Life on the Homestead

A fall favorite around our homeschool is visiting Parker Homestead. We enjoy walking around and learning how rural pioneers survived way back when. It's also fantastic to spend the day with our homeschooling friends. This year our group represented seven families! The Tims' Family attended and Mr. Don jumped right in to show the kids how it's done.

Trying to use the cross cut saw is always a hit. Maybe I need to get a saw and some logs and help these kids burn off some energy. Cutting wood warms you twice!

Of course, the best station is the old fashioned games area. Boys and girls alike enjoyed firing the sling shots and playing with marbles.

This gentleman shared some of the weapons and gear used by the military during the civil war. This fit in well with our recent studies in year 5 {1850 to Modern Times} of My Father's World.

Liberty and Felicity had the best seat in the house. Liberty needs to work on her exit though. Several times she had to be rescued from a trapped headstand. She never did figure out that bailing out head first wasn't the best method.

This boy cracks me up. He loves to rough house, be Mr. Rough and Tumble, get as dirty and sweaty as possible, and then come to me and say, "Take my picture, please."

Liberty's favorite part of the homestead was the playground in front of the school. She and Mary Claire are very close in weight and the see-saw proved to be lots of fun!

We can count balancing the see-saw as math, right?!?

The Nina and The Pinta and The Mighty Mississippi

We've had a busy month. We loaded up and headed to Memphis to visit the Columbus Foundation ships, the Nina and the Pinta. I was able to gather enough people together for a group rate and tour {it helps when 9 of the 15 are from your own family!}.

If you can come up with 15 paying visitors, I highly recommend scheduling a tour. It was neat to have the crew members explain various parts of the ship and answer our questions.  Not only did they tell us what ship life was like back in fourteen and ninety-two, but they also shared how they travel from city to city. While I think it would be a neat experience, I'm too spoiled by my sleep number bed to try a bunk on a ship!

The kids were extra excited that Mammie and Graddaddy could come with us. Dad really likes history type events. We're hopeful that we can drag him along on a few more field trips in the upcoming months.

Here Ben and Henry pose on the "poop deck". We were delighted to learn that poop deck has nothing to do with the modern use of the word. Back in Columbus' time, priests would bless ships from this deck. They often conducted a puppet mass from the roof of the cabin. Hence, the poop deck.

We visited in late September on a 70* day. The heat from the black boards of the ship made it quite warm. I'm sure it would be cooler at sea but poor Felicity couldn't handle the heat. Thankfully, Mammie didn't mind taking her below deck to the shade.

Goin' on a Picnic

Last year we joined a homeschool group near us. I attend the Mom's meetings and we attend a few field trips. This year, we decided to participate in the family picnic.

After a few introductory, get to know you type games {including Gorilla, Man, Gun - which has been played numerous times since} the kids had a great time meeting other homeschoolers. There were teams playing volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, frisbee and dodgeball. It was awesome how open all the kids were to letting those which less skill play right beside them. 5 year olds were playing beside seniors!

The younger kiddos had a great time exploring the playground. Liberty and Mary Claire drew a lot of attention walking across the playground holding hands. Poor Libby was having the worst time trying to clean all pea gravel off the equipment. It took a long time, but she finally gave up and played instead of cleaning.

Henry was his normal smiley self and bounced from playground, to ball court, to ball field and back again.

Madisyn learned a few new games and had time for visiting as well. She visited all the games and learned a little at each one. 

Ty really enjoyed playing dodgeball. Thankfully, he realized that his much smaller brothers aren't the best teammates for an at home match. Dodgeball is an activity better suited for people close to the same size.

Poor little Licy got sunburn but still managed to be all smiles. She hung out with Mom and Dad and we had a great time visiting with veteran homeschoolers. I even realized that one of the moms I met at the last Mom's meeting is married to someone from my little hometown! It's truly a small world!

Cupid's Cuties

This year, I decided to host a little Valentine's Day party with some of our friends. Since Valentine's Day was on a Friday we got to enjoy our party on the actual day. We invited the Tims and Mashburns over for a homeschool Valentine's Day  party.

Miss Jess brought an extra visitor so we had 20 students total. The kids decorated boxes (the Mashburn kiddos get bonus points for the best boxes) and selected valentines. I talked to my kids and all the boys wanted to give out food related valentines. LOL

I was a bit of a lazy mom and didn't fill out the "to" portion of the cards. Since I have more non-readers that readers, I thought that would make things simpler for them. It proved to be a real time saver, and I'll continue to be lazy in the future.

