Mohaus Schoolhouse Weeks 1-2

Our homeschool has been back in session for the last week and a half.

We kicked off our first day of school with donuts and then today we shared donuts with friends in celebration of our first full week of school completed.

Each week we try to end with a Friend Friday, this week was fountains at Coolidge Park, last week was an afternoon of jumping at Red Bank Bounce.

We are still getting into the swing of things. Transitioning from summer has been a bit challenging, but days like today where we had uncrowded fountains helped. 

We are starting by finishing our Year One of the Ambleside Online curriculum that we began last January. I also didn’t get our math ordered until a couple of days ago so we are reviewing and finishing up last years lesson. We began The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts program and I think it will be a good fit for us.

 

Our read aloud to kick off this school year is Ollie’s Odyssey by William Joyce (who happens to be one of my favorite YA/children’s authors). We are all really enjoying this book and I would highly recommend it as a family read aloud. Another book I am loving is the Burgess Bird Book For Children by Thornton Burgess.

Jack has become obsessed with LEGOs and Kinex and is building an entire LEGO city in his free time.

Our family is preparing for a big trip out west in September, so Daniel has been taking Fridays off to do maintenance on our new-to-us tow vehicle and camper. Unfortunately there have been more things to fix than we had anticipated. We will all be glad when everything is ready and we are able to hit the road.

What Our Homeschool Looked Like in August:

Week 1-2 (Aug. 8-18)
Week 3 (Aug. 19-24)

Friend Friday at Coolidge

For our very first year of homeschooling, we kicked off our Friend Fridays by meeting up with friends at Coolidge Park. We also ended our Friend Fridays for the 2017-2018 school year at Coolidge.

It looks like it may become an annual thing because we decided to kick off  this school year with friends at the fountains at Coolidge (unfortunately we got delayed by a week because of rain).

But, what a great way to end and begin each school year!

As most homeschooling families know, the best time to visit all the local hot spots is while school is in session because it is way less crowded and a lot more enjoyable.

Besides playing in the fountains, we had donuts, and I also took my boys to ride the merry-go-round.

We are so blessed with friends who make an effort to meet up with us on Fridays throughout the school year. We are looking forward to more Friend Fridays in the coming year.

Red Bank Bounce House with Friends

We are so grateful for like-minded friends who are able to meet up with us throughout the school year. We try to do something fun each week on Fridays. Sometimes it is a field trip, sometimes it is play based. But we always have a good time.

We were supposed to go to Coolidge Park to play in the fountains but the weather looked questionable, so we decided to try out the Red Bank Bounce House instead. The change in plans meant that only one other family could come, but we still had a fun time.

The kids wore themselves out, and me and the other mama had a chance to catch up and visit after a busy summer.

Friend Fridays have been happening for several years now, and we are so grateful for these people who choose to do life with us.

Family Hike at Fiery Gizzard

On Saturday we had originally planned to go on a group hike on the Fiery Gizzard Trail, but it was cancelled at the last minutes. So instead, Jack and Daniel went with friends to ride dirt bikes on a dirt track they recently discovered in Hixson.

After they got home we decided it was such a nice day we should still try to go on that hike, even if we wouldn't be going with a group.

Daniel and I hiked a part of the Fiery Gizzard Trail years ago when we lived in Cookeville, but had not been to this section.

The goal was to tackle the Grundy Day Loop from the Fiery Gizzard trailhead. Fiery Gizzard is a strenuous 12 mile hike that goes all the way to Foster Falls.

Grundy Day Loop is a 2 mile circuit that starts on the Fiery Gizzard and loops back to the parking lot passing Blue Hole Falls and Hanes Hole Falls along the way.

The trail follows both Fiery Gizzard Creek and Little Gizzard Creek for most of the route with waterfalls, cascades, and swimming holes as you hike.

We had planned to get in the creek as we walked but quickly realized that after all of the recent rain, this was a bad idea.

The trail was incredibly muddy, which Isaac adamantly protested. He kept begging for tennis shoes (we had him in crocs since we thought he would get wet). 

As for the creek, it was swollen and raging and not something we wanted the kids to get in.

Parts of the trail felt like they dropped steeply on one side down to the engorged creek. It was a bit nerve wracking with Isaac walking on his own. But he did it! 

We went as far as Blue Hole Falls and after a snack decided it was time for us to head back. 

We were walking at a crawling pace (with kids you have to stop to explore often), and it didn't seem like we could realistically finish the loop before dark.

Isaac whined quiet a bit (mostly about muddy feet), but he finished the hike on his own. It isn't the longest hike he has completed but it probably was the most treacherous – lots of mud, roots, and rocks to scramble over.

We had a fun day overall, and I would like to come back and do the entire loop when the creek isn't so full and we could actually swim.

After we got off the trail and cleaned up as best as we could, we drove over to Monteagle to eat lunch at the Mountain Goat Market – a delicatessen and pizzaria with a coffee bar.

It was AMAZING. If you are passing through Monteagle, you should definitely stop here, at least for a coffee!