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Canning season is picking up and we are beginning to refill the pantry. We did some cherries last night to bring our total to 24 jars. We have bought some and my DH has gleaned some. He will try to pick some more today and I found someone online who is trying to get rid of some for a good price before the weekend. Yeah! I love good deals and when I don't have to spend a lot for produce to can. My total goal is 83 jars for the year, but I am also trying to add to our reserves so I would need 120 jars total. I had 21 jars left over from last year, so I had to can approximately 100 jars. This means I need about 125 pounds of cherries. I do these calculations for all of our produce and meat needs for our family of nine. I track them all on a spreadsheet. I can even tell you how many onions, heads of garlic, and pounds of potatoes I need to feed our family for a year. Some things I am able to get all of our needs met from the garden and some I have to do without or buy from the store. Our canned and frozen packages needs for fruits and vegetables is 1200 per year and I want to get to have two years worth on hand or 2400 packages/jars. My goal this year will be to get to 50% reserves where last year we were at 30% reserves. My problem now is where to put all the jars. I have a great canning room with built in shelves that was here when we moved in, but I am quickly out-growing it. This year we will be shuffling things around to move some other food storage to another room where we keep freezers so that we can free more room up for jars. Apparently I will need some strawberries also in order to meet our year's goals. We froze many of our own, but it is not quite enough. Today we will also look to U-pick some strawberries before they are all gone for the year.
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Our sow died yesterday. It was quite sad but she also left us with a comical moment. The sad part is that she was such a good mother - never laid on any of her babies. She was sick for about two weeks and we weren't sure what was wrong. She just stopped eating but there were no other symptoms. I tried googling pigs that won't eat, but really found nothing. I thought you could find anything with google. The comical part is that I went to the pig pen yesterday to show a potential customer the pigs. They were considering buying a butchering hog. As we get out there I see that Big Mama was in a little mud hole and I thought she must be enjoying herself. I say to the customer, "she hasn't been feeling like herself lately." They say, "I guess so, she looks like she is not breathing." I look a little closer and yes I have discovered our deceased sow along with the customer. Luckily they still decided to get a hog. They also bought half a steer. I am looking forward to having it butchered as I am out of beef. Our family (9 of us) has eaten a large steer this past year. We have another steer to butcher in about 4 or 5 months. We will also eat about 4 pigs and 100 chickens a year. This winter will be the first time we have goat to eat as we are planning to butcher some of our kids (goat kids that is). We have decided not to get another sow for now nor will be keep one of the hogs we have now for a sow. It will be cheaper on feed if we don't have to feed a sow through the winter. In the spring we will reconsider keeping a sow of our own. We have had difficulties finding a boar to breed when we have needed it, which has meant we got many fewer litters than we should have. We have to be careful to how many animals we keep as we are still working on managing our own animal food resources, ie. corn and hay. DH cut our hay yesterday. We hayed a different set of fields this year than last based on our rotation plan. I am interested to see how much we get. DH put in a hay loft in our barn to store it. Hopefully there will be enough room as he only finished one section before moving on to another project. Yesterday was a busy day in the kitchen. We made whole wheat bread. I use Quiverfull's recipe for 2 loaves http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/deliciouswwbread.htm. We make 2 loaves a day every day but Sunday. I don't use gluten flour but instead substitute 2 cups of the whole wheat flour with unbleached organic white flour. We knead by hand for 10 mintues and let it rise both times on the counter. We bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes and then melt butter on the top when it comes out of the oven. The butter leaves it soft on top instead of hard. I also made some cheese and yogurt. We have tweaked our schedule to include dairy processing 3 times per week. We need to process our own goat's milk as well as we are planning to purchase fresh cow's milk from a friend several times a week. We are hoping to be able to make all of our own dairy products. Maybe then DH will let us get a milk cow. I am experimenting with recipes to find some that are not too complicated. I simply don't have the 4 hours of time that some cheese requires to do things like slowly raise the temperature a few degrees every 5 mintues. If anyone has any recipes or ideas I would appreciate hearing them. I also canned a batch of cherries and we have continued to freeze cauliflower, broccoli, and strawberries. It is slow going this time of year and I still need to figure out how to get enough cherries to last all winter. We are enjoying preparing meals with fresh vegetables from our garden. The girls and I also tweaked the menu plans to remove items we didn't enjoy and add some new things. I hope you are enjoying your homestead . . . |
