The Crazy Life of Carmen

Bruce was gone by the time we got up in the morning and  set off for more sites. The first stop was Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, TN.  This turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the trip. The kids were so excited because they are very interested in Cherokee history but there was not much to this site.  I don’t think we were there even an hour. We left there and went to Fort Loudoun. This was a surprise and much better. There was a good movie to give an overview.  The fort, pictured above, was built by South Carolina in 1757 to ensure the Cherokee that lived in the area  would fight on the side of English not French. This worked for a time but conflicts arose and violence broke out between British and Cherokee. Eventually, the Cherokee took over the for and massacred the fleeing British that they promised to let leave. The Cherokee did this in retaliation of the execution of Cherokee hostages at Fort Prince George.

We ended up with more time so I added the Lost Sea Adventure to the day. I saw some signs and I was worried that it would be a tourist trap but we actually enjoyed the site. It is a huge cavern with great stories and  a boat ride in the lake inside. The kids loved the boat ride and feeding the fish. Claire is still talking about this cavern and wants to go back and sleep there. I think that sounds like a great trip with dad. We had a great dinner and spent the night in a hotel.

On the way home we stopped at Andrew Johnson’s National Park. It was a little disappointing because we were unable to see the homestead because of another group and staff meeting. We did see a movie, the small visitor center, the early home and the cemetery where he is buried. The story of Johnson is interesting. He came for meager beginnings and did not have a formal education. He was the first president to be impeached but he was not removed from office. It was over breaching the Tenure Of Office Act which was later ruled unconstitutional. The site as okay but don’t go out of your way to go. After this stop, we headed home!! It was another grand adventure for the Ledford family. Even though we had a few bumps in the road, it turned out great. Where will the road take us next….

We spent the majority of third day at Shiloh National Park.  There is not much to the visitor center but Junior Ranger program was good. We purchased the CD wfor the tour of the battlefield.  It was a little hard to follow because the stops  are  in a different order but we all learned a lot. One of the highlights was when we went on walking tour at the Shiloh Indian Mounds. We somehow got off the trail and started walking deeper and deeper into the woods. We were on a different  trail and sort of lost. Claire was our hero and lead us out of the woods. We saw the Hornet’s Nest, a densely wooded , named by the Confederates because of the stinging shots and shells they faced there. We saw where General Johnston died. He was shot and kept fighting not realizing how bad the wound in his leg was and he bleed to death. We ended our visit in the National Cemetery where the kids found tombstones of soldiers. We then drove to Nashville stopping at Logan’s to celebrate Cobey’s birthday!! It was a wonderful day.

The next day Bruce was suppose to fly out. He went down to the lobby to check-in to his flight and could not. We finally figured out that I had the wrong days and he was actually flying out the following day. Oops! It all worked out in the end. He had his laptop so he did some work for hotel that night and the next day.

On the fourth day, we added Stone’s River National Park to the schedule and I am so glad we did. It was my favorite National Park on the trip. It is a little strange because it is broken up by the town that has grown around it. There is a nice visitor center with a good video to give you background on the battle.  You have to drive to the different areas of the park.  The earthworks that remain of Fortress Rosecrans were interesting. This 200 acre fortress protected railroad and warehouse and supplies. The kids favorite part was Hell’s Half Acre, a rocky area where Union soldiers held their ground. You could easily see how they used the rocks for cover. Claire’s highlight would be her purchase of a Junior Ranger vest, hat and backpack that she now takes on all of our trips. The photo to the right is  Hell’s Half Acre and the bottom is Claire’s new outfit.

