#Roadschooling

We’ve worldschooled, we’ve homeschooled with an eclectic approach, and now we are roadschooling. Some days we plan as we go. Jayla has a schedule but with my teaching schedule, driving, and pulling off at roadside attractions, some days what’s scheduled won’t happen.

This weekend, we visited the Mammoth Caves in Horse Cave/Cave City, Kentucky. During our tour, we trekked 150 feet below the surface into a cave that was found after a sink hole fell. We visited the free museum and learned about the history of the cave, who purchased it, and how he developed the towns generator through the underground river found in the cave.

Jayla was extra excited because the tour included information from her previous science lesson on land and rock formations (which I later skipped because I was getting bored with the lessons and asked myself, “when will she use this information.”). We both remembered stalactites and stalagmites so some of the lesson was useful.

After the excursion, we discussed the different academic lessons the tour tied into.

Here’s a short list:

Geography and Science – We learned about rock formations, flooding and how water levels impact land, the distance below ground and mapping the stores/business/homes/street above us. We discussed where the Green River exits the cave in goes above land.

Physical Education – We had to climb and descend a total of 419 stairs, that’s exercise. And, Jayla went on the zip line. I watched.

Art – We scrapped some of the clay off the walls and we’re going to make some sculpted arrow heads.

History – We learned all about the town, the sinkholes in Kentucky, the man the purchased the cave, and the enslaved man that worked as a tour guide in the 1830s and helped discover other portions of the cave.

Math – The week before we visited, there was a flood. This meant parts of the tour were inaccessible, lights were out, and they were offering discount pricing. I had Jayla determine the original price and the difference from what I paid. I was trying to come up with some math problems about her speed and height on the zip line but it was time to eat. So, I let her calculate the tip.

Critical Thinking – We had to be mindful of every step we took because there were only three flashlights and some other things that go along with poor/good decision making when climbing down muddy stairs and crossing the ‘World’s Longest Underground Swinging Bridge.” You have to be careful with every step you take.

And BOOM, just like that we complete a week’s worth of lessons in two hours!

We did end up stopping our first week and getting a room. You know, they say it takes 21 days to make something a habit and we just jumped right into #vanlife. We’re staying at a wigwam for a night too.

At our first stop, I enrolled Jayla in a new math program. I had to enroll her in the self-paced course rather than the live one due to our unknown travel schedule. She has loved it so far (so have I). Check out Motherland Math. It might be a good fit for your child. We have used several different programs because I want to make sure she’s engaged with her learning. She likes it so much she didn’t want to stop. (#Homeschool win)!

Besides stopping to get a room, we slid by a few roadside attractions. Jayla’s working on her vlog about the stops and the cave tour but I’ll drop a few photos here: