This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09 homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers. It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long you’ve been using it, and why you like it.
This is my second try at typing this up, I was almost finished when homesteadblogger decided to eat my post.
As far as homeschooling our family is eclectic in nature. I combine unit studies, classical and Charlotte Mason methods to suit us. We love notebooking, lapbooking and getting outside for nature time!
Our main curriculum is Five in a Row (FIAR) and Before Five in a Row. I really can't say enough good things about their programs. It is an excellent literature based unit study. Each unit is based on a quality picture book that is read each day. Then each day you do activities based on it. They have suggestions for daily subjects or you can do your own. This program covers social studies, literature, art, history, science and applied math. Adding in your favorite phonics and math program would give you a full and rich curriculum.
Even though FIAR is plenty for learning my girls have lots of different interests. So I've picked out some other good multi year books to fill their interests.
Science
Apologia Botany
Nature Studies
We will also be doing smaller units on the human body and weather.
History
Story of the World Vol. 1 ~ We started this last year and are moving through it slowly. We should be able to finish it this year.
Social Studies/Geography
Canada My Country
Paddle To The Sea
Continents
Language Arts
First Language Lessons
Christian Liberty Press Spelling
Copy Work (selected from Bible, FIAR books, Poems etc.)
Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader 1
Teach Your Child to Read 100 Easy Lessons
Math
Math U See
We LOVE this program! It fits very well with visual and hands on learners. DD6 is almost done Alpha and will start Beta in a few weeks. DD4 might also start on the Primer this year to.
French
Ecoutez! Parlez! Book/cd 1
Bible Studies
Leading Little Ones to God
Five in a Row Christian Supplement
Art/Music
We do a different picture study on an artist each month or so. And use the Same method for studying composers.
We keep lessons short and do a lot of reading together. "Extra" subjects beyond the 3 R's and FIAR are done 1 or 2 each day. This gives us time to fit in everything we enjoy with out the stress of a long day.
A break down grade by grade:
Preschool, 2 year old (3 this fall)
Before Five in a Row
Lots of hands on activities and play
PreK, 4 year old
Before Five in a Row
Five in a Row
Leading Little Ones to God
Nature Studies
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Grade 1, 6 year old
Five in a Row
SOTW
Canada My country
Math U See Beta
Ecoutez! Parlez! Book/cd 1
Leading Little Ones to God
Apologia Botany
Nature Studies
First Language Lessons
Christian Liberty Press Spelling
Copy Work (selected from Bible, FIAR books, Poems etc.)
When you've gone a little ways, keep going a little ways more. When you've made some progress, use that progress to make some more.
Multiply the power of your actions with momentum. Once you get yourself going, follow through on the commitment and keep yourself going.
Often, the most difficult part of a task is the act of getting started. The fewer times you have to go through that process of starting yourself back up, the more you can get accomplished.
When you've enjoyed one success, that's the best time to start working on another success. Once you have momentum on your side, take full advantage of it.
One of the biggest benefits of achievement is that it opens up the door for greater achievement. Even a small success is a big deal, because of where it can lead.
Get yourself going and then keep yourself going. And from there, you can go anywhere.
-- Ralph Marston
Just wanted to share. It is like a dominio effect. No matter what keep on going for in the end you win when you don't give up.
I've had a busy summer and haven't spent much time checking up on my friends...Kitty hasn't posted since July 20. Can anyone tell me if she is alright?
Has anyone made an ice cream cake? and are they hard to make? That is one thing I've never made. I have a friend that is coming over Fri with her husband and son and it was her birthday yesterday..So I want to make her dinner and cake and give her a gift.. I hope some one out there can help me..thanks..
Does anyone have any good recipies for the above please. We are starting to lose our tomatoes (a lot seem to be rotting) and hence need to make use of all the good ones we have left.