We left Stone’s River and headed to Hermitage,  home of Andrew Jackson. There was much more at this site than I excepted and we could have used more time. It is not just a house but a museum, gardens, and  outbuildings. We started with a movie that was an overview of his life then headed to the house. They had audio tours that were included in the price of admission. They had a great kids version from the viewpoint of Andrew’s pet parrot.  After a guided tour of the home, we toured the garden’s and saw his tomb. We then went and saw the slave quarters and other outbuildings.  I was impressed that they did not sugarcoat the past and told of  Jackson being a slave owner, ignoring the Constitution and marrying his wife while she was still married.  He was a great leader at the Battle of New Orleans but not so sure of his presidency. We are not big fans of Jackson but had a great visit and recommend the site. I would not try to do both in one day unless you start early and have lunch on the go.

I never got around to posting about all my April trips. Now that I think about it, I have one from last April I still want to do.   Over Easter weekend, we headed to Tennessee to check out some Civil War and Indian sites. The first day we drove and drove and drove some more then we stayed at a hotel. The next morning we were up and out early. The first stop was the New Echota which is Northern Ga. This was the capital of the Cherokee Nation from 1825 until 1832. It was here that the Cherokee council met, that the Cherokee Supreme Court heard cases, and that the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper was first published.  The site has rebuilt  buildings to represent each of these and the house  of Samuel Worcester, a minister and loyal friend to the Cherokee nation. The Treaty of New Echota was  signed here which was the controversial document used by the American government to justify the removal now known as the Trail of Tears.

It was here that we began to learn that  we did not care for Andrew Jackson. The US Supreme Court ruled in Worcester v. Georgia,  that Georgia did not have the right to have passed those laws to force Cherokee out of the state.  However, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision in this case. This is a great historical site. We started with the movie and small visitor center. The kids loved trying to speak Cherokee and even bought a book.  We then spent an hour or so touring the buildings outside. There was a nature trail we missed because of the weather and time. We were off to Chickamauga Battlefield.                                                                                                                  

The Chickamauga Battle was one of the few where the Confederates outnumbered the Union. The confederates had a strong victory here and slowed the advance to Atlanta.  We went on the driving touring of the battlefield. The kids earned a Junior Ranger Badge here and then we headed to Lookout Mountain photo at top of this blog entry. They earned another badge there. The view was nice when you were not looking over the city. I am a little partial to my NC mountains when you are not looking at buildings and such. The highlight of the day for me was the 150th Anniversary Luminaries at Shiloh Battlefield. There was one for each solider that died at the battle and there was just so many. The photo below is around Bloody Pond. It was said that so many died here that the pond turned red. It was very moving experience. The kids enjoyed it at first but both ended up falling asleep and missing the last half of the drive. 

I am starting a new series called- Carmen’s Favorite Things.  I will begin by reviewing my favorite homeschool products but who knows where it will go from there.  I will start with a little background about me. My wish for my children is to develop a love for learning and the ability to think. I try to not focus on “teaching” them anything.  They don’t have to LOVE everything we do but if they are miserable with something then I try to change it up. I believe it is a waste of my time and theirs time to work on anything once the wall has gone up. I have moved more and more toward a Charlotte Mason approach but not a purist.  My only homeschool regret is that I did not  pay more attention to her approach earlier.

I am starting with Brave Writer because they have a sale on their new product – Jot It Down that ends tomorrow. (http://www.bravewriter.com/program/home-study-courses/jot-it-down/) I have been using their products for over a year now and have nothing but praise. I first was introduced to Brave Writer at a conference last year. Julie Bogart, the owner, was teaching a workshop. I instantly loved her because everything she said “made sense” and lined up with my educational philosophy. My first purchases were The Writer’s Jungle and a years worth of The Arrow. The Writer’s Jungle is not a step by step curriculum although it has many great ideas. It is more of a philosophy of why and how to teach writing. It is a reference that every homeschool home needs. The Arrow is language art program for 3rd thru 6th grade. It covers spelling, punctuation, grammar, and literary elements in a “natural, literature-bathed context, using copywork and dictation.”  This may not seem like “enough” for those who are not familiar with Charlotte Mason and her methods but I can tell you that this is all we used for my son this year. Language arts is his weakness and he made great strides using this program. He also read some great literature which made me very happy.

