End of the School Year

Even though I homeschool Casia year around and we start the school year in September, there is still this sense in June that it's the end of the school year. Partly this is because Garrett is finishing up his 1st grade year in public school and his last day of school is tomorrow. In addition, the state requires testing and I have to send in the results next month. However, we are also planning on taking a break for a couple of weeks at the end of the month to unwind, travel, and play, so I need to get the testing done earlier to make sure I have plenty of time to get it in. So this week, Casia took a standardized test, not unlike many of her public school counterparts. We've also been finishing up units she has been working on in all her subjects so that we're at a good stopping point, which means more tests these last two weeks. I'm also planning on issuing her her first official homeschool report card so she can show off the straight A's she's been working so hard for, and earn her Nook. It definitely feels like the end of the year. 

After our break, we will resume homeschooling but it will be scaled back to just about three hours a day, most weekdays. This summer, Garrett wants in on it, so I'll be making some lesson plans for him over my break. I think I like it this way. Getting to experience the excitement of the ending school year, with days of swimming and fun in the sun in front of us, with the benefit of a leisurely pace over the summer months to kind of keep us on a regular schedule and keep the kids challenged. Then, when September rolls around, we get all the fun of back-to-school shopping and the start of a new year.

Philadelphia Trip: Day 2

On our second day in Philadelphia we decided to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art instead trying to catch the historic places we missed the previous day. Out in front of the museum we saw the Rocky statue and Emily and I posed with him. Casia refused. She said, "He's a boxer. I don't like boxing." I tried to convince her that he's not just a boxer, he's an American classic, the underdog. I even tried to bribe her by telling her I'd let her watch the movie if she'd pose with me, but no dice.  

They had the Van Gogh exhibit while we were there, 

but we weren't able to get tickets for it and once I saw the line 

waiting to get into the exhibit I was glad.

Seriously, the pool was ankle deep,
and yet you know that if there was a sign for it,
it's because someone has tried it before. 

The facade of the museum was gorgeous. Casia and I enjoyed taking pictures of the building.

View of Philadelphia from the museum entrance.

 My favorite part about the Philadelphia Museum of Art was the decor of the exhibit rooms. They were decorated from the country and time period of the art that was displayed there. I have been to many very nice art museums in NYC, Chicago, etc., but this was the reason why Philly's is my favorite.

Japanese Art

They had a very interesting video demonstrating a traditional tea ceremony.

16th century French Art (decorated like Louis XVI's palace)

16th century English art (Tudor style room)

Early 20th century New York Penthouse

Casia asked me why they had tooth brush holders in an art museum.
That gave me a good laugh.

Emily was a good sport and posed for me with a lot of the statues.

I love Monet, so I took pictures of some of his paintings that I saw.

This was Casia's expression when she saw this painting,
 followed by her question, "Why would anyone want to paint a
 bunch of naked boys playing in a stream?"

Philadelphia Trip, Day 1

It's been about a month since my last post and we've been busy!

A couple of weeks ago, Casia and I spent two days in Philadelphia visiting historic and cultural attractions. We had our first 'girls' road trip and stayed with my cousin, Emily, who lives outside the city.

As preparation for the trip, I had Casia research historic sites she wanted to view and I also gave her some maps and internet access and had her plan the route. She did an excellent job with both aspects and I got to pat myself on the back for turning a tedious task on my part into an important life-skills lesson for Casia.

Since we had recently finished our history unit on the American Revolution, Philadelphia was the perfect locale. We started off in Independence Center, where we got our tickets to the must-see attractions and then wandered over to take a quick look at the Liberty Bell. 

Casia taking pictures of the Liberty Bell

Me and Casia in front of the Liberty Bell

Casia and Emily in front of Independence Hall.
We ended up back here later for our tour.

Casia making friends.

Casia really wanted to visit the Graff House, the location where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. I learned only after our return home that the original building, built in 1775, had been torn down but a replica was built two hundred years later on the same spot. From the outside, it looked like a centuries-old residence; inside, it looked as though it were designed by someone under the influence of a mind altering drug. Aside from the two upstairs rooms, that you could view through plexiglass, designed to look as Thomas Jefferson's rooms might have looked during his stay two hundred years earlier, the rest of the was house a tragic disappointment. It had a room with giant multi-colored blocks, some covered in mirrors, a stairwell that looked like it belonged in a parking garage, a small auditorium and a very modern, curvy display room. There was cement were there should have been antique character and it was a travesty that the preservation of such a historical location was done so poorly. Fortunately, this was the only disappointment of the trip.

A recreation of the room where Thomas Jefferson 

wrote the Declaration of Independence.

A very unusual room with big blocks and lots of mirrors.