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Happy Father's Day for any fathers reading. My DH is working alone finishing a rock wall. I think it is somewhat therapuetic for him to fit the rocks together. I tried to help the other day, but . . . I just dont' have the vision I guess. I hope he is enjoying the peace and quiet. I am working on a batch of soap with the girls and bonnets for garden work. The soap is oatmeal, goats milk, and honey soap in ginger lime scent. I have made this soap several times mixing with a wooden spoon. I was recently able to find a hand mixer at Goodwill and thought it would help the process go faster. Well it goes faster, but I do not like the results. It is more difficult to make sure the milk does not burn when added. The color is more likey to become orange. I think I'll go back to handmixing. The bonnets are barn red with a tiny white star details. They match some pinnafores we recently finished. We are working on cornflower blue dresses to wear underneath the pinnfores. I know I keep saying this, but we have to stop sewing for the year. We need to focus on harvesting and preserving from now through October. Then we can start another "year" of sewing. It is time to start thinking about the fall garden. My biggest concern right now is to get storage potates in. We have some that will be for eating through the summer and early fall, but we need to good amount to store for winter. I need to put in at least 500 feet before July 4th. The only question is where to put them. I will also put in a few other things - broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and peas. Preserving continues. We are so pleased with the early produce we are experiencing. We will have tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers very soon. What a blessing. Happy homesteading . . . |
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We have been harvesting strawberries for the last week and freezing them. We at the first broccoli last week and today I picked enough to freeze several packages. I also shelled some peas to freeze. We are also eating them fresh. It is such a joy to be enjoying fresh vegetables. |
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Things are pretty average around here - weeding, weeding, and more weeding. We are still planting, transplanting, and starting seeds. Gardening is a major area of focus. We are also beginning to pick strawberries and peas. Last weekend we inventoried all of our remaining food stores including the canned items and freezers. We defrosted the freezers in the process. We figured that we have 34% of our stores remaining. Last year we had about 16% remaining. That means that we are increasing our extra each year. It is our goal to reach one year is reserve. It also means that I am doing fairly well at anticipating our needs for fruits and vegetables. Meat seems to be a little more tricky. We are still milking the goat and making cheese and yogurt. We have been busy stocking up on bread so we don't have to bake during the hot summer days. We are making some new dresses for 4th of July. We are still trying to figure out a good way to use scrap material for making rag rugs. We are preparing to make patchwork quilts this winter for everyone's beds. That's about it from the homestead . . . |
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Before the move to the land, I had big dreams. I had my list of the all the projects that needed to be done upon arriving. The garden, the fruit trees, the chicken coop, the fields, the fencing, you get the idea. A couple of years and we would be up and running as self-sufficient homesteaders. First, God had different plans and within the first 6 months the barn burnt to the ground. The next 6 months involved re-building it. There went the first year. However, reality is now mixed with anticipation and after 3-1/2 years we are making progess. We have many more years ahead of us on this journey. I'm enjoying the journey and prioritizing which projects to do first. Thus far we have put in fruit bushes and a couple of fruit trees. The garden has been producing more and more each year. We have mostly completed the barn. We are still working on the hayloft and a pully system to allow us to move loose hay to the loft. We have built a chicken coop, pig shed, and greenhouse. With the completion of the greenhouse we have been able to raise most of our plants from seeds. We did a lot of learning on the seedling front the first couple of years. We have fenced the pasture for the cows and have just started practicing good rotational grazing. We are picketing the goats most of the time and still need to fence an area for them. We have started milking the goats and butchering the pigs. We get both meat and eggs from the chicken. We plan we will have goat meat this year also. In addition the meat and milk we get from the animals, the garden supplies all of our vegetable needs for the year. We have yet to be successful raising lettuce or other green vegetables during the winter, but last year we did successfully overwinter beets, onions, and carrots. We are producing about 3/4 of our fruit needs. We bake everything from scratch and grind our own wheat. We are able to heat our house and hot water with wood all year, but still need electricity to circulate the system. In drier weather we put the laundry on the line. We sew about half of our clothing. We have reduced our use of disposable items and have learned to make our own soap and herbal items. We