March 4, 2001 Newsletter #15 Editor: Suzanne
Student editor: Kathy

Western History

We are located in Alexandria, Va. in the neighborhood of Mt. Vernon, the home of the first president, George Washington. Most of us are located in the suburbs of an area close to Route One,. We use the facilities of the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church for meetings. Sherwood Library has been host to book club and support group. If anyone would like to attend meetings or join us at play group, please feel welcome to e-mail or call of come by. We have some experience in homeschooling different ages. Some of us unschool and let the child direct the learning. Some of us are structured. We can talk about curriculum and what works. When we started in homeschooling, it wasn't structured as a friendly environment. Things change. Most of the people in the group enjoy the way the children play, work and have grown into special relationships with others.

Grist Mill Park Play Group The Co-Operative Learning Center has changed to Wednesday afternoons. We have been meeting on the First and Third Wednesday. We will continue to meet until we can alter the date next month. If Monday afternoon is good. then, we will go to that in April. Report on the Field Trip Huntley Meadows Time to walk and observe the changes to spring. We were in the woods for 4-H. Must tell you, the worms and caterpillars were under the leaves. The deer had left scat. The fungus was eating fallen giant trees. Other friends walked across the wetland. Keep an eye out for frog eggs, and make a nature notebook. Cowboys Cowboy Culture is the pick for Civilization this time. You expected Leprechauns. Sorry, I miss Oklahoma. You get rodeo, boots and roping. This era of time concentrated getting cows to market from Texas to Kansas using trails across the Red River. A story My grandfather was a cowboy. He lived the life. Although, we had a disagreement when I was four about taking my red boots off to go to sleep, Mr. Brewer was always kind about showing me the horses, roping and my uncle would always saddle a nice pig for me to ride. You can't fall as far from a pig as a horse. We heard great stories of crossing river with herds of cattle. Internet Project Look up these words on the Internet: Cowboy Chisholm Trail Muskogee Indian Nation Westward Migration Barbed wire Horses Cattle Annie Oakley Robbers Cave History Cowboy civilization lasted in the west of the 1800's as westward migration expanded the United States. The frontier expanded and people in the North enjoyed a good steak. Not to say that being a cowboy isn't a goal for today. Nothing better than a garden with loads of fresh eatables, a goat, some chickens, a cow or two, some horses and mules. Wagons to race, horses to saddle, and a western sky to ride off into. Virginia is less dusty, the sky is lower, the trees are higher. So, draw a line about three quarters of the way up. Paint the sky wide and blue. Make the dirt look red and make the grass brown and tall. Three or four scrubby trees, some horses near a pond, and lots of cows fence off to the side. Now, here's a word for you. Ornery. Look it up and let me know. Some people never change. Mr. Brewer made me take those boots off. Told him I would never call him Grandpa after that. Never did. We used to watch Westerns after school on television. They aren't as popular now. The boys have been making a fort. It's out by the creek and the wooden bridge.

