Roadschooling: A Snowy Experience

Roadschooling:  A Snowy Experience

There are many children that get to experience snow first-hand every winter. But there are many that don't. Because we stay in Florida for the winter, our kids have not seen snow very much, but the great thing about roadschooling is that when your children want to experience snow first hand, you can pack up and go find some. That's exactly what we did. We watched the weather and headed to Maggie Valley, North Carolina on Saturday night where they were predicting 3 - 5 inches. On the night we arrived, snowflakes began to fall! As you can see we were VERY excited!

 We found this cute cozy cabin, Country Cabins, where the kids would have a large area to play when the snow arrived. I’m so glad we did! Not only did they have a play house with toys inside just for the kids, but the manager also provided our kids (and ME!) with toboggans! We had such a great time! Check out our cabin!

The inside even had a wood burning fireplace to warm us up after our cold play!

Check out their expressions when they first stepped foot in the snow the next morning! There was about 4 inches of snow covering the ground.

When we first walked outside, the snow was light and powdery. The kids had a great time playing in it!

We eventually got cold and tired, so we went inside, dried off, changed clothes, and ate a late lunch. By the time we went back outside it was above 40 degrees, so the snow was melting, making it perfect for snowball fights and snowman building!

Like I said, the awesome manager of the Country Cabins brought us toboggans to play with. Of course Mommy had to test it out to make sure it was safe a few  LOT of times. Honestly, I've never ridden a toboggan myself. I'm a Georgia girl, so snow is not the norm for me. I have to say it was super fun and probably my favorite thing to do! 

Was it worth it? Absolutely! We had such a great time playing in the snow and making awesome memories together. Caleb told me repeatedly, “Mommy, I’m never going to forget this day!” “Me either, Bud… Me either!”

This will definitely go down as one of our more memorable trips. These kinds of trips and experiences are the ones I love the best. How about you? I’d love to hear about your memorable travel experiences too!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~

Roadschooling Adventure: The Atlanta Zoo… FREE!

Roadschooling Adventure: The Atlanta Zoo… FREE!

I have lived my entire life in Georgia and I’ve been to the Atlanta Zoo one time for a field trip in fourth grade. I was telling my husband that I don’t remember much about it except that it was a really hot day and I was disappointed because I didn’t get to see my favorite animals, the lions. I’ve always wanted to go back. Even though we’ve visited close to ten zoos around the country, I haven’t made it back to my hometown zoo in Atlanta. That is until this past Saturday!

I always try to Google discounts to the museums, zoos, and other attractions we visit along our travels. Earlier, I shared about the See 3 Pass in Savannah, Georgia. This time I came across a great one for anyone that lives and has a library pass in Georgia. Many of you may know about that, but I had never heard about it, so I figured there were others like me.

The Atlanta Zoo Library Pass:

Once a year, you can go to your local library and check out the Atlanta Zoo Library Pass. It’s a DVD that lasts 18 minutes. You watch the DVD that describes the history of how the Atlanta Zoo became what it is today either at home or possibly at the library and return it. I found it quite interesting since this is some of my hometown history. When you return the DVD, the librarian will fill out and provide you with a voucher that will provide entrance to the zoo for up to four people… FREE! You only get to check it out once a year and you only have 14 days to use it from the time you return the DVD, so you need to plan ahead and look at weather.

You can learn more about the Atlanta Zoo Library Pass HERE!

When I talked to the librarian, she shared some insight about peak times the Library Pass is checked out, like Fall Break and Spring Break during the public school year and in the Summer it’s pretty hot too. Call ahead to make sure the pass is there before you make the drive. They may even put it behind the desk if you tell them you are on your way to get it right then.

The Atlanta Zoo is a small zoo, but it has some great exhibits. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you can do it for FREE! That's my favorite word!! I love that many of the exhibits are set up where small children can see the animals at their level instead of needing to be lifted over a fence or other barrier. We were literally 3 feet from the Moma Panda eating bamboo!  Check out some of the animals we saw…

Did you know about the Atlanta Zoo Library Pass before? Would you care to share any other great discounts to fun and educational attractions either near or far? I’d love to hear from you!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~

Roadschooling in Savannah, Georgia

Roadschooling in Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is one of my favorite places to visit, mostly because my sister and her family live there, but it’s also a beautiful city with lots of history.

