Kimber An's Blog, page 14

Homeschool Curriculum for Babies and Toddlers

I can do Dr. Seuss in my sleep, I swear, but here's a link to actual lesson plans- Homeschool Share Dr. Seuss   Consider this a quick curriculum post.  I have to think harder about resources to go with Dr. Seuss because I've done it so many times I have the activities and things committed to memory.  Will post good resource books later.  In any case, I'm doing Dr. Seuss with my toddler right now.  We read the above book every day, plus another Dr. Seuss book.  We alternate ABC with Ten Apples Up On Top.

Hunger in America Today

Since we started searching for our first home, what will become a small 'hobby' farm, I've learned a few things about farming. And about hungry people.  American farmers have surplus.  A lot of Americans are hungry.  But, the two have a hard time getting together.
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I think it's a modern culture thing, plus political mumbo-jumbo.
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Check out the poster.  It's from World War II.  Severe food shortages meant *rationing.*  That's when you're assigned a certain amount of food and that's all you get, regardless of how much money you got.  People made the best of the situation and found alternatives.  Even people in cities grew their own food and not just vegetables in rooftop gardens.  Rabbits were not rationed, so anyone could grow and eat them.  Unlike chickens, rabbits take up very little space and are very quiet.  Article on Meat Rabbits in the City   But, who keeps them for food anymore?  In Alaska, our meat processors regularly slice up caribou meat, which is then donated to hungry humans.  But, not rabbit.  Why? 
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Well, maybe because nowadays, most Americans think of rabbits as pets.
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And, they're used to giving poor people food stamps, instead of empowering them to feed themselves by doing things like keeping a few hens for eggs or rabbits for meat. 
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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
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We have the resources to feed our hungry people in America AND to empower them to feed themselves, but we're not doing it.  Pathetic.
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Example:   Get a bunch of friends together and build a chicken coop for a Family Homeless Shelter.  It can be done very cheap or even free with donated materials.  It takes FIVE hens to provide eggs for the average family for a week.  Let's say there are six families in that shelter.  Farmers donate thirty hens.  Families are taught how to care for the chickens, most probably already know how.  It's easy, really, and presto!  Six families have fresh protein every single day and they managed it themselves with just a little help to get started.
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We don't have to just take our Happy Meals and shut-up.  We can figure things out on our own.
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Emeril to the Rescue!

Remember a few days ago when I was introspecting about my lousy cooking skills and fear of the dinner table?  Dinner Was On The Table, or Whoever the Heck It Got Flung
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Okay, so I brainstormed and came up with a family menu so my husband (an awesome cook) and our three eldest children each cook dinner one night a week.  It's working great, although I need to modify some of the meals so they're more healthy.  In any case, that leaves me with three nights a week and just thinking about it made me want to gag.
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Always the same old thing, spaghetti, sloppy jos, chicken and rice.  Ug.
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So, I was going through my recipe books and the only one that interested me was this one I bought for homeschooling activities with my children-
Emeril's There's a Chef in my World!
There are recipes in it from everywhere.  I'm planning to start at the beginning with 'Toad in the Hole' from England and work my way through it. 
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I have several cookbooks written for busy parents, my favorite being Cheap Fast Good!  But, I just couldn't gag down another of the same ol' thing.

House Hunting & Learning to Dodge Covenants & Municipality Codes

*This beautiful barn was found at Brandon Lail Outdoors in Georgia, but I live in Alaska and I don't think they can airlift it to me!*

(((sigh))) Learned a big lesson this week.  I'd found the perfect log house.  It was on five acres and had beautiful woodwork.  Then, I discovered it was just inside city limits.  And the city code only allows 10 hens, no roosters!  Well, you know I'm looking to build a hobby farm!  Found another house above the city on about 6 acres.  Covenants!  Those our restrictions placed on certain neighborhoods or subdivisions which prevents certain animals too.  Not gonna work.  This morning I found a property with just a barn on it.  The house must have burned down or something.  Gosh, what a beautiful barn!  So, I went looking and found a bunch of sites on converting barns into houses for humans.  Here's one-   Vintage Woods   I don't know if anyone in Alaska knows how to do that, but I'm adding it to my list.

Homeschooling Babies, Part 1

"Babies eat, sleep, and Poop."  If you believe that's all babies can do, I must say I'd like to slap you silly. 

Nothing annoys me more than someone *disrespecting* babies.  Yes, I mean *disrespect.*  Most of the time, people disrespect babies out of ignorance.  I know I did decades ago.  Even though I adored them, I had no idea that they had been born highly capable individual human beings with their *personalities fully intact.*  I only needed to learn to stop and pay attention and *accept the possibility* that babies are really extrordinary creatures.  That requires Selfless Patience and most adults don't have that.  We like to think we already know everything and no one under thirty can teach us a darn thing and, by the way, we know what we want and we want it done right now.  Sounds what's normally described as 'childish,' doesn't it?
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"Education begins at Birth." -Maria Montessori
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So, the first thing to know about 'homeschooling' babies is to get to know your particular baby, draw a circle of respect around her, *learn her language,* and interact and communicate with her accordingly.  Here's my favorite book to help with that-
According to the author, Tracy Hogg's guidelines, I have given birth to One Angel Baby, One Sensitive Baby, and Two Textbook Babies.  Yeah, she classifies 'em like that in a primer for understanding the first expressions of your baby's personality.  By the way, all four of my living babies slept through the night by 10 weeks with no crying-it-out or constant holding.
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For practical tips on helping your Newborn, especially, buy or check out this DVD
Get the DVD, not the book!  The good doctor is a genius (although I don't agree with him on everything) but he's a much better Talker than Writer and the visual demonstrations of his practical ideas are very good.   The Happiest Baby on the Block.
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Finally, here is a guide for the first, I think, 18 months of life, all about empowering your baby by respecting her individuality.  Your Self-Confident Baby.

