Apr 30 2017

Museum of Appalachia

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Last week, we traveled to the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, TN. It is about one hour and 15 minutes from where we live, so it is a commitment to go there. Maybe that is why it has taken us four years to get back there to their annual sheep shearing event.

Boy and girl enter the Dan'l Boone cabin

Entering the cabin used in a recent TV show about the life of Daniel Boone

Every year, at the end of April, this museum welcomes over 650 children from different schools in the area and, obviously, homeschoolers, to teach them about how life used to be in Appalachia. Of course, one could visit any day of the year, but this is a special event. Continue reading »

Apr 26 2017

Wonderful Wednesday – Ornithology

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Growing up, I was never interested in ornithology. Honestly, I am still not that interested in it. I would have gotten more into it if it had not been for this one homeschooled kid who bragged about being an ornithologist.

Cardinal eggs in nest

Cardinal eggs in a nest by our house

I was a college student and he was still in high school. Somehow we were in the same place at the same time one day. He mentioned to me and a few others that he was an ornithologist. It was not a field that I particularly cared for, so I just sort of nodded politely. Continue reading »

Apr 16 2017

When Pollen Stops Learning

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Where we live, flora abounds. We live five minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an international biosphere. They say there are more species of flowers blooming in the Park than in all of Europe combined. That’s a lot of pollen.

Skype violin lesson

My daughter plays a piece by heart for her violin teacher, via Skype.

We drink plenty of fluids and limit our desserts, to help the immune system fight all the pollen. When we feel a tingling sensation in our throats, we drink even more water and start taking Vitamin C and oregano oil (one drop mixed with a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil). When our eyes start getting itchy and watery, we even take over the counter allergy medicine to keep the symptoms from ruining our quality of life.  Continue reading »

Apr 10 2017

Ijams Nature Center

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In Knoxville, a rather large city, there are many places where you can experience nature in a surprising way. Ijams Nature Center is one of these places but it is one of the top places, as voted by local residents. We have wanted to go to this 304-acre urban greenspace for some time, but something always prevented us from actually making it over there.

Ijams Nature Center

Ijams Nature Center

Finally, a friend invited me over there. She has three daughters about my children’s ages and we all loaded up picnic food in the cars and went to visit after church. The place is free to visit, but there are paid activities inside. We just wanted to let the kids walk around and experience the nature. They have play areas made out of natural materials – branches, leaves, or wood. It’s called a playscape. Continue reading »

Apr 3 2017

Story of the World, Vol. 3, Chapter 15

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Chapter 15 dealt with three things, all of them happening in the New World. First, we looked at the Wampanoag’s war against the English colonists, also known as King Philip’s war. Such a mess! It is one thing to inspire the children with stories of brave explorers who sailed across unknown seas in search of a shorter route to India. It’s another thing altogether to talk about the aftermath of such explorations and colonization attempts.

But history must be taught, no matter how painful and sad it may have been. Since history repeats itself, we want to make sure that we learn what happened in the past so that we may not repeat others’ mistakes.

Boy and girl in camo

Having fun in camouflage outfits

The second story dealt with the French having trouble in New France, today’s Quebec. One trouble was the lack of women and the other was the attack of the Iroquois. Since we are vaguely making plans to visit Montreal and Quebec City one day, we made a mental note of Marie-Madeleine de Vercheres and her statue which we should definitely see. Continue reading »

Mar 30 2017

Story of the World, Vol. 3, Chapter 14

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Chapter 14 covers the very interesting country of Prussia in early modern times. With my renewed interest in all things German, thanks to Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, who hailed from the small German principality of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, this chapter provided a lot of information we all received eagerly.

German flag

The flag of Germany today still reflects the colors of the old flag of Prussia.

I told the children about the three colors of the German flag, which can be found in the coloring page from Story of the World, on the Prussian emblem. With everything going on now in the European Union, reading about how these countries used to be really puts things in perspective. Continue reading »

Mar 27 2017

National Gallery Library

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Did you know that the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has a library and all of us may borrow books in the mail from there? I just got my first volume and we are enjoying it immensely.

An Eye For Art - a book we borrowed from the National Gallery of Art

An Eye For Art – we borrowed it from the National Gallery of Art

The process to sign up for this library is as easy as 1-2-3: (1) you create an account; (2) you choose the learning resource you want to borrow; (3) you click “request this resource” right there on its page.

There are no late fees and the borrowing times are generous. We just received our book and we do not have to return it until December. Yes, you read that right. Continue reading »

Mar 24 2017

Prince Albert, Homeschooling Dad

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After watching Victoria on PBS for a few weeks, I was very interested in learning more about Prince Albert, her husband. My local library carries The Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert, the most comprehensive biography of Prince Albert, written by Stanley Weintraub. I read it after watching Weintraub’s lecture about the book on YouTube.

Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert

The most comprehensive biography of Prince Albert – I learned a lot from it

Through it all, I learned that Prince Albert was a wonderful homeschooling dad to his nine children. Albert and Victoria enjoyed 17 years of a happy marriage until his unfortunate death at the relatively young age of 42. Prince Albert wrote about his children’s studies extensively in his diary, which makes him a blogging dad by modern standards. So what kind of education did he give his royal children? Continue reading »

Mar 20 2017

Standardized Testing

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Last week, my children took their annual standardized tests at our umbrella school in Knoxville. In Tennessee, one can sign up under the local school district, or with an umbrella school. Umbrella schools come in different shapes, forms and sizes. Some are remote places that will not require much of you in exchange for the piece of paper which shows that you are not truant.

Terra Nova 3 test prep materials

Test Prep books we used – our test is called Terra Nova 3.

Others are local brick-and-mortar schools with a homeschool umbrella program. As such, they will give your child a diploma when high school graduation comes around. The diploma will not even mention the word “homeschool,” which makes the umbrella school hold parents to a high standard. Many such local umbrella schools require annual testing.  Continue reading »

Mar 16 2017

Art Field Trips

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Now that the standardized test is behind us, we can have some fun with subjects like foreign languages and art, which I tend to de-emphasize in the months leading up to the test. We visited two art museums recently, to get our art juices flowing: Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg and the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Girl looking at digital art

My daughter looking at digital art, in Knoxville, at the Museum of Art

At Arrowmont, we caught the tail end of the juried exhibition from Sevier County residents. We live in a community full of talented artists. It was inspiring to see all the different pieces and media.  Continue reading »