Celebrating Our Survival of Homeschool, Day 1

In celebration of a first day of school in which nobody died, nobody seemed to be dumber than when they started, and nobody seemed miserable at any point, our family headed down to Cumberland Park to bask in our success.

The park was really cool.  It is situated next to the Cumberland River, and has access to a walking bridge to downtown.  That’s the bridge that Luke is looking at in the picture.  We had fun walking across it and seeing the views of the river and downtown.  But before that, we played in the kids’ area. 

Here is a view of the kids’ area from the bridge:

And here’s what it looks like from the ground:

The kids had a blast playing in the sand, the sprinklers, and in the faux-rolling-hills while Greg and I sat in the shade and talked as we watched.  After they had had their fill of playing, we went and bought sno-cones…again, to celebrate our first day of school.  That became our running excuse of the day.

The kids were also eager to walk across the bridge, so before we even finished our sno-cones, we headed up.  Here is Anna’s attempt at the Statue of Liberty:

The bridge led to 4th Avenue, and to our surprise, Luke and Anna were totally up for strolling around downtown.

And so begins what I can only hope will be a lifelong trend of mimicking statues.

The kids did decide that they were starving, however, so we started to look for some cheap places to eat.  We thought there was a pizza place in Printer’s Alley, so we headed in that direction.

Um.

Apparently, Printer’s Alley is not what we had pictured.  As we strolled down it, we realized that all too well.

Yet another homeschool lesson:  the difference between dance theatres and “dance theatres.”  See?  We are learning all kinds of real-life skills! 

Yeesh.

Having not found our mythical pizza place, we settled on Demos’.

Thankfully, the restaurant lets in ragamuffins in swimwear with sno-cone faces.  What can I say?  We were not expecting to eat an early dinner downtown.  But…we were celebrating our first day of homeschooling:).

Afterward, we headed back to the bridge, and Luke spotted the Music City Star, much to his delight.

Back in Cumberland Park, we realized we had missed the rock wall.  Of course, we had to check it out.

By the time we decide to leave, both kids were sure they were too tired to walk…

…until they spotted three huge, grassy hills, at which point, they begged for permission to climb them.

They climbed all three. 

Tired, my foot:).

So…it has begun.  We are officially a homeschooling family.  Tomorrow, Greg goes back to work, and on Wednesday, the public schools start back.  I think it will all feel more “real” then.  Right now, we are just happy that we had such a fun day and that this year will hopefully feature us spending a lot of time together as a family, despite Greg’s busy schedule.

First Day of School! First Day of School!

Sorry.  I just had a little Finding Nemo moment.

So.

Today was our first day of school. 

In July. 

(Beat that, Metro! )

Yes, while Metro schools go back on August 1, my son was dying, dying to start school before then.  I would have liked to wait at least a week to be a little more prepared.  But no.  He would have preferred starting a week earlier, so starting today was actually a compromise.  And…

it went well!

I felt completely under-prepared and unqualified, but you have to understand that’s how I always feel.  When I taught college in the spring, I felt like the biggest phony.  I dreaded the time when my department head observed me because I just knew he was going to see through to my ignorance.

Instead, he gave me a great review and strongly emphasized my competence and knowledge of the material.  What???  Well, maybe I could fool him, but my students surely saw through me.  Many of them were my age, after all, and several had fought in wars.  I mean, surely they have enough life experience to know a fraud when they see one.  But no.  I recently got my student evaluations back, and they were actually really good.  Way better than I deserved. 

Thus, I have concluded that maybe, according to the general populace, my standards are a little too high.  

At least, that’s what I told myself to keep from panicking over the fact that I have completely taken over the responsibility to educate my children. (Oh, the hubris!  What was I thinking??) 

I tried to calm my nerves by walking through the materials the day before and laying everything out in order:

That helped.  It also helped that I had a surprise for the kids on their first day:

These are their nature studies packs.  Even though it is not included in their curriculum, I really wanted to have a nature studies component to school this year.  I thought it would really help to get us all outside on a daily basis, and help us to appreciate the world around us more.  Plus, Nashville has tons of great parks, and my bf is also doing nature studies with her kids.  There are even more great nature places out in the boonies, where she lives, and so we are planning to team up together for a lot of field trips.

