50 replies to this topic

[MichR]

We do the same thing nmchick! For entertainment, we love to go for Sunday afternoon drives. We pull out the maps, each kid gets one and they decide when we go (within reason! haha!!) and give DH directions. We try to get the county maps because they have more detail. This way the kids have an aerial view (maps) to connect to the "live" view and hopefully their "map database" in their heads keep growing.

Michelle

[Jingles]

We went to the zoo this weekend and I talked to the kids about the Pygmy goats. I showed them which ones were with child. They were fascinated. They kept looking and pointing and asking what about that one how about that one. At the end they could tell which ones were really with child. he he I personally had a blast watching the baby prairie dogs. They act just like my children I mean JUST like them...made wonder if I gave birth to two talking prairie dogs?

[Cecilia]

It's so easy to ride in a car (or follow mom around the grocery) without really paying attention to where you are.

Ain't that the truth. When I finally got my driver's license at the age 20, I had to ask my dad for the directions to my grandmother's ranch. I'd been going there since before I was born.

[Stephanie]

I am soooo dierctionally challenged, I have to drive it myself or I have no idea where I'm going (and that doesn't always work!)

This week I've been teaching my children lots of stuff (and learning it right alon with them).

Oldest ds and I are perfecting the skill of making Dinner Rolls from scratch (not grinding the grain *yet*). He is so excited to make them for my mom when he's visiting there in a few weeks. They rival the O'charley's yeast rolls! Wow! BTW he is 14 . I should add that he is using the Bread machine to process the dough, but he knows eventually we will want to do that ourselves as well.

He still has to measure properly, follow directions carefully, clean up after himself, figure out times to know WHEN (good practice for him), work with fractions and ratios to determine how many rolls per batch and per person, be attentive and focused when dealing with the oven, patience while waiting for the rising,etc...

These are all issues that he needs improvement in and it's working like a charm. He's a child who likes to go directly from point A to point Z without all the steps in between. This has been a great challenge in math processes, I once told him that math had recipes too and some steps just have to be followed. So, I'm pleased to see that he is taking step by step to accomplish these delicious rolls.

[beavercreekmom]

We have been having the three youngest children making"campfires" in the side yard. They think they are for roasting marshmallows and we do, but what skills they are learning! Last summer they were afraid to strick a match.

So far I have weaned them off of using Daddy's wood for the cookstove and have them gathering their own. Next will be using natural tinder to start the fire and not paper and cardboard.

[Stephanie]

While we were out in the goat yard sitting in the shade yesterday I taught my four youngest children the Rules of Three for survival. This led to much discussion and learning.

You can only survive

3 seconds without thinking ( discussed why panicking is counter productivein any and every emergency or crisis)

3 minutes without breathing (discussed crawling under smoke, wearing masks, etc...)

3 hours without shelter ( discussed different types of shelter - not to hide in the house during a fire for instance)

3 days without water (discussed why water was more important than food)

3 weeks without food (explained how this varies, but that food is NOT the most important prep)

We all discussed preps not on this list, like protection, stealth, hugging a tree, etc...


I found this article that also adds, 3 months without hope.

http://www.survivalt...rule-of-threes/

[Stephanie]

One of the best tools that i have found in teaching my children is to do so in varied environments and in such a casual way, that they have no idea they are being taught something. FUNSCHOOL!

We often have Pool School , going over rote memory things like math facts, etc...

Yesteday we had one of our Walk -n- Talks. We walk all around the yard, the pond, etc... and talk as we go. The subject of our discussion yesterday was the word OBSERVANT and what it means and how it is done. We'll work on this a lot more. I've been thinking about it a lot since the thread that MtRider recently started.

We played a couple of games. Everyone look all around, now close your eyes and see who can answer this question??? Then I'd say, how many bikes are laying on the ground instead of standing up ?? or such as that... Worked pretty well.

Then we talked about not just looking close around us but looking as far as our eyes could see. Another game developed from that.

I am not an observant person, so this was a good exercise for me as well. Hopefully we all learned to be more Observant.

[farmgirlwannabe]

We played a couple of games. Everyone look all around, now close your eyes and see who can answer this question??? Then I'd say, how many bikes are laying on the ground instead of standing up ?? or such as that... Worked pretty well.

Then we talked about not just looking close around us but looking as far as our eyes could see. Another game developed from that.

I am not an observant person, so this was a good exercise for me as well. Hopefully we all learned to be more Observant.

That is a wonderful idea! I am going to have to try that one with the kids!

[Fullpantry]

My oldest daughter is learning to drive the tractor and cut, rake, bale and haul hay.

My youngest daughter is learning to do a lot of cooking from scratch this summer.

Both are learning to sort and wash laundry, and hang it on the line.

[Stephanie]

Oh my!! We didn't teach our children a single thing for the whole month of July!!!

Must be so busy teaching/learning that we forgot to post about it...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We have been busy indeed as we increase the gardening skills, cooking skills, etc... Our latest project has been to learn to make moccasins...we're still in the process of trial and error. We bought a bunch of leather coats from the thrift store and plan to use them for our leather.

We are trying this one piece moccasin, so far we just made it out of soft fabric, but the concept really does work. here's the link

http://www.nativetec...n/mocinstr.html

[Vic303]

Today we reinforced the lesson of "Do not poke the snapping turtle!" at the local drainage park. Lotta ditch parks in NTX ya know... We also confirmed the location and identification of a Brown Turkey Fig tree and that the fruits are in fact edible. We also said hi to the wild beehive we walk past regularly. Now if only I could figure out a way to get at the honey in that wild hive...it's inside a stone fence support.

[Leah]

Next time the bee hive divides give the bees an easy spot to build in, and voila!

[Stephanie]

A couple of weeks ago I started attending an old fashioned Sewing Bee on Tuesday nights at my church. It is wonderful.