For Claire(7), I purchased The Wand. Cobey(10) does a lot of this program with us which I think has also helped him.  The Wand is geared for K-2nd and covers phonics, spelling, word origin, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and vocabulary development. It is hands-on and continues to amaze me with how much I learn from it.

The last product we have used was  a four week online poetry class. The kid loved it and we all learned so much. I have all the materials so that I can go back and do the class again in a few year. She has a variety of online classes that look great and  I look forward to taking more in the future.  I have not been disappointed with any products or classes that I have purchased through Brave Writer and can highly recommend them. Come on and join the Brave Writer Bandwagon.

PS Don’t judge Brave Writer  based on my grammar, spelling or writing. Remember I attended public school.

I just got back from Homeschool Days at Great Wolf Lodge.  This was our fifth or sixth stay at the Concord Lodge and we also have been to the Lodge in Williamsburg.  Although the kids had a good time and I enjoyed hanging out with the many families we invited along, this was the first visit that I was disappointed with. The biggest problem was the crowds. Usually, the beauty of homeschool days is they have low crowds. I was telling everyone how great the crowds would be and then we get there. They are having a Big Splash charity event. They had sold 400 tickets per day. It was 10 times as crowded as I have every seen it. I wish they would have picked another day or at least warned us. I would have chosen to come another time.  One of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to vacation when crowds are low.

There were a few other things that happen that were minor disappoints. They were small things but just not the standard that I have come to expect from GWL. The second day of our stay they did not replace the shampoos and things. I stay at a lot of hotels and you always get a fresh stash the next day.  With six people in our room, we ran out of body wash.  They could have kept the popcorn that I can’t eat because of my allergies and given me some more shampoo. I was also surprised when my friend went to the front desk to see if someone had turned in her child’s wolf tail that she lost during MagicQuest. They looked and said no. I can’t believe they did not offer to just give her another one. The other child had his candy stolen while he was playing a game in the arcade. Dare I say these things would not have happened at Disney or would have been handled differently.

We had  great customer service in the Moose Cottage for dinner and then by Mr. Slade in the bar the next day. Dinner by the way is reasonable when they have the Kids Eat Free option. The front desk was also good with check in. I thought the  lifeguards were still very attentive which is the most important part of their job. The staff was good on Wednesday in Club but seemed a little grumpy on Thursday. Claire could spend the entire day making projects in there if she had the money. She also enjoyed playing a round of putt putt with me. Cobey loved helping others with MagicQuest. Don’t get me wrong, we had a good time. If I had never been before then it may have even been great.  I had higher expectations because of previous visit. I would ask more questions before going back.

We had a fabulous day at Shackleford Island.  We took the 11 o’clock ferry over to the island with Island Ferry Adventures out of Beaufort. A wonderful homeschool mom showed us around the island.  For those of you who have been to Agape, she is the Mur of the coast. She was awesome!! She knew ever plant, shell, animal and horse.  She knew every shell that Claire picked up and that was bag full. She told us the history of the island and the horses. It was amazing how close we got to the horses. She went over the different ecosystems and what kind of plant and animal life that we found there. She taught us about dunes and how they were formed. She showed us pickled weed found in the salt marsh and we actually ate some. It was very tasty  The kids used nets to catch animals and then played on the beach. It was a history and science lessons and one the kids will never forget.

After staying with a friend last night, we were up and out early this morning for our program at Maritime Museum. The kids had pirate program, watched an hour movie and did two scavenger hunts. We were still done in two hours. The program was good and hands-on but short. They talked about who was the most important person on the ship, what kind of treasure they took, and weapons of privates.   If I was going to do the museum again, I would look into doing two programs. Cobey enjoyed the movie but Claire did not make it very long. The older kids scavenger hunt is very well written and really got Claire to look at more things.  I would definitely ask for that one if you go! The museum is small but the exhibits are interesting. The Blackbeard exhibit is especially good and Cobey enjoyed that the most.

