Oh Canada - PA to Digby

We finished out a great four weeks, spent mostly in Canada. We spent the first few days visiting with friends in the Poconos. They live in California but have family in Philadelphia so eastern Pennsylvania is often a place we meet up. Those first few days were HOT. Luckily, we have air conditioning in our trailer and we had booked a site with 30 amp hookups. There was a pool at the campground, along with a lot of other kid-friendly attractions. While Leah is one of my best friends, our kids aren't very close and it always feels like a bit of a gamble to see how they'll get along. But of course, they found plenty of fun things to do together, and we ended that portion of our trip with our traditional 2-4-6-8 group cheer and a reflection of our favorite things. Common answers were smores and star gazing. The downside of this location was that it was freaking expensive! Later I learned that there was a NASCAR event in the area, which drove up the prices. Also the bug bites were epic. 

After that we headed up through New England, stopping at two Harvest Host sites. Neither had hook ups, but luckily evening storms cooled things off a little bit, and we spent most of each day driving with AC on. The first Harvest Host was in the driveway of a homeschooling family! The second was in a church parking lot and had a beautiful view of a field of wildflowers. Both were very quiet all night. 

The next day we stopped at a Walmart in Bangor to pick up some supplies and were soon at the border between Maine and Canada. Our vehicle was flagged for a search and we sat at the border for a good hour. Once we got going again we realized we were entering a new time zone and had lost yet another hour. The temperature also started dropping, and fog rolled in from the Bay of Fundy. We were very close to the water, but couldn't see a thing. That night we pulled into a county park that had a campground in Saint John, New Brunswick. We spent the afternoon hiking around the park (the trail system was extensive) and taking hot showers (as it had been three days since we had hookups). 

The next day we didn't have to be at the ferry dock until the afternoon so M went out to run and the kids and I took a hike. Rockwood Park is really a hidden gem and worth a stop. The campground wasn't much more than a gravel lot, but the park itself had several picturesque lakes, an arboretum with lots of signage, swimming beaches and an activity center with fusball and board games. The extensive system of mountain biking/hiking trails is really the park's best asset. It is right in the city of Saint John and just a 10 minute drive to ferry. On the way to the ferry we stopped to the see the Reversing Falls, one of many rivers along the Bay of Fundy that flows backwards with the tides. We loved watching the ducks play in the rapids, and were delighted spot some harbor seals swimming. 

The ferry was a lot of fun. It's very orderly, as are many things in Canada. You check in and they measure your length, and then put you in a lane. When the ferry pulls up, you get to watch all the cars and people unload and then you drive on, lane by lane. The crew is very polite but make sure you get as close as possible to the vehicle in front of you. We transferred our intrepid travel cats into the trailer with some food and water, and went upstairs to the passenger area. Two movie theaters, several snack bar/restaurant areas, and a lot of seating both inside and outside made the two hour trip fly by. We got some snacks and drinks, but spent most of the time sitting gone the deck looking at the bay. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we were enjoying not being hot and sweaty, as we had been on most of the trip. 

When we pulled off the ferry, we were in Digby, Nova Scotia. We camped at the most adorable little campground that had a communal fire pit, full hookups and a coin laundry. The weather was sunny and breezy, but not too hot. The campground was right on a bike path so we could walk into town for dinner. We had lobster, scallops and fish and chips at a restaurant with a view of the water. We were getting used to reading the temperature in Celsius and following the speed limit to the kilometer and keeping track of our loonies for the laundry. There were still quite a few other Americans around and it wasn't too different yet. The biggest change since we had entered Maine was the water. There's water everywhere, rivers and lakes and inlets from the oceans. Every time we crested a hill or came around a corner there was more or different water in front of us. 

The next morning we woke up very early to head to our whale watching tour. If whale watching itself were not exciting enough, we also had plans to meet up with our former next door neighbors, who moved to Canada about the time we moved out of our house. They had never done whale watching either, so we booked tickets on the same cruise. 

That is a tale for another day.

Begin Again

As July kicks off, I am drafting objectives and preparing the required paperwork to declare my intent to homeschool our kids for another year. It's surprisingly emotional for me. Laurel considered a lot of different brick and mortar and online options and is opting to chart her own DIY path through high school. I have every confidence in her ability to create a rich and fulfilling secondary experience for herself. But still, this is starting to feel like a real commitment. (I don't recall signing up to homeschool f o r e v e r.) Last year I made daily requirements...do something from Brave Writer, some math practice, some physical movement, and read and respond to some nonfiction for Social Studies/Science. However, we didn't set aside any time during the day that was for "school," and we tracked our progress more by progression towards goals than butts-in-seats, which is how the state has you do it.  We didn't even really call it school. (Learning is Life, Life is Learning, trying out that unschool-y vibe.)