Anyways, in their packs, I included a journal, colored pencils, a magnifying glass, specimen containers, waterproof pouches, bug spray, sunscreen, and hand sanitizer (Anna’s favorite, which I knew it would be).  Oh, and binoculars:

Luke knew he was getting a surprise, and so he and Anna bowled me over right when they both woke up.  Once they saw their packs, they were so excited that they wanted to take a nature walk right then, before breakfast.  I acquiesced, and they threw on some play clothes. 

I honestly was a little worried about “nature walks.”  I don’t really know much about nature, and mainly, I just wanted to raise their awareness of their environment, and to spark their curiosity about the world around them.  It turns out that I needn’t have worried.  Kids are naturals at this nature walk thing:

Armed with our scientific tools, we investigated every spider web, every leaf, every vine, every patch of moss that we saw.  We collected samples of rocks, leaves, and feathers.

Feathers?  Oh—time for hand sanitizer!

Anna didn’t actually touch the feather, but she could not get her hand sanitizer out fast enough.  She loves the stuff:

The nature walk was a huge hit, and then it was home for social studies. Today we learned about countries and how every country has a government and a language (or many) and a flag and borders and so forth.  To add some visual aids, I used a pack of flag flashcards I had gotten from the dollar rack at Target, some foreign money, and Greg’s and my passports, which fascinated the children.  Then, I let them explore the map a bit.

Next, we did what will pass for a creative project in the Kirby school:  we made up our own countries, named them, and designed their flags and money (and in Luke’s case, their soldiers and weaponry).

Then, we took a break before tackling Language Arts, Handwriting, Science, Math, and our read-along.  Like I said earlier, they all went surprisingly well.  We finished after lunch, had quiet time…and then went out to celebrate our homeschool success.  But that’s another blog post!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Pfonder

Wow.  I thought that youth ministry summers in Summerville were packed.  Let me tell you, they have nothing on a Woodbine summer.  Besides the longer hours during the day, Greg’s summer kicked off with three weeks of camps and concluded with back to back trips that stretched to twelve days, minus one in-between day when we were together.  Thankfully, my kids are at an age where we are okay with long absences (meaning that I don’t lose my mind.  We still miss him like crazy).  And thankfully, Greg absolutely loves his job, and has ended the summer both exhilarated by and content in what he is doing.  That is such a blessing.  I don’t know many people who love their work as much as my husband does.  And as someone who lives life “intensely,” as a friend recently pointed out to me, it is very good for my psyche to believe so deeply in my husband’s work.  I need things to be meaningful, to matter, and his work certainly does.  I also love the extent to which the kids and I can be involved in it.

Okay, now that that has all been said…

…can I just tell you how amazingly giddy we were to have a long weekend together after Greg got back from his trips?  He had to work a couple of long days afterward, but then he took Friday off, much to our excitement.  Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Or “pfonder,” if you spell like “The Pfunky Griddle,” where we ate breakfast on Friday morning. 

Despite its rave reviews on Urban Spoon, both Greg and I were a little skeptical of a place that makes you flip your own pancakes.  Even though our skepticism proved justified, we had a fun time hanging out in a cool place and trying something new.

Not sure why I do this to myself.  I guess I just can’t pass up saving the memory of our goofiness!

At the Pfunky Griddle, they bring you the batter in a big pitcher, along with any pancake toppings you want, and then you cook your pancakes on a big griddle in the center of the table.  You could totally do this at home with an electric griddle, and save yourself some money.  But it was a fun experience.

After our pancake breakfast, we headed home and decided to ride bikes down to the playground at Luke’s school.

Then, Greg suggested that we head to the pool once we got home.  After our bike ride back in the heat, we were definitely ready to cool down.

