Farm Day

We hosted a Farm Day at our place for the Homeschool Group we belong to and had a blast!

This is Peep Peep, the baby duck that we rescued from the egg.

This is Peanut Butter, she is supposed to be a Holland Lop.

Here are a couple of the kids gathering eggs with one of the chickens supervising. 

Feeding the goats is everyone's favorite activity (including the goats)!

Another picture of goat feeding.

The children also threw the crust from their sandwiches to the ducks and chickens after lunch.

We have wonderful neighbors who let us visit their horses through the fence.  The little one on the right is only 4 months old.  When I told the children we were going to pet a baby horse they didn't believe that she was the baby.  They were expecting something smaller!

Feeding grass to the horses.

Everyone together, enjoying the farm.

The Stud wanted some grass to eat, too!

Running through the tall grass back to the picnic area.

5 Lessons Parents MUST Teach Their Children

5 Lessons Parents MUST Teach Their Children

Patience - This is probably the hardest lesson to teach in today's world.  It is made especially difficult because it is likely that the parent is lacking patience themselves.  We live in an 'instant gratification' society where we can get pretty much anything we want with very little wait.  We get irritated if the person we text or call doesn't respond within a few seconds.  We order items on the Internet and have them shipped overnight.  In this world where waiting is out of style it is good practice to help your children (and yourself) learn to wait.  A good way to start, is to make a goal chart with something the child wants at the top.  Then create parameters for reaching that goal.  For example, a toy that the child has been wanting can be the goal and earning money can be the parameters to achieve the goal.

No Means No - Too often today, I see a parent tell a child 'no' and then give in to the child when they beg, whine or throw a fit.  The only lesson this teaches a child is that if they manipulate enough they will get what they want.  This makes for spoiled teenagers who have no respect for their teachers and then defiant young adults who don't respect authority, including bosses and police.  Children need to learn early that there is a reason behind the 'no' and that 'no means no'.  Stand firm when you say 'no' and stick to it, no matter how big a fit your child throws in the grocery store.  Respect in the future is far more important than gratification now!

Want vs. Need - This is something a lot of adults don't understand.  There is a big difference between what we need, things that keep us alive and safe, and things we want, things that make us happy.  Teach your child early that paying tithing, rent or mortgage and bills such as gas and electric come first before toys and fun activities.
Children often do not learn enough about managing finances before they strike out on their own.  As a result, many young adults often make critical mistakes, getting into debt with credit cards and not paying their bills before they buy whatever catches their eye at the moment.  Think shelter, food and clothing before any other commodity and pay for those items first.  Then, if there is money left over, teach the child to save for the future and modestly treat themselves.

Self-Preservation - Teach children to protect themselves.  This has a great deal of meaning and many lessons involved.  Children need to learn how to protect themselves from bullies, strangers with bad motives, peer pressure, street safety and loads of other dangers.  Making your child aware at an early age of the dangers around them (without trying to scare them to death) is the best way to prevent

them from falling prey to these dangers.  As age and maturity appropriate, share with your children the bad things that can happen and how to react.  As the child gets older increase their knowledge of the items you have already shared.  For example, when my daughter was three years old I taught her that her body belonged to her and no one should touch her body in a way that makes her feel bad.  When she was four years old I added on to that by explaining that there are private areas of the body that are covered by our bathing suits that we do not show to anyone and that no one is allowed to touch.  When she was five years old I taught her the proper names for those areas and began to explain that boys have private areas also, that are different from girls.  Knowledge is power, the more a child knows about the dangers the more ready they will be to handle them when they arise.  Teach children about drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex, etc. before they learn it from their peers.  

Self-Worth - This is the most important lesson of all.  If children do not have a sense of self-worth they will not be able to learn the other lessons.  Children must know that no matter what they do, God and their family will always love them.  From an early age, when I would get upset with my daughter for something she had done she would ask if I still loved her.  Young children often believe that when they do something wrong they are no longer lovable.  Even when punishing a child, make sure they understand that you still love them and that what they did was bad, not that they are bad.  There is an important distinction between those two things that can shape the child's entire future.  Children are not bad, they sometimes make bad choices.  A child that is confident in their own worth and knows that God and their parents will always love them will be better equipped to handle the difficulties that come up when self-preservation is necessary.  They will be more likely to want to preserve themselves if they believe they are worthy of preservation.

