Lockhart field trip

Ah, Texas History. A vital part of the education of any youth. So important in fact, that a whole year is dedicated to the history and geography of Texas in the public schools. So as to ensure that MY youth are not left behind we are exploring towns in Central Texas and learning first hand about the history of the area. 

The courthouse in the town square. It just doesn't get any more small town than this picturesque building. 

One cool thing about this courthouse, aside from the architecture and history, is that it was used in the film Where the Heart Is (one of the movies I watch every time I come across it on television). We learned that the building is built out of limestone and red sandstone. 

We also learned that some guy donated a plaque to honor another guy who donated six flags to Lockhart. Sometimes when you're a small town you've got to reach for the history. Good on 'em, I say.

Z, C and J on the steps of the Lockhart courthouse. 

We took in the historical monuments of the area. This one is a tribute to those that served in the armed forces. The bricks that line the pathway up to the door bear the names of significant people (or people who paid to buy the bricks, that part wasn't clear). Do you see C reading all the bricks in the background? These are history-seeking boys I'm telling you.

J's pointing at the Marines emblem for Mac and our cousin Joey.

Are you buying any of this?


So what's the real reason people go to Lockhart? Barbecue of course! This time we went to Kreuz (it's pronounce Crites iffn' you were wondering).  Look there it says 1900 right on the sign. If that isn't history I don't know what is.

Lockhart also boasts Black's and Smitty's, but at Kreuz you eat off butcher paper without forks and sans sauce. We thought that would appeal to the boy's inner caveman. 

Brisket, sausage and ribs with bread and pickles. That's it. That's all you need.

Yes, it really was as delicious as it looks. Just ask the boys.

Oh and after lunch we walked around town square. We went into the town's oldest pharmacy with a curio case that had original prescriptions, bottles and tools of the trade from the store. You know, before all that DEA brouhaha. We ducked into a sewing and quilt shop too, but the boys aren't very happy to recall that part of the trip.


We also visited an antique shop and the owner talked to the boys about the building. The original signage from the turn of two centuries ago (late 1800's) was on the exposed brick in charcoal. The owner told the boys that charcoal was the paint of that time period. Charcoal and whitewash which was used for fences and houses. History and Art, baby!


To cap off the day we headed over to Dairy Queen. There is nothing quite like a treat at a small town Dairy Queen. Another awesome field trip day in the books.

Texas History

In 7th grade and a bit in 4th grade students in public school are required to take a Texas History unit. People who aren't from Texas think it's crazy that we give that much time to particular area of study. To them we say, "I know you are, but what am I?"


Mature. I know.


The State says we have to have citizenship as a part of our homeschooling program. Other than that the State of Texas pretty much stays out of our home education business. And we like it that way. So as much as I'm all about doing my own homeschooling thing, I really love Texas History, Geography, Cultures and, well ALL things Texas. So while I'm not devoting a whole year to the subject I do plan on interjecting as much Texas studies into our curriculum as possible. There is not box curriculum for this so we're working off units and basically taking advantage of living in the great state of Texas to learn.


Tonight we watched Texas, The Big Picture, the IMAX movie that was shown at the Bob Bullock Museum when it first opened. The movie was probably way more spectacular on the big IMAX screen, but it didn't exactly bite at home. The imagery was amazing. The narrative helped them to make connections about places we've been and where they fit. Watching the movie brought up several questions that gave us ideas of what other units of Texas to study. I love questions in my class because it means they're paying attention to the material.


Yee Haw.

Current Events & Government Classes

Dad has picked up part of the teaching duties.

He's always been a fan of politics and with this being an election year he is like a pig in slop. Truthfully he's really good about vetting the news coverage and giving a concise summary of any given issue. It's one of the reasons we keep him around.

Isaac, that's my husband and, as point of clarification, my kid's dad, works quite a bit. He manages the administrative functions of a medical clinic. He's good at what he does, but he's gone from the our little Urban Ranch about 12 hours a day. He wants to be a part of the homeschooling process, but we're all figuring out where that should happen.

Enter current events. We're learning about History, but applying history to what's going on now in our world is a critical thinking exercise. So a few times a week Isaac, J and Z get together pick out a news article, read it aloud and talk about it. So simple, but we are really learning about what's going on in our kid's minds. They're developing opinions and practicing using that "articulation muscle".

I can't wait to see how they view this election season. They won't be old enough to vote even next election, but they'll know the issues that are important to them and where the candidates stand. I love raising free-range thinkers.

Goodwill Austin Computer Museum

We took a round about way to get to the museum field trip, but in the end all turned out well.


Late last year a flyer landed in my inbox offering tours behind the scenes of Goodwill Austin. I thought this would be a great opportunity for the boys to see a non-profit in action. I sent an e-mail, signed us up and told them about our field trip plans.


