I found this on YouTube and I loved it and the girls were fascinated. It's not made for adults... it was made by the two little homeschooled girls to show other kids that they can do useful things. I loved it because the girls are the same ages as my girls. I think this type of video is a great example of giving kids responsibility.
I bought all my homeschool "curriculum" type books today, via Powells. I couldn't believe it, but I found a classic KONOS Volume 1 on there for $30. When used they are still around $50, and new they go for at least $100, I feel like I got a great deal. There was only one copy, so sorry anyone else, I got it.
There is not much that gives me a bigger thrill than buying a book, but buying a used book of something that I really wanted is just a huge adrenaline rush for me. Just being in a library is like being a kid in a candy store, and the epitome of that experience for me was being a kid and going to Powell's books in Portland. It is so huge, and I found so many things that I wanted and I just never saw anywhere else. Not to mention they have the best customer service around. I think that at 12 years old, going there was better than our trip to Disneyland. At least it stuck in my mind more. lol
So I was going to go with R.E.A.L. Science, which is appropriate for grade 1 or 2, and has lots of hands-on projects, but after reviewing the content of some more advanced programs I've realized I need to challenge Annie even more. She already knows this stuff.
Source: Janice Szabos as quoted in "The Gifted and Talented Child," Maryland Council for Gifted & Talented Children, Inc. P.O. Box 12221, Silver Spring, MD 20908Comparison of Bright vs Gifted
Bright Child Gifted Child Knows the answers. Asks the questions. Interested. Extremely curious. Pays attention. Gets involved physically and mentally. Works hard. Plays around, still gets good test scores. Answers questions. Questions the answers. Enjoys same-age children. Prefers adults or older peers. Good at memorization. Good at guessing. Learns easily. Bored. Already knew the answers. Listens well. Shows strong feelings and opinions. Self-satisfied. Highly critical of self (perfectionistic).
This week was a busy errand week, with the kids running around helping us with shopping, getting a new phone, etc. So I suppose in that way that had to help us do grown-up things and with some work that we did.
They both played on SesameStreet.org which has a new design that is much easier for little kids to maneuver and figure out, as well as classic Sesame Street clips that play in a 'player'. It's my favorite kid's site since the games are all focused around categorizing, life skills, numbers and letters.
Annie made scrambled eggs for us again, with rice milk this time and they tasted great.
Today we took apart a cell phone and looked at all the parts and they connect together. Our favorite part was the buttons, which are fun to play with since they are really just a single rubber form on top of a little electronic connection board.
They played Sounds of the Seashore, from the Cranium people, which wasn't working and Annie figured out why and fixed it, and then taught her sister how to work it.
I had a bit of a homeschooling panic attack this week, realizing that I was unschooling and had absolutely nothing 'planned' for the year. Last year we did a structured preschool for about half the year, where I planned every day and recorded it all. When I get KONOS we are going to focus on the character traits and do what we are interested in. It's still really hard to let go though, and trust the learning process. I should know better too, because I've done it and been that child.
The only things I did this week to get ready for school (besides make my list) was to organize the house and clean up so that we have a kind of learning-conducive room with an art corner with a drop cloth, and make a notebook in Pages to put our family mission statement, a daily routine and other notes for myself.
This used to be a recipe for supposedly 2 people, but I've tripled it to serve 4 as many pancakes as they can eat plus some for a snack for the kids later.
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoon sugar (I used brown sugar)
6 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups soymilk or rice milk
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
Mix the dry ingredients, then add the milk and oil and mix until it is just a bit lumpy (don't overmix). Cover the frying pan in vegetable oil and fry on both sides. I tend to add vegetable oil between each panful of pancakes so the edges get crispy.
After the chaos that we have descended into this summer and the relative chaos of our children's behavior as a result, we are still unschooling but it in a much more organized way. I realized that we have a daughter that can't function without a routine of some kind and we need to go with that. I also go braindead when faced with a day in which we just go with life willy-nilly based on whatever my kids are asking me, often at a dizzying pace. They often don't think of stuff to keep occupied or constructive of course, and I have a type-A personality that can't stand sitting around. I am always busy and my kids are even more so, and when there's nothing planned they strip naked and run around screaming. Which is fine sometimes, but not 24 hours a day.
