Ohio

Just, whatever. You try to get four kids to look at the camera at once.

         Our main focus for Ohio was the Ohio River. Its history is so rich, we could have spent many more weeks learning about the thousand-mile-long, meandering river border, but we had to find a stopping point. Choosing what to see and do has been the hardest part about planning our trip. I want to see everything, and that just isn't possible.

Diagram of how a river is formed

• We learned how rivers are formed.
• Read about the Great Serpent Mound and other Native American mounds in Ohio.
• Discussed the river's role in transportation, the economy, and lifestyles of people of the area.

   
       I think the kids and I agreed, the most compelling stories of the Ohio River are those of the Underground Railroad. We had the opportunity this spring to do an Underground Railroad simulation, in which we acted as slaves attempting to escape to the free north. It was unusually cold and snowing hard that night as we ran through the woods, hiding in different houses, being chased by slave hunters. Gabby even hid in a coffin. We heard the story of a young mother

Hiding in an attic during an Underground Railroad simulation

who had to bury her baby along the trail because she had accidentally smothered it trying to conceal its cries, and I'll never forget the image from Uncle Tom's Cabin of a mother running across the frozen Ohio River with a baby, falling in the icy water at times to get to the other side. So many stories, both heartbreaking and harrowing. Very interesting stuff, indeed.











       Another highlight of the week was a visit to A and M Orchards. The littles were studying seeds and trees, so what a fabulous fall opportunity for hands-on learning. The folks at A and M were super friendly and helpful. They answered all our questions and drove us around their huge farm in a uber-cool UTV (again with Jesse's exploding head). They also told us feel free to sample directly from the trees and pick what we liked to take home. My kids ate so much fruit I thought the honest thing would be to put them on the scale with the apples in our bucket when we got back, but they assured us that would not be necessary.

    

 

     We wrapped up our week in Mason, Ohio at King's Island Amusement Park, because Toyota Family Day happened to fall on that Saturday (oh, happy coincidence). Thanks Toyota!  Here, we studied, uhhh, physics? ;)  Happy Trails, Readers! See you in Indiana!

Curriculum Aboard The Magic Schoolbus

     I've had lots of questions about how we will do school on the road. We still have a couple of weeks before we actually leave, but here is my plan: Keep things as simple as possible. For the kids. For me. I want this year to be about experience, so I have seriously curbed our pretty rigorous classical studies. I am normally a slave to scope and sequence. I feel very strongly that my kids should know, ummm, all the things, so this was a leap for me. We temporarily left our core curriculum of Tapestry of Grace (TOG), Thinkwell Math, and Apologia Science. Anyone who is familiar with TOG knows it is very reading intensive, which I love. I'd rather give my kids a real book vs. a textbook any day, but all that reading, writing, and discussing takes lots of time.

     Besides the whole time thing, another consideration I have is space. Four kids plus myself in a 26 foot trailer leaves little room for anything else, so a library, stacks of 4" teacher's manuals, and boxes of manipulatives and visual aids are just out of the question. Also our internet will be sketchy to non-existent, so we can't rely on that. 
     Based on those needs and restrictions, this is what I settled on. For the bigs (7th and 11th grades) we are using Switched-On Schoolhouse for math, language, and civics. For my 1st grader, I felt I couldn't compromise on his reading--everything else hinges on this skill, so I went with our traditional A-beka phonics and Saxon Math. I do wish I had chosen the Abeka DVD's, even though that would be a pain while traveling. (You only get so many weeks at a time, then have to mail them back before they send more.) I didn't realize until after I purchased all the cards and visuals that you don't need all that stuff with the DVD's. Hindsight. Bummer.
   

    For Bible, we read the Bible.
    

    I chose a curriculum for our travels called Trail Guide to U.S. Geography. I also bought the optional C.D. that contains templates for notebooking pages on 3 different levels. Perfect for my eclectic group of elementary, middle school, and high school students and perfect for its open endedness. The notebooks are a tool for each student to organize and document what they learn during our travels, each on their own level and according to their own interests.

