planning

Whew- it has been a busy, busy week. I have been in the midst of making final arrangements for our trip and trying to get a basic skeleton for our homeschool this year. Moonpie has made it clear that she would like more of a school feel to our learning time, so I'm doing my best to attain that.

I am so excited for our huge road trip! We have a basic itinerary set, and it blows my mind to think of how much road we will cover in such a short amount of time. Here's the plan:

Leave central Texas and drive to

Little Rock, AR

Nashville, TN

Yellow Springs, OH

Pittsburgh, PA

Youngstown, PA

Lewisberry, PA

Baltimore, MD

Washington DC

Richmond, VA

Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Virginia Beach, VA

Brevard/Asheville, NC

Atlanta, GA

Birmingham, AL

Lafayette, LA

HOME

Can you believe that list?!? As you can see, we are going to be visiting areas that are rich in our nation's history. To prepare we have been reading all sorts of books on American history. I would like to say that has been brushing up my skills, but honestly, I'm learning things that I have never known. It has been so fun for all of us! We are reading:

The Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday

If You Grew Up With George Washington

If You Lived in Colonial Times

America: A Patriotic Primer

and my favorite- Little People Who Became Great

There have been other random books here and there from the library, but these have been returned to several times.

I am really enjoying using the Magic Tree House book as a springboard. I am definitely going to be using them this year. Really, you could design an entire week's worth of lessons just off of one book. This week we are going to be viewing George Washington's crossing the Delaware, mapping the Delaware river, making colonial hats, painting the colonial flag...all because of this book. We will be revisiting this model when we learn about the ancients this fall. Can't wait!

Oh- I have been forgetting to update you all on the RV status. Some very generous friends have offered us the chance to use their 5th wheel AND their daily driver pick-up to haul it! We have been so blown away by the generosity people have shown us as we prepare for this trip! We cannot wait to get going, meeting and having conversations with people as we go.