I have been researching the possible medical symptoms of traumatic birth, especially the use of the vacuum suction (which is what happened with Annie). Surprisingly, I learned that many of the symptoms in children who have been through this type of birth have been reversed by chiropractors by simply repairing damage to the spine caused by doctors pulling on a baby's head. Pulling just puts too much pressure on an infant's spine. Reading about it all made me sick, but this Montana chiropractic center had a nice evaluator for children (read the description and then click the link at the bottom of the page) and gave me some hope that perhaps her behavior has a solution: http://www.wellnessmontana.com/Traumatic_Birth_Syndrome.html
So I went on a little rant the other day about ways people think they are being green and doing earth friendly stuff, but really aren't. So it's only fair to give my top 10, easy ways to be green, things that I do all the time list:
I am an artist. I paint, I draw, I've worked professionally as an artist for many years and gave it up for a while because it takes (a)spare time in which you don't care about making money and (b)an emotional state in which you can empty your mind and give creatively to a project.
Friends, books, a garden, and perhaps his pen,
Delightful industry enjoy'd at home,
An Nature, in her cultivated trim
Dress'ed to his taste, inviting him abroad -
Can he want occupation who has these?
- William Cowper, The Task, 1780
I'm in Vancouver this week, working at cleaning. It's tough for me to leave the girls for a few days, but at the same time, once a month it's good for them to stay at Grandpa's and they love it. They like going there, but I miss them, even though it's nice to spend time with John.
I saw this at Lizzie's Home World:
A ~Aprons--y/n If y, what does your fav. look like?
I am usually in jeans or a skirt and a t-shirt, but I have an apron I made. It is a light green cotton print with white flowers and vines scrolling around on it. It ties around the neck and has a curved hem at the bottom... very 1950's.
B ~ Baking--Favorite thing to bake?
Pie. I make bread too but I haven't really been able to get into the zen of kneading dough. I just have this love of pastry that makes pie my favorite.
C ~ Clothes line?
We're renting and can't install one but when we move I plan to get an indoor clothes drying rack as well as a clothesline, because we are going to eliminate our dryer use.
D ~ Donuts--Have you ever made them?
I LOVE donuts, and I used to have a deep fryer and realized if I taught myself to make donuts then my dedication to healthy eating would be shot.
E ~ Everyday--One homemaking thing you do everyday?
I tidy up every day. I also do all that other stuff like cooking, but in the late afternoon I zip around the house and straighten it up so that everyone feels comfortable and cozy for the evening.
F ~ Freezer--Do you have a separate deep freeze?
Someday. No room yet.
G ~ Garbage Disposer?
Nope, we compost instead.
H ~ Handbook--What is your favourite homemaking resource?
My own book, lol (see top right corner). When I wrote my book it started out as a notebook of all the things I read about and wanted to do, and I refer to it all the time for home remedies or if I need to make something we need. Second up would be The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.
I ~ Ironing--Love it or Hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
I don't believe in ironing, but it is a necessary evil since we try to avoid synthetics and sometimes you just have to look nice. Actually my husband does his own because he's better at it than me. I only do it for a white linen skirt I have if I really need to dress up.
J ~ Junk Drawer--y/n? Where is it?
There used to be, and now it's all in a plastic bucket. It's quite useful actually... rubber bands, screwdrivers, tape, Post-Its, lost keys, screws, pencils...
K ~ Kitchen--color and decorating scheme.
I haven't ever gotten to decorate in that way. However, the items in my home are always natural materials like wood or glass, and we are kind of minimalist so there's not much laying around. The art in my home is either my own paintings and drawings or from someone else in my family.
L ~ Love--what is your favorite part of homemaking?
I wish I could say cooking, but my favorite part is being home, lol. Once I've done my work I can work on craft and writing projects. I consider home education part of my homemaking too... it's just a natural extension of the things I do around here during the day.
M ~ Mop--y/n?
No... I use a rag with water and organic orange oil. Hands and knees and lots of elbow grease.
N ~ Nylons, machine or hand wash?
Nylons are not only uncomfortable and impossible to take care of, they are made of a form of plastic, and I get allergic to them. My legs get cold though, so sometimes I wear black tights (like the kind little girls wear), but now I've started wearing long skirts in the winter and can get away with leggings.
