa Rainforest Preserve in May 2025. My son has been taking science classes with Ms. Mary for the last five years (Marine Biology, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences, Oceanography, and Vertebrate Zoology), and he finally had a chance to work with his favorite teacher IN PERSON! Every single day with Ms. Mary (and Brain) was worth a year of adventure and learning. (My son’s quote!) She arranged a night herpetology hike (our kids will never forget it!), a visit to the Smithsonian Bat Lab where we got to chat with the young woman who has been working on her second PhD (in Vampire Bats!!!), a day of birding with a native guide, who could spot the exotic birds (and some nests) and could communicate with them, he helped us take some incredible photos through his scope. We met some top researchers, biologists and guides in the country, who helped us sharpen our observation skills. We were out exploring in the Gamboa rainforest day and night and we always felt safe. We also traveled to the Caribbean side, where we got to snorkel among the mangroves and coral reefs and enjoy the best fruit in the world, visited the Native village and got to practice our Spanish. Mary and Brian took care of everything: transportation, museum visits, guides, figuring out every detail beautifully, and we knew they would make things work in any kind of weather. We were very well prepared and we got lucky. (Panama in May was a lot more pleasant than DC in August!) It will impossible to describe our trip in just one review. So, why is it a life-changing experience? Well, my 13 year-old son came back from this trip a different person: more confident, more experienced/knowledgeable, more adventurous and most importantly, more connected! His connection with the whole group of some awesome kids made it perfect for him! We all had kids there who loved science and loved learning and Ms. Mary brought it to the next level once again! Say YES! Do it! And I hope to see you in Panama next spring!

My daughter and I attended the vertebrate zoology workshop in Panama’s Gamboa Rainforest Preserve in May 2025. My family also attended the marine biology and oceanography workshop in Bocas Del Toro in April 2022, both as an optional part of my children’s Next Level Homeschool courses, and both experiences were absolutely incredible. As a homeschool family, I love making every trip an opportunity to learn about local culture as well as history and science. These workshops were the most enriching and educational trips we’ve had the opportunity to take. Not only were we able to learn from a fantastic teacher who’s so very passionate about what she teaches, but she also curated opportunities for us to learn from experts in their field, as well as share in experiences with the local indigenous peoples. Some highlights from both trips; a night herpetology hike with one of the top herpetologist researchers in Panama, an entire morning of birding with a guide with decades of experience that could literally talk to the birds (they would call back to him!) who was able to find some very rare and hard to spot species, a tour of an indigenous village led by their medicine man, who showed us the large variety of plants and trees in the community and some of their uses, a visit to a coral reef restoration facility that inspired my daughter’s future career dreams, and so much more. Not to mention making fabulous new homeschooling friends! But perhaps my favorite thing about both experiences was how focused they were on both conservation and supporting the indigenous peoples. We loved every moment and I can’t wait to share in another experience with the Worldologists!

My family had an incredible experience at the Marine Science Workshop in Bocas del Toro, Panama in 2025. The access to places, people and organizations was unlike anything we could ever have accessed on our own, and we all learned so much while having a blast. Highlights were releasing baby sea turtles into the sea (!!!), a food forest tour where we sampled so many new fruits, and learning about/participating in coral reef restoration. What an unforgettable life changing experience! Thank you Mary and Brian!

My son and I visited Panama with Mary as part of the Vertebrate Zoology course. We had an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. Mary put together thoughtful experiences with world class, expert, local tour guides that treated the kids with respect—never talked down to them, but met them exactly at their enthusiasm level. Highlights included the herpetology hike and Smithsonian Institution. Our days were busy but not overwhelming, and we felt welcome, safe and well taken care of. The hotel was a dream. Truly a magical experience.

My son and I attended Mary's Panama workshop in April after he completed the year long Marine Biology course with Next Level Homeschool. Signing up for the trip sounded felt like a leap of faith but, I am so glad I went for it - truly unforgettable experience and one that I would highly recommend!
Seeing all the kids (ages 10-17) come together was awesome! My son is normally slow to warm up to new people but, he was immediately engaged with this group.
The trip was action packed with carefully planned learning adventures and enough downtime in the evenings. We felt supported throughout the entire process - from initial planning to booking to last minute preparations and things to do before and after the workshop.
More trips please Mary!!

Our hybrid-homeschool organization, Cupola Academy, brought 12 students to the marine science workshop in Bocas del Toro, Panama, following the full-year class. We were absolutely blown away by Mary and Brian's itinerary. The entire week was phenomenal, with a perfect blend of focused learning, hands-on exploration, downtime, and community-building. Despite the first few days of weather being pretty rainy, that did not dampen the spirits of our group. Mary and Brian worked tirelessly to adjust the schedule so that our students could still experience every opportunity that had been outlined. From snorkeling to visiting the Smithsonian, harvesting cacao beans to building artificial reefs, Mary and Brian had activities and experiences that appealed to ALL learners. Mary's unparalleled passion for marine sciences made her the perfect guide, as her joy for learning was infectious. Traveling with 12 students internationally could have been daunting, but Mary had arranged all of the accommodations, had clearly outlined transportation options, and was always just a WhatsApp message away if any last minute questions popped up. It's next to impossible to find rigorous, purposeful, hands-on SECULAR science options, and this year-long course, topped off by an incredible week in Panama, was all we could have asked for, and more! If you're on the fence as to whether or not to book the trip, JUST DO IT! 5 stars!

My 17 year old son attended the marine science workshop in Bocas del Toro, Panama, following the full-year class with Mary Middlebrook

This trip was the culmination of my son's lifelong homeschool journey and we could not have asked for a better ending.

Next Level Homeschool (Mary and Brian) are true professionals. It was nothing short of miraculous how they were able to coordinate a group of homeschoolers (and families) in a seamless and seemingly SIMPLE way to get us ALL to Panama City, then to Bocas Del Toro to have the AMAZING week that we had. We are appreciative of the tips and tricks, the things we might have forgotten, and for sure the things we didn't know.

The week was indescribable. Even with the rain (which just became a way of life) we took a riverboat to see Manatees, we released baby sea turtles, we explored native foods, plants, and animals on Mary and Brian's heavenly property, and the kids planted mangroves, explored and restored the coral reef, and learned more about marine zoology and marine science than could ever be achieved in a classroom alone.

I can't thank Next Level enough for this experience for my son and I.

My daughter completed the year long Marine Zoology course which she really enjoyed followed by a trip to Panama that will remain an experience that we will always treasure. We were able to meet and connect with other homeschool families from all around the US. Gaining the hands on experience in Panama really allowed her to delve into her passion for animals and marine life. It also allowed her and I some really special quality time together and to explore the Panamanian culture together. I can't recommend these courses/trips enough that Mary runs! My only problem is that now I need to find some way to top that experience and it's going to be very difficult!

We recently attended the Marine Science Workshop in Bocas del Toro, Panama for 2025. It was a trip to be remembered for a lifetime. We left with new like-minded friends, which was perhaps the best part of it. The adventures and workshops were incredible. My son has some special needs, and Mary was awesome at making sure he was accommodated and could participate in every activity. She is clearly so invested in her students and their success, and she made sure we had a fantastic, memorable time. We hope to travel with them again in the future.