Our pool is pretty neat.  It is Olympic-sized, and next to it is a cool play area:

It is especially fun when Greg I there, too, so that there is a 1-1 adult-child ratio.  During the lifeguard break, Greg took Luke to play on the nearby playground, while Anna preferred to chill with me on the lounge chair.

After an hour and a half, we headed home, having decided to use one of our gift cards for an early dinner at Carrabba’s.  Because of our late breakfast, we had skipped lunch and were a little hungry.  Still, we got to Cool Springs around 3:30, which was a little too early.  Also, Anna had fallen asleep in the car after all that biking and swimming.  Greg graciously volunteered to stay in the car and let her nap, while Luke and I spent some time in the nearby Barnes and Noble.

He found a Brick Bible (the Bible illustrated with Legos) for kids, and we had fun reading the story of Noah.  Once we started getting hungry, we headed out to meet Greg and a still-sleeping Anna.  Then, it was on to Carrabba’s.

She lives!

After a delicious dinner, it was home again to pop popcorn, set up the air mattresses, and watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  I have not been an avid Olympics watcher in the past, but our homeschool curriculum focuses on world cultures and history, and I was excited to introduce my kids to this wonderful, global event.  Of course, the stuffed animals had to come, too:

Luke liked it all a lot more than Anna, who told Greg, “I think the Olympics is more of a grown-up movie.”  Greg put that little gem on Facebook, and we each also shared some of our exchanges with Luke.  I’ll copy them here for posterity.  Here is one from Greg:

Me: So Luke, what are your favorite Olympic events?
Luke: The swimming and the running. Those are the types of events Batman would do .... I've never actually seen the Olympics, so I'm just guessing here.

And here is one from me:

Luke: Georgia's up next!
Greg: Well, it's not the state...
Luke: I know. I've worked it on my map, actually. It's by Turkey.
Greg: Um, well you know more than me.

That was another really cool thing about the opening ceremonies.  Thanks to one of our iPad apps, Luke is familiar with most of the countries in the world (seriously, he is way better than I am at figuring out these continent puzzles on the app), and so he really loved getting to see all of the “puzzle pieces” he had been working be represented in the parade of nations.

We have since been Olympics junkies at our house, keeping NBC on most of the weekend, and Luke, especially, has been a big fan.

Yay for the Olympics!  And yay for some much-needed family time!

Our Last (and Favorite) Day

I was a little surprised that our favorite day in D.C. was…not in D.C.  Instead, we enjoyed a lovely visit to Baltimore’s inner harbor, a place where one could easily spend a whole vacation.  Around a little inlet of water lies at least one hotel, a myriad of cool-looking places to eat, an aquarium, a science center, a children’s museum, and one of those Ripley’s Believe It or Not places.  There was also a maritime museum.

We chose the maritime museum.

It might not sound like the most exciting thing ever, but I assure you that we all loved it!  The “museum” consists of four ships docked in the harbor, and we toured them all.  I’m getting ahead of myself, though.

Our day in Baltimore really started on Federal Hill, where we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

Our lunch spot boasted a great view of the inner harbor, where we spent the bulk of our day:

Zooming in, you can see the submarine and lighthouse ship to the left of the aquarium here:

The Civil War ship we toured is to the left of the dock:

While the adults lingered over lunch, the kids had fun playing on the playground that was on the hill.  Before we left I got a picture of them on one of the cannons:

Then, we drove down to the harbor itself.  While the kids played on this sculpture…

…Ken and I went to buy tickets for the maritime museum:

Our first ship was probably Luke’s favorite:  the USCGC Taney.  It was built in 1935-6 and was docked near Pearl Harbor during the infamous attack.  Being so close, it came to defend the harbor during the attack.  It then went on to see quite a bit of action during WW2.

The kids loved all the narrow passageways and stairs.  I’m telling you:  touring ships is exciting stuff, to small children and history nerds alike.

I told Ken and Victoria that Anna would stay on this “phone” as long as someone was talking to her:

The girls enjoyed a little role play in the mess hall:

Uncle Ken explained the basics of the Pearl Harbor attack using this helpful replica:

More stairs!