Casia had also discovered that Philly has a Polish-American museum, and even though it wasn't relevant to the history course, we decided that we would make a little time in our schedule for it. Since Emily is on the Polish side of my family, she was as excited about it as we were. It was a cute little place that sold some Polish souvenirs and had displays recounting the lives of famous Poles throughout history, aspects of Polish history to make one proud and little-know facts to fascinate. Before leaving, Casia got a pin with both the American and Polish flags on it.

Afterward, we had a great lunch at a little restaurant that served panini. Casia had her first panini and now she's hooked!

Casia and Emily in front of the Polish American museum.

The best part of the trip came when we took the tours of the Bishop White and Todd houses. It was a very small tour group, just one extra person along with us. We had a great guide who not only really knew his stuff, his enthusiasm was contagious. When it had started, the first question Casia asked our guide was whether or not we would get to see upstairs. She was so excited when he answered in the affirmative and then she explained that in Colonial Willimsburg, so many of the buidlings didn't allow the tours to view the upstairs. 

We enjoyed the tour through the Todd house and learned that Mrs. Todd, after becoming a widow, caught the eye James Madison. They married and she eventually became the famous First Lady, Dolly Madison. The house had a lot of the charm and character you would expect in a 300 year-old house. But it paled in comparison to the next house on the tour, the Bishop White House.

Garden behind the Todd House

Casia in front of the Todd House

Kitchen in the Todd House

Bedroom int he Todd House

Kitchen in the Todd House

In the Bishop White House, not only did we tour the first and second floors, but we got to go up to the third floor, where the children would have slept. Because of the small group size, and I believe because of Casia's enthusiasm, the guide decided to also include the attic in the tour. It isn't normally shown to the public and it's not furnished, but it has an amazing view of the city from up there. It was huge, with high ceilings even on the 4^th floor. And he showed us the stairs to yet another attic. They were too treacherous, however, for us to venture up, so Casia had to content herself with just peeking up there.

As we decended the stairs, the guide announced that we still had a little more time, would we be as interested in seeing the basement as we were the attic? Would we ever! So down to the basement we went. There we saw a second kitchen, though much smaller, a wine cellar of ginormous proportions and the trap door to yet another basement. It was also unnavigable, but we got to peer down the hole to where they used to keep the ice for the old-time ice box.

Bishop White House

Casia at the front door of the Bishop White House

Foyer and Hallway of the Bishop White House

Parlor

Staircase

Casia in the Bishop White House Kitchen

Indoor Privy
(Casia wasn't very excited  about posing for this picture)

Emily in the Library
(She was checking out the book selection) 

When Bishop White died, his loving family had a portrait painted of his library as he had left
 it and since the house and  his belongings remained in the family for so many generations,
they were able to recreate his study with historical accuracy. 

Casia in a third story bedroom.
Even on the third floor the ceilings were at least 9 feet high.

Bedroom on Third Floor

Casia looking out a fourth floor window.

Casia picked this one as her bedroom.

One of Bishop White's grandchildren carved their initials and
the date into the fourth floor window frame.
It reads "W. W. Bronson 1834".

Stairs leading up to the 5th floor attic.

Emily and Casia taking pictures of the wine cellar.

Casia in the basement.

Door to the second basement. Here they would keep the ice to store food.

Basement kitchen.
Fire extinguisher not authentic. ;)

Casia with the awesome tour guide.

Another highlight of the trip was a tour of Independence Hall. It was thrilling to be in the same room where our nation was created. At the desks they had quills and inks, pipes, books and even a cane similar to what the Founding Fathers might have used. We got to see Washington's chair with the carved rising sun.

Clock Tower of Independence Hall

Emily and Casia by Independence Hall

Emily and Casia

Before the tour of Independence Hall, we started in this room with a
painting depicting the historical signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Court House in Independence Hall.

Independence Hall

Quills on a table in Independence Hall

Me and Casia in Independence Hall

Beautiful Staircase in Independence Hall

Casia in front of the statue of George Washington

Casia found Elfreth's Alley on a map and so we ended our visit of the city with a trip down the alley. It was tucked away and could easily have been missed if we hadn't been searching for it. It looked just like a little side street of very old homes on a cobble stone street. But when we got to the end it kept going and as we followed it around we ended up in a quaint, hidden garden. It was lovely.

Sign signaling to us that we had reached Elfreth's Alley

Casia in Elfreth's Alley

Elfreth's Alley

Casia and Emily in a little garden spot at the end of Elfreth's Alley

Emily tapping on the wall (as in Diagon Alley)

Casia knocking at the door of Betsy Ross's House.
It was too late to catch a tour,
so she settled for a posed picture outside.

Casia and I had a wonderful trip- thanks, Emily! After hitting all the great historical sites, we decided to order some Thai take-out and rent the movie National Treasure. While watching the movie, whenever we would see one of the locations we had been to that day, we'd shout out, "Hey, we were there!"