O ~ Oven--do you use the window or open the oven to check?
I have to see it in person. In fact, I'm a bit of a compulsive oven door opener.
P ~ Pizza--What do you put on yours?
I love artichoke hearts and spinach. Since my family isn't big on that, the other half is just pesto and cheese.
Q ~ Quiet--What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
I surf the internet, or read.
R ~ Recipe Card Box--y/n? What does it look like?
I don't keep recipes anymore... I had a collection and got water spilled on it and molded, so now the only thing I have is a couple of favorite bread recipes on paper scraps tucked into my favorite cookbook. Otherwise they come from the internet.
Style of house--What style is your house?
If I could have my own house, it would be either an old 1920's bungalow or a Victorian farmhouse. OR, a cob house. Right now it's just a normal fairly new house and eventually it will be a townhouse.
T ~ Tablecloths or Placemats?
Nothing. What's the point when you have kids? Someday I would like to, but I am messy too so maybe it's still not worth it.
U ~ Under the kitchen sink--organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized and not much is in there. Just baking soda, some towels, orange cleaner.
V ~ Vacuum--How many times per week?
We're not home that much in the summer, so maybe once every week (or two weeks). We don't wear shoes in the house and we only live in two rooms so it's not that bad. In the winter it's once a week.
W ~ Wash--How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
At least four. We each only have enough clothes to fill a laundry basket heaping full, and we wear clothes until the armpits smell, instead of changing every day. This saves me lots of work, and lots of water.
X's--Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Sometimes. Not as much as I used to, but if the list is greater than five I have to write it down. Sometimes just writing it out helps me remember.
Y ~ Yard--y/n? Who does what?
We haven't really ever had yard work to be done, but gardening is usually me, and mowing is John.
ZZZ's--what is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Nothing... when we get tired I just stop what I'm doing and leave it for the next day. I try to clean up a little in the afternoon, so the house isn't really messy. Usually the last thing we do is have a cup of herbal tea together.
Our current composting method is nothing like what I would like to do, but fortunately compost is not rocket science. There is such a thing, however, as a compost pile that doesn't stink. For now we are using two of those tall skinny black plastic bins like this one:
Notice the breastfeeding moms? Isn't is strange to think that this is us, so long ago? This is the Korubo tribe who live in the Amazon basin. Actually that's not their real name, as 'korubo' is insulting, their actual name (Caceteiro) means something along the lines of 'man with a club'. All the tribes in the region call themselves after the weapons they use. What if we still did that today? Would we have little groups called, 'People of the Computer' or 'Man with SUVs'?
I have a real fascination with living history, especially people who 'do living history' full time. There is such a thing as a living history farm or museum, in which paid reenactors demonstrate history by living it 9-5, and then go home to their modern home at night. Or maybe they were on a reality television show like 1900 House. But what if it didn't end? That's why I'm such a fan of Tasha Tudor, and the Amish, among other groups. I found a few videos on YouTube of people who have made it a lifestyle:
Part of a documentary about Tasha Tudor. The video is in Japanese but if you wait Tasha starts talking and it gets interesting.
This couple just loves the Roaring 20's:
Here is some video of Mennonites who live in Belize:
I took The Birth Survey today (I started it this morning and 12 hours later completed it). I wish I could have contributed more to the results, but I like the organization conducting it. They are trying to fight for mother's right to information about birth intervention. For those of you who don't know what that is, if you had pitocin, or an episiotomy, or a fetal monitor strapped to your belly, or if the doctor tried to hurry the delivery of the placenta by pulling on it, then you've experienced an intervention. What most women don't realize in a hospital situation is that you have a right to choose whether or not to have those things done, and that statistics show that interventions hurt you and the baby more than they help. They may be 'routine', but they are not what's best for mom or baby, they are measures of convenience for the hospital.
So what's a better classroom than a roadtrip? All things considered, we actually didn't do very much in Montana, at least none of those touristy things that people do there. The girls have been on quite a few long car rides and although they complain, they are able to sit for a while without too much trouble with plenty of books and drawing supplies.
