Coal Mining Unit Study

In the month of August, our family became familiar with the coal mining industry. I felt it was important for two reasons:


1. It is part of our family's heritage. My grandfather was a coal miner, as well as many of my mother's uncles and cousins.


2. It is a huge industry in Pennsylvania. Although coal was associated with the steel industry when I was growing up, it is now a major component in the manufacture of electricity now.

Subject areas covered through our study:

History - (specifically Pennsylvania history) From its beginnings in the 1800's to the present day, there have been many changes with technology and mine safety.


Science - Geology - a study of rock and rock layering; the differences between anthricite coal and bituminous coal


Science - Chemistry - Coal burns! So does methane gas which can be commonly found in coal mines.


Geography - We looked at maps of the United States that mark where coal deposits are


Language Arts - We read many books from the library on the topic.


Language Arts, Living History - We interviewed a family member who was a foreman in the coal mines in Greene County and retired within recent years from the coal mines.

Uncle David worked the coal mines since 1969 and said that he would still be in the mines if he could be. He retired a few years ago for medical reasons.


Show and tell - Here Uncle David is showing us his belt and all the gadgets on it and his lunch pail. I was surprised that they still use these types of pails today for their lunches. They seem so old-fashioned, but there is a purpose for their design.


Language Arts, Living History - We are still waiting to interview the pastor from our church who grew up in a coal mining camp.

Resources used:


Books - there are way more books out there than what I have listed here. These are just our 3 favorites.


This book is a favorite. It gives first hand accounts of miner's experiences in the mines.



Even though this is a Christmas book, it has lots of good information in it. Very Charlotte Mason.


Another living book as it is an account of everything that happened in the mine and is told by the miners themselves. Since it is told by the miners, I would advise parents to review the book first. There is some swearing in it. I read it out loud to my family and "edited" the swear words.



Field trips
Quecreek Mine, Somerset, Pa
In 2005, 9 miners were trapped underground for 77 hours. Miraculously, they all made it out alive. The site where the men were brought out of the earth has a monument of the event as well as a visitor's center with lots of information about the incident and the coal mining industry in general.


Tour Ed Mine, Tarentum, Pa
This was a great hands-on field trip that took us 1/2 mile underground into an old mine. Once inside, we walked through time as we explored coal mining in it's earliest days through the technological changes over about 100 years. Outside of the mine is a museum with artifacts from the company store and

King Coal Festival, Carmichaels, Pa
Here, we were able to see the Coal parade that included many floats about the history of coal as well as all the regular local marching bands. At the end of the parade was the Bitumonous Coal Queen and her court. Afterward, we went to the local firehall where there were displays of artifacts from the coal industry.

At the King Coal Festival, we had the opportunity to talk with old coal miners. The man in the blue shirt started in the coal mine when he was 12 years old back in 1939. He was full of information and took the time to explain the artifacts and share his experiences with us.



Online resources

Oracle Thinkquest - Mining Fun: This website is loaded with coloring pages, games and activities that went well with our study.

American Coal Foundation - This resource helped us to get into the science of coal.

Our Property

Through the unfolding of events over the last year, we have found ourselves on a piece of property that is about 12 acres and wooded. Some think we are doing well because we got this big house on this big piece of property when in reality we are renting. The rent is less than half of what our mortgage was in our previous house. Despite several efforts over the last 4 or 5 years, our house didn't sell. It has come to a point where the house is in foreclosure. I won't go into great detail here, but let's just say we are feeling the economic crunch with many others right now. I publish these things so the truth will be out there.

Nonetheless, we are making the best of our current situation. Through the woods we have cut a walking trail. The trail is rough right now, but walkable. It has been a wonderful bonding experience for our family to have a project such as this in front of us. The nice part is that it really didn't cost us much money. My husband had to purchase a new chainsaw blade. Other than that, we have a lot of "sweat equity" in it.