We had a lot more time between programs than I thought we would have. We went across the trip form the museum to have lunch at Finz Grill. I had Shrimp and Grits and I was disappointed. It was too cheesy – who knew that could be possible. Claire had shrimp and Cobey had crabcake sandwich.  They ate all of their food and it looked good. We then headed to Fort Macon. We were there early so we went through the small visitor center. Claire loved the exhibit where you match the bird sound with the bird. Cobey liked learning that Robert E Lee visited there. After the museum, we went to program where the Park Ranger gave us background information about the fort, talked about soldier’s life and then had a musket firing demonstration. I thought the program was good except the references he made to kids hating history. My kids love history and don’t want them to get the idea that they are not suppose to like it.

After the program, we went back into the visitor center and got junior ranger books. We had asked to volunteers early and they said wait till someone got back from lunch.  We then watched the movie which is a good overview but repeated a lot of what the ranger talked about. The junior ranger program is for all the parks and is focused on nature not history. Cobey did not like it but Claire was thrilled.  We then watched the movie which is a good overview but repeated a lot of what the ranger talked about. We then went back to the fort to look for a ranger and look around.  They have some great exhibits at the fort with audio telling a story of the fort. It has a rich history. After walking around the fort, we then walked to the beach to work on booklets. Claire loved chasing the birds and saving one bird from eating a cigarette. We then went back to visitor center to look for a ranger. We never could find a ranger to finish the book so the kids left disappointed they could not earn a patch.  The kids had a cold swim in the pool. We are staying in the Hampton Inn – Atlantic Beach. It is a really nice Hampton Inn and the pool area was super nice. We ended the evening with at meal at The Crab’s Claw.  Cobey and I had a shrimp pot and it hit the spot. It turned out to be a wonderful day and I can’t wait till tomorrow.

The kids are beginning their study on the civil war. We use Truthquest curriculum. We are on our second year of a three year study of American History. The curriculum uses living books to teach which I love.  But the best way to learn is to go see it. So, a few weeks ago we spent some time in TN (hope to blog about that soon) and this past week we headed for Virginia. We were blessed to stay two nights with a wonderful friend who lived closeby many of the sties. It was also National Park Week so all the parks were free. It turned out to be a bargain of a trip. On the way to my friend’s house, we stopped at Stonewall Jackson’s home in Lynchburg. The house was interesting and did a great job of telling the story of Jackson with a film and guided tour.  He was a very faithful and disciplined man. I can’t wait to read more stories about him.

The first day of our whirlwind tour of National Parks, we started at Antietam National Park. It is said to be the bloodiest one day battle in American History.  They were doing some renovations at the park that day so it was a little loud. We tried to overlook that and enjoy the small exhibit area and a movie. We then did a driving tour of the battlefield. Despite the rain, the kids did a great job of jumping out and finding the answers to their Junior Ranger booklets. Claire’s favorite part of the battlefield was the observation tower on the left. If you look very close you can see their little heads. We spent several hours here and could have spent more if we were not in a hurry and it was not raining. The next stop we went to was Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia.  This national park was not what I expected. First it is in a beautiful area. I so wish the weather was better so we could have enjoyed it.  We stopped at the Visitor Center and take a shuttle bus down to the historic area. There are many building that represent the period. You could easily spend a day exploring the area. We learned a lot about the John Brown slave revolt that took place here. We also learned more about Lewis and Clark since that built a boat here for their trip. The kids were thrilled to have earned three badges at this one park. Of the two site,s this is the one I most want to go back to because there is so much more to explore. It was that evening that I discovered my two day trip needed to be at least three and I shifted plans to stay another day. I just wish I packed an extra set of clothes.

