Visiting Colorado’s Rocky Mountains with Traveling Homeschoolers

Local mom Maria Bassett shares her experience taking her children on a trip with Traveling Homeschoolers. This special group offers travel packages specifically tailored to homeschool families that combine adventure with education!

Nearly every year Traveling Homeschoolers, a group based in Rock Hill, SC, offers a homeschool retreat in addition to the many domestic and international trips they offer each year. My family has joined them for several different trips and retreats, and we always enjoy these retreats. It’s lovely not to have to plan out all the details, and instead leave them in the capable hands of Traveling Homeschoolers. My family just returned from this year’s retreat in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Our Accommodations

We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies, in Estes Park, CO. This resort style facility boasts many lodges with hotel-style rooms, dining cafeteria style, and just about every activity you can imagine. Picture traditional summer camp, but for families, set in a valley surrounded by magnificent mountains. Then, add in guided hikes, animal, plant and survival skills classes and you’ll begin to get the idea. Our family enjoyed archery, basketball, chess outdoors with giant chess pieces, playground time, swimming, roller-skating, many rounds of miniature golf and hiking all on the YMCA property. How wonderful it is to wake up with your family, not have to worry for even a fraction of a second about meals or responsibilities, and just play all day!

But we didn’t just play, we learned a lot, too! We enjoyed participating in a bear talk, a beaver hike, knot-tying class, family astronomy class, ecology walk and a bird banding hike! We got to watch a professional bird bander catch birds, record data on the bird, and either band it or note where it was initially banded. Some of us even got to hold the birds! The staff running the activities were completely wonderful, friendly and happy. With the exception of archery, which has a $10 fee, all these activities were included in the price we paid to stay at YMCA of the Rockies.

Our favorite adventure at YMCA of the Rockies was horseback riding on a trail through the mountains. None of my family had ever ridden a horse before, and we had such an amazing time. We saw several mule deer, lots of elk and many birds from horseback, as our horses clomped down and up the rocky trail, over creeks, and through trails lined with Ponderosa Pines and Aspen trees. The livery is on YMCA property but is operated by a separate company. Let me tell you, our wranglers (guides) were simply amazing. I was nervous particularly that my 6 year-old would be too afraid to get on the horse, but the wrangler told him he had the best horse in the barn and showed him how to turn and stop the horse. My little guy hopped right into the saddle. The horses were very well trained to follow each other, and other than a few who wanted to stop and have a snack, they needed very little actual input from us. It was a highlight for all of us. This was not an included activity, and had its own fees. Our ride cost $45 for an hour trail ride. It was not inexpensive, but, for us, totally worth it for the experience.

Rocky Mountain National Park

YMCA of the Rockies sits right next to Rocky Mountain National Park. Cross Glacier Creek, and you’re in the national park. If you prefer to drive through the park, the entrance is just about a 10 minute drive. From there you can access many, many hiking trails or drive through the stunning scenery. Our family hiked both the Bear Lake Trail and the Albertta Falls Trail. We had been warned there was still snow on the trails, and advised to borrow hiking boots from the YMCA. They have Lowa boots in all sizes to borrow for hikes, free of charge to YMCA guests. We were super glad we had borrowed boots! The trail was perfectly clear in some sections, but utterly covered in 6 to 7 foot iced over drifts in others. Even with our boots, we relied on the help of fellow hikers, as well as walking sticks and poles to get down some of the drifts. What an adventure! And what a view. Bear Lake was simply stunning.

Traveling Homeschoolers

When you want to travel with Traveling Homeschoolers, you select the trip you are interested in online. You’ll see general information about the trip, costs, and activities, and then you can register right there on the website. Shortly thereafter you’ll be contacted via e-mail by Dianna, who organizes all the trips, and she’ll tell you the payment schedule for that trip and anything else you need to know along the way. She does all the research, finds the least crowded times, with the best deals, handles all the dealing with the venues and anything included in your trip. You just get to show up!