This year, I'm going to make some more clear divisions around school/work time. In the past, it has been easier to do the same thing with all three kids, merrily moving through our day listening to podcasts and visiting museums, turning on a documentary when we had a question or looking for books at the library. The lines between "school" and "life" were basically nonexistent. This is definitely a great model for kids up to 11 or so, and I think I'd like to preserve this vibe for Max for the next few years. But the older two are getting into projects and pursuits that require a lot more concentrated effort, use of the computer, or time to read and write independently. Plus it was hard to know when it was time to rest if we didn't know when we were at work. We are about to head out on a month long road trip to visit the Maritimes but when we get back, I will schedule out some hours each day

Even if we have a structured schedule, I will remain highly committed to our learner-led vibes. The kids (and M and I!) exercise our freedom to pursue what strikes our fancy, whenever possible. I love our routine of choosing a few big things to work on at the beginning of our year in July, and then revisiting those intentions each month when we plan out what skills we will focus on learning, field trips, classes, documentaries, books, etc. that we will focus on for the month. It is never lost on me what a joy learning is in our household.

So, we begin again, picking up new things to try on and see if they fit, discarding what we are done with. I can't wait to see how this school year unfolds. 

Five Years

Wow, we just finished our fifth year of homeschooling! To celebrate I baked a cake. In the past, we have had Cake for Breakfast on the last day of school, made even more celebratory by inviting neighbors to share it with us on our porch, but mornings are often pretty slow around here, so this was more of a Cake for Lunch situation. Also, after living in our apartment for over a year, we have yet to even know the names of our direct neighbors. I baked a lemon bundt cake that had three whole lemons in it, loads of butter, and a sweet glaze that soaked in and made the cake even better the next day. We met with some new evaluators this year and both of them really set the tone of celebrating the learning for the year.

One question that came up frequently this year was "Does this count?" meaning, can we log it for the 180 day requirement as outlined in the Pennsylvania law. And what does count? In our house, the kids take an active role in deciding what they want to learn and how, and logging it and reflecting upon it. This cycle of setting intentions, working on projects, and then stopping to review progress around the 3rd week of the month has become an important and enjoyable process for us. Sometimes we get to that review time and actually haven't made it very far on a goal or intention. That's when we can decide if we actually just need more time, or more resources, or perhaps some kind of direct instruction or class or space in order to move forward. Maybe we have everything we need and just haven't gotten motivated enough to take action. Maybe we did take action but it's all going to take a LOT longer than we expected and we need more time. Or maybe it's not that important anymore and we just want to drop it. 

In any case, from watching my kids tell the story of their year to the evaluators, it was clear to me that much progress has been made, many lessons learned, new interests have been sparked and I'm ready to tackle year 6 of homeschooling with enthusiasm.

Some of our favorite things this year included:

• Pizza and game night, frequently with guests
• Outings to the local brew-pub, who have some jazz bands that play regularly
• Bike rides on the Great Allegheny Passage, reading all the historic marker signs, exploring Carrie Furnace
• Horse riding lessons, which has also included watching the farrier, assisting with the hay-baling process, feeding and grooming horses, and exploring the trails and plants on the 90+ acres of the farm
• Lots of co-op classes with interesting titles, meetups with friends at parks, and the launch of a self-directed co-op learning space that is slowing coming together
• Monthly zoom meetings with aunts and nieces to discuss books from Laurel's curriculum
• Piano lessons (including first recital for Marko), guitar and ukulele jamming, and experimentation with the trumpet (so loud!)
• A trip to southern Ohio to go to the Paw Paw festival, visit the caves at Hocking Hills State Park and see the newly designated Hopewell Earthworks UNESCO site
• Weekly outings with my 2 year old nephew to parks and libraries and lunch with my parents

2023

Year 5 of homeschool is well underway as we wrap up another calendar year! I am grateful that everyone is healthy and doing well. 