Before our visit, I found this See 3 Pass where you can choose to visit 3 of the 5 museums on the list for a discounted price, which ends up being equivalent to a buy 2 get one free. Take note where it says, “Valid for 3 days from the date of purchase.” That’s important to know as some museums are closed on some days and the train may only ride on certain days at different times of the year.

If you’ve been hanging around here, you know I have 2 small children. I chose the 3 museums that I thought would work best for us, but you might think the others would be more interesting to your family.

Our Savannah Museum Experiences:

Day1. Old Fort Jackson 

To be honest, due to the ages of my children, this was my third choice from the list of museums, but after our visits, this turned out to be my favorite. The fort itself is pretty small, there are several canons, and a variety of rooms with some educational artifacts. What made it so special was the employee dressed in time period garb who brought this fort to life and made every part of it fun and educational for adults and children alike! 

After doing our own walking tour of the facilities, the employee (I wish I knew his name to give him credit) invited all the visitors to come together to learn more about weapons fired during the Civil War. He asked for volunteers, which ended up being Caleb and Lily. He taught them how to stand in line and march to commands like the soldiers did. They were each given a wooden shotgun and taught how the soldiers would carry it. Then, in front of the audience, he demonstrated how soldiers of this time period would load their gun while guiding my kids to load their guns in a similar way. Then, he demonstrated firing the gun while my children “pretended” to fire their own guns in like fashion a safe distance away. Even after the presentation, my children were allowed to pretend with these guns. They’re favorite thing to do was to stick them through the windows to “shoot” at the enemy just like soldiers of the past. When their interest started to wan, he invited Caleb and Lily to learn about Morse code first hand using a telegraph. He showed them how one machine was used to send messages while the other received them and what to do to the machines to switch their uses. Then, he allowed them to send and receive messages to each other. He also gave them a one on one demonstration on how soldiers sent messages to others in Savannah using flags and let them practice waving flags to make the letters in their name. The last demonstration was the firing of the canon, but again this employee did not just stand and talk to the crowd who patiently awaited a loud, KA-BOOM! Instead, he asked for volunteers. My two children, another older girl, and myself were enlisted. He gave us each a job that a real solider had and instructed us on how to do each task the way the real soldier would have to fire this canon, up to the point of firing it, but not. When he finished, we all moved a safe distance away and watched him complete all the steps himself to demonstrate firing the canon.

KA-BOOM!

The entire visit was interesting, fun, and educational. I credit this particular employee who had a great demeanor with both adults and children with making our experience so wonderful. I highly recommend this museum.

On a side note… BEWARE of the Crabs! There are about a gazillion crabs especially around the moat, but that’s not the only place they are. These critters climb walls, which with their pointy little feet is quite amazing. I know in my head these guys are much more scared of me then I should be of them, but when you go to the bathroom and reach for the toilet paper hanging on the wall, you don’t expect to see a crab hanging on the wall just above it! I swear I swallowed my heart!

Day 2. Savannah Children’s Museum 

 

We love children’s museums. We’ve been to many all over the country and some are better than others. This is the first children’s museum that was completely outside. In Savannah, even at the end of September, it was hot. There were some shaded areas and there’s a train car that is air conditioned where kids could read books, play with trains, and draw. Even though it was outside, it had many of the same activities that most other children’s museums have like large building blocks, a water table, musical instruments, and dress up. There was a playground, but half of it was roped off for some reason. They also had a misting station and a giant maze. It looked like they were remodeling a building next door to provide additional experiences about the U.S.S Colonial and Marsh Lands. Would we go back? Yes. It was a fun experience for the kids.

Day 3. Georgia State Railroad Museum 

This was actually located in the exact same location as the Children’s Museum. At this museum, you can take a walking guided tour or go on your own around the train yard. In addition, you can take a short train ride tour around the yard and learn about how this train yard had been used and changed over the years. On different days, they will pull out different trains to pull the passenger cars (diesel and steam).