Some of Traveling Homeschoolers’ trips are more organized with a schedule of group events, and some, like the retreat, are more relaxed with fewer organized events. Our family really liked being able to pick and choose what we did, but still found ourselves meeting up with other families in our group at meals, camp fires, and for board games in the evening. It was a perfectly lovely mix. If you’re looking for shorter trips, closer to home, check out Carolina Homeschooler. It’s run by the same person and is also an Option 3 association.

This Rocky Mountain adventure was the anchor for our road trip across the country. Its not something my family will soon, or probably ever, forget. We can’t wait for our next adventure (well, I can, at least until the mountain of resulting laundry gets done.)

Note: Nothing was provided to us to review this Traveling Homeschooler trip. These are my family’s unbiased opinions.

Where would your family love to venture for a Homeschool field trip?

Meet Maria Bassett

Maria Bassett is a former school orchestra teacher, turned home-school mom. She and her husband homeschool their 3 sons and 1 daughter, currently pre-school through 2nd grade age. Believing children learn best when they are engaged and having fun, this family loves to take their homeschool on the road, around Greenville and beyond.

Everything You Wanted to Know about School Food in Greenville County

Have you ever wondered what your kids are eating for lunch? Local mom Kristina Hernandez interviewed Joe Urban, director of Food and Nutrition Services of Greenville County Schools. She asked him all the questions about school food that you might have wondered about but never asked. Here are the answers!

Food. Our kids eat it every day at school during the school year. They grab those lunch trays and peruse the options, talk to the nice lunch lady, and ultimately choose what they want to nourish their bodies and get through the rest of the day.

But where does that food come from and who decides what to make?

Last year at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate’s Countdown to Kindergarten event, I met Joe Urban. Joe and his team were manning the new Greenville County Food Services (GCFS) food truck, a somewhat revolutionary concept that brings much-needed food into under served areas of the county.

I ended up having a great conversation with him and started following his Instagram account (@schoolfoodrocks), which seriously made me want to get in line with my kid at school every day to try their lunch options. They post all kind of yummy options – roasted vegetables, fish tacos, and braised brisket – stuff that I’d love to learn to cook in my own kitchen. This was no ordinary school lunch food. My interest was piqued so I reached out to Joe to learn more.

As the school year heats up, Joe and his team are working hard to deliver tasty and healthy options to 76,000 kids in 101 school and special centers. They have 750 employees who serve breakfast, lunch and after school snacks and are the largest food service program in the state, and 44th in the entire nation.

Joe is the Director for the Food and Nutrition Services department of Greenville County Schools, which means he oversees the food service operations for all Greenville County Schools locations. He was kind enough to answer our questions about food service at Greenville County schools.

My conversation with Joe Urban

Kidding Around Greenville: How does the Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services decide what to serve every day at GC schools?

Joe Urban: We have developed a three-week repeating cycle menu for all grade levels. Elementary students have four different menu choices every day for lunch, and Middle and High students have seven to nine different choices every day. All schools offer a scratch-made Soup and Salad Bar three times each week and up to six different varieties of fresh fruit selections daily. The cycle menu will be modified twice during the school year to account for new recipes and seasonal ingredients.

KAG: How do you come up with new recipes?

JU: We pay close attention to trends in the foodservice industry and develop recipes based on what is hot right now in the fast casual and higher education (college) segments of the industry.

Today’s students are very food savvy and demand higher quality ingredients. Students love international foods, especially Asian, Italian, and Mexican and they also like to customize their meals. We listen closely to what they say and develop our menus accordingly.

Good examples of this include our Build Your Own Taco Bar, the Build Your Own Mashed Potato Bar, the Build Your Own Mac-N-Cheese Bar, our student-created Penne Pasta Pie, our new Meatball Sub, and our new Build Your Own Grain Bowls featuring Korean BBQ and Mahi Mahi with a large variety of topping choices including Kimchi and Pickled Red Onions.