Thank you
p.s. is anyone else having problems with homestead blogger. There have been various times lately that I have had difficulty either logging in, or entries won't be added. I keep getting a blank page with two small horizontal boxes at the top with a faint blue line around the edges. I have to keep repeat either getting into HB or re-sending entries. This has become really frustrating as it keeps happening ???????
What do I mean -- little land? little food? little money?
All of the above, I guess.
Say you have 2 acres of land, good zoning (meaning you can have animals and do what you wish). On this 2 acre patch you are wanting to set up homesteading. Maybe raise a beef cow or two, have a couple of hogs for processing, certainly chickens and maybe even a handful of rabbits.
You want room for the children and for family entertaining, of course. And there are 7 children in the mix.
So...how do you do it? Can you do it? Will it work?
Here's my thoughts...and they are not overly complete by any stretch...do chime in and give me ideas and share your experience!
Well, 2 acres isn't alot, but I do think it can be done. It all depends on how much you really want it to work. Chickens and rabbits are easy to start with and easiest for housing. Back north I'd build according to winter needs...something we can enclose for more indoor spacing during really cold, snowy, nasty weather. Rabbits are just as easy -- and let's not forget, prolific breeders -- so maybe just adding a room onto the end of the chicken coop to run a couple rows of cages.
Cows and pigs are moving into different territory. We have hogs. Pain in the rump roasts but oh-so delicious afterward. Not sure I'd care to have any more in the future, though. I am not convinced they are truly worth the aggravation yet. Still, pigs and cows can pasture together easily enough, but space? There isn't really alot with 2 acres, so we aren't necessarily looking at keeping them on pasture, so feed over winter...maybe raise them to butcher off before winter each year? Could be do-able, but really...I rather think the variety of animals on such a small space just isn't going to be easily achieved.
Garden and fruit space? Plenty of it, I think. My focus would be an awesome garden with more than enough food to go around, and lining that with fruit trees and bramble fruits. Then I'd look to those chickens and rabbits for our main food source. Maybe barter off some fresh chickens and rabbits for the occasional splurge of beef for dinner.
I just don't see the larger animals on the small space being cost effective. There won't be enough space to adequately rotate pasture areas and allow for regrowth. Dry-lots are doable, but not very animal friendly, and definitely not cost effective.
My personal thought (ya' knew I'd have at least one, right??). It ain't happening. Not such grand scale plans on such small scale land. It's a great size for a beginner homesteader, certainly, but I think it's setting the cart before the horse to plan on diving in head-first on this scale. Maybe I'm totally wrong (yes, it's been known to happen once or twice before...) but I think something on that scale will pretty much turn one off of homesteading. It's just too much, too fast.
What would I do, newbie from the city let's say, I've just bought my 2 acres and I'm getting itchy feet for homesteading? Garden and fruits, chickens and rabbits. Forget the cow and pigs for now. Plug every available penny into the 'land fund' kitty and pray for another few acres adjoining to open up. Or, start honing my skills now and save for that greener pasture down yonder road in a few years. I'd be learning all I could about canning, drying and preserving everything from that awesome garden and homestead orchard. I'd be changing my lifestyle to accommodate more chicken and rabbit, less burger and chops. I'd be starting on that homestead path of make if from scratch.
Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do
Or do without
That would become the family creed. Everything homemade from scratch, natural and moving in large strides toward self-sufficiency and complete God-reliance.
Then, one day, when I was no longer that newbie from the city with big plans I'd venture off to my real, true, forever patch of God's Green Earth. Fully armed with my homesteading skills and prepared to learn more skills...like raising the family beef cow and the mini herd of piggies (hmmm...would a group of pigs be a herd?). Maybe at that point I'd be ready to even raise some of my own grains for feed, too, or a bit of hay for winter storage.
It seems I made a grave mistake when beginning our school year this year. I wasn't prepared. I had all the school books bought and ready, I had all the supplies we needed, I even had my lesson plans prepared. So where was my mistake? My house is a mess. We started school right in the middle of our mini home remodel because I felt a need to get started.