are moving on the what I refer to as Phase 2. We are seeking food independence for our animals. We are raising corn this year and doing a better job managing our hay field. Next year I hope to raise mangrels, oats, and clover for the animals. To increase our food independence we will be working on raising wheat and oats. We will be looking to add diversity to our diets through lamb and shearing the sheep for wool to spin. Bees will provide us with honey and we will hopefully finally figure out how to hatch our own chicks. Our goal will be sew more of our own clothes and make our own home furnishings like quilts, rugs, and dish towels. We will make more of our own food and decrease the containers we have to throw away such items as ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. Our goal is to replace appliances and cheap ktichen gadgets with tools of yesteryear. We want to decrease garbage that goes into the landfill to virtually nothing. We want to purchase very few items. We will plant more, learn more, work harder, and move closer to our goal. I imagine Phase 3 to be energy independence. This phase would include such things as powering the house with wind and solar, building a spring house and cellar for storage, and using gravity to feed water to the house. It is a journey understanding the seasons, taking time to learn the land and natural cycles. We can't do it all in one year, but then again how interesting would that be. . . happy homesteading . . . |
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This time of year always leaves me with feelings of not being quite sure what to tackle next. There is just so much to do. We are trying to keep up on all the usual tasks of maintaining a home for the nine of us - cleaning, baking, meals, laundry, etc. We are also trying to get the garden in and watering has to be done by hand at the start when we lack rain. Weeding needs done. Netting needs to go on berries that are beginning to ripen. More seeds still need to be started in the greenhouse. Transplanting needs to be done. Then there is the upkeep of the property - mowing, mowing, and more mowing. Flowers have to be planted and flower beds weeded. The entire property needs barkdust. Weeds need to be removed from the lawn. Of course there is always sewing to be done also. We have dresses and pinafores to sew for all 4 girls. The 3 boys need vests. We have been sewing pantaloons and some slips. This is not quite done. The girls need bonnets for working outside. There are also a few additional dresses and jumpers to finish up. While it keeps my head spinning, I love it all. I love being a keeper of my home. Training up my children to work hard and help with the family responsibilities brings me great joy. Raising our own food and preserving the harvest enriches our lives. I love it all and the time spent on our homestead is a blessing. I hope your homestead is blessing you this holiday weekend. . . |
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The mixer went kaput the other day. The kids were shocked to hear bread had to be totally kneaded by hand now. It threw me for a loop to think about making cookies. I couldn't figure out how to mix the butter in. I kept thinking, "I know they made cookies before there were mixers." Funny how we get so ingrained in using tools of convenience that we forget the old ways. I finally figured it out - soften the butter first by leaving it on the counter. The food processor died today. Now we are without any really modern day convenience tools. Even though we rarely use them, we have gotten use to having them available for certain tasks. It was the same way when the microwave died. It took awhile to figure out some of the things we had grown accustomed to using the microwaved for. In the end we never replaced the microwave and most likely the mixer and food processor will not be replaced either. They never last anyways and just become garbage dump material. We have also given up elastic. The girls decided it bunched and pinched. They were never happy - it was too tight it was too loose. It has been replaced with drawstrings in things like slips and pantaloons. In some of their sleeves they decided they liked them loose better. I see other things where we are deciding old fashioned is better - clothes pins. The ones with the spring seem to break so quickly. What you have to know about giving up modern "conveniences" is that you have to plan ahead. Butter has to be softened, potatoes take a long time in the oven instead of the microwave, and bread kneading is a good 15 minutes of tiring work by hand. It is rewarding though; we like being old fashioned on our little homestead. |
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I am up early trying to do a quick order of chicks. We had the first batch of meat birds butchered this week and the second batch is growing nicely. For the second batch we got Cornish Roasters instead of the Jumbo Cornish X, and so far we are much happier. Those Jumbo ones just eat themselves into their graves before you can butcher them. We have found a nearby place that will butcher the birds and piece them up if we like. This makes raising chickens at home much more enjoyable. Now that is not to say we have not butchered our share of chickens, but it is one job we don't mind paying someone else to do. Our goal is to raise and butcher about 100 chickens for meat this year - averaging out to about 2 servings of chicken per week. We also need some more layers, but we may purchase an incubator and raise our own eggs. Happy homesteading . . .