High quality seafood including Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon, Mahi Mahi, Alaskan Pollock, Catfish and others will be served a minimum of once per week in Elementary schools and twice per week in Middle and High schools this year. New concepts including a Build Your Own Chicken & Waffle Bar, a scratch-made Soup & Sandwich Bar, a Build Your Own Burger Bar and others are currently in development and will be tested with students during this upcoming school year.

KAG: Where do you source your ingredients?

JU: We work with a number of local vendors and source as many products as possible locally. Through our produce vendor, we have developed strong relationships with local farmers who plant fields specifically based on the needs of Greenville County Schools.

We have also entered into a new partnership with a local cattle farmer in Brasstown, NC to source all the ground beef we will be using in our scratch-made meals. These cattle are humanely raised, fed a strict vegetarian diet, are always on grass, and are never treated with antibiotics. Fresh, no antibiotic ever beef in school meals is a huge commitment on our part to ensure our students only receive the highest quality food possible.

KAG: Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services is the largest in the state. How do you manage serving good food on a daily basis to thousands of kids a day?

JU: It takes a huge team of highly trained and dedicated foodservice employees to meet our quality standards on a daily basis. We are very fortunate to have buy in from our employees on our mission to reinvent school food. We believe that we are positioned correctly at this time in our careers to push the perceived boundaries of school food service and provide our students with the greatest dining experiences possible.

KAG: Can you tell me a bit about your food truck? It’s pretty new, right?

JU: We purchased the food truck one year ago to help us increase the number of meals we can provide to needy students during the summer months. We operate more than 50 school and community feeding sites in the summer months as part of the USDA funded Summer Food Service Program.

We realized quickly that although we had these sites scattered throughout the county, there were many pockets of our community that needed our services but were not able to make it to one of our sites due to transportation issues. The food truck is the perfect answer to that issue: we simply take the food right to the kids that need it the most.

During the school year, it gets used as surprise pop up events at high schools to sample new menu items during lunch, sample fresh fruit to elementary students, and support various school functions.

KAG: Can parents volunteer to help Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services come up with recipes/test food – or is there something parents can do to help your mission?

JU: We welcome any suggestions and parents are always welcome to come sample items with us during their student’s lunch period.

KAG: Your Instagram page looks delicious. How do you decide which schools get to try out those meals?

JU: The vast majority of the food shown on all of our social media platforms are served at all schools. When we test out new items the schools are chosen by random so we can test the items out with different students as often as possible.

You can follow Greenville County Food Services on Facebook at Greenville County Schools Food and Nutrition Services, on Twitter at SchoolFoodRocks, and on Instagram at @SchoolFoodRocks.

Will you look at school lunches in a new light this school year?

Meet Kristina, KAG Food Expert

Kristina Hernandez is a mom of two girls, freelance writer and photographer and New Jersey native who is thrilled to call the Upstate her new home. She loves cooking, trying new foods, and checking out all that Greenville has to offer.

Everything You Need to Know to Treasure Hunt (AKA Geocache) in Greenville

Local mom Jackie Vest is giving us everything we need to know to geocache in Greenville! For more ideas of things to do outside in Greenville see our list.

Unbeknownst to many people, at any given moment there could be hundreds of small treasure chests hidden in public places around you – just waiting for you to find them! This worldwide game is called geocaching, it’s a blast to do with your kids, you can play nearly anywhere, and the best part is it’s free. Searching for these ‘caches’ can take you from your favorite trails, to your most frequented parks, to the places you have passed a hundred times on Main Street, locating hidden objects you never knew were there! Greenville’s downtown area is home to over twenty-five caches, the Swamp Rabbit Trail has a couple dozen, and Paris Mountain is home to an infamous Bucket of Toys.

What exactly is a Cache?

Caches are containers ranging in size from a tiny thimble to a paint bucket and everything in between. There are millions hidden worldwide! They might be a coffee can hidden in a tree hole, a medicine jar under a rock, or a magnetic container (such as a hide-a-key) fastened to everyday objects like handrails, bridges, benches, signs, stuck to landmarks, and the list goes on and on. Each cache has been logged into a system with its exact GPS coordinates, a unique name, a description of its size, and perhaps a clue or two if you’re lucky.

