Sometimes you just need to change things up. It's been cold, but not snowy and the kids have been asking to go to the Creative Discovery Museum. So, that's what we did.
We saw the new exhibit “From
America to Zanzibar” that shows how Muslims live in various parts of the
world.
Jack did a building project in the Make It Lab, and Isaac wanted
to paint.
The boys enjoyed digging for dinosaurs and figuring out ways
to configure chutes and locks in the river play area.
And we couldn’t
leave without beating on the drums and stopping to make life-size
bubbles on the way out.
The CDM continues to be one of our favorite places in Chattanooga and it's the perfect place to visit if the weather outside is cold or rainy.
Mushroom Rock continues to be one of our favorite spots to hike to.
It has been a great trail to keep in our rotation of weekly nature hikes
for our homeschool.
One of the things I love about homeschool is the flexibility of adapting your lessons to what you are doing and also to your child.
On this particular nature day we were supposed to be looking for birds and their nests, but the weather wasn't cooperating.
But were still enjoying our hike. Jack running ahead of me and I
breathing in the fresh air. It was cold, but a beautiful day
nonetheless.
As we neared Mushroom Rock, we passed a large puddle of water. Jack
stopped to observe what was in the water while I walked on by.
"Hey Mommy, it looks like there are brains in the puddle!"
That brought my walk to a halt. I returned to see what he was talking about, and it really did appear to be brains in the water.
He wanted to poke it with a stick, but I wasn't sure what that would
lead to. Instead I joked that we could call this a "Puddle of Brains."
We walked on the Mushroom Rock and I had a moment of inspiration...
on the walk back we would pick out the best landmarks and give them
names. Later we could make a map with all of the names we had created.
Jack loved this idea and we stopped at our favorite spots to think of good names.
At first Jack struggled a bit. He is so literal that his idea of naming was more like a long, specific description like "The Mountain Where Mommy Fell." But I coaxed him to try to be a little more creative, so this turned into "The Falling Mountain of Doom."
So as we walked we talked about what made a good name and how he could move for descriptions to something a bit more creative (that still was descriptive).
By the end of the hike, he had come up with some great names.
The goal was to take the names and draw a map of the hike. It turned out to be a really fun exercise and I love seeing his creative wheels start to turn!
Notes from the hike:
Location: Mushroom Rock in Prentice Cooper Signal Mountain, TN
Date: March 6, 2018
Time: 9:30-11:30
Weather: Sunny but cold, 40F
Observations: Made up creative names for landmarks on the trail including:
Falling Mountain of Doom, The Continuous Creek and the River Island in the Emerald Forest, The Bridge to Endless Creek, The Creek of No Crossing, The Land of Puddles, The Bridge to the Land of Puddles, Troll Hair Stump, and Brain Stew Puddle
We didn't have pen and paper while we hiked, so as we came up with names
for various landmarks, I took video of Jack telling me the names so we
would remember them later when he created his map.
This was such a fun exercise and it was a great way to get Jack
thinking creatively, and it paired really well with a book we have been
reading called, "The Once Upon a Time Map Book."
Check back on Tuesdays to see where our nature studies have taken us... Previous Nature Hikes with Jack:
The Pump Track at Stringer's Ridge is a favorite spot for our kids. We probably need to make the effort to go more often!
The first time we tried it out was Mother's Day last year. Jack had a blast! Isaac was riding on the back of Daniel's bike and was not amused. Earlier this year I took Jack, just the two of us, as a part of our nature day. He could have stayed all day, if I had let him.
Isaac has been doing such a great job on his balance bike and I showed us that he can really handle himself on the trail in the woods at our neighborhood park, so we thought we would go back to the Pump Track and he see how he did. He really blew us away with his natural ability.
His bike is just a balance bike, so he had to work hard to push it up the mounds, but once he was up, he had no trouble (or fear) coming down. "I can do it myself!" is his motto.
By the end of the outing, he was insisting that he needed pedals on his bike. At two, we aren't so sure he is ready, but he may prove us wrong!
And if you get bored with biking, you can always play the toddler favorite, Try to Get Me!
This was also a first for Jack, in that he has a new bike that is bigger and has gears. He handled himself well on this trip to the Pump Track.
As an aside, we realized that Isaac's bicycle helmet was really too
small, so we measured his head and realized that it was bigger than
Jack's! And Jack happens to have a huge head! Thankfully we had a
hand-me-down helmet from a friend whose son is now a teenager!
While Flag Football proved to be quite the competitive sport in our neck of the woods, Peewee Basketball was the exact opposite.
While we were somewhat surprised at how much we liked Flag Football, basketball was good in a different kind of way.
For starters, Jack was on a team with one of his best friends from our neighborhood (whose dad was the coach). This was good because Jack loved going every week, but perhaps
bad in the sense that Jack just wanted to constantly cut up with his friend.
Jack was #5 on the Tennessee Tech Team (go Eagles!). And if he had as assigned position, played a point guard. He was funny to watch on defense because he would make these hilarious, intimidating faces with his hands up. He ran down the court backwards once, but made a recovery before he made a shot on the wrong goal. He did manage to score one basket (see video below) and overall had a really great experience, even making some new friends.
Jack's coach (his friend's dad) did a great job of getting the team started with fundamentals. They all learned how to dribble the ball and pass (this can't be said for all the teams in this age group this season), and how to try to work together as a team.
Jack even managed to score during one game – we were ecstatic for him.
I grew up playing basketball, so it's hard to watch these early years of this sport (and he doesn't want to listen to me), but if he likes it and wants to continue, we will be back next season, cheering and laughing along at the silliness of this age group.
Also, as homeschoolers, sports have allowed us to really continue to be a part of our community and we are so grateful for that.
Some sports seem to be more serious, but most of the rec sports where
we live are fun and establish camaraderie among the kids and parents. I look forward to seeing what kind of improvements Jack makes between kindergarten and first grade next year...