 Each state has its own section within a divider for each of the seven U.S. regions, which conveniently correspond with each of the “spokes” of our trip. We are covering about a state a week over the course of a year with breaks between regions and on holidays where we are home hanging out with Dad.  Our travels are the backbone of our history, geography, and science curriculum. The notebook covers all three; for example, our trip to Mammoth Cave included a pre-field trip activity where we simulated the formation of a cave with clay and sugar cubes:

  

And a post activity where we used leaf samples we collected to identify trees and to make a graph that helped us see what trees are most common in Mammoth Cave National Park. (Please just ignore the popcorn on the floor.)
 

      I plan on supplementing the big kids' notebooks with human geography studies, like migration patterns in the U.S. and what they mean, cultural perceptions and stereotypes, and how to balance the needs of humans with the needs of the environment. A great resource I stumbled upon is The Learning Network, a blog from The New York Times. Lots of really cool lesson plans to keep the big kids engaged in our studies.

     We are also using Charlotte Mason style nature journals during our trip, where we will record the flora, fauna, and geographic features along the way.

       Notebooking and journaling appealed to me for several reasons. I like the idea of student directed study because it teaches them to be responsible for their own learning. While I will quickly agree some things you just have to sit down and memorize, there are real benefits to giving students some control over what they learn and when. It helps them form meaningful connections that make what they are learning relevant. Student-directed methods fit our worldschool’s already evolving philosophy of education. I will update with part two of this post after we have been on the road for a while. Be looking for our Ohio Post sometime this weekend!

Our Old Kentucky Home

     Since we didn’t get to leave on our original departure date, we started our fifty states study in our own backyard. We actually live in the corner of three states, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, so we have plenty to do while we wait. The first week of school and our study of Kentucky went great. Jesse covered basics like the capital, state flag, bird, flower, etc. He loved learning about Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Trail. Anyone who knows Jess, knows he loves all things survivalist, and, well, what word better describes Boone? I would have loved to take another trip south to Daniel Boone National Forest where Cumberland Falls is located. This is the site of the only moonbow in the western hemisphere, but the weather did not cooperate. Another time, I hope. Gabby’s focus was Mammoth Cave, and Jacob’s was Fort Knox, but everyone shares information throughout the week, and we all learn from each other.

     Our trip to Mammoth Cave last weekend was a blast.  We learned all kinds of cool stuff in the Interpretive Center before we even set foot in the actual cave.  The kids enjoyed displays of the alien-like cave critters: Bats, crickets, and creepy colorless fish with no eyes.  Some of the wildlife we studied we saw firsthand inside the cave!

Cave Cricket

     Pre-tour instructions included a warning not to touch the cave formations, so the models of stalagmites, stalactites, needles and straws made it possible for the littles to satisfy their touchy-feelies, plus it was one of the best tutorials I've ever seen on how the formations come about. Mammoth Cave System is the longest in the world, almost 400 miles of underground tunnels. The model in the museum looks kind of like a shallow bowl of spaghetti.

      One of our favorite historical characters was Stephen Bishop, a slave who mapped much of the cave for the first time and led some of the first tours and expeditions into the cave. His studies eventually earned him his freedom.

     We also picked International Bat Day to visit, so we were treated to extra-cool bat demonstrations (including infrared, bat-finding, heat sensor guns--I though Jesse's head was going to explode). Talking to park rangers and biologists about bat business was the bomb. (Couldn't resist the alliteration. Sorry.) We learned about White-Nose Syndrome and how it is affecting the bat population at Mammoth Cave and across the U.S.

Bat we saw while touring the cave

     The cave itself was amazing, a first for all of us. We were surprised by the wall of cool air outside the mouth of the cave. You just suddenly step into 58 degrees.  Pretty nice since it was pushing 90 outside. The cave stays the same temperature year-round.

Entrance to Mammoth Cave

 Until the 1941 when Mammoth Cave became a national park, it was privately owned and operated. Graffiti covers the walls and ceilings in some areas. This would be sad, if it wasn't so terribly interesting. It lends to the mystery of the cave to think about who may have walked its passages before you.