Let's just say we were not their target audience.


What the flyer did not make clear (or omitted) is that this presentation/tour was intended for potential employers for GW "graduates". Sorry we've got nuthin. Actually that's not entirely true. As a small business owner I'm always looking for good help, but first I have to go through all of my family as potential employees. That could take awhile so we're back to we've got nuthin.


The boys made their hasty retreat and I quickly followed, unfortunately walking out on the CEO of Goodwill Austin. Well it wasn't a walk-out so much as a quiet exit. No matter I'm sure he's over it.


As luck would have it the GW Computer store makes its home in the same shopping center where the tour was to take place. At the back of the GW computer store is the GW Computerworks Museum. This has been on our short list of field trips so we decided today was the day!

Hello, robot made of old computer parts. It's science...no, it's art...no, it's history. So many lessons all in one exhibit.

That big gunmetal gray box they're standing in front of holds a whopping 4 Gigs of memory compliments of 1980. To put it in perspective for them I explained that the computer in my office has 1TB of memory. That means we'd have to have an additional 25 big ol' computer cabinets in my office to replace my current set-up. Neither thought that was good idea considering how messy my office is usually. 

Total geek humor. It's a cassette fossil. Huh huh. I asked J if he knew what it was and he said "something that used to play music", but it was Z that actually came up with the word "cassette". Way to make me feel old, guys. Don't y'all remember waiting by the radio for "Open Arms" by Journey to come on so you could press record even if a little of the D.J.'s voice got on the tape? Okay, maybe that was just me.

So what started out as a bust turned into quite a fun trip. We topped it off with lunch at the Chinese food buffet and that beats cafeteria food any day!

And So It Begins

Today was the first actual day of school for my homeschooler. I must admit I really enjoyed the process, though I know the "honeymoon" period will wear off soon. Add to the first that today is also my HSers birthday. My baby, my firstborn is 13-years-old. So how could I be too hard on the first day of school AND his birthday??

I began our routine with morning meeting. We discussed the rough schedule and our expectations for the day. I made it clear that we are in a discovery process and what we do today may not be what our days look like on other days. He seemed to go with the flow.

Our morning meeting ended at 7:45 and we spent the next hour taking care of housekeeping. I had J clean off his desk, make his bed (which he's always been responsible for when he went to traditional school), feed the livestock, unload the dishwasher and sort the laundry. We'll call that portion of the program Home Economics.

We, and by we I mean me, have decided to use an online curriculum for the core subjects. I'm not comfortable saying *which* program yet because how can you have a full appreciate after only one day? I will say that the learning curve is short. I'm cautiously impressed. I promise I will write a full review of the program once I've sat with it awhile. I owe us and you that much.

It took J about 2.5 hours to complete a lesson in each subject, plus an extension lesson in his least favorite subject, Language Arts. I hold a B.A. in Communication so I'm baffled why neither of my children are at all interested in writing. I made my living writing for several years before they were born. How could not one iota of my prose rubbed off on them?

So with Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts out of the way for the day we went for a birthday lunch. The Austin Pizza Garden is a local restaurant in a Texas landmark building that used to be a brewery. Awesome a little Texas History include with the meal.

After lunch the Birthday Boy and I went to get his new smartphone. We told him that if he could keep up with his low-tech messaging phone for the duration of the contract that we would get him a smartphone for his 13th birthday. Who knew time would pass so quickly? So we made good on our promise and got him the same phone I have, which I love. Her name is Betty.

One of the reasons we wanted to take J out of traditional school is because even though he is on a "high tech" campus the expectations regarding use of technology are practically prehistoric. We want him to use a digital calendar (both my husband and I are on Google mail, calendar and docs) and the school wouldn't allow him to use a smartphone.  They wanted him to use a written agenda, which had heretofore been a brilliant failure given that J had not written one word in that spiral notebook. Not. One. Word. As Dr. Phil would say, "how's that working for you?" Not so much.

My younger, public school kid went back to his routine, but I think he's still undecided about his school future. We've totally upended Z's matriculation plans so I'll give him props for going with the flow, especially since this boy does not dig change. He's observing his brother's progress. I know he wants to finish the last year of elementary and I'm okay with that since I do love his teachers. I just don't know how ready I am to give him over to the belly of the beast from whom I just plucked his brother. We'll see.

Tomorrow we have more online curriculum and a documentary on World War II ships. He's also going to the grocery store with me. He gets to hold the coupon binder and average prices to help locate the best deal for the money. I feel just like Dr. Seuss letting him know, "oh the places we'll go".

Proximo tiempo.

Mama P.