I also like Montessori from the Start
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My second girl has a reserved personality and so her language skills developed more slowly than her outgoing big sister.  To ease her frustration, I taught her a few simple signs.  The results were so wonderful I've done it with all my babies ever since.  It really cuts down on a lot of tantrums between the ages of 8 and 18 months!

There are several good DVDs.  My fourth child likes this one best.  My First Signs.
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Lastly, I read to my babies!  Read, read, read.  Newborns can only handle a couple of minutes one a day before they're stressed by the stimulation, but gradually work up from there.  Fill your child with all the greatest stories ever told.  Besides emotional closeness, you'll be nurturing his passion for learning which will lead to educational success.  Teaching my children to read on their own has been one of my greatest joys as a mother! 

Mama, Do You Love Me?   was my oldest daughter's favorite book as a baby.

SWEET BYTES Accepted by Noble Publishing

Waiting on the contract.  More news as it comes in! Noble Young Adult

Homeschool for the Very Young, a Series

We started our new homeschool year this morning and it was kinda sad.  My two oldest are at regular school now, because they're just too smart for me at math.  I have my boy home, but he'll probably join his big sisters next year.  And I just started my 2 year old on preschool stuff.  For my own therapy and to maybe help out caregivers and parents of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, I will begin posting on everything I do to homeschool my youngest child.  I'm going to sorely miss homeschooling.  The first thing to know about Homeschooling is you must dearly enjoy it as a teacher or everyone will be miserable and your students won't learn much.

Chickens for Charity

*This coop and the plans to build it can be found at My Pet Chicken *
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Good morning, Blog Buds!  During my research into poultry farming I came across this charitable program at World Vision  Basically, it's a reimagining of this old proverb-
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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  *Teach* him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
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In the case of World Vision, it's 'Give a kid a chicken..."  And I think it's brilliant!
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But, I haven't seen anything exactly like it for the hungry people in the United States.  Make no mistake about it, we may live in the wealthiest country in the world, but there are *still hungry people here.*  I know.  I occasionally went hungry as a child too.  Many things can contribute to a child going hungry and one of those things is Ignorance.  In other words, the parents just don't know.  They may not understand a child's nutritional needs.  Or, they may not be aware of resources to help feed their families.  Or, they may be suspicious of the donors and the goods being offered.  Or, they may not care.  Yes, there are people out there who reproduce and they really couldn't care less about the offspring.  That is incredibly sad.  I am of the opinion that...
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Every Child *Deserves* to be Purely Loved and Cared for by Both Parents.
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Unfortunately, not all parents are capable of such things.
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But, I digress.
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In my research into farming, I see a lot of waste.  Seriously, it's not the farmers' fault.  It's just that they don't have anything else to do with what the stores won't or can't sell.
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So, I was thinking, "Why not donate extra eggs to homeless shelters?"
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Brilliant!
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But, then, I stumbled on World Vision and I wondered if it would be possible to donate the whole, live chicken.  I think it would be an awesome project for young people and I'm going to look into it.  The teens who enjoy carpentry could build the coop, the ones who like animal care can manage the chickens.  Adults can contribute their extra materials, feed, and birds.  Here's a site about how to build a coop out of the free pallets a lot of stores just throw away after their shipments come in and these Plans Are Free Too-
How to Build a Chicken Coop Out of Pallets

Bessie and Amelia Lobby for a Name Change

Last night when I was tucking my girlie into bed, I looked out her window and the chickens saw me.  My chickens have awesome eyesight.  They started pacing back and forth along their fence, looking longingly at me, and then they'd rush to their food bowl and then up into their coop.  I couldn't believe it!  They were begging!  So, after I finished tucking in all my children, I went outside and said, "So, I guess you two want to be called Spot and Fido instead, hmm?"  Yes, of course, I fed them.  (((sigh)))

Surplus Chicks

*This was a Picture of the Week at Backyard Chickens
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Have you ever researched the poultry business?  For a primary, check out this video on YouTube The Natural History of the Chicken   It's an old video from the early 1990's, I think, and I think some of poultry business practices have changed then.  But, it did confirm my choice to raise natural chickens for my own family.
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Yes, we will eat some of our chickens.  Ever enjoy Chicken McNuggets?  Well, a chicken died to give you that meal and that's the reality of it.  For a primer on that, watch this episode from a PBS reality series, Frontier House   I think way too many Americans take their food for granted! 
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When you're talking about chickens for eggs (not chickens used for meat,) you only need one rooster for about every ten hens for them to breed.  The Math turns out a lot of surplus chicks, all male.  Ever wonder what the poultry industry does with these roosters?  Most of them euthanize (humanely kill) them.  But, some hatcheries sell these chicks at major discounts.
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I won't discuss how I feel about the alternative, but I've decided to buy from the hatcheries who try to sell the surplus chicks.  I doubt any hatchery is perfect, but aside from that are a lot of chicks. 
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Yes, we will eat some of our chickens, but until then they will have a wonderful life.  They will Free Range within an expansive fenced in area (hey, we live in Alaska, so you can imagine the preditors) and do all the things chickens enjoy most, running around, pecking bugs and seeds, dust-bathing, and having a good old time.
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Here's a YouTube playlist you might enjoy-   All About Chickens