Scavenger Hunt Sunday 4-13-2014

I had planned to start focusing on my writing more and not keeping up with Scavenger Hunt Sunday...but I've changed my mind. I enjoy photography and being able to share my stories, so here I go:

1. Neglected

This poor sheep has neglected her fleece all winter. Her barber is having a bit of trouble. 

(If you know sheep parts and this happens to be a male--forgive me.)   ;)

2. Signs of Spring

I photographed the lovely buds on this Redbud tree on my wild edibles hike at 

Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. 

The buds and flowers of this tree are edible. They are members of the legume family.

3. Last thing you bought

No, I did not purchase a pig! I bought admission for my family to the Homeplace Living History Farm at Land Between the Lakes in Tennessee. (LBL lies partly in KY and partly in TN).

 4. Shadow

The shadow of this tree's limbs create balance in this picture taken just before the 

wild edibles hike at LBL's Hematite Lake--in the background you can just barely see a 

bit ofwater spilling over the spillway.

 5. Four Things

Alyson felt she should be in the picture along with the four cast-iron skillets hanging on the wall. Next time, I may get her to wear the pioneer dress I made her--would make for a cute photo.

Thanks for joining me on this photographic journey. All of my pictures this week were taken at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. If you have never visited, you are missing out! Follow me or check back for future posts on LBL. We will be visiting frequently over the next months as I am researching and writing a book based in the area.

What Can We Learn on Vacation?

What can you learn on vacation? Anything you want! Today I will be sharing pictures of some of our many trips to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. (I am not being compensated for sharing my opinion.) SDC is my favorite theme park because it has something for the whole family, and so many opportunities to learn as well!

This picture was taken inside Marvel Cave at SDC. The cave can be used to teach Geology, Stalactite/Stalagmite formation, Early exploration (especially if you take the Lantern Light Tour), Rock Layers, Temperature differences on and beneath the Earth's surface, animals found in caves, etc. There are many possibilities here for learning.

Map Reading and Navigation skills can be taught with minimal planning. Let your child lead, and help him reorient himself if he gets lost. Or, you lead, while pointing out landmarks and then see if your child can trace the route you took while looking at a map.

You may have to teach a little democracy as well. With more than one child, it is always interesting to see how they deal with the problem of what to ride first.

You could teach a lesson on flowers and plants, which are native, and which are not. Teach names of flowers, what types of soil are necessary to make flowers grow...or, in the case of these Hydrangeas, you can even work in a lesson on acids and bases, and what makes which color flower. 

Learn about how candy was made at Brown's Candy Factory (don't forget to try a sample while you are there!)

Learn about the old west, and uses for things like the stage coach. (Munchkin is dressed up here for a costume contest).

Learn about pulleys and gravity.

Learn about other countries culture and customs.

These pictures were taken during various times of the year, so not all things pictured are available year round. Many coincide with the festivals and events throughout the year at Silver Dollar City. There are many things to do besides what I have pictured. Visit the homestead and learn about the animals there, visit the schoolhouse for a history lesson, or the Wilderness Church for a Gospel Sing Along (Music and Music Appreciation). You can dip your own candles at Carries Candles, or make your own rag doll with Wagon Train Dolls. Watch a bladesmith fashion a blade, or a blacksmith make a horseshoe.

We also use vacations to learn about money. Leading up to vacation we list extra chores which can be done to earn spending money, and at the park we remind them to make wise choices, and to not spend all of their money on the first day. We remind them how long it took or how hard they worked to earn whatever amount they are thinking of spending on a potential purchase, then they decide if it is worth it to them. Wherever you go, remember that learning does not have to be done at the kitchen table!

I want to thank Crystal's Tiny Treasures for featuring this post I did about learning about money.

Check out my link party page to see where I am linking.

Columbus Ships Nina and Pinta Home-School Trip

As promised, here are some more pictures of our home-schooling adventures. This was a trip we took with our home-school group to see the Nina and Pinta reproductions--they are a floating mini museum and the tour guides are very knowledgeable and informative. Here is a link for anyone interested...they tour all around the U.S. (anywhere the ships are able to sail) http://www.thenina.com/. The Nina is the most historically accurate Columbus ship reproduction ever built.

Munchkin walking towards the Nina. This ship is the one actually built to the scale of the original and with tools like what they would have used in Columbus' time.

Here, the kids are listening to the tour guide tell them about the shore boat on the Nina.

View of the Pinta from shore. This ship was built a bit bigger than the original scale, and built with more modern tools as well if I am remembering correctly. All in all this was a pretty fun trip with the group, though it got a little warm before the tour was over (we went in early September). 

This is my view of the Pinta from the deck of the Nina. I like the perspective here with the beam above me showing in the foreground. I need to play with these pictures some, because I know they would look nicer with some editing. I'll have to remember to do that in all of this spare time I have.

I do occasionally find snippets of spare time; it was in one such snippet that I wrote the following poem. (Inspired by how crowded I felt surrounded by the other home-schoolers...which our guide informed us was about how many sailors would have been on the deck.)

Standing hunched:

Ceiling too low.

Feeling bunched

As others crowd close.

We all want to see.

There floats a ship;

What once was a tree.

Covered in pitch,

Black in the night,

The moon and stars

Might be their only light.

Aboard the Nina,

Columbus' favorite ship,

I look toward the Pinta

Glad I didn't take this trip.

Three little boats

On the ocean so large

Wind in the sails...

Sailing so far.

But to where and to what?

West to the Indies...

But what if they got lost?

I wonder if they were scared.

I would be...wouldn't you?

Unwashed bodies

All crowded close.

No bathing for months...

That would be gross!

Long dangerous journey 

On a ship so small.

It's a wonder they lived,

Any one of them all.

But lived they did, 

And made history too!

There it is...hope you enjoyed it. I am planning to try to write poems about historical events, people, or places to make learning about them more fun and perhaps a little easier. This one was more for fun and my own amusement...and to sharpen my poetry skills hopefully.

Check out my Link Parties page for a list of all the parties I link to each week.