What’s inside?

Caches almost always contain a log book inside which you should sign upon finding. Larger caches may contain small cheap toys (think an army man or random beads), coins, or nature finds like acorns or interesting rocks. Occasionally you may be lucky enough to find a ‘Trackable!’

What is a Trackable?

Any object fastened with a GPS tracker. You may have a task to complete if you decide to take the Trackable. On our first hunt, my kids found a Trackable; it was a toy fixed with a tracker and a note. The note explained that the car was in a race! It had been placed in a geocache in Florida along with two other cars at the same time. The task was to take the car and place it into another geocache as far west as possible. The family which set the cars in motion was tracking them online to see which car would make it across the U.S. to the coast of California first. You could take down the code yourself and watch the car you ‘helped’ as it continued to make its way across the states. HOW COOL WAS THAT!? From that day on, my kids were hooked.

What to bring?

Bring a pen to sign the log. If you are planning on collecting any items from a cache, you must go prepared to leave something behind. The general rule is take one, leave one. So have fun with your kids picking out small items from home before you head out. Research the size of the caches you will be locating ahead of time; if the cache is tiny, there will not be anything to collect. If it is medium/large, you can generally expect to take something and leave something. Unfortunately, not all seekers follow the rules! Prepare your kids in advance by letting them know there may be nothing to take, or the things may be undesirable. We like to leave things if size permits (even if we haven’t taken something) because it makes the finding fun.

How do I get started?

The easiest way to geocache is to use an App. Some may be free, but the paid versions will be worth your while. We like a $5.00 App called Cashly. It will show you all the caches around you, along with details, photos, and logs from people who have recently found it, and it will turn into a compass which guides you to within about 20 yards of the cache. You can pay more for hints, but we haven’t found this necessary. I do not recommend geocaching with small kids without using a good App. Put on the compass, hand it to your tot, and let them guide you to the cache – simple! Then roll up your sleeves and search.

Tips

-Each cache is different in terms of difficulty. Some are nearly in plain sight and some are nearly too difficult to find. Check the ratings before you head out.

-Read the past logs on the Apps before you hunt. You may find that the cache has very recently been “Muggled” i.e. stolen by a non-game playing person. You need to know this!

-You must return the container to the exact same spot you found it.

-Look high, low, under, behind, get creative! The Apps will get you close, but it’s up to you to seek the treasure. They can also be off. Rely more upon the clues (like the name of the cache) than the precise point the phone GPS takes you. Use your detective skills and common sense over, “But it says it’s right HERE?” It is never exactly where the App takes us, instead it’s close.

-Caching in the city is generally MORE difficult than caching in the park or woods. It is much easier to hide an object from “Muggles” in the woods than the city. Things downtown are more of a puzzle, and often small.

-Expect to miss sometimes. Prepare your kids for the chance of not finding it, or the toys being sad, or the log missing, etc. These things do happen! We rarely find every single cache we set out to.

-If the geocaching goes south, there’s always ice cream!

In Greenville, we have found several along Main Street, the Reedy River, and all of them at Paris Mountain.

Happy treasure seeking, arr!!

Meet Jackie

Jackie Vest is a writer and at-home-mom of two energetic little boys. She enjoys adventuring around the beautiful Upstate, the hilarity of kiddo-raising, outdoor fitness with friends, and her Favorite 5 C’s: cooking, crafting, camping, coffee, and chocolate. You can connect with her via her blog at: JackieVest.com.

Piney Mountain Bike Lounge Has a Pump Track Out Back

Local mom Liene reviews Piney Mountain Bike Lounge in Greenville, SC. This unique bicycle shop and taproom should be on your summer bucket list!

There is one spot that definitely needs to be on your bucket list this summer if you live in Greenville and have kids who enjoy riding bikes – Piney Mountain Bike Lounge!

Piney Mountain Bike Lounge is a cross between a bicycle shop and a taproom, complete with a pump track out back! Located between downtown and Paris Mountain, the Lounge caters to mountain bikers on their way to and from the mountains. It has also become a gathering spot for the local community to come together and share their love for riding – or share their love for craft beer while their kids are busy wearing themselves out on the dirt bike course!