2023 was pretty crazy for us. The biggest thing was moving out and selling the house we had lived in for 14 years. Our neighbors on each side also moved. It was absolutely the right decision for us, and thanks to our amazing realtor, the sale itself went pretty smoothly. However, the way things all went down was pretty sudden and unpleasant. Thankfully we have some good activities and community to keep things feeling normal even when everything felt topsy-turvy. We rented an apartment to stay in until we find another house, but to be honest, everyone is pretty happy here and we aren't in a rush. We aren't too far from our old neighborhood, so other than not being able to walk into the park or cemetery anymore, we are a quick drive from most of our activities. We can see the river from from every window and the local library branch has amazing staff and programming. 

We went on a really nice trip to the Paw Paw festival in Ohio this fall. All my kids can officially swim and the pool is much more fun now. The kids are on the team at the climbing gym, Laurel participated in her first horse show this year, Marko started piano lessons and had his first recital (playing Jingle Bells) and Max recently celebrated his birthday with his first big friend party at a trampoline park. M finally got his third piece of pie from the Baker Ultra - they run the 150 mile trail in 50 mile sections each year and for many reasons, he had missed the third section multiple times. I am deeply immersed in the unpaid and not-very-prestigious work of a middle aged mother/daughter/sister/friend who homeschools. I give rides and babysit, refill Little Free Libraries, make snacks, explain algebra and sing nursery rhymes, read, collect poetry, and listen. After navigating a series of crises over the past few years, I'm grateful for the low-stakes flow of daily life now. I imagine I will get bored of this soon, but for now, working in my kitchen while watching the river flow is pretty amazing.

Reflection on the 4th Year and Kicking Off Year 5!

Year 4 started off with an amazing family bikepacking trip and ended with us making an unexpected move out of the house we lived in for 14 years. We are really happy in our new place as it is much quieter, has a view of water from every single window and is next to the bike trail. We wrapped up the last school year as we were moving so basically just took the last two months as summer break but it is definitely time to launch a new round of learning. (Side note: how amazing is it that I can adjust the school year to fit around life, instead of the other way around?)

Right now I'm thinking a lot about how to use space, not just in our apartment, but in the new common areas we have available to us. There is outdoor space with lawn chairs, a swimming pool, and an indoor clubhouse with couches. One priority is to split the boys up a little more and make sure they each have their own classes and some one on one time with M and me. I want to do a lot more reading aloud with Max, have more art supplies available, and revisit the idea of Morning Invitations, where you plan little activities to do right around the breakfast table. We have a regular schedule of more structured co-op classes and less structured friend meetups for hikes and playgrounds. I'm really looking forward to the programming at our new local library branch because the librarians seem great and there is even an athletic club with a swimming pool in the same building. 

The older two kids are looking for more independence and while it feels a bit odd to be living at a shopping mall, the walkability is actually pretty good and they can go off on their own to do shopping or hang out in the little town square area, or walk the bike path. Our old next door neighbors are getting ready to move back to Canada and that's going to be hard. The kids literally grew up together. (It makes me think of me and my cousins.)  I wish we had been able to give them all one last summer together, but the situation with our house was getting pretty bad and it feels like the right decision.

Halfway Through Year 4 of Homeschooling

The thing about homeschooling is that at first I thought it was about curriculum and schedules, but have since come to understand it as being about relationships, about really sinking into trust with my kids and believing them when they say they want or need something. 

This is not to say that I give them everything that they say they want or need, especially instantly at the moment they bring it up. Many things feel urgent to people who live in the moment. But I at least listen and consider it, and if I can't make it happen, then I will tell them why. This has also freed me to say what I want or need, and in a similar fashion, make it happen if possible. 

Homeschooling over the years has become more of a lifestyle for the entire family and less about what my kids do for a set number of hours per day. I do keep a list of Daily and Weekly tasks, and we use math and handwriting workbooks for some of this. But our social studies, science, art and music study is interest/project based, so people are very inclined to work a great deal on something that they've set out to learn, and there's very little enforcing I need to do. Mainly I feel like a librarian...answering questions and pointing people in the direction of resources. M is also one of those constantly-learning people (and would be whether or children went to school or not) so there's always something he's working on. 

I'm thinking about what label I would put us under. Unschoolers? Home educators? Brave Learners? (from Julie Bogart's book) Self-directed learners? 

Prioritizing physical and mental health first is making a clear difference for us, though. I can especially see how beneficial it is for teens to get enough sleep. Also, it's not a bad life to wake up refreshed and excited to continue on what you were working on the day before.

Portfolio Time!

