Tag Archives: Wild and Free Great Smoky Mountains

Oct 4 2021

Hiking Our Hearts Out

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Once a week, we go hiking with a group of local homeschoolers. It helps that we live five minutes from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but we go other places, too. Last week, it was Panther Creek State Park. Next week, it will be Seven Islands Birding State Park.

Fern Branch Falls

Fern Branch Falls

The thing is, the National Park is so immense, some of the trails are still an hour from my house. So even if the destination is in the Smokies, we still have to drive for 30 minutes or longer. What can I say? America is big. That’s what this Israeli family told us last week, when we were at Grotto Falls and started chatting with them. “America is big.” They could not believe how long it would take them to get from point A to point B. Continue reading »

Oct 18 2020

Wild and Free – Facebook Live

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This week I spoke about the Wild and Free Community. It is a co-op of sorts, but without books. We just go hiking. We keep the group small, no more than 15-20 families, depending on the number of children in each family. That is already too large to manage. Imagine a group of 30-50 people walking around through a city park or a trail in a state park.

Andrews Bald

My children on the Andrews Bald hike last week

Realistically speaking, not everybody can make it every week. Therefore, we have never had all 15 families show up. The biggest I have seen it in my 14 months of Wild and Free was maybe 7 or 8 mamas with their children. Continue reading »

Mar 16 2020

Lessons from the 30th Week

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Historic events happened last week and are happening as I type, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All the cancellations have affected everybody. They cancelled our yearly achievement test six days before its initial date. All other events got cancelled, except for the taekwondo practice on Friday.

Norris Dam State Park

Norris Dam State Park

Still, looking around the room, I felt weird to look at 22 kids in that studio, breathing the same air together. The corona virus has already altered the way we live our lives, the way we look at the world and human interactions. Continue reading »

Sep 22 2019

Lessons from the Seventh Week

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This seventh week taught us several things. First, children will eat vegetables they pick out at the grocery store. One day, after a routine doctor’s appointment, I took the kids to Kroger and showed them all the fruits and vegetables available. They knew most of them, but things like bok choy, artichoke hearts, and turnips looked unfamiliar to them.

Fort Loudon

My children at Fort Loudon Historic State Area

We do not use those veggies in our dishes, but I wanted them to know they exist. I have cooked turnips before, but I did not like them, so I stopped buying them. Plus, they remind me of rutabaga, and I have some bad memories about rutabaga. The less said about it, the better. Continue reading »

Aug 31 2019

Lessons from the Fourth Week

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The fourth week went by smoothly. The children had auditions for Knoxville Youth Symphony Orchestras on Monday. The results came in on Wednesday and, sure enough, they reached their goals. Our daughter wanted to stay in the same orchestra, but move from Second Violin to the First Violin section. She did. She instinctively knew the next orchestra would be too hard. Well, not just instinctively. She also knew from experience.

Mom and Kids at Clingmans Dome

Clingmans Dome, Observation Tower

Last summer, during string camp, she tried the next orchestra level up. She kept up, but barely. She prefers a more relaxed environment and we respect that. In fact, her violin teacher said this shows a rare form of insight for a nine-year-old, and also recommended we let our daughter go at her own pace. Continue reading »