Why we love Piney Mountain Bike Lounge

Our most recent visit was a weekday. The boys were all still running full steam, wearing on my last nerve. We still had several hours of daylight, and so we loaded up three kids, three bikes and three helmets and headed to Piney Mountain Road.

Although the exterior looks much like it did when it was the Landscapers Supply, the interior has been completely revamped. On one side is the bar, serving up craft beer alongside what is the bicycle repair space. On the other side is a lounge, complete with couches, a foosball table and handlebars in the place of mounted trophies. The center is filled with all the latest cycling gear and bicycles, trail maps on the walls of favorite dirt biking destinations in the area. Finally, in the back you’ll find the former loading dock, converted to outdoor patio. Full of picnic tables, the space overlooks the pump track, a small, looping trail system that you can ideally ride continuously without pedaling.

Since their grand opening in March, Piney Mountain has settled in with a rotation of food trucks to make the Lounge truly a one-stop evening hot-spot. Including Upstate favorites such as Automatic Taco, Ellada Kouzina and Chuck Truck, for the current schedule check the website or follow Piney Mountain Bike Lounge on Facebook. For the beer enthusiasts, a list of the 14 regional and local craft beers on tap can be found here. The pump track is closed when it’s wet for safety reasons as well as to protect the track, and a waiver must be signed before use. Usually one of us will take the boys & bikes around to the track and get them set up, while the other orders food and beer and gets settled in at one of the tables by the track – then it’s just a matter of shouting out a few encouraging words to keep them circling the track while we enjoy our meal.

Piney Mountain offers a variety of tune-up and service options as well as a demo option if you’re looking to buy a bicycle but not quite ready to commit. For those with kids in middle or high school that might be interested in a mountain biking team, NICA (the National Interscholastic Cycling association) is coming to Greenville and often meets with Piney Mountain – check out Upstate Composite on Facebook for more info.

When it comes down to it, I’m really more of a Swamp Rabbit Trail gal than a Paris Mountain cyclist, but Piney Mountain is a great addition to the cycling scene in the Upstate. Whether you’re looking to get your bike ready for the season, catch up with friends after a day at Paris Mountain, or just ‘cycle’ through some of that energy in the kids on these long days, make sure to swing by the Lounge this summer!

Plan your own trip to Piney Mountain Bike Lounge

20 Piney Mountain Road, Greenville
864.603.2453

For more information about Piney Mountain Bike Lounge visit their website. They can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook

See Liene’s original post on her blog, Femme au Foyer, here.

Does your family love to bike together? Don’t miss our list of places to ride your bike in Greenville.

Would your family love Piney Mountain Bike Lounge as much as mine does?

Meet Liene

Mother of three young boys, Liene is constantly on the move since returning to Greenville in 2012. Whether she’s exploring the state parks and natural areas of the Carolinas or teaming up with other moms to organize activities for the kids, she’s always searching for the next adventure in the Upstate. For everything from hiking, travel, cooking and crafts to multicultural & global education posts, visit her blog, Femme au Foyer.

Homeschooling Around the USA – A Day in St. Louis

Maria Bassett shares her family’s experience visiting St. Louis, Missouri. They even rode a tram to the top of the Gateway Arch. This trip is a fun and educational destination for the whole family.

St. Louis, Missouri is rich in American history. From the Louisiana Purchase, to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, to fur trappers, and wagon trains setting out in search of land or gold, St. Louis played a critical role. Today we can learn how our country was shaped throughout the westward expansion of the 1800s, by visiting the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, home of the famous Gateway Arch.

The history of St. Louis

The Jefferson Expansion Memorial and surrounding area is undergoing extensive renovation. During the construction, the Museum of Westward Expansion has relocated many of its exhibits to rooms in the Old Courthouse, approximately a 10 minute walk from the Gateway Arch. Admission to the exhibits in the Old Courthouse is completely free. This is a great place to begin your day in St. Louis!