The younger kids didn't really grasp the concept of giving out cards. In fact, a few tears were shed at the thought of giving away their sack of goodies. However, when the delivery of cards was complete there were lots of happy campers! I heard several discussions of having a party next year and schemers trying to develop a plan to pass out cards for lots of holidays. LOL

Candyce made handmade valentines that were super cute. Even though she gave my 8 children whistles, we're still friends. Haha! This little girl couldn't quite figure out what she was doing wrong. Unfortunately for me, her older siblings helped her out.

Delivering Love

I've mentioned before that we really enjoy visiting the nursing home with our 4-H group. Some of the homeschoolers of our club visit one of the nursing homes during the school day. The kids like making cards and visiting with the residents. Before we went for Valentine's Day, Henry said "I know when we go to the nursing home they gonna kiss me. They like to kiss me and hug me." Henry frequently finds himself on the receiving end of a smooch on the cheek. I love that he isn't bothered by it in the least.

The kids take a bit of a divide and conquer approach and travel down the halls. We're definitely "organized chaos" as getting preschoolers to do anything in a methodical manner is hard,  but we get the job done. 

This was Felicity's first trip and she and Liberty got lots of attention. The three of us often fell behind because residents and nurses alike wanted to see the babies. 

Towards the end of the visit at the first and largest nursing home, I let Liberty out of the stroller and she insisted on carrying a bag of cards like the big kids. The bag was nearly as tall as she is but she wouldn't allow anyone to assist her.

Later that afternoon, we met up with some more 4-H members and visited two more nursing homes. The other facilities are smaller and we get our visiting done much faster.

Winner, Winner

In November Madisyn entered the Farm Bureau essay contest. Her essay had to be on the topic of "Thank a Farmer". Each entrant was judged at the county level and then each county winner advanced to state. We were quite pleased when we learned that Madisyn received 1st place on the county level. A few weeks later, we learned that she also earned 1st place on the state level. She was very pleased to learn that winning state earned her a $100 check.

Visiting the Nursing Home

Before Christmas, we visited the local nursing home with our 4-H club. Our club does a lot of community service but I try not to miss the nursing home visits.

So many children are afraid of the elderly and I love that my children freely give them hugs.

When we arrived at the nursing home, Mrs. Jennifer had hats and my younger kids grabbed them up.

In the weeks before the visit we made cards. We took the cards along with some candy and passed them out to the residents.

The kids grouped into pairs and entered the rooms. The residents seemed to really enjoy the "Erry Tismus!" greeting they received.

Sawmill Days {Part 2}

 

After lunch, we went to school. The one room schoolhouse has been restored and placed on the edge of the park. Visiting the school is always a highlight of a visit to the park.

 

The kids learned about the purpose of the two stoves in the room and even got to handle coal. Their hands didn't fair so well after that hands on experience. :-)

As a treat the park staff makes old fashioned Kettle Corn. The kids LOVE the popcorn and the temptation to be greedy is very strong.

They visited a station and had the opportunity to play games like Jacob's Ladder, Cup and Ball and Grace (throwing/catching hoops).

Liberty is such a trooper when it comes to hanging out during field trips. She is usually pretty content to sit in the stroller and watch the other kids have a good time.

The last activity of the day was a scavenger hunt in the cemetery. No one has been buried there since 1924. The kids divided into two groups with Madisyn and Ty chosen as leaders of the two groups (they were the strongest readers). None of the boys wanted to be on Madisyn's team so it was a very lopsided competition with 6 boys vs Madisyn and JoAnna.

Once time was called it was determined that the girls were the victors! They had 9 correct answers and the boys only manged to find three! Candyce and I think that next time Madisyn might find a few more team members. LOL

Sawmill Days {Part 1}

 

What a busy month we've had! Between field trips and computer issues, blogging has been very difficult. Hopefully, I can make up for it over the next few days. :)

We started off the month by heading to Parkin Archaeological State Park for their annual Homeschool Sawmill Days. A big reason the Casqui Indian artifacts are so well preserved is due to the Northern Ohio Sawmill.

The mill employees occupied the Casqui site in the early 1900s and prevented the area from being farmed. During Sawmill Days, the park interpreters so the kids what like was like during that time.

We began the day by learning about what animals were hunted and trapped in order to feed the people and then moved to learning about food preservation.

The highlights of the morning were the making of corn husk dolls and attempting to saw a log using a cross cut saw.

Mary Claire and Henry didn't want to be left out of the experience but found themselves running alongside Ty and Griffin as they did the heavy work.