We are estimating that the trail is about 1/3 to 1/2 mile long. It starts near the house and ends near the house. Every day we find footprints left by the wildlife that wanders the woods at night. Talk about an excellent opportunity for nature study!

We are looking forward to many, many adventures on a trail that we can call our own.

Our First Spring Nature Study of the Year

“Let [children] once get touch (sic) with nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through his life.” --Charlotte Mason; Home Education, pg. 61

Over the winter, we had a tremendous amount of snow in this area. In two snowfalls, within a week, we recieved nearly 5 feet of snow. That is out of the ordinary for our area.
Another two weeks while there was still snow on the ground, we had a tremendous rainfall. Of course, we noticed all the little creeks and streams in our area were over their banks. We decided to take a morning and go to Caledonia State Park to observe the many streams that wind through the park.

Here, DD11 is making a nature entry in her Commonplace Book.



She came prepared with mud boots so she could wade in the small currents and stay dry. She also brought along a bag of pretzels for a snack.


DD12 found the most interesting rocks. They looked like obsideon with streaks of marble through them. We are not sure if the rocks are native to the area or if they were brought in.



DS5 did what any reasonable boy his age would do ~ threw multitudes of rocks into the water. I'm especially excited to see the I caught the "splash" in this photo.


We walked by some favorite picnic spots to see how close the water came to them. We could see that the water was higher before we got there because of how the grass bent near the banks and the debris was piled up at the bottom of the trees and around picnic tables. It will be fun to take the many pictures we took today along with some new pictures we take over the upcoming summer to observe the differences in water levels.

Apple Picking

Personal note: In our household we are facing a financial crisis. I hear that many others are facing these tough economic times and that we are not alone. That's little consolation when faced with a stack of bills and a paycheck that falls short every other week leaving many bills unpaid and not knowing what will happen in the next couple of months.
In the midst of this, I feel so blessed. Blessed to have opportunities like we had today to be able to go and be with friends and forget our troubles for a little while. God is good. He tells us not to worry and that He has everything under control.
Today's entry is about blessing. The blessing of friends, the blessing of educational experiences, and the blessing of fresh food. (Apples taste so good when just picked!)
I probably should have made the kids bring their nature notebooks or art journals and had them sketch some apples or an apple tree. However, that wasn't in the forefront of my mind. My goal was just to get there. Thank God I did.

We went on a field trip with our homeschool group to pick apples at a local orchard. It is good for our kids' souls to get out in the sunshine and fresh air. Even more important sometimes is how good it is for the moms to get together. We were there for 3 hours today and I didn't want to leave. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by the moms who are in our group and today I was really feeling it. I just didn't want to leave.

Our visit started with a wagon ride from the market to the orchard.

Each row of trees was a different type of apple. DS5 really loves Granny Smiths and we were able to find some.

His friend joined us and we had a great time exploring the orchard for the perfect apple.

Somehow DS5 and two of his best friends ended up with Star Wars figurines. I'm not exactly sure how to tie that in with apple picking. The picture was cute, so I included it here anyway.

I told these two to act like they like each other for the picture. This was the best I could get out of them.

We all enjoyed our bag lunches then headed to the petting zoo.

I thought this was a neat picture of my dear friend getting pictures of her kids.

And another dear friend trying to get coordinated to get on the wagon to go back.

I wish I could convey to all of those who were there today how much I love them and feel blessed by them - even if we talked for only a few seconds.

It was probably more that God knew just what I needed today and put me right there.

Kindergarten Nature Journal

For nature journaling this year, I am having each child pick a tree in our yard. On our 1/5th of an acre we actually have 6 trees to study - one of which is just a baby that popped up this summer.

At least once a month, I will have them observe and sketch their tree in their nature notebooks.

One of our trees appeared about the time DS5 was born so we have always called it his tree. Of course that is the tree he wanted to journal this morning. Even though I have studied this stuff and seen it a million times, it amazes me when a child of 5 years produces something like this. It's amazing what they can do if we let them.