In these exhibits you can learn about the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) which stopped for its final supplies and winter camped near St. Louis before setting out over uncharted land. You will also learn about St. Louis’s role in fur trapping and trade, and how those trappers became guides for others heading west. St. Louis also played a pivotal role for people headed west in search of land for homesteads, or wealth in the gold rush, by serving wagon trains as a final supply stop and last taste of civilization before heading out west. The Old Courthouse contains other historical exhibits as well, including information about the Dred Scott case, which was heard at this courthouse and decided in 1857. Many say this provided fuel to ignite the civil war.

During the construction, the Old Courthouse also serves as the ticket center to purchase tickets to enter the arch and to ride the tram up into the arch. So you’ll want to get your tickets before heading down the walk to the arch. Even though we got caught in the rain, we didn’t mind the walk. Its downhill and very easy.

Visiting the Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch is a 630 foot arch sitting on the Mississippi River in St. Louis, serving as a monument to the massive westward expansion this country experienced in the 1800s. But its more than just a metal arch, you can actually ride to the top inside the concrete and steel structure via a tram. Guests enter small pod-like cars that seat 5 at the bottom of the arch for the ride to the top. As you ride to the top, you can see bits of the mechanics working to bring you to the top through the windows on your car’s doors. Once at the top, you exit the cars and can walk in the top of the arch for spectacular views of St. Louis and across the Mississippi River. When you have had enough of the views, you head back down the arch in the same way you came up. The tram ride to the top was by far the highlight of my children’s day in St. Louis!

Note: This is NOT a ride for claustrophobic people, and it is not a wheel chair accessible OR stroller accessible ride. Folks who have mobility problems may find it difficult to climb in through the car’s narrow and short doors. You definitely have to duck to get in. However, small children are allowed to sit on parents’ laps. In this way, our family of 6 was able to stay together in one car.

If you’re looking for something else to do, consider one of several river cruises. You can also purchase tickets for these at the Old Courthouse. However, my family found that the Old Courthouse, the Gateway Arch, and the walk through the park around the arch, was really plenty to do for one day. If you are staying in the area for several days, you might also want to check out the St. Louis Zoo, which has free admission!

Tips and Pointers for visiting the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Plan for crowds, especially in the summer. Give yourself plenty of time to visit exhibits and get through ticket lines. (You can purchase tickets in advance here. This is highly recommended in the busy summer season, as the trams will fill up and sell out.)

Make sure to arrive at the arch about 30 minutes before your tram ride time, as guests have to go through security similar to an airport, removing jackets, passing through a metal detector and putting all bags through an x-ray.

Strollers will not fit on the tram, so plan to either leave your stroller inside the arch basement or utilize a wearable baby carrier instead.

St. Louis is a big city, with all the usual big city traffic. Consider staying at a hotel within walking distance to the memorial to avoid traffic and parking delays. We stayed at the Drury Inn near the Convention Center, which has an indoor parking garage, and found it to be an easy walk to the Old Courthouse and the Gateway Arch.

Would your family love the history found in St. Louis?

Meet Maria Bassett

What You as a Parent Need to Know About STEAM

Thank you to our sponsor Primrose School of Simpsonville at Five Forks for providing this article.

Lately, everyone seems to be talking about STEAM. This acronym—which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics—has become a hot topic in the world of education and in the business community. The practice of teaching by incorporating these concepts into multidisciplinary lessons is revolutionizing education approaches across the country, even for children in preschool. While young children may not be able to understand multiplication or how computers work, they can develop a strong foundation for future learning by exploring STEAM skills and concepts through play and discussion, and then applying those skills through more play.

What is STEAM?

Science encourages investigation and answering questions, often involving experimentation.

Technology refers to using simple tools like crayons and rulers, as well as more complex ones like microscopes and computers.

Engineering refers to recognizing problems and testing solutions to them.

Arts encourages creativity and allows children to illustrate concepts they are learning.

Mathematics deals with numbers, but also patterns, shapes, organizational skills and much more.

