Lessons from the 22nd Week

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This week, we had time to take in the results of the Science Olympiad Invitational and catch up on other things. For instance, we have TeenPact One Day coming up at the end of the month and the homework needs to happen now. We also attended our first Science Class at Ripley’s Aquarium for 2020 and experienced mixed emotions.

Ripley's Aquarium Science Class

Aquarium Science Class for Homeschoolers – before it got really full

The room has now doubled in size. They opened up the partition wall between two classrooms to accommodate almost 40 students plus their parents and siblings. There must have been close to 70 people in that room. I teared up at one point, realizing how much homeschooling has changed since I got started seven years ago. Continue reading »


2016 Aquarium Science Classes

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This is our fourth year attending science classes at Ripley’s Aquarium in Gatlinburg. It’s a bit shocking for me to write that, but it’s true. Four years already? At first, it was only my son and I going there. My mom was living with us at the time and she kept my daughter, age three at the time.

Boy and girl at Ripley's Aquarium

Before the class, they look at the fish.

The following year, they each attended their own class, but soon the Preschool class was canceled and my daughter joined my son in the K-2 class. Last year, they were perfectly matched to the K-2 class, as my son was in second grade and my daughter in Kindergarten. Continue reading »


Ripley’s Aquarium Science Classes

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We have been attending science classes for homeschoolers at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies for three years now. The first year, I left my daughter home with my husband and took my son to the class. He was in kindergarten. He got bored in the beginning. He told me he would like to leave once or twice. I sent him back to his seat and told him nicely that he will need to wait until craft time. Eventually, I brought her along and she sat next to me, taking in the atmosphere, the vocabulary, the experience.

The class has two parts: a Power Point presentation and a craft project. They have changed teachers once and both teachers have been top notch.

NaBloPoMo2015

For the first time, I am posting every day for a month.

Because parents stay in the classroom, sometimes there are younger siblings who make noises. Once, it got really loud. There were a few too many toddlers around. That was the only time that I saw stress on the teacher. It was also the largest class I have ever seen – about 40 people were in the room.  Continue reading »