4-H 4-H Please bring any photos you may have from former projects to the next meeting of the Active H'ers. We will use construction paper, stickers, glue to make a scrapbook for the county. It goes into a competition. There are award offered. March Madness is coming up and we will have entry forms for that. There is a happening this summer and we will have information about hosting Japanese teens and the possibility of exchange if anyone is interested in visiting Japan for thirty days or hosting someone for thirty days. Second Tuesday Scrapbook Board Games for Cloverbuds or an educational movie Fourth Tuesday Start to talk about wooden birdfeeders, habitat, what we can do as urban dwellers to make wild life friendly with the exception of raccoons, possums and squirrels. We will collect scrap lumber, tools, saw and drag any knowledgeable mothers in to help design and make a dream project. Soda bottles will-emptied for a seed station. Bring your ideas from magazines and other sources like Backyard Scientist and the Library on what each of you wants to build. Cheated and found two feeders on E-Bay to build. This is a chance to work in wood and make something. Migrating birds will appreciate your hard work. The teens can help and we will all stick to a goal of making something. Volunteer for the Buddy System. Next time we are field tripping be prepared to work with someone younger. Boy Scouts Boy Scouts Anyone? We have the opportunity to create a group of our own for homeschoolers. Do we want to take advantage of this? To start a group we need 5-8 boys willing to camp out and work on badges and community service. They could learn to work with wood and learn skills. Any willing volunteers or willing boys can contact Suzanne by e-mail to express an interest. First Wednesday in April is the deadline for declaring interest. MVCLC Moved to Another Day MVCLC Mount Vernon Co-Operative Learning Center moved to Wednesday 1-4. Contact Carol for information. Carol's e-mail address What day Would Work Best for You for Play Group? Play Group at Grist Mill Park will move from Wednesday to another day. What day will work for most people? E-mail Suzanne. April Field Trip Calvert Cliff Field trip on Shay's list people are talking about April 9 to convoy over to Calvert Cliffs for a shark tooth hunt. This is one of our favorite beach adventures. Kathy took a field trip with the Smithsonian and learned how to scoop and throw goodies on the beach. Wet, cold, and nasty. We could take a lunch, water, clothes, towels, covered plastic for a few goodies. Colanders, coffee cans with holes in them, to sieve the teeth. Walking on the beach and digging lightly uncover lots of things like sea glass pounded to perfection on the shore for those who want a friendly encounter. We can look at tidal pools and watch waves. Next Saturday we are going bowling at the alley below Shoppers Grocery Store on Route 1. If some of you want to come and demand bumpers we can roll balls down the alley. The kids took me and I rolled a few during bathroom breaks. Hamburgers were fresh and the French fries delicious. E-Mail We usually go around l:00-3. Kites March is usually kite weather. Last year the 4-H made some really good kites with Maureen's mulching material. Sled kites. Look on the Internet for these kites. At church, we made tissue paper kites in the shape of fish. Bent some balsa wood for the mouth and left the tail open. Put three threads around the mouth hooked together and hung from a small pole, stick or bamboo. Let's make some kites this month. Saint Patrick's Day March 17, Wear Green or be pinched. Watch for green in the cupcakes and look for green busting out all over for spring. Bad News Purple car, named Grapette is totaled by a Penske moving van. My fatal attraction to large trucks has happened again. Some of you who are writing stories may need to look up those Greek plays again. We are getting better, kids are okay. My black, green yellow eye is healing. We've been driving various kinds of cars and vans looking for a replacement Mom Taxi. A woman turned left in front of us. Rainy, we started a long slide into the side. Kathy had to be x-rayed for her clavicle. In our car we have a back to the back rule. Sit facing front. Your back is at the back of the seat. Of course, when the kids hear me yell, they usually get ready. They all slammed on the brakes and hurt ankles, and backs, Oleg loosened some front teeth. So, we are going to scream from now on. It's been a while since we had the rottweiler jump on the hood of Grapette and cause several thousands of dollars damage. This time we smashed the front end up to the firewall. I'm still not smiling because my front tooth looks chipped, and my forehead has a new lumpiness. The doctor said I may have to get used to it. We think we went from 35-0 in three seconds flat. We didn't know that there are at least six canisters filled with black smoke in the airbags. We assumed the car was on fire. Kathy had been trained to evacuate. Smoke filled the car. I said, "The car may be on fire. Drill. Evacuate." Kathy opened her back door and the smoke blew out. Alex was stuck in his seat and Kathy reached over and unbuckled his seat belt. Told Alex, "Don't panic. Panic kills." Then, she told Alex to get Oleg out. Some people ran to help. But, my children have been taught to not trust strangers. They waited at the back of the car for me to lead them across the lanes of traffic to a bridge. I didn't tell the other children the rules Kathy and I practiced. Rule. Go out together. Stay close to the back of the car. New rule: You may have to trust your safety to a stranger some times. We used to practice fire drills when Kathy was young. We would get her out of bed and have her go out the front door with us. As the years have gone by, we have formed a habit of saying nothing bad has happened and nothing will. Please take a moment to ask your child what would you do if the car was wrecked, or the house was on fire, or someone is hurt. If you're lucky nothing happens in your family. But, I have done a disservice to my other children because a little mental preparedness goes a long way. For those of you who didn't get your special Valentine, it's been in the trunk of Grapette whose key was misplaced and we've been back to get our stuff out of the trunk. Please don't try to fool Mom about the seat belt. If the seat belt is loose, you can be hurt worse. We all had seat belt contusions and bruises, and cuts. In 4-H this spring, we are going to talk about First Aid and how to handle the simple things. We hope to meet some community service helpers and have an EMT show us CPR. This Month with Bagels and Books Bagels and books is reading Brainstorm this month. From Annette Huntley meadows is offering some wonderful classes. I wanted to tell everyone about a Spring Camp being offered at Huntley Meadows. It is April 10-12 (9:00a-11:30a) for 6-8 year olds. Call 703-768-2525 to register. Also, if anyone wants to celebrate Mardi Gras, I order from a great site www.exportno.com. They have lots of fun stuff and tasty treats from New Orleans. This is also a Nobel Prize Centennial year. An interesting site is www.nobel.se The Bulletin Board is being redesigned for a chat site, so that those of us who have a topic can communicate. It will be under construction for a while longer.

March / 2001
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1	2	3
4	5 Bagels and Books, 10:00 a.m. Play Group, Grist Mill Park, 1:00 p.m.	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13 4-H Club, 10:00 a.m.	14	15	16	17 Saint Patrick's Day
18	19 Play Group, Grist Mill Park, 1:00 p.m.	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27 4-H Club, 10:00 a.m.	28	29	30	31