We got back from Montana last night, and we crashed at John's sister's. We called her cell phone from her house phone to let her know we were staying the night, and it completely freaked her out, which was hilarious.
Live free, child of the mist,
-- and with respect to knowledge we are all
children of the mist.
-Thoreau
So I'm a bit bored and I started wondering what it would take to have that ecological footprint come out as 1 earth only? How would we have to live, with a family of four, in a small 2-3 bedroom house with 1000-1500 square feet?
So lets suppose that we had an opportunity to let John go back to school in Utah, but we had to live in a suburban neighborhood to do it, instead of being here in Montana for a few years running a sustainable farm. What would our ecological footprint be like in comparison?
I used the calculator at myfootprint.org, which is quite detailed and accurate for many geographic locations.
Living in Utah we would not have to have a car because of the extensive transit system in the area and we would also use bikes and trailers extensively. There are also many farmer's and organic markets and food is cheaper so our diet would be very sustainable.
In Montana we would have to have a very large vehicle, probably a Suburban, so we would be using way more gas.
Both state's power companies offer a renewable energy option (Rocky Mountain Power through their Blue Sky program, and Northwestern through a Green product), which allow us to purchase as much or as little green power as we want. It doesn't actually go to our house necessarily, but we pay for solar or wind technology credits.
The results of this comparison were very surprising. In a suburban neighborhood in Utah we would have a global footprint of 2.22 earths or 86 acres (the national average is 246 acres). If you're not familiar with this, it's a calculation based on your consumption and energy use of how much land it takes to support your lifestyle.
In Montana, if we had a rainwater catchment system and our farm, we would be using 1.94 earths, or 75 acres of land. So the difference between living in Utah and living in Montana on a sustainable farm is only 11 acres, and still more than it should be (everyone should only be using 1 earth).
It's a good thing we came to Montana on vacation because we've been able to work out all the issues. The biggest issue is that we don't own this place and they could very well sell it. Also we probably shouldn't be living off the graciousness of my family for more than a few years, and so we would be right back where we started. I have also become much more aware that most people can't buy land. Land is expensive, and it's not practical for many people. I have come to believe that urban homesteading is the most self-sufficient and feasible way to solve several problems: preparedness in case of disasters, reducing dependence on petroleum, and climate change.
The other thing that we became aware of is how little land is needed to support our family. The garden plan we created could theoretically feed 100 or more people with vegetables and herbs for the year. We only really needed at the most 10-20 boxes for ourselves. Everything in my homesteading book, besides large livestock like cows, can be done on less than an acre.
I got a book yesterday at Borders called Organic Farming: Everything You Need to Know. It's by Peter Fossel, who started an organic farm when he lost his job, and now makes a living from the earth. While relatively short compared to some farming books (158 pages), it has full color photos of examples and farms which make it a nice read.
We went outside at about midnight last night (partly because our sleeping schedule is pretty far out of wack and we wake up at about 10:30 am) and watched the stars and talked. It's far enough away from town that you can see one of the arms of the Milky Way, and you are pretty much guaranteed to see a few shooting stars, so we had a little contest to see who could see the most.
You would think that this would have caused me to be stunted socially in some way, unable to talk to a variety of people or maybe make me a hermit. I went to college when I was 16 and had no problem talking to people or dealing with my teachers but often found my biggest social problem was from people treating ME differently. They had all been conditioned to only deal with people their own age, and they were unable to treat me as an equal. I see this as a result of being in a classroom and getting most of their interaction with their peers. Even though I talked only to my parents and my brother and sister, I see everyone as an equal and I treat them as such. I have almost no trouble with preconceived notions of people or passing judgements on individuals. In fact I only became aware that people did that much later in my early 20's, so perhaps homeschooling only made me a bit naive.
One thing we also did was volunteer and visit nursing homes so we are comfortable being around the elderly, and when I was 12 we become library volunteers and managed some of the children's programs that encouraged reading. So even though I didn't necessarily hang out with kids my own age, I hung out with adults all the time and this was a huge benefit to me. It's not to say I don't have my problems and I still get nervous sometimes but I still think I have an advantage other people didn't get.