On day two we spent the day at Fredericksburg National Park. Here we visited Fredericksburg Battlefield, Chatham Manor, Chancellorsville Battlefield and “Stonewall” Jackson Shrine. They earned Junior Ranger badges Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. The kids got some trading cards at Antietam the day before but this is where they discovered they were at every civil war park. The obsession to get them all began.  During our search for cards, we got to learn more about Stonewall Jackson’s death and battles that took place here. We saw where Jackson was shot and then where later died.( the home pictured to right) This area is so rich in history we only scratched the surface. We did not see everything at the park and their is more to see in the town.

We started day three at Petersburg where they earned another junior ranger badge. We started at the Eastern Front Visitor Center where we watched a movie to learn about the siege here that lasted a year. We then went on a driving battlefield tour. The kids were interested in learning more about when the union soldiers dug a tunnel (photo to left)  and then set off explosion behind Confederate Lines that left a crater. We then headed to Grant’s Headquarters where we saw another movie and learned about the family that owned the property. We headed back to the first visitor center to get the badges and then to the third visitor center for more cards. We couldn’t leave without collecting ALL the cards. Then we headed for the final part of the trip. You could not have better ending to the trip than Appomattox Court House.

I really enjoyed Appomattox but we did not arrive till a little after three so I felt rushed. There  is a small visitor center, movie, and several buildings. The kids did their final junior ranger badge. They collected more trading cards and were excited about getting the cool bags (pictured below). You get the bags if you show trading cards from other parks. Claire pulled out a huge stack and I think the ranger was impressed. The kids had a great time with the scavenger hunt part of the junior ranger book and exploring the building.  The trip was a little jam packed and  rushed for me. After this trip I did feel like a supermom but I do think they got a great overall view of the war in this area. The kids enjoyed the Junior Ranger program at Petersburg the most. Claire wants to go back to Antietam to go up the tower on a clear day. Cobey wants to go spend more time in Fredericksburg and Petersburg.  And I would love to go back to Harper’s Ferry. And you really can’t not go to Appomattox so my suggestion is you visit them all.

The History Hounds of Central Carolina had a great time yesterday at the NC Museum of History wrapping up their first year as a club with the Annual Junior History Convention. We had nine students attend and four advisors. We had no idea what to expect but we we looked great with our cool shirts designed by the kids and drawn by Victoria Hamilton. The kids got to attend four workshops.  The staff did a great job of making the workshops hands-on and a variety of topics so that everyone had something they liked.  The first one they attended was about tin-making where they got to make their on punched tin piece. We then had a quick lunch at our secret place that we can’t reveal because then of coarse it would not be a secret. They kids seemed to love it though because we were the only group there.

After lunch, we had three more workshops. The first one was a original play performed by teens about Blackbeard. The second workshop they had a wonderful time  learning about hockey and visiting with Stormy. And the last workshop they identified colonial artifacts. All the presenters did an excellent job and we were impressed with the quality of programs. The last part of the day was the award ceremony. Cobey got two first places in the Photography division. Daniel Elmore got an award in the Artifact Search division. The highlight was when our club earned the Rookie Club of the Year Award. Alyssa Thomas (on right)  had written the paper nominating us for this award. We had a great day and the kids are already planning for next year. You can see the winning projects all year at the museum. If you make it to the museum this year, be sure to go check out our winning entries.

We had a great time today at the Greensboro Historical Museum. We took a trip to Greensboro around 1900, and visit the Porter School, the Richardson & Fariss Drug Store, Steam Fire Engine Company No.1, Hotel Clegg and the Crystal Theatre. In the school, we learned what life was like in a one room schoolhouse and got to practice on a slate. In the Drug Store, we learned about formulas that the pharmacist would come up with it. In the Fire Station, we learned about the fire station in the early 1900s and got to practice a bucket brigade. In the hotel, we learned about the hotel and about how the phone system worked during that time. In the Crystal Theatre, we watched old movies which was interesting for the kids. This was an awesome hands-on program. It added so much to the museum experience. I highly recommend it to any group. After the program, we walked through the rest of the museum and then headed out.