The History of Homeschooling

I have lots of information to share with you, but am limited on time. So, for now I will share this short video on the history of homeschooling. This is a very interesting topic to me, and I might just assign a writing assignment, as a final exam to my 10th grader, on this topic. The three named individuals would be a great place to start. Enjoy! I will hopefully be back in a couple of days, to post some of the more interesting things we have been up to. Our field trip to Payne's Prairie got delayed, due to vehicle conflicts, and we might have to wait until Fall now to get there, but there are plenty of other fun things to do.

Field Trip to Fort Clinch and Little Talbott Island State Parks

I am so happy we bought a Florida State Park Pass. I think we have used it six times already, and this Friday we are taking another field trip to Paynes Prairie. Last Monday, all of us, even the hubby, took a trip to Amelia Island. On Amelia Island there are several different state parks, plus Fernandina Beach, a small town on Amelia Island, that I just fell in love with. Anyway, we decided we would visit two of the state parks all in one day. Why? Because some don't allow swimming, and everyone wanted to swim. In the end only Caitlin swam, lol. Fort Clinch, we visited first. Fort Clinch is a beautiful state park, with lots of trails for hiking, and biking. The canopy entering the park was just beautiful. The Fort itself, was not included in the price of the state park. It was 2 dollars per person, which is still a great deal. The museum part of the fort was small, but the 12 min video about the fort, was awesome. The fort is not handicapped accessible, at all, but you could just stay on the lower levels and be fine if you needed to. I didn't post all the pics, because it takes too long, and I really think anyone reading this should visit this park, and get some of your own, hint hint.

Little Talbott Island State Park, has a huge beach, and it was very clean and quiet. Of course it was a Monday afternoon. The surf was rather rough, and ooh the water was cold. If it had been just a little bit hotter, all of us would have swam, but it was only 75 and just not warm enough. Except for Caitlin, lol, she swam. We walked the beach, collecting different shells, that we hadn't found before. I have some projects in mind for them, and they are currently cleaning in 50/50 solution of bleach and water. We even found large Sand Dollars, they were broken, but we have never found any before so that was exciting.  We got to take a ferry ride, back in town, and ended with dinner at Olive Garden.  All in all a beautiful day!

I still have a bunch of experiments to share, and I hope to get them uploaded soon.

Just About 3/4 Done With Our School Year!

I love this time of year, we start to finish up some classes, and get more free time for fun stuff.  Plus, it is warm outside, gardening, pool, hiking and springs are on our mind, not textbooks, lol.  Caitlin has finished up her Spanish, for this year.  She is 90% finished reading her History book, then we get to start some of the fun activities, which I will be sure to share for all of you.  DJ finished up Driver Ed, and Digital Design, some time ago.  He has writers block about half way through his second book, yes I said his second book.  So, I think I will be supplementing that time with Biology labs, plus he is reading the first Percy Jackson book to his sister.  A couple weeks ago, Caitlin and I finished reading, The Yearling.  Now, I will not say it was the most exciting book, it was not, and it took us a while to read, mostly because of the slang language.  I really wanted to sound like they would have, lol.  However, it was an amazing coming to age book, and though I had predicted pretty early on the ending, I still was shocked, and horrified.  You will just have to read it to see what I mean.  Classical literature is very often not that exciting, I find, but the lessons taught are really amazing.  DJ, and I read,  To Kill A Mockingbird, last year, not his favorite by far.  But, I loved it, a little slow, but so worth the read.  Now, I am reading the sequel which moves quite a bit faster.  Don't expect me to have it done anytime soon, I am notorious for reading three to four books at any one time.  I know, crazy, done it my whole life though.  I think I will have DJ read it for next year.  Speaking of next year, it is time to start thinking about it.  For DJ, I think the only two things we have completely agreed on is Saxon Geometry, and the next class in the Digital Design certificate classes, on FLVS.  Most likely he will also do World History, on FLVS, as well.  That saves me both money and time.  For Caitlin, I think I will also stick with Saxon Math, and she will use 7/6.  I am going to skip 6/5 and move right to 7/6.  She has improved greatly, and she will be in 7th grade, so she will be at grade level.  I used Saxon Math, when I was in school, so I am very comfortable with the layout and lessons.  That is what we have been up to, Monday we are going on a family field trip, should be fun!