Kid Scouts Update

Just because I haven't been *writing* about Kid Scouts doesn't mean we haven't been doing it!

We made up Kid Scouts as a fun way to create "badges" (interesting, historic fun stuff to do with friends and their children of varying ages, gender, faiths) to casually achieve when we're together.

The way it works is this:


We say to friends,
"Hey want to go to the land this weekend?" (or do XYZ...)
"Sure"
"Great! What badge do ya want to do?"
"Um... how about let's learn more trees?"
"Ok! Tree Badge there ya go!"

Sometimes we do a badge, often we forget... : )
Many weekends it is only at the end of the day when we realize,
"Hey, that was cool, let's call it a badge! How To Help Turtles Cross The Road Badge!"

So for those that follow it, here's our update on Kid Scouts, which we started in October:

First, we made a Badge Book out of a cool old "scrap book" I found at a yard sale.

Finally, I found a good, fun use for some of these old albums I bought in thrift stores/ yard sales!








Badge #1: Tree Identification
We had a blast (and are working on this, ongoing) with friends collecting and learning about leaves and trees.

You can never learn enough, and I love to strengthen the identification as the seasons change:

"What does red bud look like in winter?
Summer?
Spring?"

"Can you tell the difference between a sycamore and a birch? How about the leaves of a hickory vs. a chestnut?"




Badge #2: Fire
Building a camp fire, putting it out safely.

Stop, drop & roll.

Exit strategy in your home.

And, of course...

S'mores.
: )




Badge #3: The First Thanksgiving
We headed over to Berkley Plantation on December 4th to learn about the first Thanksgiving, history, the Landing of The Goode Shippe "Margaret", met Captain John Smith ; ) and some *real* Indians who discussed local Indian architecture with me!











































Badge #4: Volunteering
In April we were busy cleaning the James River for Richmond's Green Drinks & The James River Association.

We also ran a 5k for ASK, which helps children with cancer. Our good playground friend, Paul, has been battling cancer all year and we all came together for him...

You should have seen Paul's smile when he saw all the children and adults there for him! This year's event raised over $90,000 to help make life better for Richmond children with cancer!

Badge #5: Riding
In May we called our friends the Bernaldo's to see what they were doing that day...
"Oh, I'm babysitting a friend's 6 year old so I thought I'd borrow a pony to entertain her, come on over!"
Yes, in the country you just "borrow a friend's pony" from another farm, LOL.

I thought we'd just pet the pony, maybe teach 'em how to feed a pony an apple correctly... Instead, my friend Judy (who is an incredible equestrian) put 'em all in her ring and gave them their first riding lesson. Within minutes they were trotting.

It was amazing, and I will forever remember Judy's kindness and what a gift she gave us all.


Badge #6: Swimming
No pics up yet, we are working really hard on swimming skills because sailing season is here... it brings back memories of my granddad's Camp Manakin where not only did we learn to swim, but had to tread water for five minutes, then learn "survival swimming" - blowing up your clothes into floats! Um, we're not there yet...

We are having a lot of fun creating memories with our family and friends while learning casually as we think of things to do!

Upcoming badges:

• sailing
• stars
• archery
• and always, history
  
• ...while working on all the other badges more- that's the fun thing, you can just keep learning about that subject or skill!
  

Do you have any ideas for badges? I'd love to hear them!

 

Celebrated the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation, Kid Scout Badge #3

We spent the afternoon at Berkeley Plantation, celebrating the first Thanksgiving.
*Believe me*, I understand there's a lot o' history un-discussed in this post. Please remember my children are 4 and 6. It was a beautiful day with people from all races/religions/ages/countries participating.

Kid Scout history badge, #3: Discuss the land and Indians. What did the land look like? Describe how Indians hunted, what tools they might have used, and how most followed the animals, and er, had the first mobile homes! ; ) Then some, like the Chickahominy Indians, learned to raise crops like corn, therefore staying put and so able to build more permanent structures, called longhouses.
(Talk about a Wee House! ; ) )

Discuss the Indian's agriculture, and the importance of the harvest. (It was great because as we drove to the event, you could see people in the fields on harvesters still harvesting so it really sank in the large act it takes to bring in the harvest, and the amount of food produced.)

Discuss the frail condition in which the colonists arrived, their journey, and the boat- about 35 feet long!- that crossed the seas.

