My Sea Shell

by Lizzie

In my hand I hold a shell carried in from the Atlantic Ocean. As I feel the long grooves, I notice its soft texture. I can see the elegant colors, white with a yellowish-brown color on the smooth inside of the shell. The nice shell once belonged to a clam with a taste for beauty.

Bow and Arrow Craft

While we are gone on our annual trip to the ocean our homeschool coop is going to make Bow and Arrows. We voted and it came out a clear winner. We are the coordinators for the Handicraft at coop, so we needed to get everything prepared for them to make the craft while we are gone. Furthermore, we didn't want to miss out on making them ourselves!




In case you want to make your own, we have included a link to instructions for making Bow and Arrows yourself. It will open as a PDF document.

Service work

We went to help a couple within our church on Tuesday. We picked up sticks so that they would be able to mow. It was a beautiful day outside and we were very happy to "cut class" that day!
Ronnie was the driver, while the rest of us loaded sticks into the trailer. Then they unloaded them on the other side of the fence. Dixie was happy for the company!

Mary plugged in to her "tunes" while she worked.

Meadowview Gymnastics Open Gym

KACHEA sponsors an open gym day at Meadowview Gymnastics Academy on the first Thursday of every month during the school year. This was our first time participating, and we had a blast!

Caspar David Friedrich

This term we studied Caspar David Friedrich for our artist study. We could not decide on a group favorite. Ronnie, Mitchell, and Lizzie liked Cross in the Mountain best because they like the colors used.


Mary and Nicole liked Chalk Cliff on Rugen the best because we think it's beautiful.
Britany's favorite is Moonrise Over the Sea, because she likes the color and because you can see the details very clearly.
Alli drew a picture that we think looks similar to the painting Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon, ...

...although Alli's depiction includes a cherry tree.

Jr. Coal Museum and the SW Virginia Museum

We visited the Harry W. Meadow Jr. Coal Museum in South West Virginia. The mine was in operation from 1895 until 1995. The miners worked twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and sixty-two train cars of coal were removed from the mine every two days.

The steps to mining are to check for Methane Gas, drill a hole in the wall of the mine, stuff it with dynamite, light the fuse and leave the area. Then after the blast, the miners loosen the coal with a pick and load it into carts to remove it from the mine. In the early days, the miners were paid by the cart load of coal removed from the mine.

The majority of the miners came to town when a railroad line to the mine was built. People came from Germany, Scotland, Poland, England, Hungary, and many other countries. Free African Americans came too. They were all paid in company script which they could only use to buy goods at the company store.

Lizzie - The lunch bucket had three compartments in it. It had one for a sandwich, one for a drink and one for a dessert. The drink was in the bottom, and it was like a thermos thing. They used a scoop to scoop out the water and drink it. The sandwich went in the middle compartment and the dessert went up on the top. The dessert was frequently a piece of shortcake.

Several different kinds of animals were used in the mines. In the above picture, dogs were pulling a coal cart. We also saw pictures of mules and a cow pulling a cart.

The machine above helped clear out the walls in the mine.

Then we went up the street to the South West Virginia Museum. This museum is in the old Ayers Mansion which was built from 1888 to 1895. House Builders at that time charged 17 1/2 cents per hour, and the Ayers Mansion, which took 7 years to build, cost $25,000 to build.

Making Walnut Ink

By Britany

Long ago there weren't any ink pens like today, so they had to make their own. They made pens out of turkey quills and ink by a long process of boiling and straining walnuts. When we made the ink the gross smell went all around the house, and we smelt it for the rest of the day. If you make it yourself you might want to make it outside. Our walnut ink turned out so dark that when we painted with it, it was a beautiful rich brown. Painting with the ink was really fun, but it stains everything that it gets on. Boy, am I glad that we don’t have to make our pens like that today!

How we made Walnut Ink

• Collect nuts from a walnut tree. We read that the best ones are the ones that are already black because they have begun to oxidize.
• Place nuts in large pot and cover with water.
• At this point you are supposed to simmered for 8 hours then soaked for another 16, but after 15 minutes we knew this was not an in-the-house project! It smelled terrible. So, after 15 minutes of simmering, we took the pot out to the garage and let it sit for about 24 hours.
• Strain the liquid several times through a sieve to remove large pieces of husk and the nuts. We used a metal strainer, covered by a pair of pantyhose.
• Reduced the liquid in half. (Again, after 15 minutes on the stove we called it done!)
• Added 1TSP Vinegar

Our paintings with Walnut Ink

by Britany

by Mary

by Lizzie

I enjoy painting with walnut ink. Although it smells horrible, it makes a pretty picture.The aged brown ink mixes well with walnut ink, and makes a beautiful picture.It's necessary to wear a smock or some old clothing while painting with walnut ink because it stains anything it gets on. I'm looking foward to doing it again.

by Nicole (Teacher)

ETSU Basketball Game

By Elizabeth

I went to an ETSU Buccaneers basket ball game with my Upward team. The most enjoyable part for me was getting all the free stuff. First, there was free food, so I chose to have a hotdog, chips, and lemonade. While we were eating, a man went around giving out foam swords that said “The Power of Blue”. Then, I got a frisbee that was white and had the ETSU mascot on it. Later, every one got a t-shirt that was either white or blue. I chose a white one, because I like that color. Finally, after about two hours we left with all of our loot and went home.

By Ronnie

When I went to the ETSU versus Jacksonville women’s basketball game, I was very excited, for this was the first game I have ever been to. The game was held in a hanger looking place. I was rooting for ETSU, and so were most of the people there.

When we got inside there were free hot dogs and hamburgers, so we ate before the game started. When the game started ETSU was losing! During halftime, cheerleaders came out and did back flips and other cool tricks. People passed out free shirts and Frisbees, but I only got a shirt.

After half-time, we were winning and I was happy. The other team was trying their best to catch up, but there was only one minute on the clock, and the score was 74 to 85, so there was no way they could catch up.

When ETSU had won, we went to a different part of the hanger to get the cheerleaders and basketball players to sign our shirts. We left after we got their autographs. I can’t wait to go to another game!