The problem I'm incurring now however is that I'm so behind in housework that I have no hope of catching up while schooling three children at the same time. Things still needing to be unpacked, rooms finished, laundry caught up, decluttering to be done. I'm struggling daily to fit in everything that needs doing, but all that I seem to be able to do is get some of the daily doings done, like dishes, dinner, laundry, while the rest of the mess just sits there waiting for another day. So I sat the children down, and told them they were going to get a short reprieve from school work until next Tuesday, after labor day. They were actually a little sad, which made me feel good, to know that they're enjoying their school time. But were ready to help mom get the house under control.
I know there are a lot of families starting homeschooling next week as well, so if you're wanting to get your house in order before starting like us, I would love for you to join in, so that we can encourage and urge each other on to get it done.
I'm starting this afternoon by making my list of all that I want to get done before next week, and sorting it into things that the children can do, that I can do, and things that will need dh's help, like getting the old toilet off of the front porch, and of course the things we will work on all together.
Counting today, we have 6 days to get everything done, although I would like to try to get it all done by Saturday evening, as Sunday is a family day and church day for us, and Monday is Labor day, and we will likely do something together then as well. So I'm shooting for 4 days. I'll get on here later and post my list and if you're joining in with us, post your list either here or on your blog, and let me know about it. On your mark, get set, go!
Updated to add my list instead of starting a new post.
So I have 4 days and 12 areas of my home and around my home that I would like to work on. That works out to be 3 rooms or areas per day. I sorted them out so that I'm not doing more than one really messy room at a time. Here's the breakdown....
Wednesday-Living/dining room, Kitchen, and Master bedroom/bathroom.
Thursday-Playroom, Hallway, and Boy's room
Friday-Bathroom, Girl's room, Family room
Saturday-Laundry room, front yard, backyard
For today, my list for the living/dining room, kitchen, master bed/bath is:
~Clean, declutter, and organize in each room
~Work on laundry, at least 3 loads
~In the kitchen, get all the dishes done up, wipe down cabinets, sweep, and mop
~In the living/dining room, break down empty boxes, straighten designated yard sale gathering spot.(where all my decluttered stuff will go. We're planning a yard sale in a few weeks after we declutter through all of our things. Also, wipe down dining table, sweep and mop floor, and vacuum area rug.
~In the master bed/bath, get all dirty laundry out of the room and ready to wash, make bed, unpack remaining boxes, clean off nightstands and dressers, set up pack and play for baby, wipe down toilet, tub, and sink, and sweep and mop.
I'll report back later, probably on this same post, about my progress.
I've been keeping this on another blog - thought I'd post it here and see if the html works. The pictures didn't work so I'll take them off.
DAY 1 - August 21-August 30 is the plan - Daniel Fast Blog.wordpress.com gives inspiration, although I've fasted various times since college days. The blog says fruits and veggies are both okay - basically, no yeast breads, no dairy, no sweets and no meat or eggs.
Today I had watermelon and grapes in the morning and then the stew in the afternoon. I'm making spaghetti for supper but I'll have the stew again.
stew consisting of lentils, split peas, potatoes, celery, carrots, collards, tomato sauce, water, and chives added after cooking
I hope to pray more for family, immediate and extended, our fellowship group, our presidential election and country and of course the peace of Jerusalem.
For supper like I said we had spaghetti; no one noticed at all that I had the stew. We'll see how long that will last that no one notices : )
I also ate some applesauce and steamed broccoli and cauliflower and popcorn later on. I'm not hungry because I eat no limited amount but as much as I want.
DAY 2 - Aug. 22 - Friday - had watermelon and grapes, sunflower seeds, dried soybeans and raisins, more watermelon, grape and aloe vera juice.
Started reading How to Resist Satan by Theodore H. Epp. I made a casserole and a loaf of bread for supper. Ate watermelon, popcorn and a pear.
After baking the casserole around noon time I put it in a cooler and wrapped it in some blankets and when I got it out 5 hours later I needed to use hot pads it was still so warm.