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My family and I got to spend a short amount of time on a recent trip with Alaina from www.homesteadblogger.com/pearls4him/. We have seven kids and she has ten at home. Husbands and all, we were quite the crowd, but we hardly noticed. They so kindly put us up at their home and fed us. It was such a blessing, as any of you with farms know, to get away and spend a little time somewhere else. The most interesting part of our visit that I did not expect - all the ideas we came home with. One daughter spent time outside with Alaina's children tending the goats. She came home and built a grain box for our baby goats. She got the idea from the visit. I got tons of decorating ideas. Alaina may have to come visit and help me. DH and I got remodeling ideas. Alaina's family lives in a beautiful old historic farmhouse and my home is a more modern farmhouse, so we got some ideas about how to make it more old feeling. We even got ideas about our routine, as they are able to clean up from meals much faster by serving in the kitchen. Or maybe her kids just work faster than mine. :) Back at the farm we are busy preparing to open our farm stand. We are in the stage of mowing and beautifying so everything looks tidy and inviting. We are finishing some packaging and finalizing our logo. We still need to get the sign made. We have a few dry good items ready to sell as well as eggs, carrots, beets, greens, and onions. Our garden is going in. We are interplanting rows in order to get as much as possible from our space. We always seem to need more space so this year we are trying to put more in the same space. This weekend we should finish up most of the planting, accept for tomatoes, cukes, eggplants, peppers, and melons. I will keep these in the greenhouse a bit longer. Happy Mothers Day to everyone and I hope you enjoy it on your homestead . . . |
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I haven't been feeling well and neither were a couple of little ones. I was up most of the night with them. I treated everyone with homemade elderberry syrup and garlic oil on their chests and feet. Today there were a few extra cuddles but everyone is much better now. I am not sure what it was, but I seem to have held it a bay. School work is wrapping up and then we will be on break for a week. This is the end to our 3rd term this year. I am busy planning the next term and ordering books. It brings me such pleasure to hear the kids preparing for exams at the end of the week. They talk with such ease over the timelines of the Bible and historical events. They are learning so much with the addition of historical reading. Other subjects are also coming along fine. I have really learned that it is better to build up the amount of school work when beginning homeschooling. I thought we would never be able to finish this many subjects and this amount of work. However, the kids continue to improve and are able to take on more and more. For our short school break we are planning a little road trip. The kids are really excited. I had a lovely little stroll through the garden this afternoon. The strawberries are blossoming. The raspberries are filling out. The grapes are budding with leaves. Many garden veggies are growing. The fields are fully of lovely green. It is such a blessing to see. |
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Our state has the second highest unemployment in the country right now at over 12%. Officials expect it to continue to rise. The news is filled with bank robberies and thefts. The number of children in foster care is on the rise. Food banks are empty, foreclosures are increasing, and daily we hear of friends and neighbors who are suffering. Praise the Lord that he is in control. I believe that are we are headed for difficult times both personally and as a country. Despite the hardships and suffering around us I continue to see the Lords blessings in our life as we are faithful to his commandments. My prayer is that people will see this as a wake up call. Our nation's economy is built on consumption. We have to actually purchase and consume at levels above our income levels in order for our economy to grow. People are living above their means through debt. The government is afraid our economy will fail without the increase of debt. However, this goes against God's direction to us to avoid debt. We have debt, like many others, that we need to rid ourselves of. It is a constant reminder of bad choices and an unhealthy perspective of stuff. We are working on getting rid of it as soon as possible. I am often asked by people if our lifestyle is by choice or a matter of necessity - there being 9 of us and all. I tell them it is both. We discovered that it never mattered how much money we made but only how much we were able to avoid spending. Instead of trading our time for money, that we then traded for stuff; now we directly trade our time and hard work for the stuff. The best part of trading our time directly for stuff is that we are able to do it together as a family. The hard work of planting a garden, raising animals, milking, gathering eggs, canning, baking, making soap, etc, are activities that we do together as a family. We find joy in these activities and in doing them together. We find also find money savings in doing them. We also find it a challenge. We are excited by seeing if we can do it. How much of our food can we raise? How little can we spend at a store? I often just post a update on animals or the garden, but I hope you find it helpful in pursuing your own hoemsteading lifestyle. The lifestyle will give you so much more than just the food. It will give you time together as a family, a common goal, and reliance on the Lord instead of a reliance on the world. |