We got to ride the steam train, which was neat, but make sure they wipe down the passenger seats before you sit down. Initially, we thought Caleb and Lily had been rolling around in the train yard somewhere as their legs were covered in a black chalky powder. Later, we found out it came from the seats in the passenger car. Everyone had black soot on their shorts rears when we went and it obviously wasn’t the first time as the conductor was telling us secret ingredients of how to wash our clothes to get the stains out!

 

I thought this museum pass was a great deal and I’d definitely do it again. We had a lot of fun learning in historical and modern ways. I look forward to visiting Savannah again as I miss my family and I’m excited about the many more learning opportunities this city offers.

Have you been to Savannah lately? What have you and your family done that you enjoyed and found educational? I’d love to add some more ideas to our list of learning stops! Thanks for sharing in advance!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~

Chalk Rocks: An All-Natural Art Craft

Kid’s Art: Rock Chalk Designs

Are you planning to do a rock study this year? We’ll if you are save this activity for when you finish. It’s a lot of fun and it will give your students a relaxed environment to talk about the observations they make about rocks together.

The Preparation Stage…

Go on a Rock Hunt

Grab a bucket and head out to the woods or a rocky creek bed or anywhere you might find some pretty big rocks. You don’t want your child picking up anything that is going to injure their back lifting it or their foot dropping it, but something about the size of a man’s fist is good. Grab a few if there are plenty available. We had a good time looking for just the right size rocks. We compared the sizes of all the rocks we saw. We talked about their weight as we picked them up… or tried to. We talked about how some were stuck in the ground and why/how that happens sometimes.

Cleaning Rocks

We had a lot of fun with this part of the activity as in we made a really big mud mess! I gave my kids a tub of water and some paintbrushes to wash the rocks off. They had a good time flinging mud sprinkles as they scrubbed away at their rocks. It was fun for me to listen to their conversations about the rocks during this time. One would say, “Look! I found a shiny spot.” While the other child would point out that he found one with black speckles. Once we got all the mud and dirt off of the rocks and onto our clothes, we set the rocks out to dry. If you’re not into letting your kids get dirty, wearing old clothes or a smock would be a good idea.

The Designing Stage…

Rock Chalk Designs

Once the rocks were dry, with chalk in one hand and a rock in the other, my kids started decorating. Lily Anne loves pink, so here rocks were pick by design. Caleb tried to draw trucks and tractors on his rocks, but in the end decided to color them in.

Using chalk paint would also be a fun way to decorate rocks.

The best part about this activity is that we can enjoy the beauty of our art word, but that the rocks can be returned to nature undisturbed. I especially enjoy find artistic ways my kids can express themselves without using a medium that takes up space in our limited space RV. Taking a picture helps us keep the fun memories and the beautiful designs in our hearts.

I hope your children enjoy getting creative with rocks too! I’d love to hear how they went! Feel free to let me know in the comments below or find me on Facebook or Twitter! I always love to hear from my readers!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~

Curriculum Choice… The path that lead me to Christ Centered Curriculum

The path that lead me to Christ Centered Curriculum

This is the time I have been waiting for… my oldest child has turned 5 and will officially begin kindergarten in our homeschool. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a teacher. Teaching is in my blood. It’s my passion. My boy has been learning since the day he was born and I’m proud of his academic knowledge. He’s a pretty smart kid. But, for me, this is different. This is kindergarten.

Initially, I wasn’t really looking for a curriculum. I have GOBS (this is a literal amount meaning Grand, Opulent, Bountiful Supply) of teaching materials from my former days as a public school kindergarten teacher, but there was one area my materials were deficient. Biblical lessons.

We probably have about 5 Bible Story books, but I haven’t really been happy with them either. The information has been so watered down in them. It makes for an uninteresting and more importantly a difficult to relate to or learn from kind of story.

So I started my search… I looked at as many Christian based curriculums I could find. Based on my research and the samples I looked at I found some that seemed very worksheet based, some that told Bible stories in the same watered down style, and some surprisingly didn’t seem to focus much on God at all. At this point, I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted, but the curriculums I looked at didn’t feel like what I was hungry; I was blind.

I asked the few people that I know that homeschool what curriculums they were familiar with or would recommend, but they named some of the same ones I wasn’t impressed with. I was disheartened. While I can’t say that I specifically prayed for God to guide me, it was definitely a prayer that was in my heart. Looking back, I should have stopped relying on my own research and asked God to lead me, but thank goodness we have a gracious God that knew what I was looking for even when I didn’t have a clue.