DS5's tree and sketch

DD10's tree and sketch

Visiting Florida

Just another reason to love homeschooling. We are visiting family and have the opportunity to see, touch, taste, smell and hear what life is like in Florida.

We got to touch alligators.







My aunt has citrus trees growing in her yard. (This is a lime tree)




She also has tiny lizards running around her yard. Can you see the one in this picture?


We saw the sun set on the Gulf of Mexico last night. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera were dead last night and this was the best picture I could get tonight.


We are here for a few more days. The kids can't wait to see what we will experience tomorrow. This is homeschooling at its finest. Once again, they are learning so much - where Florida is on the map, what the state capital is, and how the flora and fauna are different from what we have at home in Pennsylvania. I could have handed them a book on Florida and asked them to learn the contents, instead this is a learning experience they will remember for many years to come. I realize not everyone has the resources to have experiences like this for their kids. However, I encourage anyone who is presented with an experience opportunity to embrace it and enjoy witnessing the learning that happens.

Egg Dying and Trail Walk

To find Strawberry Hill click here

We are getting our share of nature study lately. On Sunday, there was a Nature Center nearby that hosted an egg dying and egg hunt event. They had egg dying the "modern" way using fizzy tablets and vinegar and the "natural" way using cherries, tumeric, onion skins and blueberries. After dying eggs, we received a clue to find an egg on the nature trail. Each egg had another clue to the next egg. The clues took you on the entire trail for a very nice walk. Although, dying eggs the modern way was quicker, my kids all chose to color using natural means and the eggs turned out beautifully.

I found this website that explains just how we dyed the eggs at the nature center. This is a very worthwhile project.




"Modern" Egg Dying






Wrapping her egg in an onion peel



Finding plastic eggs with clues in them made for a very nice nature hike. Can you see the beautiful shelf-mushroom over this hidden egg?




The clue to find this egg included the fact that a root of a tree split this rock. It's amazing to see nature in action. This picture doesn't do it justice.

A 4 Year Old's Nature Notebook

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that there are few boundaries for learning. We aren't stuck in a certain grade level curriculum and our 4 year old can participate in most things we do (at his own level of course). He, too, has created a nature notebook. Not because I told him he had to, but because he saw his sisters working on theirs and he wanted one, too. He has an interest in learning and I'm letting him go with it. (I LOVE this stuff!!!) Here are a couple of photographs of his nature notebook.

A leaf that he found and wanted to keep. I probably should have dated this page for him, but it was from sometime last summer AND before I realized he was calling this his nature notebook.



His pictures of the hailstorm the other day.

He dictated the following for me to write on his page:

"God showed His power with the lightning and thunder. God shows steep power with lightning and the thunder is loud."

I have to admit that I don't understand what "steep" power is, but somehow it makes sense to him.

This is just the front cover of his notebook.

Speaking of Nature Study.....

Speaking of Nature Study, take a look at the current national weather map. We are located in south central Pennsylvania. Whew! Just a short while ago, the sun was out and we had blue sky with big puffy clouds, then we could see the black clouds rolling in.

The rain started and we all sat on the front porch. The thunder and lightning got closer. Like any other child, DS4 startled at some thunder that was close. Very calmly, I explained that the thunder is just one of God's ways of reminding us of how powerful He is. You can see the look of awe cross his face.

The rain started and soon began coming down in sheets. Then we noticed the hail. Both of my girls grabbed their cameras to take pictures.

This was a flash flood right next to our front porch that we watched appear before our eyes.

These nature journal entries include photographs with captions and narrations of the event.

DD11

DD10

This was also a great opportunity for DS4 to participate in "school". He has a notebook that he "writes" in. I gave him a couple of pictures to tape in his book and he dictated the captions to me.

Side note:

When I was little, I remember sitting on a neighbors front porch during thunderstorms with my mom. Sweet, sweet memories for me.