21centuryhomesteader

Well, here I am in the middle of my first year home-schooling a 9^th grader. I have been home-schooling for about five years now. I have to admit I was scared stiff. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We started early this year, back in the middle of July, so that when the school year was in full swing we would have the kinks worked out. Jay is doing very well and wanting to graduate early. I guess I will plan on it and cross that bridge when I come to it.

The hardest part was putting together his class schedule for the next four years. It took some research to balance the requirements of our Umbrella school with the requirements of the public school. I know that here in Tennessee I didn’t have to worry about what the public school required, but since they required a few more courses that our umbrella didn’t, I thought what would it hurt. After all I think an American Government class and a Personal Finance class really aren’t that bad of an idea.

Have you ever wondered what people did before the advent of radio, television, or video games? As I have pointed out to my children, people didn’t die of boredom, in the millennia prior to the modern age. Since getting rid of our satellite television, my mind has turned to alternative forms of entertainment. Here are some of my ideas.

1. Play a game. We have a weekly penny poker night with our children. I would recommend Yahtzee, Chess, Sorry, Rook, Scrabble, or Monopoly.

2. Take turns reading a story out loud.

3. Start a family band.

4. Have a family cleaning night.

5. Hold a family talent competition.

6. Invite friends over for dinner.

7. Camp out in the back yard. Build a fire and roast hotdogs and make s’mores.

8. Have a story telling night. Let one person start, the next adds to the story and so on and so forth.

9. Create a family theater. Encourage the kids to write and put on plays for the family.

10. Take up a hobby. Paint a picture or sculpt. Knit or quilt. The possibilities are endless.

So these are some of the things we are going to try. I would love to hear what your family does on T.V. free nights.

Get out of that slump! Go on. You know what time it is. It’s the new year! So let’s look back at the last semester of home-school and focus on what worked and get rid of what didn’t. After all, even the best laid plans may need a little tweaking.

So what did I do right last year? Frankly I didn’t do a lot. I don’t mean that I didn’t do much right. I mean I didn’t have much to do, period! The boys are now in 7^th and 9^th grade. I pretty much plan the curriculum and let them at it. I’m feeling pretty useless. It’s like they don’t need me anymore. And I think that it probably is the best thing I’ve done in home-school so far! When I first started home-schooling, one of my goals was to teach my boys to teach themselves. So I guess I don’t have too much to complain about.

What did I do wrong? Well, it’s always something isn’t it? I guess if I had to pick something derogatory I would say that I didn’t check up on the boy’s work enough. I need to start grading daily, instead of weekly–so I can catch their mistakes early. I’d say I also assigned too much reading for Jay. He wasn’t able to keep up. So I cut the reading back and made a home-schooling resolution to check their work daily.

How about you? Have you made any home-schooling resolutions? If you have why don’t you share them with us, so that we all can be motivated and encouraged to have an even better home-schooling year.

I know it’s a little early yet, but I like to plan. After two springs and summers here in North Central Tennessee, we knew there was no way we are going to mow the back lawn this year. We have two cleared acres behind the house that are just begging for some live stock, but I just wasn’t sure what kind. So after two years and two busted lawn mowers–I think I may have stumbled upon a plan.

The other night while visiting friends, we were discussing our lawn mowing problems and bantering back and forth about the pros and cons of different animals. Now, I had thought of goats, after all they are can be very useful, they are not terribly high maintenance, and you can eat them. But then I thought of the cons: my neighbor’s beautiful and yummy landscaping, the need for electrified fencing, the fact that they are cunning escape artists, and well, I don’t think I want to eat goat. So we crossed goats off our list and reconsidered. There were horses–nope, to much work. How about a cow–I love steak, but they cost about $1000 around here to butcher. A mule or donkey–possibly in the future. Then in a moment of brilliance, our friend Eric suggested: Geese.

Hallelujah! So I began to research geese. Though they can be loud, some breeds are louder than others. They require a low fence, about three feet, basic shelter, and get along well with other animals. But absolutely best of all, geese are pasture animals. Meaning, they will eat grass and weeds. I think we may have found our solution. So this spring, we will raise geese–and surprise, surprise, our friends want to split an order of geese. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What is homesteading? I know what came to mind when I first heard the term. I thought of the land races of the late 1800’s and people trying to live off of the land out in the middle of nowhere. Does this still exist today. I’m sure it does in some places, but not on the good old Circle B Chicken Ranch. Instead, I aspire more to the spirit of homesteading. And just what is that spirit you may ask? Well, I think that it is the drive to create choice where none existed before. Choice is power. And so many of us are powerless. Maybe I am a dreamer…but there is coming a day, when I want to be able to tell the electric monopoly , I mean company–”No Thanks, I have other options” ; when I can forego the big, overgrown super-store and grow my own organic food.

Are you ready to leap out of the box of convention? Are you ready to rethink your necessities and how you live? Are you ready to take back choice? Are you ready to live simpler, greener, and cheaper? I know that I am.