Outside the ship:

After vessel #1, we took a potty and water break in the nearby hotel:

Next, it was on to the submarine!

The USS Torsk was “the last American naval vessel to sink an enemy warship in World War II,” according the handy brochure I was given upon boarding.  It fought in the Pacific.

The submarine was really fun.  My personal favorite, however, was the USS Constellation, a sloop-of-war that spent years fighting the African slave trade in the Mediterranean, before heading back to defend the Union during the Civil War:

Not only was it beautiful, we all got audio tours:

On deck:

In the galley:

In all three ships, the kids’ favorite parts were probably the beds.  The hammocks, especially, were a huge hit.  The kids definitely spent most of their time here, especially when they discovered that some had ropes you could pull to swing them!

Luke, exploring the officers’ quarters:

Learning about the hull:

The captain’s quarters:

After touring the Constellation, we took a smoothie break at the nearby Starbucks…which was in the world’s coolest Barnes and Noble:

The bookstore (a family favorite) is located in an old power plant, which still has the smokestacks…not to mention a super cool see-through escalator.  (Remember how my kids love escalators?  They thought this one was amazing.)

Much to their delight, both Starbucks and the children’s section were on the second floor.

After our break, we went back to our fourth and final ship, a lightship.  It was probably our least favorite ship, so the tour was quick:

The kids did love the view from the top:

Uncle Ken explained to them how you could send messages with the light:

Next, we had to run back into Barnes and Noble for another potty break for Anna.  While Victoria looked for a magazine, I took a few pictures of the kids outside:

Anna inspired me:

She also alternated between “sneaking up” on Uncle Ken and me:

Boo!

We then walked around a bit, and the kids watched a street performer while Ken and Victoria tried to figure out a place to eat:

We eventually settled on heading back toward Columbia and stopping at a local organic market that had pre-made food…and face painting!

On the way out, Grace and Anna stopped to look at a bug:

As Ken had remarked, jokingly, when the kids had stopped to gape at a duck earlier, “Darn you and your childhood sense of wonderment!”  Seriously, I did note the irony of dragging my kids to see all of these “great” manmade things, like ships and monuments, when they were just as easily entertained by dirt, sticks, bugs, and ducks!

To my surprise, it was easy to convince Luke to get his face painted (not that I would have pressed the issue).  I just suggested something to do with Batman, and he was sold!  As for Anna, well, it was never a question of whether or not she would have her face painted:

The market where we got dinner:

Like the days preceding it, this day was packed, but it was also a lot of fun.  We all got good sleep that night, and then the kids and I headed out late Friday morning.  We planned to drive eight hours, and then stop for the night; however, my kids were all for pressing on and getting home in one day.  Thus, we kept driving, and pulled in just before midnight.  They were both great travelers, aided in part by the iPad, which is a marvelous invention.  Luke’s favorite games are “Stack the States” and “Stack the Countries,” the latter of which has really difficult puzzles of all the continents.  Seriously, I tried to do a couple and totally flopped.  You only get three errors, there are no lines to divide the countries, and let’s be honest:  half of the countries ,I’ve never even heard of.  However, Luke has mastered South America, and spent a lot of the ride home figuring out Asia.  Thus, I heard things like, “Mom!  Did you know the Philippines are in Asia?”  “Mom, did you know Japan is in Asia?”  (“I know, son.  That’s the country we are teaming up with to make the Global Precipitation Measurement System.  Do you remember that from our tour of NASA?”  “Yeah, mom!  That’s why I said it!”  Nerds unite.) 

And also:  “WHOA, mom!  Russia is HUGE!”

Eventually, he mastered Asia, and spent the rest of his iPad time tackling Europe.  He totally knows more geography than I do right now. 

It was a good trip.  I’d like to think that we learned a lot.  And even more importantly, we got to spend some good time with our family.  Thank you, Ken and Victoria (and Grace and Amelia) for being such marvelous hosts!