We love making portfolios and meeting with our evaluator. We keep a log starting July 1 of time spent on "school" subjects and a list of books and materials. I am more of a backwards planner than anything else, inclined to let life unfold and then journal about it after the fact. This means we get to March and realize that we have done a deep dive into colonial American history but neglected music history. Marko realized he only did about 25% of his math program. Handwriting and copywork fell to the wayside for 2 of the 3 kids. Laurel spent enormous amounts of time working on a fiction project but we didn't study many novels together, as we had in the past. We went to a ton of museums....Johnson Space Center, pretty much every history and art museum in Pittsburgh, a really amazing little collection of folk artist Alice Moseley in Mississippi, and of course, the "living" museum that was biking the C&O towpath and Great Allegheny Passage. How cool that we followed the path that George Washington took and it goes right past our house. My mom put together anatomy lessons for us, but we haven't done the required fire safety yet.

What I like about the checklists is the visual representation of how we spent our time and how easy it is to see what we didn't do. Marko got to work on his math and quickly caught up. I gave a few copywork prompts to see how their handwriting was (abysmal) and decided to order some workbooks from Handwriting Without Tears. Laurel and I brainstormed about some ways to do more literature study, and started thinking about ways she can socialize more with her peers and also start taking some formal math and science classes with labs. She invited a friend over for a bike ride, and then accepted an invitation to meet some other homeschool teens at the library. We happened to get an email on fire safety from our new apartment management, and decided to take a minute to review the features and also talk about escape routes and memorize our new address.

Each kid writes a letter to our evaluator to be included in the portfolio. I love seeing what they thought were the most important things that happened this year! I write a little summary about their current knowledge and skills and what we plan to work on next. There is no "below or above grade level" - just an honest assessment of what each of us did and some thinking about what we would like to do next, with an eye towards balanced living and learning. I also like that M and I can participate in a similar process along with the kids....we don't make portfolios, but we do decide what are the things we want to focus on in the next few months (bike rides! swimming! making a batch of soap!) and things we want to be done with (working on the house!)

Roadschooling Our Way

Roadschooling is my favorite....it's not without its challenges, but I think the unique and diverse learning experiences we get out of it are worth it. I'm learning how to do this better all the time. 

Where should I go?

Pick a location...it can be anywhere! A lot of people want to aim for national parks, and yes, these are among the most spectacular places to visit, but they are 1) crowded and 2) very far apart. I advise that you instead aim for a region that is within your comfort zone for driving distance, weather and budget, go there for at least a week or two and explore everything slowly. Trust me, it won't matter what you pick...there are amazing things everywhere. 

How do I find things to do?

Scope out the big and small museums, county and state parks, regional foods, Native American tribal councils, libraries, hiking paths, and fairs or festivals. I love the Adventure Lab app that goes with the Geoaching app and find it well worth the $36 a year subscription fee. You get walking tours for many locations that give you something to do and also point out some historical or geographical points of interest. We will visit a coffee shop and get the local paper to see what events are going on. When we stay in private campgrounds there are sometimes seasonal residents there who will host potlucks or other social events and you can find out from them what is going on in the area. 

Will there be a test?

Definitely not. We don't have grades in our homeschool. They get scores on math and then find mistakes and resubmit until they know it. For social studies and science they will write a few essays or do a big project throughout the year, but I have found quizzing them to be a waste of their time and mine. We talk about what we've seen and write down questions that we have, which often shapes the next adventure. We use maps and a timeline to orient ourselves.

How do you know what the kids are going to learn?

I really don't. We have some guiding questions....who used to live here? Do they still live here? If not, what happened? This can apply to any species. The physical science is often the reason behind things coming and going. We read signs and look at museum exhibits and usually end up with a lot of questions and then look online and watch videos or read articles. This morning we turned on a livestream from NASA, thinking we would see the view from the International Space Station, but instead it was a panel discussion on contributions of African Americans to NASA and related agencies. Those historic markers you find on the side of the road are usually pretty barebones in their description but if you search for youtube or visit archives.gov you can dig deeper into the story. 

How much is enough?

Sometimes I panic that we are not doing enough....but don't fall into this trap. Leave space for thinking about things. We like to hike or fly kites. Not every second has to be filled with acquisition of new information. Our society has become way too rushed and we complain that our kids have difficulty with transitions. I spent years trying to figure out how to sweep children along with maximum efficiency, but I have since changed my mind about this approach.  I slashed the fat from our schedule several years ago and then kept slashing until we found a place of equilibrium. When we are at a good place with our schedule my kids have zero problems getting ready and out the door. I learned about backwards planning from Julie Bogart and having a daily reflection period for sketching or jotting down a few notes about what we did has been game-changing. Trust the process. Slow down and what you've done will almost always be enough. And if it wasn't enough, you don't have to consider it a personal failure, just incorporate what was missing the next day, the next week, the next year.