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You can only imagine how busy we are around here, thus the delays to my regular posting. The greenhouse is now functional and all the young plants have been moved. We have struggled with our tomato starts and seem to have lost more than usual. Overall though we are doing well with vegetable starts. Today we will have about 1/2 of the garden planted. This includes 300' onions, 150' of peas, 100' of garlic, 100' of spinach, 50' of broccoli, 50' of carrots, 20' of cabbage, 20' of cauliflower, and 20' of lettuce. Some of the other half is also planted with potatoes and onions. This is the first year I have planted this many onions, but I never have enough for storage and this year I hope to have enough for all winter. Asparagus will also be planted today. I fear I will run out of garden room this year before everything is planted. I will have to keep right on top of taking things out as soon as they are no longer productive and replace them with other things. I have also asked DH to think about expanding things slightly. We are hoping for enough for our little road stand. Strawberries are almost done being weeded and the herb garden is looking well. I have been gathering wild herbs and drying them. I continue to increase our use of God's natural healing plants. He is so wonderful to have supplied our needs so completely on this earth. Happy homesteading . . . |
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Well sometimes I sound like a broken record - busy, busy, busy. We sewed 4 dresses for the girls for resurrection Sunday on Friday evening and Saturday. We also finished new vests for 2 boys. The pattern was a modified, make-it-up thing and we were really happy with how they turned out. I also mowed and scrubbed down some things outside. I keep hoping Spring is right around the corner. I also closed up one of the chicken runs and began tilling it up. I want to "freshen" it up and after I am done tilling I will spread lime. It will rest for at least a month before I take them off the other run and do the same to it. I have been researching herbal medicine for animals. It is fascinating. I have learned alot and I am realizing how much I already knew. I have been researching and reading herbal handbooks for quite awhile, but it is such a mind set to think of treating with herbs instead. It is hard to shift my thinking, but I truly want to. The more I research and learn about homesteading in general, the more I realize how much knowledge as been lost from our ancestors. It is really a shame that we are trying to learn a ton of stuff that was common knowledge just two or three generations back. |
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Today has been a very typical Friday. We spent the morning baking and cooking. Alot of the focus on Saturday mornings is preparing for the Sunday sabbath. This morning we started the whole wheat and sourdough bread. I made spinach onion sourdough for the first time last week and it was delicious so I am making some more this week. I also drained the yogurt I made yesterday. My homemade yogurt never thickens as much as we like so I drain the whey off. Then we made pasta and baked a pie for Sunday supper tomorrow. We made a chocolate cake for dinner tonight. We made up the baked oatmeal with pears we will have for breakfast tomorrow morning, the soup for tomorrow's lunch, and the green bean casserole for tomorrow's dinner. I also finished a batch of granola. My daughters take turns baking bread every morning and the oldest also has baking time where she makes cookies, muffins, scones, crackers, etc. We are stocking up and putting things in the freezer so that as we head into summer we don't need to have the oven on as much. Tomatoes are being transplanted still and the greenhouse is still coming along. We have been doing some quilting and sewing this afternoon. Really a shame we didn't go outside and enjoy the sunshine but it seemed there were more pressing things. The goat milking is going well but they have lice. I guess I am going to have to dust them but I hate to put chemicals on them. If anyone has an idea for a more natural remedy, I would appreciate some ideas. Happy homesteading. . . |
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Our day is somewhat relaxed around here. We had breakfast and then I quilted while the girls knitted for about an hour. Then we went out and planted some more in the garden. I am spending a few moments recording what we planted and where it is. The bread is baking for lunch and as soon as it is finished we'll eat. So far we have planted - potatoes, peas, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, bok choi, onions, lettuce, beets, and carrots. I am concerned that we won't have enough room for everything. It seems like there is always more to plant and I am not always sure where to put it. After lunch the girls and I will make some soap, finish up the laundry, work on dinner, and clean the house. Tonight I am hoping to go to a friend's house to visit with some ladies. Tomorrow we have baking and cooking to do. We also need to organize some of our food stores. Happy homesteading. . .
