One of the things I love about Home Schooling my kids is the flexibility in our schedule. If we want to do school in the morning...we do! Afternoon..some days that works too. If its really beautiful outside and we don't want to be trapped in the house, we allow nature to teach us that day. Believe it or not some of the best lessons we've learned have been inspired by simply being outdoors.
Today we decided on a visit to the Clarksville GreenWay. If you are a Clarksville native, you've probably strolled, or biked, or even ran the GreenWay at least once. But if for some reason you haven't, let me give you a little history about one of our community landmarks. The Clarksville GreenWay is a project sponsored by the City of Clarksville. It is part of a nationwide " rails-to-trails" project which has developed trails and nature paths all across the country. The original project began in 2009 when The City of Clarksville took possession of an old rail bed and transformed it into 3.75 miles of paved trails, a 50' bridge, and several picnic and sitting areas. A year later, in 2010, Phase 2 was completed which added an additional 1.25 miles to the already beautifully scenic pathways.
The GreenWay is so incredibly peaceful. When we are feeling extra ambitious, sometimes we take a right and try to tackle the brutal hills. But since we weren't feeling quite up to the challenge ( and we also forgot the stroller for my 4 yr old at home), we settled on the 2 mile Pollard Road TrailHead.
Another really cool thing about the GreenWay are these cute little mile markers. When I say little, I mean tiny and if you aren't looking, you'll definitely miss them! But when your kids are complaining their legs hurts after walking for less than 10 minutes you can always say: " Look guys we haven't even walked a quarter of a mile yet...eye roll emoji." But anyways back to the " educational-ish" part of our day..
Do you see the sign directly above? These are located sporadically all along the trail. My kids like to play a game where whoever finds the most first, and can tell me a little about what type of plant it is, wins a prize! Here are a few facts we've learned about the "Perilla" plant
1.) Its a member of the mint family and is also known as the beefsteak plant, Chinese basil, Joseph's coat or rattlesnake weed
2.) Its apparently toxic to cattle and can cause respiratory distress syndrome and even death.
3.) It is often used as a spicy vegetable in China and Japan, sometimes its also used for medicinal purposes.
When I say " we" learned, I actually mean" I" learned this information as well. Its my first year as a Home School mom and I'm pretty sure I've learned more "teaching" my kids than I did "learning" my entire Senior year of high school...
Awwww and look at these cuties! I'm not sure why one is holding a soccer ball...on a bike..and the other is posing like he's about to do a GQ photo shoot.. but did I mention there are bikes you can rent and ride? Did we actually rent and ride them? Of course not! But they are a really great option if you don't want to lug your own bike along or if you are just wanting to do something spontaneous.I promised them the next time as long as the weather was nice..and we didn't have the preschooler...or the dogs...AND I remembered my check card.. we would definitely take the bikes for a spin.
So that completes our Home School day at the GreenWay. It was super unstructured and we followed no sort of curriculum whatsoever. However, I am a firm believer that children are ALWAYS learning, especially when we allow the lessons to develop in a completely organic way. Until next time never stop exploring and always remember to keep on the quest to find your family fun.