"The first Thanksgiving occurred when Captain John Woodlief led the newly-arrived English colonists to a grassy slope along the James River and instructed them to drop to their knees and pray in thanks for a safe arrival to the New World. It was December 4, 1619, and 38 men from Berkeley Parish in England vowed:

"Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God."

You'll find their vow carved on a brick gazebo marking the location believed to be where Woodlief knelt beside the James River.

Visit Berkeley Plantation and tour the grounds, gardens and three-story manor house built in 1776. See this birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of his son, the ninth U.S. President William Henry Harrison. Harrison's grandson, another Benjamin Harrison, became the 23rd U.S. president." --From www.virginia.org

...And here comes Captain John Smith to vent his great displeasure on how things are going!


(A side note: who knew Taps was composed here in 1862? Ok-fine-I-didn't.)

Oh, and see a muzzleloading markswoman re-enactor pick on the poor local tv weatherman who doesn't exactly share her views on gun control/responsibility!


I picked up a leaflet for the James River Black Powder Club and not only do they shoot (pre-1850 only) but they have a cool woodswalk and some potluck camping events... will have to check back on them in the future as they, like the Chickahominy Indians, really welcomed visitors' questions and participation.

I was really taken with the people sharing their history and heritages, their culture, AND with the crowd- families strolling the grounds, learning, enjoying the day but also reflecting on their diverse paths that led them here, to come together, today.

It was also a great lesson to witness and discuss how much time is spent bringing in the harvest even today, and the thanks the farmers give when the hard work is done and they know another winter can pass secure that they have enough food to last until spring. We related it to our own backyard gardening, and how we put the tomatoes away, etc. to have fresh food when the garden has long passed.

 

No New Tale To Tale

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.......... NO NEW TALE TO TELL...
Oh yeah. I forgot the plumber was on vacation. So if you want modern house kit updates, skip on.
I'll bore ya.




But IF you want to hear about

• The Big Buck finally being spotted after cat-and-mouse tracking of 4 years, AND that he really *was* the size of a small horse, still majestically mythic for me but witnessed by my husband and Mr. H,
• That, like the song above, the trails are overgrown after the mid-summer cutting and we are actively, selectively shaping things to let some trees breathe and not get choked by weeds/seedlings,
  
• IF you want to hear about the small community library cookout in an old 1800's train depot along a ghost town-fronted street, where an endless train did rattle by not 5 feet outside while we ate inside, shaking the windows while the children gaped and I absorbed black and white photographs of generations of tales and stories of this community hung along its walls,
  
• IF you want to imagine the climbing of impossible hills, the discovering of more secret places, tilting back in your chair at night, craning your neck waaaaaaaaay back to see... galaxies with no light pollution
• Remember those $2 doors from the 1900s I bought (and felt so guilty I paid $4 apiece?)? We also dragged them out for reuse on top o' bins to make a nice picnic table with a smorgasborad o' camping food- fresh fruit, veggies, hummus, sausage, cheeses, pastsa, homemade bread... decadent!
  
• ... then I hope you enjoy the pictures- Click Here to see 'em all.
  

Oh and by the way:
We did our first badge for our self-created "Kid Scouts"- a takeoff on the traditional boy scouts except that it's multi-gender, non-religious, no uniforms, and accessible to multiple ages (which means kid siblings can tag along). See, I did Brownies as a child and lasted like a week- it was all about sticking your hand into spaghetti and going "ew, brains!" instead of, er, using your brain. I'm more o' a mumbley peg / archery / sporting gal myself... so...
Kid Scouts it is.

Follow along if you like, join our pirate bunch if you dare. Grab a large blank book (I'm using an album purchased in a thrift store- blank pages to fill with specimens as well as "momma explanations" for the children to enjoy later in life...), follow our course, suggest other badges!

Badge #1: Identify 5 trees. Look at the leaves, talk about how these trees are used or important (Are they providing acorns for wildlife? Hardwood that people used historically in building? An indication of wetlands? Deciduious? Evergreen?). Fall is the perfect time of year to identify shapes, colors, deciduous vs. evergreen. Then, as they learn the tree shapes, the leaves, the bark, they can begin to recognize them throughout the seasons.

Badge #2: Fire. Discuss fire, and how it affects tree generations, a camp fire, a fire in your home and safety. What routes would you take if there were a fire in your home? How do you exit? If exposed to fire, "Stop, Drop and Roll." What is oxygen? How are wood and air important to fires, and sand/water put them out? How are oxygen and water important to plants?