In the end it's not the socialization that is the danger in homeschooling, its the brainwashing, for lack of a better word. I was exposed to a variety of ideas but the outlook on life was very programmed into me and I was so naive that when I went into the world I questioned everything I had ever been taught. Now as I homeschool my own girls I teach them to question everything and make that decision for themselves. They are exposed to things that I would never have been exposed to and was unprepared for. Dealing with people is the easy part.
The other day John and I walked the garden and figured out how big it actually is. We didn't have a long enough tape measure so we used John's foot, which is about 12 inches. As it turns out, the area is 285'x 120', a total of 34,200 square feet. An acre is 43,560 square feet so it's not quite an acre. It's still way more garden area than we expected. We plan to cut it in half. The front half will be raised beds built with non-pressure-treated wood. There will be 7 rows of boxes with a 5' walkway between and a 10' driveway in the middle if we need to get a truck in. Each row will have 28 boxes, and each box is 4'x8' or 32 square feet. The total raised bed area is 4,416 square feet. They will have veggies and herbs, all of them non-hybrid, all organic, and we will plan them out so that they will be companion planted. So each box is going to have a variety of plants (which means we will have to have a very detailed map of each box as well). The first year we are going to try just about everything... lots of green veggies like kale, and many herbs for cooking, teas and medicinal. We are going to have plenty left over to take to the farmer's market and give to family and friends.
The back half of the garden will still be rows, but it will be corn, pumpkins, and root vegetables like potatoes. On the north side of the garden we will be putting in a greenhouse, hopefully about 200 square feet. The greenhouse is vital in extending the growing season, which is only about 5 months. If we can get two more months, we can do the tomatoes and other long-season plants much better. We will also extend the season by putting plastic hoop houses over the raised beds to warm the soil, and doing succession planting. I'm doing a big graph paper picture of the whole thing and it should take a while but when it's done I'll post it (although it might change over time).
The other thing I was wondering is if we could replace the wood heat stove in the trailer we will live in, with a wood cookstove. My book has a huge section on cooking on a woodstove, building the fire, etc. The problem is, and something I hadn't really considered, is that in the summer gets really hot in Montana. Cooking on a woodstove in the summer would be miserable, but I suppose I could do all my summer cooking on a barbecue or solar oven. If we could eliminate our electric stove, we would be down to a washing machine, lights, the pump for the well, and charging the laptop. That's probably the mimimum we could live with comfortably, and feasible to power with solar and wind.
Besides garden planning and staying up late playing board games and contemplating living without electricity, we went on a little hike yesterday with my dad and new stepmom. We built a fire and cooked veggie burgers, sat around and then went on the Trail of the Cedars. It's a handicap-accessible hike with a boardwalk through the forest. They have little observation places to see different features, like cedars that fell over and waterfalls off the rocks. It also goes past the Avalanche Creek gorge which is a neat waterfall that has cut through the rocks. Bears are still a concern even on such a well-traveled hike, so it was tough for me to just let the girls run on ahead and tell them once to stay where they could see me. I kept reminding them even when they weren't out of sight, and of course eventually they disregarded the whole thing and took off. When will I break those habits? lol
We went to the health food store the other day and bought a little glass teapot and a set of different kinds of Chinese flowering tea by Numi. Most of them are white teas, and one is a black tea. White tea is made of the same stuff as green tea, but hasn't been fermented. They just take the young leaves and dry them, while green tea is roasted and black tea is fermented. White tea has more anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties than the other two kinds, and I have to say I like the flavour better too.
All of these teas come from the Camellia Sinensis plant, which is also the source of tea tree oil which I use all the time. It's easiest to start these from cuttings and needs warmth and humidity (it can tolerate Zone 8). It's not that difficult to care for but you have to wait three years before you can start harvesting the leaves, and prune carefully in the spring if necessary.
More for our discussion on raised beds.
A neat point that is shared in this video is the use of PVC pipe in tandem with the raised beds to lengthen the growing season by creating a mini greenhouse. I also liked the use of the beds as cages in the off season.
Dave gives a great instructional video on raised beds and why they are great. I'm leaning towards this no till method still, despte all the great comments to the opposite, partly because I'm a big fan of Masanobu Fukuoka, author of Natural Way of Farming (it's out of print so if you have one, count yourself lucky!).
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