Somehow, going from link to link one day, I landed upon this article written by Doreen Claggett, “God-Centered Education vs. Child-Centered Education.” This article challenged many of the educational beliefs that I had formed over the years as a classroom teacher and even more so those that I had formed through my research of the best homeschooling practices. But… I know God was working in my heart, because the statements she made, many which contradicted my own teaching philosophies, began to make sense. It’s like the scales fell away from my eyes and I was no longer blind.

What challenged my teaching philosophies:

1.    A God-centered education begins with memorization and develops into understanding, not just through experiences. Sorry unschoolers, this applies to you. Honestly, I’ve dabbled in unschooling my children, allowing them to just learn through the experiences we provide them with as we travel around the country, but the best experiences are the ones that we studied about beforehand. Providing children with a multitude of experiences is a wonderful thing for their background knowledge, but the experiences themselves do not provide a deep and lasting education. Taking the time to learn about a historical site, animal habitat, landform, or any other educational opportunity before your child experiences it, and better yet discovering the connection to God will enlighten their minds so much more.

2.   In a God-centered education, the teacher is the imparter of knowledge, not the facilitator. Again, this contradictor the facilitator push from the public school system. I think in an effort to try to move away from the boring lecture, as usual the pendulum swung to the other extreme. But, if you think about it, little ones absorb knowledge from the ones they talk to and when they discuss thoughts and concept. The teacher is the one with the knowledge. Around a table or while sitting on a couch together, that information can be passed from the teacher to the student. Memorization is the beginning of a journey toward understanding. We don’t have to wait until the child is “developmentally ready” to understand a concept before we introduce it to them. Before that time, they have the ability to memorize the information until the light bulb goes on. Claggett says,

“…we need to recognize that the appetite that is fed the most will grow the most. The more "fun, fun, fun" is incorporated into education---and children's daily lives---the more likely they will crave "the world and all that is in it" (1 John 2:15-17). Normally, when the fun-and-games stop, so does the learning. How then can we expect to instill a delight in God and lifelong learning if He seems dull in comparison to worldly pleasures? And how then will that ultimately affect His command to study to show ourselves approved unto Him (2 Tim. 2:15)?”

3.   A God-centered education is structured to work first, then play; not play as work. This conclusion made me widen my eyes! I am all about playing games and having fun learning. They’re little kids. They want to play. They need to play. Right? Yes, but they can play after they work. Not everything we do in life is fun as children or adults. We need to instill from an early age a dedicated attitude. One that is committed to accomplishing something no matter how boring or difficult it is, because it is worth it. Once done, we can thank God for His help throughout the struggle, enjoy a feeling of accomplishment, and celebrate with a time of play. This is what we as mature adults do. We should encourage our children to learn the importance to getting a job finished, rather than satisfy their own desires of having fun. Yes, they may be young, but they can do it at their own level and they should be trained from an early age, because self-discipline, self-control, and self-denial are difficult concepts that take a long time to master.

 

Why I chose Christ Centered Curriculum:

After reading this article, I clicked on the various tabs at the top to read more and more. I learned about the Christ Centered Curriculum, but I wanted to know more. I found samples some from the Christ Centered Curriculum website and some from other online sources. I fell in love with the way scripture and principles of God where woven through each lesson. I wanted to learn even more so I purchased the book, “Never Too Early” by Doreen Claggett, which I highly recommend for you to read. The book shares a great deal of insight that I feel is important to know beforehand about the curriculum and how to use it properly.  To me, this doesn’t seem to be a curriculum that you just buy and get started with because over the years most of us have heard the statements of the world so often that we accept them as truths. I know I did. You know the statement, “Not everything on the internet is true.” Well… that’s true. Our source for information should come from the Bible. It’s not out of date and with a little help, we can find the answers to our questions on how God wants us to educate our children.

Is it everything I hoped for?

