Homeschool Learnings: The Summer Shift
/Recently, we celebrated our last official day of Oak Meadow Kindergarten and Third Grade. Dragon admired his uppercase alphabet marching across the walls. Bean thumbed through her Main Lesson Books and then dominated a game of Jeopardy based on her third grade learnings. It was a true red letter day.
“I have 1000 points!”
“What is next?”
“I am going to do the B column in 100.”
“B100, 50 divided by ten.”
“Five.”
Dragon jumped in, “These are too easy for her. Dadda hasn’t even had one turn yet!”
“Where to next?”
“C300.”
“Where did they sign the Declaration of Independence?”
Dragon jumped in again, “I can’t help with that one.”
A look of concern crossed Bean’s face, “Hmmmm, Philadelphia?”
“Good job!” Dragon jumped up and down.
“Do you remember what state Philadelphia is in?”
For the third time, Dragon jumped in. “That question wasn’t on the board! Momma, that is not part of it!”
“Okay, you are right. I will answer this one. Philadelphia is in Pennsylvania.”
Final score, 3400 points to Bean - 600 points to my husband.
Then we bundled off, all four of us, to Millerton with our bikes to celebrate the day.
For years I have been hearing so much praise for the New York Rail Trails. This network of repurposed rail lines, as biking and walking paths, are all over the Hudson Valley.
We joined the Harlem Valley Rail Trail at Millerton and rode south for 3.5 miles. Then we turned around. It took 25 minutes to go south - 45 minutes to go north.
Time slowed down to the pedal pump, pedal pump, pedal pump, pedal rhythm of our legs and feet.
A sea of blue in the distance, slowly we reached the flowers and we were suffused in the smell.
“Look children! I see cows! Listen to the cowbells.”
“Yes Momma, I can smell them.”
Twice the expanse of forest bathing narrowed into a rock tunnel, blasted out decades ago for coal powered trains. The plunge in temperature when we entered the open air cave shocked all of us.
“The rocks are cool!”
“That is because the ground is around 50 degrees and we are technically underground, do you see they dug this out for a train?”
“Oh yes, it is like a natural air conditioner. And look, Momma, the rocks are covered in life.”
The Bean was right. The rocks were covered in life. Moss, ferns, lichens, climbing vines, leaning trees, tenacious verdant life was tucked into crevices and crannies - cheering us on for summer.