Again, no one noticed that I ate stew, raw veggies and applesauce for supper. : ) I also read some of the book Foods of Israel about Israel in the 1850s how no one took care of the Jews and some of them even starved to death. Then Rothschild, a wealthy Jew from America, went there and helped them plant a bunch of vineyards and other things. Some people from Germany went and established agricultural type places to live together.
Somehow I pulled a muscle in my lower back so spent a lot of time reading today.
The How to Resist Satan book (or booklet) is very good. It explained how the Christian's body is the temple and just as the Jewish Temple had 3 parts, people have 3 parts: body, soul and spirit. In psychology we learn that they are the id, ego and super ego. Anyway, the 3 parts of Christians are the body (the outer court), the soul (inner court) and spirit (holy of holies where the Spirit of God dwells).
Ate watermelon after supper.
DAY 3 - Saturday, August 23, 2008
Ate watermelon (I'm addicted to it I think)
I couldn't sleep much after 2:30 - a wonderful cold front with thunder and some rain came in - was very glad for it to cool off the stuffy house. When you fast the blood doesn't need to spend so much effort on digestion, so it goes to the brain and thinking comes clearer and more active. It's easier to pray.
I first learned about fasting through Arthur Wallace's book, God's Chosen Fast. I read this when I was about a sophomore in college and started practicing it. It said you can accomplish spiritually in 3 days what it might take 3 years to accomplish without fasting. I can believe it and, although, I haven't fasted a whole lot, whenever I do, it is very beneficial spiritually, mentally and physically.
Ate the lentil stew and went to bread store, thrift store where I bought a little vase for 50 cents and then the grocery store.
I noticed that I don't have the pain in the lower half of both my thumbs like I have been recently throughout the day. They are a little sore when I move them but not that pain that feels like they've been hit with a hammer. I am suspecting arthritis and now I'm wondering why the pain left - is the bread, peanut butter, honey, dairy, meat, sweets or eggs (that I'm ceasing to eat because of this 10 day Daniel fast) causing the arthritic pain in the thumbs and starting to be in the little fingers?????? My little fingers are a little stiff too, especially the right one which was injured when in junior high playing volleyball and it was jammed with the ball. I never went to a doctor or anything and it's always been crooked a little.
So my right little finger is pretty much an invalid but I'm used to it after all these years.
I finished the book, How to Resist Satan, and it was a page turner even though written in 1958 when I was just 7 years old. It's good to be reminded of the wiles of the enemy of our soul and how we can resist him.
The rest of the day I will probably eat the rest of the lentil stew, veggies, watermelon and popcorn and maybe other fruit.
No one noticed at supper again that I didn't take any of the chicken/potato/carrot mix.
Now I started reading Demon Experiences in Many Lands by Moody Press. I have these books because we were going to give some of my m-i-l's books away - the ones on the devil and demons, but I started looking through them and started reading a couple of them. It's an issue we shouldn't be ignorant of because of the spiritual battles we face.
This Daniel fasting is good because of all the things and pressures on us now - not bad things but things can get overwhelming if we let them. My husband is under pressure at work taking over for a couple weeks while someone is on vacation, our kids are starting a new school year, Mother-in-law's house needs to be cleared, cleaned and put on the real estate market - things like that go better with more prayer.
Day 4 - Aug. 24, Sunday - Loved the sermon this morning. We are to be people of the flame. This morning I ate watermelon and grapes. Later I ate some raw veggies and then oatmeal, pear and apple juice. I haven't lost any weight but feel better.
Big bowl of popcorn in mid-afternoon and raw veggies. I finished the watermelon and didn't buy another at the store yesterday because they were $8.99 : ( Smucker's natural peanut butter with carrot, broccoli and banana and 3 strawberries plus apple juice and aloe vera juice.
I'm going to soak a cup of soybeans to cook tomorrow.
