A Walk down the Freeway

We had a unique experience this weekend.  Last April they closed down a stretch of I-96 near us. After a summer of angst, they opened the freeway (early yay!) this morning.  Before they did, yesterday, they opened a small section of the freeway for people to walk down.  Boy, did they.  Not only walking but also running, biking, unicycling, skating, skateboarding, strollering, and just about any other form of non-moterized travel.  There was even a marching band.  It was so much fun.  A great, free, once in a lifetime family field trip.

This is my favorite picture

and if we look just to the right it looked like this:

Classical Conversations Parent Practicum and zoo trip

One of the really lovely things about Classical Conversations is the community.  This past week I got to experience that lovely community at the Parent Practicum.  These are free, three day events designed to equip, encourage and educate parents about classical education.  I had to travel a bit to get to one that had the particular training I needed as a new Challenge A directior. (So excited about doing this!)  We ended up in Columbus, Ohio, because I had family that I could stay with.  The Hubby and the kiddos came with me and we made a mini-vacation of it (sort of).

Zippy went to "camp" at the practicum. (She told me it was not real camp because there was not a tent or campfire.) She got a taste of the kind of writing she will be doing next year.  Day 2 she spent with the Little Dude and her Dad at the great Columbus Zoo and aquarium.

This year's theme for practicum was "Cultivating the Conversation, The Art of Rhetoric".  While I learned about the art of rhetoric and gained a greater understanding of that topic, practicum is just as much about the conversations that happen outside the auditorium.  Here are some of the great things I took away from this event.

Copiousness - we need to teach from a place of abundance

You can't pour anything out of an empty pot.

Teach from a place of rest. 

Not anxiety. 

We have to tackle the hard 

to get to the good 

And lastly the shared this YouTube video.  It really made me think, so I wanted to share it with you:

A Field Trip to the Village

Last week we got temperatures in the eighties for the first time this season.  I thought it would be a great day to take a field trip to Greenfield Village.

We walked to the Village.  It is a bit of a long walk so we took the wagon for the Little Dude to ride in.  Zippy and I took turns pulling him.

They have a really nice, new playground in the Village.  Including a couple of water features that Little Dude loves.  This is the "boiler"  the kids turn knobs and switches and every so often it "blows" with sprays of water.

The wagon makes a great seat to eat a cookie after a hard afternoon of playing.

Weekly Round up - with a science field trip

***************Some of the Photos in this post were taken with Instagram**********************

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The Field Trip

One of the things I really appreciate about being involved with Classical Conversations this year is the community of people.  This Tuesday past a group of us went to Cranbrook Institute of Science.  Field trips add a dimension to learning that can't be gained with just books and paper.  I had never been to Cranbrook before and I would recommend it as a field trip for homeschoolers.

We experienced a planetarium show, this was the main focus as we are heading into a section on astronomy, and explored the traveling exhibit of dinosaurs.  A lot of what I know about dinosaurs comes from the PBS show Dinosaur Train.  I felt fairly educated, recognizing lots of the names as we walked through the exhibit.  We also checked out the regular exhibits.  The mineral display was rocking! (I really could not resist the pun).  It is not a big museum, but they pack a lot into a small space.

We found one of our favorite things directly after the planetarium show.  It is a model of the solar system with all the planets and moons made with gears and clockwork.  Around the outside is a clear plastic sphere with some of the constellations on it.  When one pushed a button, the planets and moons would revolve and rotate.

~Holly

{Linking Up}

Five Fabulous Free Field Trips in the Detroit Area

Detroit Riverwalk 

The Detroit Riverwalk is a long path along the Detroit Riverfront.  Strung along the path are parks and landmarks with lots of fun outside things to do. 

Hines Drive

Hines Drive is a 17 mile long stretch of road that follows the Rouge River from Dearborn to Northville.  The land is essentially one really long, skinny park.  There is a bike trail along the entire length of the road.  There are also many playgrounds, a disc golf course, dog park and an RC car track. 

Belle Isle

Belle Isle is a large island in the Detroit River.  Essentially a large park.  There is a road that circles the island.  With several fountains, buildings, statues and landmarks to explore Belle Isle is a nice way to spend a couple of hours or an afternoon.  There is also a kids play area. 