As I'm learning I'm teaching my children. They are learning simple crochet and also making rags rugs (or attempting to) and how to thread a needle, tie a knot and basic hand sewing. This will be an ongoing project.

This school year I plan to incorporate learning to sew using the machine, threading it properly and making bobbins...etc...

I should have paid more attention when my mom was learning when I was a girl...I'm making sure my kids do.

[Stephanie]

We had two little chicks born (our first homegrown) and we've learned together all about this process. It has been so cool.

We decided to stay out of the process and let nature take its course. The momma hen (whom we call Granny) has done a fantastic job. The chicks are now 2 1/2 weeks old and thriving. She takes such good care of them. No boxes, heat lamps, etc.. Just a old hen and her little chicks tucked neatly under her wings.

It has been a lovely real life example of adoption

We have no idea if she laid the eggs that she went broody on and gave up food and drink (except when we made her get off the nest twice a day) for. Talk about dedication!!

And even now, they stay right with their mom...she is their mom because she is taking care of them, not because she laid the egg. My children really related. Lovely teachable moment.

[Deb2of9]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I do not have any children at home, but it has given me ideas to use with my grandchildren. Too often I see my daughter being so busy with them that she does not take the time to use the opportunities that she has to teach them. My daughter does try, but with many health issues both for her and the children, I think she spends too much time doing it herself or just accepting without really teaching her kids how to do it right. Of course part of her problem is her husband. He will alternate with, "make the kids do it, they have to learn" and " how can you let the kids do everything, they don't do it right. It is your job to do the work and let the kids be kids". Even this would be not as bad if he was consistent. It is hard sometimes being the outsider looking in and trying to keep your mouth shut. I can use many of the suggestions placed here when the grandkids are here and I can teach them. I remember that when my youngest daughter was little she was babysat by my sister. She used to take her for walks in the woods and teach her about whatever they saw. Unfortunately at 20 she doesn't seem to remember any more of it than the good times she had with her aunt. I would like to do a lot more of that with my grandkids, only help them to get the information to stick. You have all had great ways to do that. I like the idea of not having to already know how to do something yourself. I am learning alot of this stuff myself. My daughter tells me she can't learn without someone who knows showing her. I want her and my grandkids to learn that you can learn to ways. First by having someone teach you, but secondly by getting the books or using trial and error to figure out for yourself how to do something. She can not accept that. I have learnt many things by following the directions and trying different things until I got it. I think that is one of the most valuable lessons that we can teach.

I also like the find your way home or out of a store game. I think I need to do that. I am the type that almost has to drive or walk it myself to learn how to do something. I lived in one town and knew my way around several areas. However, I didn't connect how to go between them until I got lost one day. I drove until something looked familar and then was able to join the neighborhoods. I want my kids and grandkids to put two and two together like that without having to stumble on it like I did. I think having them find the way to get to places will be a good way to do that. Thanks for helping me see that.

[Stephanie]

This past weekend we camped out and slept in tents on our own property. Our youngest four children had never slept in a tent. The very youngest, who is 5 yrs old sat in amazement as dh began to assemble the tent.

After dh had spread it all out in the appropriate place (still flat on the ground) ds5 said "Daddy! How are you going to blow that tent up?"

Apparently he thought tents were inflated.

So, this was a long overdue lesson in tents and we all learned a lot. One thing I didn't learn is how they expected nine people to fit in that nine person tent. Good thing my two oldest sons (men sized teens) had tents of their own.

[Stephanie]

I have been looking and looking for this thread!!

Silly me! I forgot it was pinned at the top!

Okay...lots of family learning been going on as Autumn has entered our lives.

We have been studying the trees Deciduous and Coniferous, investigating the trees in our own yard and property. Determining the weather by the condition of the pine cones. (We're going to verify this again this morning as the rain should be moving in a while).

We've talked about the MANY uses of trees and raked and raked and raked. We talked about composting as well. We'll do some leaf rubbings next week, the kids always enjoy that.

We'll also try the pine needle tea again, last time it didn't work out well, but we want to try it again.

We may even make some scented fire starters out of the pine cones. We can spend a long time on trees, so much to learn.


NEXT....

We're preparing to face breeding season for our goats. for some of you, this may be no big deal, but for me, well it is a big deal.

My mom brought me a buck, Mini Nubian, which is just what I wanted so that we can accomplish this on our own homestead. This has given me opportunity to revise the old 'birds and bees' conversations to 'chickens and goats'. So far, any discussions have been a success. I adjusted information given according to age, naturally. I am thankful to be able to present this type of knowledge in a natural and less stressful environment. Reproduction is an important part of homestead life, after all.

What about y'all? What did you teach your child today??

[Stephanie]

Today!!! We will be making moccasins and raccoon tail hats...thanks to the kits I found here....

http://www.corpsredi...=front-projkits


This is such a cool site, lots of kits, pioneer style, etc... I'm going to also post this in Pioneer Living.

[Stephanie]

Day before yesterday, I pulled out my very basic sewing machine and had every child, from 6 to nearly 16, boy and girl alike, to try their hand at it. They each made a pouch for their Bibles out of the fabric of their choice.

This including measuring, pinning, folding, hemming and simple straight stitiching. They turned out well and each child has now been introduced to the baics of sewing and the general operation of a sewing machine.

What did you teach your children today?

[LibraryMama]

Hi Stephanie! I was just thinking that I should show my youngest daughter (14) how to use the treadle sewing machine my son (19) just fixed!

On our way to the store today, I talked with her about what she should do if the power goes out & no one is home, and no one can come home for a while. Things like - use the food in the fridge first, where to find the wind-up radio, how to light the stove. We'll definitely be doing more of that sort fo thing this year. I wonder what we could call that as an elective...