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It seems like a late start this year to be just finally getting in the garden. We got an early plowing in, but it had been too wet to do any planting. Finally today we were able to work together as a family to plant 4 rows of potatoes, 1 row of garlic, and 3 rows of peas. Our rows are 50 feet each. We also weeded the strawberries and harvested a row of carrots. Last summer we planted several row of carrots and held one over for pulling from during the winter. It worked great and this year we will definately do it again. This year I will plant it closer to the outside of the garden so its not so hard to get to. The greenhouse should be finished by the end of March. We had to order some glass to finish it. We have put more money in it than one would hope, but if it increases our self-sufficiency it is well worth it. We ordered a special window that will open when it gets to a certain degree, but does not use power to operate. We also purchased a window for cross venilation, a door, some wood, cement blocks, and some concrete. I would venture it will cost us $600 when it is done. Still less than we would have spent to buy a pre-fab one. It is 10x12 and glass. I'll try to post a picture when it is done. It is a good thing the greenhouse is almost done, because my tomatoes and other seedlings are bursting. They need bigger pots and a sunny location. They were started under flourescent lights in the basement storage room. DD Abby, who is 9, has been taking care of them. She has done a fabulous job. I still have some luffa, lettuce, and celery to start this week. In other news . . . we are having a potluck at Church tomorrow so I am baking a pear pie, making sweet and sour meatballs, and a green bean casserole. I have to be creative as I have to cook from my stores. Tonight we are going to the Firemen's Banquet, as DH is a volunteer firemen. We got our first 25 baby chicks. They are meat birds. We have also ordered another 25 to come in a month. We will most likely get a total of 100 this year, but the later ones will be our favorite breed that make good layers as well as for eating. They will grow slow and we will be able to butcher them in the fall when the freezers are a little more empty. The baby goats will be weaned in another week so we are looking for a couple of bummer lambs to raise. I understand they will take goat's milk just fine. The baby pigs are getting big and hopefully the first 2 will be able to be butchered in another 6-8 weeks. Eating from the farm really requires you to stay on top of breeding and birthing times to make sure you have enough meat. We are down to only beef right now because the pig didn't take the first time we bred her. It seems like such a shame that we have lost the rhythm of farm life when people just knew when to do what so that it would all happen. Now we have to really plan and think about it. |
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I read an online posting recently regarding being a Proverbs 31 wife. It was referring to the passage about strengthening her arms. It went on to discuss getting up early to clean before the children wake up and how it do in a way that gets your heart and blood pumping. I thought, this is an exercise plan I can get behind. I remember when cleaning meant I worked up a good sweat. I love the feeling of moving, especially early in the morning. It just gets my entire day off to a good start. Before kids I use to wake up early every morning and walk and pray for 20 minutes power walking around our subdivision. But a few kids later, and now living in the country, I really struggle with having an exercise routine. I have tried walking our road, but it is usually dark and a little scary. I have tried walking our driveway, but it is also dark and not very interesting. I have tried joining the gym, but that is 20 minutes away and required having everything ready to go in the morning so I could get ready there. I have tried the home treadmill, but I spent all my time looking around at all the things I could be doing if I wasn't walking on the treadmill. This concept of cleaning as exercise excites me because it is productive and useful and also keeping with a homestead lifestyle. In the bygone era of the majority of people living on country homesteads, people did not exercise. They did not get up early to walk, run, or lift weights. They saw that daily activity in the necessity of survival. Our daily life requires much of the same physical demands. However, over time the older girls had taken on more of the physical labor around the house while I focused on more mental activities - homeschool planning, seed ordering, finances, etc. Occasionally Mom had to step in and show them how to get things done for major cleaning projects, but for the most part the household was on maintenance from daily chores. So I have taken the challenge, to return to the days of house cleaning. I have been getting up early or starting my days with 30 minutes of fast paced housecleaning. One room at a time I am crawling around wiping moldings and mopping floors, dusting, vacuuming, organizing, lifting furniture, washing windows, and ousting dirt. It feels good to be moving more. I plan on keeping it up and adding more useful physical activity to my life. |