I don’t know yet. I’ve purchased the Complete Math + Phonics Package B, which includes Package A resources (created for older 3 year olds… Lily Anne) and Package B resources (created for older 4s and 5 year olds… Caleb). Some of it will be a review for him as he already knows most of his numbers to 100, recognizes all letter names, letter sounds, many sight words, and is beginning to read cvc words, but I wanted to go with this package because scripture is tied to each concept. This is what we will be focusing on this year.

When the school year is over, I plan to do a review on the Christ Centered Curriculum to let you know if it was everything I was looking for in a curriculum.

Do you use Christ Centered Curriculum? Have you in the past? Did it work for your family? If not, did you research how it was created to begin with and why? I’d love to hear from you.

An Enlightening Statement:

God centered education was designed from the begin by the Hebrews so that “Scripture was the starting point of instruction; it was never tacked on.”

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~ 

Side Note:  Do you love the First Day of School sign on the Cover photo? It is made by my friend Gillette Smith and she does great work! It's actually a front and back sign with the back being the Last Day of School! If you're interested in more information about buying one (great for traditional school as well as homeschoolers!) contact her:  Gillettepsmith@gmail.com

Hoteling-It Around the Country

What is Hoteling It?

You might be thinking, is this like when we go to the beach for a week? Not exactly…

This may not be something you ever need to do, but some people plan this type of trip occasionally while for others this is a daily way of life.

For those of you that might be new around here, my husband is known nation-wide as the Chicken Whisperer. A couple of times a year, he tours the country to speak at workshops and do book signings. These typically last 6 – 8 weeks. Normally, we do this in our RV. I’ve covered the Chicken Whisperer Tour a few times before: Florida Bound 2014, CW Fall Tour 2015, Chicken Whisperer Fall Tour Complete, CW Tour Update, and more…  

This time, things are a little different. About a month before the tour, my husband threw out the idea that we might want to stay in hotels for this trip. I made that face like, “You’ve GOT to be crazy!” He ignored me and continued sharing his thoughts about how it would be great on our gas mileage and since his events are back to back causing us to have to stay in a different place every night after traveling 2 – 3 hours every day to the next event, it might work better for us… this time.

I am NOT a hotel person, especially with kids. First, the last few times we’ve stayed in hotels it’s like moving a mountain of toys, snacks, books, shoes, computer bags, diaper bags, homeschool materials, clothes, a radio for music we listen to at bedtime, Lily’s eating chair, etc. You’re exhausted after rolling the cart where the wheels are always flat to your room.  Then, I feel like I have to keep them really quiet the entire time we’re visiting, which is like asking someone to keep a rooster from crowing all day long. It’s not possible without making them stew meat. Not to mention, there’s just the stress of being somewhere that’s not yours, night after night. Not your bed, not your shower, not your carpet, not your light that you can dim in the bathroom, and not your kitchen… which leads us into another issue. This trip is going to last 4 weeks round trip. Four weeks of not having our own kitchen to cook our own food. I really wasn’t looking forward to it, BUT my hubby had a point, so I said I’d give it a try, but we had to do things different. We made a plan on how to organize everything we were taking to keep things at a minimum. This is how we did it…

How we pack for multiple hotel stays

This hotel stay was going to be different. We were not lugging everything including the kitchen sink into the hotel room as we normally do. We were going to be organized, so we came up with a plan.

Packing the truck

We wanted to pack the truck to make things easily accessible when we needed them. Here’s how we did it from the front to the back.

What we bring inside the car:

In the seat between the kids, we always bring a toy bin of things the kids can play with. I have them choose their own toys they want to play with on their trip before we leave. They can only reach the toys on top, but it’s not too hard for me to turn around and hand them what they need when they ask.

Behind the toy bin is a red bag that holds some of our school materials including clipboards with blank white copy paper, workbooks, coloring books, and construction paper.

In the floor…

In front of Lily are 2 bags of snacks.

In front of Caleb is another box of schooling supplies.

What we bring inside the Camper Top:

Closest to the tailgate (See the picture above from Left to Right):

Box of shoes: We brought 3 pairs of shoes each. In the box we have our tennis shoes for times we needed them, but this box eventually made its way toward the back. We didn’t wear shorts often in the northern climate, so we just stuck with the boots we wore each day. We kept our sandals in a plastic bag in the hamper that we took into the hotel each day for showering.

