School in the Forest

This is our 6th year homeschooling! John is in 7th grade and Jackson is in 3rd. It doesn't seem real. Finding a group to connect with around here has definitely been a challenge. Have I ever mentioned that where we live, Polk County TN, is the poorest county in the state of TN? It definitely has a culture of its own. However, no worries about the social skills of our kids (insert eye roll and face palm here). They are still meeting new people of all ages every week. And guess what--they actually know how to interact with them. Imagine that.

Back to my point, we have joined a coop here that had a field trip only option. This kept us from having to commit to classes. We have attended one event with them so far. Hopefully, we will get a few more in before November and will continue in March. However, there is so much to do in the area, we have been able to have some learning adventures on our own.

As always, my boys are aware of what their expectations are for the week. They have 32 weeks of school for each grade level. They are allowed the freedom to complete those things as they want. I do not have "times" for each task. But they do have a minimal amount to complete each week. They have to self regulate and make time/task decisions themselves. Each week, I let them know the interruptions or things that are planned that they will have to consider in their planning. If they slack, they reap the consequences. If they put forth a lot of work ethic--they reap the consequences! The only exceptions are the things that I teach together--which are Bible, History, Writing, and Science. 

Here are some of our learning adventures so far this year.

We went to Mercier Orchards for an educational trip with the homeschool group that included tours of the facility and a wagon ride out to pick apples. We have since ate many, many pounds of their apples. They are the best! When you bite into them, they will squirt the person next to you. I dread when the season ends... Here are some picture from our trip.

At the orchard, they make their own cider, baked goods (breads, cookies, cakes, pies), and fried pies. In this small room they made over 1.4 million pies last year!!!! They are good. I have had key lime and coconut fried pies. Only because Jackson insists on buying me one. Otherwise, I have to go in there and consistently repeat, just get the apples...just get the apples....

There is the house in which it all started in the 1920's.

We spent a couple of weeks studying mines, minerals, and the periodic table. When we finished up mapping out atoms and practicing combining them, we went to visit the local museum in Ducktown documenting the history of the Burra Burra Mine. It is a 14 story mine! On the 10th floor was a complete town. The only things you couldn't buy there was liquor and a car! They flooded the mine once they closed it down to keep people out. All of the equipment and things inside were left there. They didn't want people inside because of the miles and miles of tunnels. They said that rescue efforts would almost be impossible. To pump all of the water out now would take 3 years!

The above picture shows all of the different things that they made from the different elements that were mined from the ore. They were able to combine the copper with other things and create all kinds of things. It put it into everyday life all of the atom combining we had practiced prior to our trip. For example, copper sulfate (the blue stuff that you see at the bottom). That is the active ingredient in OxyClean and Tide. Tide detergent was the first company to use it and buy it from here. That is why for a long time it was the best at stain removing. The copper sulfate was the secret ingredient. There were several other well known products that were produced using the elements.

Check out these mining helmets. No battery operated lights! They were powered with raccoon fat! Why? Because coon fat would burn and would not smell or leave black smoke.

The shift whistle could be heard all over town.

Our teacher for the day was so kind. She even gave the boys a piece of ore that was mined from the mine!

Need a new calculator?

Anyone need a job?

Our teacher for the day actually grew up here with her father working in the mine. The area was completely stripped of all the topsoil and nothing would grow. It took them many years to get the land back to health. The people in the area who grew up during that time are actually sad. They felt a sense of pride--they brag about how there were no insects, no snakes, and no allergies because there was no grass or trees. She told about how laundry would get holes in it from simply hanging outside to dry. This was caused from the manufacturing of some acid that was a byproduct of the copper mining. She didn't see anything wrong with this. She even bragged that people would come just to look at the land because it was so pretty, like a miniature Grand Canyon. Of course, my theory is this is why there is so much mental illness and developmental issues in the community. I wish someone would have told me not to mention this to a local. She quickly let me know that it was all the people who have moved in that have mental problems. And the mining had no ill effects on the people. It just killed all the other living things and depleted the land of nutrients for many years. 

This section of the mine collapsed.

And of course, because of our location, we have spent some time exploring water biomes, the water cycle, and water filtration, etc. Last Monday we spent the day at the aquarium. The boys participated in a couple of classes. Jackson's class used dichotomous keys to identify certain water animals. John's class explored amphibians. It was a nice way to spend a very rainy day.

What better way to learn about the water cycle than to go and play in the rain. We identified precipitation, accumulation, transpiration, runoff, and we explored groundwater by discussing the well pump at the campground. Oh, and on the way to set shuttle for Johnny, Jackson counted 8 large sections of rain runoff on the mountains! 

In American History, we are nearing the American Revolution. Jackson is almost 60% finished with his third grade math already. John switched math programs (He was using Khan and Life of Fred) to Saxon. He complained about Khan every day... I smiled and offered him a traditional curriculum. We started with Saxon Pre-Algebra. I reasoned it would provide him with a good review and he would be really fluent for Algebra next year...I should have just went ahead and started with Algebra. I think I will let him skip through and work on it through December and then go ahead with Algebra. He is continuing Life of Fred as well just because he likes it.

As for reading, they have been reading chapter books of their choices. We are getting ready to do a few unit studies together starting next week: The Hatchet, Call of the Wild, and The Boxcar Children Book 1 (primarily for Jackson).

Jackson started typing instruction this year and is really doing well. As a matter of fact his wpm and accuracy score is usually higher than John's! You should hear John rant about this! One new thing we started this year is they spend some time 2 days a week researching a topic on their own and then on Tuesday evening they present what they have learned. Sometimes I assign them an overall topic (like rocks/minerals) and some weeks they can pick anything. For example, one week Jackson researched how crystals are formed. He presented his research and did an experiment in which he grew his own sugar crystals.

 And it just so happens that while we have been here several sweet campers have given our boys quartz, jade, amethyst, pyrite, and other cool rocks that have complemented our study. And one week John Gannon presented on poisonous rocks! Who knew that there were poisonous rocks? I have learned quite a few things from them!

Our schedule will be a little different next week. The boys have eye dr., dentists, orthopedic, and wellness check-ups in MS. We will probably get in a little math and reading and will be back on track fully the next week! But hopefully, John Gannon will be released!

Oh and stay tuned. John Gannon is wanting to write a series of short stories about the adventures of Bull and Chicken and make movies to go along with them. He got inspiration when he bought himself and his brother full body suits of a chicken and a bull he found on clearance in MS during our last trip.