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Yesterday I was able to get some things done outside - flower pots emptied, some strawberries weeded, some garbage picked up, etc. Today, it is raining. I feel like slipping in to hibernation. We have worked on our taxes. Then DH and I went to town to run a couple of errands. He needed a new guitar tuner and while we were at the music store he looked at a banjo. He is talking about saving up for one. We got a chance to talk about the kids' music lessons. Right now the girls are working on learning the piano and how to read music. I want to start our four-year-old on lessons but DH is not sure. I am finishing up the kids' lesson for next week. I got a few extra pairs of underwear and socks for the stocking up box when I went to town. I started a spreadsheet to keep track of what I have. I almost never have to buy clothes for the kids. People give me things here and there, which I store away until needed. The only things I have to buy are shoes, underwear, socks, and dress material.
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Today we are working on catching up laundry, making cheese, baking, and the other usual tasks. My focus is on our homeschool plan. I am outlining the four year plan that we will be rotating through. My outline is to make sure that we are covering enough material to get through all topics in 4 years. The children will keep rotating through the 4 year plan doing more advanced work each time they cover a subject. They will do work at the elemntary, junior high, and high school level for each subject. I have put together a program that fits our needs and accomplishes what our homeschooling vision is. I have 3 homeschooling goals:
We were using a variety of books and working through them, but they were not accomplishing the goals. The material seemed disjointed - what we were studying for one childs history was different than anothers and what we were studying in history was not connected to the any other studies. So I decided to pray about it. I was lead to follow the simplicity of goal one - use the Bible as our base. I started looking for a program that would take us through the Bible connecting all of the subjects from there, but unfortunately I was not able to find one. So I designed my own program and purchased materials to support it. I purchased The Mystery of History which works through history chronologically incorporating both Biblical history with other historical accounts of what is happening at the same time. I also bought an art book that covers art in the same chronological fashion. The children do not cover all subjects every day, nor every week, but in a 10-week term they cover history, Bible, geography, math, grammar, writing, literature, science, and government. I create projects that tie more than one subject together like a report on what life in Egypt would be like during the time the Israelites were slaves. This covers their history, geography, literature, Bible, and writing. I may have them practice their cursive by writing out their memory verse and then grammar by underlining verbs and circling nouns. For this they found they had to use a dictionary also. We are finding this program to be very fulfilling. I get to be creative, but also fall back on established texts. The children get a lot of variety. I am not concerned if we don't cover a subject in enough detail because we will study it again. It is connected and follows a logical progression. I will say that I do not do alot of grading. We found that grading missed the point and created busy work that took away from what we really wanted to do. DH grades math. I review the other assignments for completion and point areas for improvement. At the end of each term the children put together a portfolio and make a presentation to the family at a special meal that they cook that covers one of the cultures studied that term. I hope your homestead is a great learning opportunity . . . |