Cooler: We brought a few cool foods that we would bring in with us to put in the fridge each night.

Computer Bag: This is my husband’s computer bag and it went with us everywhere.

Hamper Basket: This worked like a suitcase for us and went in the hotel each night. There were a few things that always stayed inside it like the medicine bag, diaper bag, and AED. We often stacked the bath bag and shower bag on top of it. Each time before entering the hotel, I would pull out clothes to wear for the next day from the black drawers, which we would talk about next.

Black Drawers: These drawers held all of our clothes. Each person in the family had a drawer. Additional drawers held swim suits, cold clothes gear (hats, scarves, & gloves), and pajamas.

Hanging Clothes: On the left are my husband’s work clothes and on the right we hung our heavy jackets.

The next section shown above includes these items…

On the left, is where my husband’s work box started out. It soon ended up under the dirty clothes hamper on the right because it was a frequently used item. We took it out at each of Andy’s events. We also kept his stool with the event box, since it would come out each time.

We brought a black bin that we filled with water bottles at the beginning of our trip. It was a lot cheaper than picking up a bottle of water at the gas station all the time.

Beyond that on the left are boxes of extra books, magazines, and pamphlets that we would use for Andy’s events over time, but we didn’t need all of them every time. For each event, I would pull out one box of each so I had them stacked with that in mind.

On the right, you’ll see the filled gas can, which we always carry with us on trips like this. You never know when you’ll be traveling in the middle of nowhere and need gas, but none of the stations are open.

Further back, are tools that always stay in the truck. Better to be prepared.

Once we checked into the hotel, the right side of the bed next to the black drawers was empty, so we brought Andy’s work stuff that he would need for his event forward for easy access.

After his events, we put all Andy’s work stuff back where they started and we’d return to the hotel.

The next morning everything we took into the hotel was returned to its place in the truck, but all the dirty clothes would be placed in the dirty clothes bin and would be replaced with new clothes for the next day.

Every couple of days, we tried to reserve a hotel that offered coin laundry, but occasionally we had to find a laundromat.

What do we take into the hotel?

Not the kitchen sink. I mentioned most of the items earlier in this post. Our list is much more streamlined and efficient. We quickly figured out a Tetris method of how to fit everything on the cart each time we roll it into the hotel. 

What homeschool materials did I chose to bring?

I minimalized my homeschooling materials for this trip, not because I didn’t plan on working with my kids, but because we didn’t have a lot of space. With what I know how, I could have weeded out even more. Here’s a list of things we actually used…

Markers

Dry erase markers

Eraser

Dry erase board

Workbooks

Glue

Scissors

Clipboards with blank copy paper

Smocks

Before leaving, I found some worksheet resources I thought would benefit my kids on Teacherspayteachers. They have a lot of great products for all price ranges, even FREE!

I actually created a new product while on the road, so I used the business centers at various hotels along the way to print out the pages as I completed them for my kids to test out during schooling time. You can check out Veggie Themed Basic Math Activities at The Learning Wagon Store!

How and where do we fit in time to school?

We were able to fit in a little homeschooling every day. I tried doing things at various times during the day, but on event days, we had fun carschooling. After getting Daddy all setup, we went back to the car got down to work. Sometimes, we just sat in our seats and used our clipboards to practice writing our last name, write numbers, or do basic addition. I used the dry erase board to practice reading letters, blending, sight words, and sentences. Other times, we had fun in the back of Daddy’s truck. With the hotel items dropped off and Daddy’s work stuff out, we had some space to have some sensory play with kinetic sand and play dough. When we had a day off, we homeschooled in the hotel or even better, we roadschooled. We found some awesome places nearby to learn from. The most memorable was seeing one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan. This was a first for our whole family! We had a great time playing at the beach, but we also enjoyed our trip to visit the De Zaan Windmill at Windmill Island Gardens. It’s the only authentic Dutch windmill still working in the United States! These were just a few of the great adventures we had traveling around from state to state.

I hope you found this post helpful or at least interesting to see a different way people live. In a future post, I'll be sharing some of our hotel traveling hacks! I hope you come back and join us! 

Don't forget to follow our journey and be informed about new products as they enter my store by Following me on Facebook and Twitter!

God Bless You on Your Learning Journey ~