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Jul
7
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Posted by Homeschool_Dad
July 7, 2007 |
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One of the things I hate about library computers is the timer at the top of the page..it makes me hurry and make more spelling mistakes than normal. Hopefully we will have internet back at the house soon..there are several blogs that I have on my fvorite places that Iwant to share with you and I can’t get to them here. 
So, you all ready know I am a firm believer in life-schooling…it is always funny when the kids’ sunday school/kids church teachers ask my kids what they are doing since school is out..they are doing all the same things as when school is in! Once in awhile we call a free for all day and toss academics and non-vital chores out the window and head to the creek to swim or just lay around and watch movies..but everyone gets bored with much of that..
Today we moved our 6 week old barred rock chicks outside. They have been housed in the office, and it was starting to smell ..bad. Really bad. In order to move the chicks out we had to re-fence the old buck pen because the bucks have been enjoying the chicken pen since a tree fell on the buck pen…then we had to move them..then clean the chicken coop that the bucks had been using as housing..phew..then we had to figure out how to fence the chicks into a smaller space that they could not slip out of and that the raccoons could not slip into. I used the orange vinyl emergency fencing that you can get at home depot and some plastic t posts and that did the trick.
So we learned. We learned to problem solve and we learned that when mom forgets sunscreen her shoulders turn lobster red and hurt. 
After lunch, and checking on Daddy, who is still on painkillers and bedrest (hey -that would be a great name for a blog, wouldn’t it??) we took a quick break and watched a show on PBS on how to make your house more *green*. Today’s show was on collecting rain water and I really am fascinated with that concept. if I haven’t mentioned..we are restoring a 4300 sq ft farm house that is 100 years old and had been abandoned…If you go to Pecan Knoll Farm and click on the link on the first page it should take you to some pictures of the house. It is coming along..but we have been working on it 4 years. I am interested in sustainable agriculture and building practices..as well as self sufficiency. I was interested in it back int he 70’s when all of us hippies wanted to move somewhere and homestead. It seems most people grew out of it..I did not.
Anyway..so as I learned about collecting rain water they did too. And we have decided to collect some information on that and see about building a container and putting up gutters. As I was thinking about the learning and research that would be involved I realized that it would encompass many subjects including engineering and physics, history, geography, meterology, and hands on building practice. Even my four year old was asking questions. And I was reminded of the little calendars they do in elementary school where you mark a happy sun if it is sunny and a cloud if it is cloudy and a rain drop if it is rainy…I think we are moving beyond that.
I believe kids will meet our expectations…it is just that so often we set them so low. The things we say,the things we do all show our children what we think they can accomplish. The power of life and death is certainly in the tongue and when we underestimate our children’s abilities we do them a great disservice.
Have a blessed weekend.
Comments
I was born in the wrong decade, I’m a misplaced hippy. LOL I also use an old bucket to collect the water that runs waiting for the shower or sink to heat up. We’ve got an old water heater that takes a while to get the water hot and to us. To the colelcted water is used to mop the floors, water the plants, and soak dirty diapers in before I wash them.
[…] posts touch a spot in my heart. Tree hugging hippie that I am, I just could not let a post titled Living and Learning Green pass me by. This is a great post that not only gives you a peak into the life of a homeschooling […]
Summer-
Doesn’t it give you a feeling of satisfaction though? You just feel good about what you are doing!