STEAM for young children

There are many reasons why STEAM subjects should be addressed in early learning settings. A key component of STEAM is process skills, such as making observations, hypothesizing and critical thinking. These skills help young children grasp math and science concepts early in life while building a base for more complex concepts for years to come.

Research has shown that even very young children are capable of mathematical reasoning and can understand more advanced math skills than previously thought. Young children are also able to ask questions and make predictions about the world around them. In short, children are fully capable of learning foundational STEAM concepts, and parents and teachers should help children develop these skills at an early age.

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STEAM learning can also take place outside of the classroom. For example, parents can encourage children to channel their inner engineer through a boat race activity. Have children use a variety of recyclables—cork, foil, tape, craft sticks, straw, an old swim noodle and paper for a sail—to build a boat that can sail across the bathtub, a pan of water or a puddle. After creating the boat, have children blow “wind” toward the boat to see how fast their creation travels. Parents and children can host races between multiple boats and discuss which boat is faster and why.

Young children grasp concepts through exploration and trial and error, so they should learn STEAM concepts at their own pace and in ways that are natural to them. To ensure that children are learning at their own pace, Primrose offers a balance of play with guidance from teachers and repeats STEAM lessons so children can master skills as they are ready.

To learn about Primrose School of Simpsonville at Five Forks, visit their website or call 864-757-1191. For more helpful parenting tips and information, visit our blog and sign up for the Pointers for Parents newsletter.

Would your children benefit from STEAM in their preschool education?

Meet Meggie Bradbury

Meggie is the proud Franchise Owner of Primrose School of Simpsonville at Five Forks. She has deep roots in early education, as her parents founded Primrose Schools more than 30 years ago to give her the quality early education experience they felt she deserved. Today, she and her husband are thrilled to continue to bring the Primrose Schools’ Balanced Learning® approach to our community, providing families the peace of mind that comes from our research-based blend of teacher-guided and child-initiated activities with an emphasis on character development. It is such a comfort to know their 3 year old daughter and soon-to-be son now have the opportunity to receive the same high-quality early education and care as she did. As Primrose parents themselves, they’re committed to creating a family atmosphere through a true partnership with parents and staff. Their goal is to foster an environment where children from 6 weeks to 6 years old can grow their Active Minds, Healthy Bodies and Happy Hearts®. Meggie is a Certified Holistic Health Coach (CHHC) and a Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach (CTC), which makes them a family committed to wellness. They incorporate balanced meals and snacks into our school and instilling healthy habits that will hopefully stay with our students for life. Meggie and her husband are delighted to bring Primrose Schools to Simpsonville at Five Forks and they look forward to welcoming even more of its youngest citizens to our special Primrose family!

10 Things You Need to Know About Music Lessons

Thank you to Theresa Case from our sponsor Piano Central Studios for contributing this article.

Thankfully we live in a community that is very aware and supportive of the arts and all of the benefits that come with early and sustained exposure to the arts. Parents will enroll their very young children in Kindermusik®, for example, because they want their children to develop a love for and interest in music in the hopes that they will continue on with music lessons. But in case the thought of becoming a music lesson parent feels a little daunting to you, or even if you’re perfectly confident about having your child taking music lessons, here are some things you didn’t know you needed to know about music lessons.

Things You Need to Know About Music Lessons

Even “non-musical” parents can have significant influence in helping their children succeed at music lessons.

Whether you have a musical background or not, what your child needs most from you is your support, your interest, and your encouragement. Making sure your child practices, gets to lessons regularly and on time, and knows that you love hearing him play or sing makes all the difference in how far – and how long – your child will keep up with playing the piano or learning to sing.

Music lessons require work and dedication, but there’s big payoff.

Though the effort is a bit different, music lessons are as much a labor of love and dedication for the parents as they are for the student. But the payoff comes when you see the joy in their eyes, the self-confidence that is blossoming, the creativity that begins to inspire every area of their thinking – all because of a developing skill that they can literally enjoy for the rest of their lives.