DAY 5 - Monday, August 25 - ate a little peanut butter with broccoli, tomatoes from our yard, apple and aloe vera juice. It doesn't take much to fill me up : )
This is from www.godairyfree.org:
Dairy Can Aggravate Arthritis
Anonymous ~ I have known for several years that I was "somewhat lactose intolerant" and would eat yogurt & small amounts of cheese but not drink milk as it caused me gastrointestinal problems. Recently, I went to a naturopathic doctor who took me off all dairy products. She told me that if you are lactose intolerant, you are lactose intolerant & that dairy intolerance creates other problems in your system besides gastrointestinal problems & can stress your body as it is fighting foods your body cannot handle. I have had pains in my hands from arthritis & migraines since I was about 18, and I am now pain-free!
She has taken me off all the seven common allergens for three months (dairy, wheat, peanuts, corn, eggs, soy, & chocolate) as well as the nightshade family of potatoes, tomatoes, & eggplant as these foods & any food allergy can aggravate arthritis & migraines. I wanted to cry when I first walked in the grocery store after this. Thank you so much for your site!
If you want to see if you have a food allergy, take it completely out of your diet for two weeks & then eat a lot of it on the 15th day & note the difference in symptoms.
I ate a few cooked soy beans, but weren't very good so put them in the freezer to disguise in something later.
Cooked 1 lb. ground turkey - half in chili for dear husband and 1/2 for pizza which dear son ate most of and dear daughter had some. also made cornbread and cooked veggies.
I ate raw veggies, big bowl of popcorn (I always air pop it and put olive oil on it plus sea salt and garlic powder). Later I had cooked potatoes, carrots and broccoli.
DAY 6 - Tuesday, August 26
Ate raw veggies - bok choy and carrot plus peanut butter, also apple and aloe vera juice.
Went to grocery store - Save-A-Lot this time. Watermelons were $3.99, but when I got home I saw it was soft on one end - haven't cut into it yet. Making spaghetti for crock pot meal tonight - busy because of Aladdin auditions tonight.
I ate a bunch of grapes and should have something more substantial, oatmeal perhaps.
I didn't have oatmeal, just baby carrots all evening then after auditions everyone went to CiCi's for pizza. I just had the salad with oil and vinegar. Again, no one really noticed that I just had salad, so that's good. Then at home I had a little applesauce and 5 grapes.
DAY 7 - Wednesday, August 27 - the watermelon was not eatable - it fell apart when I cut it. One redeeming thing is it is not seedless, so perhaps I can plant the seeds next summer : )
I ate some baby carrots and I'm not very hungry. I dropped 2 or 3 pounds : )
Ate grapes and more baby carrots. Both kids are called back for play tomorrow evening for Aladdin play.
I collected some seeds from the watermelon and then put the whole thing in my worm bin. I have the can o' worms worm farm and love it. Plants especially love being fed the water that comes from it. So far they've just filled 1 1/2 layers of the 3 layers and I've had it almost 2 years. I figured it would be okay to put that much in because the watermelon is mostly water anyway.
The last time I went to the doctor he said I should see a colon specialist; I haven't yet and figured out by myself that it is probably diverticulotus - a blog just about this - I think I'll quit eating things that might aggravate it and see if the sensitivity and pain in that area on the left side will go away. That's one good thing about these Daniel fasts - you still have enough energy and strength to keep up with daily life but have control and discipline over what goes in the mouth.
Univer. of MN Extension says this of amaranth, which I have some of and want to sprout it, plant it, grind it to flour or cook it:
Nutritional Value
One of the reasons there has been recent interest in amaranth is because of it useful nutritional qualities. The grain has 12 to 17% protein, and is high in lysine, an amino acid other grain crops are low in. The grain is high in fiber and low in saturated fats, factors which contribute to its use by the health food market.
I sill have more than 3 days to go on this journey - it has been good.
I am a stay-at-home, Christian homeschooling mom. My husband and I have been married for 19 years. We have been blessed with three kids,ages 18, 10 and 8. We live on a family farm and have several animals. I`m just a simple farm gal, who loves her God, family, friends and life.
