Living in a Field Trip

The other day my son told me, “Hey mom, you know living at the farm is like being on a field trip all the time!” 

In a lot of ways, he’s right.  My boys have seen things and learned about topics often only introduced on field trips.  For example:

They can tell you the history behind this shoe:

 

They know how to use these to preserve food:

 

They gather eggs from chickens and pet the turkeys:

 

They have learned about starting plants from seeds, fertilizing and weeding:

 

They eat dinner twice a week surrounded by butter churns and cast iron skillets:

 

They have wandered through these woods, playing in the creek, looking at plants and searching for bugs:

 

They have learned what to do if the cows charge at them:

 

They have learned how to chop and carry wood for the fireplace:

 

All of these are lessons often taught only during field trips with school or scouts.  Instead of waiting for a special occasion, my kids have had the opportunity to live here, explore, and talk with experts every day.  We are so blessed that the owners of Thus Far Farm, Mary and Bill, have not only given our children the opportunity to explore, but they have been ready and willing to explain and answer questions.  Living a field trip is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my kids!

 

 

Homeschooling in Three Languages

When I tell people that we homeschool in three languages, I generally get two questions – Why? and How?

 

 

Let’s start with why?  For three years, we lived in Morocco, where my husband is originally from.  While we were there, the older two boys attended school in French and Arabic.  When we arrived they were 3 and 7 and spoke very, very little of either language. We dropped them into a Moroccan school and they learned by emersion. By the time we left Morocco three years later, they were 7 and 10 and could understand, speak, read and write both languages on grade level.  Although we were ready to leave Morocco, we weren’t ready for them to stop learning these languages, which was a major reason we chose to homeschool.  We wanted them to have time for all of their languages, rather than have them do additional homework after a full school day and begin to resent the languages, or worse simply forget them.

 

Now, how?  How do you learn in three languages?  Pretty much the same way you learn in one.  Our home language has always been English, so that continues to be the language we start explaining a topic in.  This is the reason that we are working on our Science and Social Studies through our Year Long Country Study in English.  However, every week the boys work on reading, writing, grammar, and math in all three of their languages.  We have played with a variety of formats and found that we most like doing one subject at a time in all three languages, giving the boys a chance to make connections between all three of their languages. 

 

For example, on Friday we work on Grammar and the kids have learned things like a verb is a verb in any languages, but that the verbs simply conjugate differently depending on the language.  Monday is Math day.The boys work on Math in English, French and Arabic.  They tend to learn the concepts in English, but work in the textbooks that we brought back with us from Morocco and on websites that my husband has found, to explore the same concepts in French and Arabic.  This gives them time to work on the vocabulary and the word problems in all of their languages, and further cement their knowledge.  Additionally, some problems – especially Long Subtraction and Long Division are presented differently in different countries and this is reflected in their textbooks.  (I have made a resource to help explain the different ways you can do Extended Operations, which you can download for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store.)

 

In addition to general curriculum in French and Arabic, the boys work on French in DuoLingo and Arabic using a variety of iPad apps to keep building their vocabulary.  Overall, we spend a lot of time comparing and contrasting and thinking deeply about the topics at hand.  Three languages can make for a full day, but the benefits our kids are getting are undeniable and the more connections they make the longer they remember things.  This situation is definitely best for our family right now.

 

Where Are You From?

 

Such a simple question, right?  Since we move a lot, we regularly get asked “Where are you from?”  For most people the idea that everyone has a home base where they are “from” makes complete sense.  Unfortunately in our case, it is slightly more complicated.

 

Technically, I’m “from” Buffalo, NY.  I grew up there, graduated from high school there, etc. etc. However, I left Buffalo at 17 and I spent the longest period of my adult life just outside of Atlanta, GA – with a few years spent out in Las Cruces, NM.

 

My husband is “from” Casablanca, Morocco.  However, he also left home at 17 and spent 7 years living in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Then, he lived in New York City and of course just outside of Atlanta, GA.

 

For a long time where we were from was simply Atlanta.  But then we spent three years in Morocco and so even though we said we were “from” Atlanta, neither of us was born or raised there and we haven’t lived there –outside of our six month stop of recent in almost four years.

 

Now my children were all born in the Atlanta area, so they can say they are “from” there.  However, the younger two remember more about Morocco then they do about Atlanta.

 

So, you see a simple answer has now turned into a life story.  For some that is fine and turns into a cool time to share our story – and our blog - with others.  However, not everyone I meet needs to know my life story!

 

As we move on with our life, the answer is sure to get even more complicated.  I am happy with the life we are leading, in fact I love it.  I love the people we get to meet, the experiences we get to have and the sights we get to see.  I just wish people would stop asking me that simple, common question.  LOL – Good problems to have, right?

    

The Land of 10,000 Waterfalls

We are currently in the mountains of South Carolina, in an area that is only a short drive to the Georgia  or North Carolina borders.  The mountain views are amazing, the hiking is spectacular, but what takes the cake is the amount of beautiful waterfalls that we have been able to see.  Here are three waterfall views – each from a different state, but each within a 2 hour drive from Thus Far Farm, where we are currently wwoofing:

 

Brasstown Falls, South Carolina

 

Taccoa Falls, Georgia

 

 

 

Bridal Veil Falls, North Carolina

These majestic views have provided our family with regular weekly outings full of exercise, family time and the joy that being surrounded by nature brings.  This weekend it also provided us with the chance to go hiking with old friends and watch our children re-kindle friendships.  What could be better?