We had never heard of Stone Mountain but the day before we left for Florida, I received my prize book from Live the Adventure. As I perused the 500 locations I came across this location near Atlanta… hmm we have to go through Atlanta. So we decided we would stop on the way back home. We are so glad we did. We only looked at the carving and took the train around the base but we plan to go back and partake in all of the activities and watch the laser show.
This trip to Disney was short & sweet. We only went for three days and only went to two parks. We spent our time at Magic Kingdom seeing sites we had skipped in our other two visits and our day at Epcot helping Kim Possible capture villains. So much fun! We only waited for photographs and autographs we had never received… what a time saver!
Learning to spin plates in China
Dreaming to see the real deal
"The Bakery is Open!"
Goofing in Mexico
Dancing in Germany
Vikings in Norway
Playing Guess the Character M&Ms
Princess Tiana & Prince Naaven
Jesse & Woody
Jasmine & Aladdin
Beauty & Beast
Mary Poppins & Burt
When we started on this homeschool journey, one of my main motivations was the fun stuff. The things that there is not enough time for in public school. After 3 years, I am searching for the fun stuff… There has definitely been a lack of it. Not that we don’t have any fun but there is a definite lack in the hands-on exploration and fieldtrip department. So I am trying to get off the hamster wheel of simply school at home. I want to find hands-on science experiments for G (he’s really into science right now) and I want to take at least one fieldtrip a month. Wish me luck!
Hint: I was tempted to purchase KSC tickets online but we waited and stopped at the Florida visitor center where they had $2.50 off coupons. Bonus. KSC tickets are good for two days within a seven-day period.
We also took advantage of free admission, part of our KSC admission, to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. It is a wonderful, small museum. The exhibits are interesting and there are many hands on opportunities
Watching videos at a real mission control table
Ugh…. I did not expect this to be so hard! As I have written previously, I hopped off of the fence and purchased IEW Student Intensive A. I thought this video class would make learning to write so much easier. But I am not an 8-year-old boy who doesn’t like to put pencil to paper. G is awesome orally, which is how we do most tasks. So these writing lessons are as much about the physical act of writing as the process of composition.
I do have to say; he is enjoying the lessons and would have no complaints if I would be his scribe. Because of this I have had to alter MY timeline from two compositions a week to one. This seems to be a good compromise.
I have to say that Pudewa has picked excellent topics for the kids to write about. And if you have ever heard him speak, he is definitely reaching for those kids who would rather be building forts. The initial video lesson and subsequent practices are on the topics: Sea Snakes, Desert Tarantulas, and Pillbugs.
Pudewa walks the students (yours and in studio) step by step through the process; reading of the text, picking three words from every sentence to form a keyword outline, testing the outline to see if you can create a sentence, and finally putting away the original story and writing an essay from your outline.
G enjoyed Pudewa’s humor and trying to come up with same keywords he suggested. It was almost a game. He also liked the “help” hand signals Pudewa used for classroom management… quite funny since G is my only. I also got my first “That’s not what he said”. giggle
Over the years I have “watched” other homeschool blog families vacation in National Parks and participate in the Junior Ranger Program. I couldn’t wait until G had the opportunity to try his hand at this. Well, last month we stumbled upon our first one. We were on our way home from a funeral in Tennessee and stopped off at McD’s in Cave City… and what do I spy? A Momma with an armful of Junior Ranger Handbooks! We were contemplating driving down the road and taking a short tour of Mammoth Cave but now we HAD to go! I hadn’t realized that Mammoth was a National Park; I assumed it was a state park.
We asked about the program at the information desk and learned that G needed to earn 9 points to become a Junior Ranger. The booklet consists of worksheets about being a Ranger and about the Cave System. So while we waited for our tour we found a quiet, cool corner and started to work.
After working in the workbook and seeing the cave, G said he wanted to be a Ranger at Mammoth Cave. He talked to our tour guide, Ranger John, about it. Ranger John told G he could come back when he was in 16 and be a summer intern. High School students intern and learn behind the scene jobs (tickets, cleaning…) and will be giving tours by the end of their stay. I have one very excited Junior Ranger now!
Recently we took a detour on our way home from Tennessee to check out a couple of caves: Mammoth and Onyx. Now my family roots are from Tennessee so I have driven past the exit to these caves 80-100 times over my life and only been to Mammoth Cave twice and never stepped in any of the others. I have longed to go up that tourist trap mountain to Onyx Cave all my life… well we finally stopped.
We had driven half a day in the car, it was 100 degrees, and G had never been in a cave so quick & simple was the way to go this trip. We chose the Mammoth Passage tour. When our tour was called, we met Ranger John who gave us a brief overview of the whole cave system and the rules of the tour. We then walked down the forest path behind the visitor center where the temperature dropped suddenly 50 degrees. Amazing. 
As we walked a bit farther we found ourselves at a set of concrete stairs that lead down to the cave entrance. Ranger John discusses how the outside light can only penetrate so far and there is an area in between light and total darkness called twilight. Once inside the opening he turned off all of the lighting so that we could see this transition. It was a bit unsettling.
In the tour we viewed the Salt Petre mine used during the War of 1812.
And learned about the type of lighting used in the mine from reed torches to gas lanterns. It was quite enjoyable and great introduction to a longer more strenuous tour.
Next we traveled back down the road to Onyx Cave. Don’t let the tourist trappy looks of this place make you skip over it. We really enjoyed. The tour was personal and small. Onyx Cave was discovered in 1971 during construction of a parking lot for Guntown Mountain Amusement Park. While what you can see in Mammoth is dry; Onyx is wet, so there are many formations to be seen. We learned not to touch the wall because the oils from our skin would cause formations to stop growing.
Drapery
Popcorn
Stalagmites
Stalactites
It did actually have some tight spots though but they are short and quick.
Our tour guide, Missy, was knowledge and very personable. Since we were such a small group, two families, she compared what we were seeing with her compared to what was in Mammoth. She shared many personal experiences and stories.
If you have caves in your “backyard” I encourage you to check them out! We cannot wait until our next adventure.