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

Tracks in the Snow

 Tracks in the Snow 

When I was younger, one of my favorite family activities was when my Dad would take us kids out to the woods to explore.  He would point out different tracks and all kinds of other amazing things.  My Dad taught us a lot about nature and the world around us while spending quality time with all of us.  These are some of my greatest childhood memories and I love passing all of it on to my daughter.

Opossum Tracks

It's mid-February and ironically, right around Valentine's Day Opossums and Raccoons begin breeding activity!  These tracks came from a hole in the side of our barn where the metal skirting was pushed open by a vine. They continued on through the remnants of corn stalks in the garden, across the icy driveway and ended at the great Black Walnut Tree, not too far from the house. The next day, I went back out to check on our opossum and a fresh trail led from the tree off to the neighbor's.

 Mouse Tunnels

I couldn't get any good mouse tracks but these are mouse tunnels.  They were all over between the garden and the Black Walnut Tree.  There was a fox hopping through the back pasture early one morning and I'm certain it was after one of these little guys.

Deer Tracks

We have a large herd of deer that travel through our yard almost every night.  They love to feast on the acorns under our giant Oak and the cabbage and other leftovers in the garden.  Generally, only bucks are heavy enough to press their dew claws into the ground and make a print.  However, if the snow is deep enough a doe's dew claw print can be seen as well.  The dew claw print is easy to spot in the last photo.

Rabbit Tracks

We have rabbits all over the back pasture and in the woods.  They come out at night to raid the leftovers in the garden, like kale and cabbage.  They also love our compost pile with it's cucumber peels and strawberry heads.  You can tell rabbit tracks because the two smaller front feet do not hit perfectly parallel.

Small Bird Tracks

These tracks were made by sparrows, juncos and other small birds around our bird feeders.  We also see many mourning doves and blue jays.  Squirrels will occasionally fill their cheek pouches as well.  I also caught a squirrel removing the stuffing from the outdoor cushion and carrying it back to his nest.  Those babies will be living in the lap of luxury with their cushy bed!

Squirrel Tracks

Unlike rabbit tracks, where the two front feet often do not land parallel to one another, squirrel tracks usually do have front feet landing parallel.  This is easy to see in the first photo.  Another easy way to tell squirrel tracks is when they lead up to a tree and then disappear.  Last time I checked, rabbit's don't climb trees!

Tigger Tracks

(Domestic Dog)

Tigger is a 65 pound, German Shepherd and who-knows-what-else dog.  His tracks are about the same size as a coyote's.  Which I have heard nearby but not seen any sign of on our property!

Pepper Tracks

(Domestic Cat)

Pepper is a cat that passes through just about every day.  I have seen him or her twice.  Pepper is a very large, well fed, gray cat with white paws.  When every last morsel of food is gone I know that Pepper has been by to visit.  

Kinka Tracks

(Domestic 6-Toed Cat)

Kinka is our barn cat.  She is very special in that she was born with a kinked tail, shaped like a paperclip, and six toes on all of her feet.  Since she isn't really going outside yet I found paw prints in the mud inside the barn.  You can easily count the five toes that hit the ground.  The difference between Kinka's and Pepper's tracks are obvious.

Pottery Cool Review

This stuff is amazing!

My cousin bought my daughter this Pottery Cool pack for Christmas.  She didn't realize that it required the Pottery Cool Studio in order to work properly.  I thought about buying the studio but decided not to for fear we wouldn't use it and it would end up in my bottomless box of crafts in the basement.  

I opened the box to find some really weird parts but once I read the directions, it all made sense. We used all the pieces as intended to make a really cute critter (see picture above).  We opted not to make it a bank because it occurred to us that it would be really hard to get the money out since the sculpture is completely closed.  The only difference between ours and one using the studio would be that on the pottery wheel the clay would be a lot smoother, but considering the fact that we didn't have one, I think our end product turned out great.

The kit even includes stencils for all of the other small parts like eyes and ears.  It is practically fool-proof and really fun.  The instructions are easy to follow with helpful pictures.  The clay is dry and ready to paint in 24 hours.  The kit even comes with paint.  I would definitely buy this product again (just maybe not one of the kits that requires the Studio)!