Your child’s music lesson teacher will eagerly welcome your involvement.

In fact, your child is guaranteed to succeed more quickly, more easily, and more enjoyably if you as the parent take an active role in maintaining an open line of communication with your child’s music teacher and insisting on practice at home throughout the week. You know your child best, and your child’s music lesson teacher loves nothing more than being able to work closely with you.

Just because your child tells you they want to quit doesn’t mean it’s true.

Many times “I want to quit” is because the student is on the edge of breaking through to a new level of musical skill and development, something that always spurs a student on to even greater enjoyment and progress.

If you feel like your child isn’t making much progress, look first at his or her practice habits and routine….

After you look at practice habits and routine, then take some time to talk to his/her teacher. There’s one main thing that results in progress – consistent quality practice. “Quality” being defined as practicing what the teacher asks and how the teacher asks. Chances are that you and the teacher will be able to identify the stumbling block and find a way through it so that your child gets right back on the path to progress.

Your music teacher loves for you to read the notes – and not just the ones on the music you’re learning.

Though the method may vary, every good teacher will have some kind of written assignments plus helpful tips for the week of practice that’s ahead. It’s extremely beneficial to keep the Assignment Notebook open to the page for the week so that you and your child can easily refer to it every practice session.

Taking music lessons in the summer will save you at least two months’ worth of tuition in the Fall.

The intentions are always good, but it’s hard to keep up with practicing and maintaining the skill that’s been gained without the consistency and accountability of summer lessons. It can take 2 – 3 months to regain the momentum, skill, and understanding that will be lost over the summer.

If your child thinks that he doesn’t have the option to quit, he might surprise you with just how long he’ll stick with taking lessons.

You might be thinking that you’re not sure how this “lesson thing” is going to work out, but don’t let on to your child that there’s an option to quit anytime soon – if ever at all. It does something positive to a child’s psyche if he understands that music lessons are an expected part of the routine and something that you are committed to as well. So buy the quality instrument, and then invest the time, money, and care into your child’s musical success right from the very beginning.

It takes three people plus a great program to equal music lesson success – the teacher, the parent, and the student.

You’ve heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child, but when it comes to music lessons, it takes a triangle. It’s the solidity of the teacher-parent-student triangle that can unfold and ignite the musical potential that is in every child.

It’s not just about an activity for now; it’s about an advantage for life.

It’s been said that a love of music is one of the first things to develop and one of the last things to go. Making music not only is a skill that you can enjoy as much at age 80 as you did at age 8; it is also a skill that will increase cognition, improve memory, and continue to give so much joy even as you get older.

Motivation will take your child much farther than talent can.

That’s why it’s so important to find a program and a teacher who works hard to keep your student self-motivated. There is no limit to what a child can accomplish if her or she loves their music lessons.

So maybe this isn’t exactly “everything” you didn’t know you needed to know about music lessons, but hopefully it’s a good start – enough at least to give insight into finding the right program in which to enroll your child for music lessons and to give encouragement that giving your child music lessons is unwrapping a gift they will enjoy for now… and for life.

Learn more about music lessons through Piano Central Studios.

Would your child love to take music lessons?

Meet Theresa Case, Director of Piano Central Studios

A love for music and true enjoyment in teaching and watching others enjoy music is what motivates Theresa Case, Director of Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC. Theresa started playing the piano at age 4 1/2 and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in Music Education. She has spent most of her life building on the “heart connection” she’s always had with music.
As the director of Piano Central Studios since 1995, Theresa has grown the program from a small school with a handful of students to the largest community music school in the Upstate. Currently, Theresa is responsible for overseeing the entire program at PCS, managing a staff of over 30 teachers and coordinating Kindermusik classes, music lessons, and art classes at multiple studio and school locations. Along with her wonderful team of teachers, Theresa loves helping to make a difference in the lives of so many families and students who are such a special part of PCS.
By far, Theresa’s best life work includes serving in her church and being a wife and a mother. She enjoys cooking, reading, shopping, and spending time with her husband and three boys.