Does it cost a lot of money?

It can cost whatever you want it to cost. Many museums have a free day. Getting a membership and visiting one place many times while you are there may be more cost effective and a richer experience than rushing through a bunch of different ones. Reading historic markers is free. Libraries are free and will have interesting highly localized collections. If you stay at state parks, programming there is usually free. The junior ranger badgework that national parks offer is free. Camping is a pretty low cost way of travel once you have equipment. Sometimes it's worth it to pay a tour guide or museum admission, but you don't have to cram your trip full of these experiences. 

DITL Mid-Year

I started the day with granola and coffee and then did a few chores until the kids woke up. M went running with friends. When Max got up, we snuggled on the couch and I read a chapter from Winnie the Pooh. The kids made themselves breakfast and we went to my parents' house to visit with their cousin, who is about a year and a half and really starting to talk and run around a lot. He's so much fun. Then we went to a playground that has a super big slide and a ropes course. It wasn't super warm, but it was sunny. On the way to our stops today, we continued listening to the History that Doesn't Suck podcast, an episode about the Battle of New Orleans and Andrew Jackson. When we got home, Laurel made lunch for the kids and I went for a walk with M to the grocery store and coffee shop. When we got home, I read another chapter of Winnie the Pooh while everyone ate lunch together. After lunch, Laurel went to work on Khan Academy. She's planning to take an algebra placement test in a few weeks and wants to finish the 7th grade math curriculum before then. She's taking a Brave Writer class on nonfiction writing and read the message board for that class. Her topic is red tailed hawks, so she had her eye out for them today, but we didn't see any, which is actually kind of unusual. Then she composed a reminder email to her aunts for book club next week. The book they are reading is A Snake Falls to Earth, which I recommended to her (and she loved it!) so I feel pretty happy about that. The boys played a version of multiplication war. Years ago when I was teaching algebra to high school students who really hated math, I came across this blog post with ideas for expanding on the classic card game, and it was life changing. After War, they did a few workbook pages. After all that, I doled out some Girl Scout cookies. 

Now it's gaming/tv/social time. Marko and Max usually log on to a google meet and play Minecraft with a few other kids and Laurel usually watches tv with one of her friends, or will do a video chat with them. Or, if our next door neighbor is home from school, they will go for a walk. During this time, I rest, exercise, do chores or catch up on homeschool paperwork (or write a quick blog post to remember how life is in the midst of an unexpected move/construction/new job....actually pretty calm and manageable, thanks to homeschooling). 

Galveston Island

 We came down to the Gulf Coast to celebrate M's birthday with some Mardi Gras festivities, enjoy winter beach time and learn about space exploration. For the first part of our trip, we caravanned from one parking lot to another with my parents, putting in long days in order to get out of the cold, and luckily we got to Galveston Island just in the knick of time to avoid ice storms. The weather was cool and rainy on our first few days, but the sun eventually came out and we are enjoying the beach and pool now. I bought a membership to the Houston Space Center to allow for multiple visits and we still haven't seen everything there. We also did some Adventure Labs in Galveston (this is an add-on to the Geocaching app where it leads you through a guided tour - usually walking, but sometimes driving - to see noteworthy sites). We learned about the businessman and philanthropist, Henry Rosenberg and ended the tour with a visit to the library he funded, which also had a rare book collection with a 500 year old book (!) and an exhibit of photographs from the devastating 1900 hurricane that killed 1 in 6 residents of the island. We ate kolaches, crawfish boil and king cake. We got a new single line kite and are flying our dual line stunt kite on the beach a lot. 

We are staying at a KOA Holiday here in Galveston. It's newly updated with concrete camping pads (great for rainy weather - no mud!) and full hookups. There is a lazy river pool, a regular pool, a hot tub, laundry, hot showers, a trampoline and a playground. Our site backs up to a marsh and we have spent many evenings sitting around our campfire and listening to the birds. Definitely a luxury setting for us! M is working during this trip, so having wifi or good cell is important. I also like this campground because you can walk right across the street to get to the public access beach and it's all houses down here so the beach is never crowded.