2018-2019 A Year in Review

For a change of pace this year, we started at the beginning of summer in 2018. We simply could NOT pass up the opportunity to learn every last possible thing while crossing the country to visit friends and family. Our year started packed with learning and fun, and remained packed with learning and fun.

Driving through the various states gave us opportunities to check out interesting facts like highest and lowest points of elevation, famous politicians and celebrities from each place, and it also helped to put a lot of historical events into context.

Learning back in PA was also eventful! We kept up with our excellent math tutoring sessions, which saw Louis advance over a grade ahead of most kids his age, and with great enthusiasm.

Cumulus clouds were ever present in Missouri! It made for 

excellent conversations about water cycles, 

atmosphere, and different types of clouds

and weather phenomena.

Missouri was also a goldmine of pop culture nuggets.

The kids learned checkers and chess from local experts.

In Colorado, there was a plethora of varying landscapes

and rock formations to learn about. This particular area is 

Garden of the Gods.

Balance Rock at Garden of the Gods.

Nearby was Rock Ledge Ranch, where there was a working

farm from pioneer days. The kids learned about how animals
were raised, how water was gathered, and how people lived
when the West was being settled.

At the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs, they were 

introduced to antique arcade games. 

It prompted research on simple machines

and coin operation mechanisms in those machines.

They took a ride in an antique Ford Model A. This capped a 

month of learning the history of the invention of the 

automobile.

Then we glutted ourselves on science at the 

Florissant Fossil Beds!

Colorado fossils of marine life and insects.

Fossilized redwood stumps.

They went through the forest and learned about Ponderosa pine trees

and how their bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch.

They filled out the necessary workbooks to become Junior Park Rangers!

It was amazing, informative, and someplace we will visit again.

The kids marveled at how utterly and completely flat

western Kansas was.

Louis is a very, very hands-on learner. Here he

is helping with a flooring project.

Cicadas are ALWAYS a fun science lesson!

We stayed on top of grammar through the year. ;-)

Maria kept busy with many side projects, including sewing and art.

Louis was engrossed in the mechanics of it all.

Thomas and Joseph took advantage of many volunteer opportunities,

including landscaping for a retirement home and running
Cub Scout meetings for a local parish.

They stayed active in Boy Scouts as well.

They kept up sessions with their amazing math tutor.

Thomas was in the finals of a chess tournament with his

Scouts group.

Thomas drowned himself in world history this year,

specifically concentrating on military conflicts. To help

with the visuals he needs to fully understand, he pulled out

our Risk board game and used the pieces and map to pull it all

together.

Louis' international interests were a little more delicious,

thanks to his father's recent globetrotting. :-)

Israeli chocolate with popping candy was a favorite.

Louis also has sessions with our math tutor. She has helped

him advance to a grade and a half above kids his age!

We have also gone on walking "hunts" for free libraries!

We have found so many great fiction and science titles!
We have helped them flesh out those same categories, and then some

We also have been brushing up on our local history and

historical spots. For example: the first mass-produced penicillin
was manufactured in West Chester. The site of that plant, however, is now a parking garage.

The kids were introduced to, and maintain contact with,

a family from Ukraine! Learning about the history and politics

of Ukraine has been fascinating.

Maria took an iconography class!

She was the youngest in the class by 25 years,

and her icon was easily the best one when it was done.

It was very interesting to learn why they are so important

to Eastern Christians, and all of the symbolism involved.

Louis is neck-deep in geology. Here is a piece of

white quartz he found on a hunt in Missouri. He also found

a great deal of chert in Missouri, and loads of pink granite

in Colorado.

Workbooks aren't his favorite, but he will do them on

less hands-on days.

Science.

Volunteer work.

Volunteering.

We were given an impromptu anatomy refresher when

Joseph broke his tibia the Friday before Easter.

It was not the most fun lesson, but it was fascinating all the same.

We continued to supplement our experiences with a mashup of YouTube videos, Khan Academy exercises and videos, workbooks, hands-on exercises, and countless books. As always, the kid went well above and beyond our wildest expectations, consuming information and applying what they've learned in ways that are constantly and consistently amazing. 

We are looking forward to 2019-2020 with an unsurpassed intellectual hunger!