Francis from Akron was here, April 23, 1935

 The tour guide really knew his stuff and was lots of fun. He kept us listening while we gawked at rooms as big as cathedrals, hollowed out in huge circles by ancient rivers.

 We also crawled through openings so tiny we had to duck and squeeze through.

Fat Man's Misery

     Our first ever spelunking experience took about two and a half hours and covered two miles of the cave. There are many other tours to choose from. We only covered a small fraction of what there is to see. You can even book night tours by lantern light. In all, it was a great introduction to our U.S. travels.

Next week: Ohio!

Worldschool, Wanderlust, and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

     I first heard the term “worldschooling” from The Art of Simple. I was already planning our cross-country trip when I heard about the Oxenreiders and their awesome around-the-world excursion. I find it interesting that while planning our own trip this summer, I had inadvertently arrived at many of the same conclusions as Trish about the nuts and bolts of school on the road, what to pack, and life philosophy in general. I loved the word right away. After all, how can it be homeschool when you are away from home?  This year, we have forsaken traditional written curriculum in favor of a living, moving education as we traverse the continent—at least for history, geography, and science. Our math and language arts are still traditional by homeschool standards, which is pretty wide by definition, but still it leans towards a fixed syllabus.

     I have had a case of wanderlust as long as I can remember. I probably inherited it from my Dad. He retired from the Army and always spoke of his travels with that look in his eye. He said Vietnam was lovely, despite the hateful memories he had of it, and how Shenandoah, Virginia was the most beautiful place he had ever set foot on. He always had this crazy itch to move to Alaska. Mom didn't share this vision, but her reservations never stopped Dad from trying to talk her into it. So this dream of traversing the continent via RV surely stemmed from Dad's travel bug. Yes, Alaska is on our itinerary.

     I have been planning since June, when we learned that my husband was being transferred to Texas from our current home in KY, which might be exciting if we hadn’t just moved here from Texas a year ago with the same company, a good company, one we don’t plan on abandoning, even for our retirement dreams. We were in the process of buying a house, and it mercifully fell apart after the move was announced. However, the house we were renting had sold, and we had a few short weeks to get out. Enter travel dreams. We had mentioned cross-country RVving in passing, as a retirement pipe-dream. Since we had a year in limbo, we thought, why not?

     We bought an RV and started planning. We rented a small, rustic, 2 room guest house from a friend. No, we are not independently wealthy. John will eventually be living in the guesthouse without us, and the very reasonable rent fits into our housing-while-on-the-road budget. It is quite a downsize from the 2600 square feet we had been living in before, but we chalked it up to small living practice before the trip, during which I plan on living and schooling our family in a 26 foot RV.

     John can’t work from home. It just isn’t an option, so the kids and I will travel mostly without him. To answer your questions, yes, this makes us sad. It was really the only cause for pause in our planning. I so wish he could experience this with us, but a family trip of this magnitude will just never happen. He quickly and whole-heartedly agreed to our plans, as the months preceding his company’s move will be very busy and include very long hours. He can concentrate on work, and we can occupy our minds with the sights and sounds of our adventure. We also planned a few rendezvous along our route, and will go out and back, like a wagon wheel, so we can spend time together at home.  

     I originally planned to leave Labor Day, but we just weren’t ready. We are newbs to full-time RVing and had a few surprises, like how much it would cost to tow a vehicle behind the RV.  Yowzers. And I had no idea how complicated planning this trip—let alone actually traveling with four kids and worldschooling—would actually be. So we are hoping to get on the road the first week of October now.

     I have always been on the impulsive side. I jump into a project with both feet and all my heart. Maybe my head IS in the clouds sometimes, but I’m always committed. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never driven cross-county, alone with four kids, but I’m confident I’ll figure it out. We will learn as we go. I’ve never been that scared of messing up. Anyone who knows me can tell you I’ve done it plenty, but the benefit of jumping in--is the view. I hope my kids will inherit Dad’s wonder, the wanderlust, the desire to try new things. I can’t say I’ve ever been sorry for trying. I can't say I've often been sorry for trying.