Skill Building At Camp

 Kyle has been homeschooled for the past year and we want to show from this entry that he has done some significant work to qualify him for credit in "Industrial Arts" for his portfolio.

One of the first things he learned was how to assemble staging, level it, and use it safely. The staging was in use during the installation of vinyl siding. on the camp.

Uncle Jonathan has been involved for a few years with installing siding for lead abatement projects and for routine use. We thought that his uncle's expertise helped Kyle understand the process quite well. We noticed that he observed his uncle and then put his new knowledge to work.

This project led to Kyle using several carpentry tools and observing the use of others. He also learned the importance of starting on the best side of the building to keep the siding looking smooth to the eye. (I found that interesting).

Here Kyle is with Grampie and Timothy working on the east end of the camp. As far as I am concerned, those guys did a great job.

We are just beginning to work on the inside, but the outside is almost completely done! After sleeping in the camp at near-freezing temper atures, the guys must look forward to HEAT!

 Grampie explained electrical wiring to Kyle and let him have some safe, hands-on experience. I liked hearing the explanation of an electrical circuit. Here they are installing a box for a light switch in the bathroom. This involved Kyle using an electric drill, a wire stripper, and wire nuts.

The switch works and we have a ceiling light and a couple of receptacles. Everyone can hardly wait for the bathroom to be completed so we don't have to go to Grammie's for showers and toilet!


After the electrical wiring was done, it was time for the ceiling to go up. Here, Kyle learned how to put in insulation, cut sheet rock, and screw the sheetrock to the studs. He also learned about   measuring and cutting to fit sheetrock around electrical boxes, the window, and the washer - dryer hookup.

I am sure Grampie feels sorry for Kyle that he didn't have the privilege of patching and sanding the sheetrock. But most of that is done now and the ceiling is painted. I told your grandfather that he could always tell everyone about that ceiling, "a woman did that." It is always nice to have someone to blame, don't you think? I am glad to be the scape goat!

A LIFE LESSON: It is my opinion that nothing is ever wasted. The experiences we have, the skills we develop, and the lessons we learn will be useful to us in some way during our lives.

Maybe the value of all this is that Kyle's hands-on experience has convinced him (at least for now) that he never wants to build his own house!

As I said to him, whenever he goes into the camp bathroom he can always look at one part of the ceiling and say, "that was so annoying!"