Baby Goats

Sidney and Ruby

These adorable siblings will be coming home with us at the end of May!  The black and white boer goat is a male named Sidney.  He had surgery on his eyelid to remove an extra wrinkle that was making it so he couldn't open his eye.  When we went to see him at Red Maple Farm, Donna told us his story and I fell in love with him instantly.  I also loved that his Mom was small for a boer, because I prefer smaller goats.  Donna said she had spent extra time with him and wanted him to go to a home as a pet rather than a meat prospect.  That was perfect for us as I was looking for a companion for the milking goat I was also hoping to purchase.  

When I saw Sidney and his sister, Ruby, cuddled up I just couldn't help myself and ended up deciding to take both of them.  Donna is giving me a really good rate since I hope to purchase all three of my goats from her.  Sidney will have a life of ease on our farm as a companion animal and petting zoo prospect for my Summer Camps.  His sister Ruby has great 4H blood-lines and will likely be going to fair herself or be bred to Donna's gorgeous Boer buck to produce 4H babies. 😉

 

                              Bella                               Bella's Brothers

Bella is a special little girl at Red Maple Farm.  She is the 'little sister' of triplets born to Donna's beautiful milking goat, Vanessa, and her handsome buck, Elvis.  This little girl is 'all shook up'!  She became a bottle baby because, at half the size of her two brothers, she just couldn't get enough milk from her gallon-a-day producing Mom.  She is now in Donna's kitchen getting regular, round-the-clock feedings.  I 'can't help falling in love' with this feisty little girl.  Bella means beautiful and this one-ear-up, one-ear-down, full personality 'rock-a-hula baby' certainly is beautiful!  I'm hoping that by promising Donna her choice of buck for breeding and her first born doe she will let me buy her and bring her home to live and play with Sidney and Ruby.  Otherwise, I'll be staying at 'Heartbreak Hotel'. (Sorry, but with a Dad named Elvis I just couldn't help the Elvis puns, lol!)

Our New Baby Chicks and Ducks

Here are the boxes of chicks and ducks from Tractor Supply.  There are 12 chicks in the white box and 4 large ducklings in the red box.  The bottom fell out of the duckling box right as I was putting it in the car.  Thankfully, none of the ducks fell out and we made it all of the way home!

We set up our brooder in a water trough.  We bought it special for this purpose but when the chicks and ducklings are done with it we can use it for the horses in the Fall.  The chicks and ducklings need a heat lamp and a temperature about 95 degrees.  I had some trouble figuring out how to rig up the heat lamp! The ducklings try to swim in the waterer we bought and splash all of the water out until there isn't any left for them to drink. I also used some tops from tin containers to make a feeder but didn't like it so switched it for an ice cube tray.

We bought 12 chicks total. The one in the picture to the right is a Barred Rock. We bought 2 of these. We also bought 6 Orpington chicks and 4 Isa Brown chicks. The Isa Browns were sexed so we know they are all girls. The Orpington and Barred Rock are straight run so we have no idea what they are. All of them are good egg layers and the larger birds so also good for butchering.  We will only keep one rooster so if we have more than one (which is likely) they will be butchered this Summer.  All of the types we bought are supposed to be friendly.

On the left is one of our ducklings.  You can also see them in the picture on the right along with some of the chicks.  I'm not sure what type of ducks they are, Tractor Supply didn't have a breed type on them.  The picture showed them to be brown or brown and white when they get their feathers.

Hosting a Homeschool Group Easter Party

I hosted a homeschool group Easter party this week.  I planned a lesson about the true meaning of Easter, complete with Christian coloring and activity pages.  After the lesson I got some of our baby chicks and ducks out for all of the children to pet.  I hid 80 eggs filled with small trinkets or candy outside.  Then we all came back in the house to enjoy a meal and I had several craft stations and a planting station set up.  

One of the crafts was plastic canvas' in the shape of crosses, stars and circles as well as a pile of colored yarn for the kids to decorate.

Here is the station with the coloring and activity pages as well as some plain paper to color.

I set up a tray of plastic beads in different shapes and letter beads for the kids to make necklaces and bracelets with their names or other messages on them.

This is the kitchen before people came.  We had a potluck and the parents brought all kinds of goodies.  We had pigs in a blanket, veggies and fruit, some snacks and a bunny cake.

This is the planting station outside!  I bought a couple different kinds of flower seeds and bought some wide paper cups for the kids to plant the seeds in.  

Homeschooling vs. Unschooling

Homeschooling is basically just as it sounds, school at home.  Generally, one of the parents is the teacher and one or more curriculum options are followed.  The parent has control over the schooling and determines the curriculum, pace and style to be taught, usually based on the individual learner. Homeschooling almost always has a certain structure, set up by the parent.  Resources used for teaching in a homeschool setting often include textbooks, workbooks, DVDs and the computer.  Homeschooling is far more flexible than public school, however, unschooling is more flexible still.

Unschooling is the idea that children are curious and will learn on their own if allowed to do so.  They will gravitate toward their own interests and learning style. The child is the leader in this style of learning, determining where, when and what to learn.  He/she also chooses the teacher and can use any resource available including parents, books, computer, library, other adults, etc.  If unschooling possesses structure, it is set up by the child.  The idea in unschooling is that the child's curiosity and love of learning will remain intact as opposed to when he/she is forced to learn in a certain way.

My Opinion: After studying the definitions of both homeschooling and unschooling, I have found that I am definitely a homeschooler in that I lead the lessons and decide what will be taught.  I use books and curriculum to teach the basics, plan many hands-on experiences and allow plenty of free time.  I have no personal opinion as to whether either works better and I believe the more learning opportunities we can give our children, the better.

I would love to hear experiences and comments from others regarding homeschooling vs. unschooling.  Please feel free to share your thoughts below.


Sources: Natural Child, MHEA, The Relaxed Homeschool

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