Eastern Market

Eastern Market is one of the areas largest local food markets.  On Saturdays (and Tuesdays from July - October) hundreds of open air stalls are open to the public from 7am to 4pm.  Located between Gratiot, Crysler Freeway and Mack Ave in the City of Detroit. 

Pewabic Pottery

Pewabic Pottery, located at the corner of Jefferson Ave and Cadillac Ave in Detroit, is the world famous manufacturer of ceramics, specifically ceramic tiles.  There is a free self-guided tour (with guidebook from the website) through the National Historic building which houses a museum, fabrication studio and tile showroom. 

Weekly Wrap Up - With the Real Life Farm

The Little Dude's pre-school class went to the Real Life Farm in Canton Michigan on Friday.  It was a wonderful experience.  Just enough for the little ones to learn about the farm without being overwhelming.  Lots of great hands-on experiences.

Farmer Don is so great with the kids.  He captures their attention and teaches them all about the farm in a simple way they understood.  First thing he let us know what we were doing for the day.  On the schedule: a hay ride, a horseback ride and time in the barn doing, ahem, chores. 

First the hay ride:

Then riding a horse.  Little Dude didn't really want to ride the horse.  He got to ride the biggest horse.  The Farmer was so patient with the Little Dude letting him pet the horses leg, then touching the horses nose, then finally getting up on the saddle.  He rode all the way around the circle all by himself (the horses were led).  

We ate a sack lunch (leftover pizza yum) in the picnic area outside.

Then we spent some time in the barn where the children got to pet goats, kids, sheep, lambs, piglets, rabbits, kittens, cows and a calf.  They also got to bottle feed baby goats, and grain feed goats and sheep.  And the capstone activity milking a cow.  We parents got to make butter out of buttermilk too.  

Family Field Trip - LEGO Architecture

The family took a little field trip to The Henry Ford to see the Lego Architecture. This is a traveling exhibition of some of the most famous buildings in the world made to scale (meaning they are huge), using only LEGOs.    They have been advertising this for a long time so I'd seen pictures, but to see it in person it was a whole 'nother thing.  We went first thing in the morning, but still there were many, many people, lots of them kids, because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  At the end of the exhibit there is a big area with tables and bins and bins and bins of LEGOs.

One of the husband's keenest interests is architecture, which is why we waited until now to go.  I knew he would have some anecdotes and insights into the construction  design and geography of the buildings, and he did. We wanted to go together.  He was very impressed with the buildings, which included a favorite of his, Falling Waters by Frank Lloyd Wright.  My favorite moment of the trip was at the end when Zippy looked longingly at the bins of LEGOs (and a whole lot of kids playing with them).  I turned to her and said, "You know, you are homeschooled.  We could come back tomorrow or Wednesday and a lot of these kids would be in school."  Her eyes got wide as saucers.  I imagine that going to the museum will definitely be added to the incentive sheet.

I would highly recommend this exhibit if it comes to a city near you.  If you are going to be in the Detroit Metro Area, of course, I would recommend The Henry Ford.  LEGO Architecture runs through February 24, 2013, and is free with museum ticket purchase.

Here are some highlights:

The newest tallest building in the world in Dubai

Close up

Close up

St. Louis Arch 

Falling Waters

Pre-School Field Trip {Apple Orchard}

It was a beautiful Autumn day to go out to the apple orchard.  We had a wonderful time with the Little Dude's class as we learned all about how apples grow (and yummy cider).

Sadly this year Michigan lost about 90% of the apple crop this year.

{Interesting Fact: Michigan is the third largest producer of apples in the United States}

With the loss of the apple crop it makes all things apple much more expensive.  It also makes finding an orchard to do a class field trip to learn how apples grow really difficult.  Little Dude's teacher persevered and she found Kreps Apple Barn, this adorable little (well 1200 trees) family owned orchard.

There was:
Cider and doughnuts {that I was too busy eating and drinking to take a pic, but they were delicious}
A story about Johnny Appleseed and pictures to color.

 A fantastic straw play area, with a slide and everything.  While these pics make it look like Liam was alone, there were 25+ of his classmates on the field trip too.

And a hayride - with some really interesting facts - to pick apples.

 

Hey there, I'm linking up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged for InstaFriday

At the Fair

Sheep

Zippy was too tall to go on some of the rides.

The Little Dude was just barely tall enough.

Cow

The hubs had an interesting conversation with a rooster.