Wanna Be a Steader!

LESSON PLANNER: Teaching LIfe Skills in Our 'Real World' Homeschools ~ Part 2

{Continued from Part 1)

The Dilemma

     Inititally, when I imagined the "perfect" unit study to help me teach life skills to my daughters, I had in mind something with more hands-on time.  FAR is an excellent resource and couldn't have been better put together, but it is nearly all research and reading, very little actual hands-on for what I had in mind.  Now what do I do?

     Once again I set out and looked through all of my catalogs, searched the Internet, and bugged my friends who have a similar educational philosophy.  A resource that kept popping up was Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home (TOD).  For a little while there was a problem -- at first publication TODwas a multi-volume, expensive resource.  As I did some more probing, I discovered that Ann Ward (Smiling Hearts Press) had done an ingenious thing.  She had taken all of the material from TOD and put it onto a CDRom!  This not only knocked down the cost of the product, but now, as the user, we can simply copy off the portions that we want and create our own life skills notebook.  What an incredible idea!  I, for one, couldn't have been more grateful.

     Now, while FAR, is a four-year life skills unit study, Training Our Daughters is a seven-year life skills unit study.  What FAR is in research, TOD is in hands-on.  Mrs. Ward has generously laid out the framework for all seven years, along with the anticipated number of weeks invovled in each course of study -- each year is about 36 weeks.  Again, remember -- this is your school, your study, and your children -- YOU are in charge of how you use this or any other curriculum.

     Ann Ward has given a summary of each project by category, unit, and year.  For instance, each year covers godly womanhood, sewing, cooking, gardening, knitting and other home arts, and each area is expanded and further explored each year.  This can be a great asset to a family that has already mastered some of the categories offered, as you can then move on to the level that best challenges your students.  Through the years you will also cover such womanly life skills as Care for Children and the Edlerly, Care for the Sick and Injured, Hospitality, Card Making, Family Finances, Raising Animals, Soap and Candlemaking, Childbearing, Women's Health Issues, and Home Business, among others.

     As this unit study is so hands-on, you will find very thorough directions -- many with pictures -- to help teach some of the skills.  So, even if you don't knit, you may still successfully get your daughter off on the right foot, simply by following the directions.

     Let me tell you what we have done -- our family has combined these two great unit studies!  And what has come out of it has been large notebooks -- one for each of our daughters -- full of basic and necessary life skills.  As we have been learning, we have been collecting our information in those notebooks.  Our daughters will take these books with them throughout their lives to refer to time and time again.  These books contain directions for knitting, cooking (we have added all sorts of great recipes -- both those suggested in the study and our own family favorites!), child care, elderly care, making funeral arrangements, how to recognize good gemstones, home remedies, basic family medical care, stamping and card making, marriage and courtship ... yep, they're BIG notebooks!  But just think of the tresure of skills and knowledge they will have that will benefit their own families.

Honorable Mention  

     I can't let you go without mentioning another valuable resource.  How many of you had a mom or grandma who kept a book chock-full of her favorite recipes, cleaning know-how, patterns, family records -- Grandma's "go-to" book?

     Martha Greene has put together just such a book!  Her Treasury of Vintage Homekeeping Skills has been put together with Grandma's go-to book in mind.  If you would like to start the traditoin of a life skills notebook for your children or teens -- boys, too! -- this would be a great place to start and then add to.

     Martha has included chapters covering Homekeeping, Hospitality, Home Duties, First Aid in the Home, Gardening, Cooking & Baking, Reserves for the Family, Handiwork, Business of the Home, and Family Records.  You can even design your own family crest and familiy creed.

     I was so excited when I found out about this book!  This was exactlly what I had in mind when we began our own life skills notebooks.  Martha has done such a great job.  You just know that this was a labor of love, a labor of her heart, as it should have been and as yours will be.

All Good Things 

     Life skills is such an important lesson to teach our children.  It's an on-going, never-ending school of life.  While academics are important, we must not forget to include the things that our children will need their whole lives through.  What good are the best academics if they can't help you change the oil in your car?  A well-rounded education makes for a well-rounded person -- ready to take life by the horns and hang on for the ride!

Contacts:  

Far Above Rubies:  www.farandblessed.com/FAR.shtml or through TOS contributor the Urban Homemaker at www.urbanhomemaker.com.  Also through Farm Country General Store at www.homeschoolfcgs.com.

Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home:  Smiling Hearts Press, PO Box 130, Imbler, OR 97841, or through the Urban Homemaker.

Treasury of Vintage Homekeeping Skills:  www.marmeeskitchen.com. 

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