Homeschooling Homesteaders: Teaching Self-Reliance Skills


Many of my happiest childhood hours were spent in my grandfather's organic garden.

Many of my happiest childhood hours were spent in my grandfather's organic garden, where roses mingled with lemons, limes, oranges, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, corn, peaches and kumquats-- all in an urban sliver of land left over from freeway construction.

I’m planning to be at the Self-Reliance Expo in Dallas on Februrary 10-11, 2012, to speak on homeschooling and perhaps micro-business topics, so I’ve been thinking about self-reliance as it fits into the homeschool world.

One of the busiest booths in a homeschool conference is usually the booth with wheat grinders and other aids to feeding your family with fresh, wholesome, homemade goodies. Stop beside that booth for a few moments, and you’ll hear moms, dads, and teens, talking about gardening organically, baking, canning and dehydrating, and more.

Learning to become more self-reliant by developing these old-fashioned skills is one way many home-school families manage to live well on a single income. As a family becomes more self-reliant, it provides students with a living laboratory for learning that will provide them a head start on life. Although it takes work to reach a comfortable state of self-reliance, there is creativity, comfort, and peace in working with the rhythms of nature.

What are the skills of self reliance?

According to the National Self-Reliance Organization (NSRO), self reliance has three basic parts:

1. Emergency preparedness in case of job loss, natural disaster, or family emergency. This includes having a garden, generator, water filtration system, and the ability to preserve the food you grow.

2. Sustainable living, including the practice of frugality and debt-free living, and possibly including alternative energy sources.

3. Entrepreneurship, including building micro-businesses and multiple streams of income.

These self-reliance skills used to be conventional wisdom. Just think of your great-grandmother’s pantry, with shining rows of beautifully canned produce and delicious home-baked goodies. Remember visiting great-grandfather’s handy tool shed where he could fix or build almost anything? If your great-grandparents were anything like mine, they combined practical frugality with the skills it took to run a home and family without any of the conveniences we take for granted (running water, indoor plumbing, close grocery stores, refrigeration, to name just a few). Their summer gardens provided meals for the dark, cold months of winter, and they occupied those months with indoor pastimes that helped to make their homes cozier and more secure.

Self-reliance didn’t mean that people weren’t trusting God– it simply meant that individual families took the responsibility of looking ahead, anticipating potential dangers, and setting aside resources to care for their families in the event of an emergency.

The importance of learning to provide for your family during difficult times was particularly apparent during the Great Depression. That was a hard time for almost everyone, but according to many old-timers who lived through it, self-reliant farm families had one significant advantage over city dwellers– the ability to produce much of their own food.

According to an Iowa Pathways article, “Almost all farm families raised large gardens with vegetables, and canned fruit from their orchards. They had milk and cream from their dairy cattle. Chickens supplied meat and eggs. They bought flour and sugar in 50-pound sacks and baked their own bread. In some families the farm wife made clothing out of the cloth from flour and feed sacks. They learned how to get by with very little money.”

It’s not necessary to live on a farm to be more self-reliant.

You can accomplish much with an urban homestead. Consider the skills your grandparents had and start learning them, and you’ll be on your way. As a homeschooler, you even have some built-in advantages for becoming self reliant:

  1. You’re already accustomed to looking to the past for wisdom and inspiration.
  2. You’ve already found that keeping up with the Jones’s is pointless.
  3. You’re accustomed to taking the road less traveled.
  4. Homeschooling allows teaching and learning the skills of self-reliance to be a natural part of living.
  5. You can even grant credit for the homesteading skills your students learn!

There’s no question that many homeschool families are already living at least a partially self-reliant homestead life. Some of us enjoy just a few aspects of the self-reliant lifestyle such as organic gardening, cooking, and entrepreneurship, while others embrace the whole enchilada.

If you weren’t fortunate enough to learn basic homesteading skills when you were growing up, there are an increasing number of resources to help. The award-winning Self-Reliance Expo is one of the major places you can go to learn what you need to know. You’ll learn about:

Cooking competition at the Self-Reliance Expo.

Cooking competition at the Self-Reliance Expo.

If you enjoy any aspect of homesteading, just imagine being at a conference entirely devoted to the skills you need! I hope you’ll join me at the upcoming Expo in Dallas, Texas on February 10-11, 2011. It will be my first visit to a Self-Reliance Expo, and I’m looking forward to it (and I’d love to see you there). To learn more about it, you can visit the event website and watch a video trailer from a recent Expo. Enjoy!

Carnival of Homeschooling

Carnival of Homeschooling

NOTE: This post is scheduled to appear in the Sixth Anniversary issue of the Carnival of Homeschooling. If you’d like to submit an article for the Carnival, please visit “Why Homeschool“ for instructions. Thanks to the Cate family for creating and managing this excellent blog carnival for so long. It’s a wonderful resource!

Blog Carnival: Summer Isn’t Over Yet

Welcome to the August 9, 2011 edition of Carnival of Homeschooling. Although a few of you are ready to
Carnival of Homeschoolingjump back into school or have already done so, others seem to be stretching those happy summer moments for as long as possible.

I suggest that you pour a frosty glass of lemonade, find a cool spot, and enjoy the delightful posts that have been submitted.

Summer fun isn’t over yet

Not quite ready for “regular school?” Tiana Krenz shares a delightful idea in Plan a Vacation, Learn Geography (Awesome FREE project!) posted at God Made Home Grown - Tiana Krenz.

Nikki Olivier invites you to journey along on an interesting family outing in I can officially call them kids! posted at Our Journey in Him, commenting, “spending time together as a family out in nature….there’s so much to learn!”

AnnieKate shares beautiful photos along with many great reasons why a garden can be a wonderful addition to homeschooling at The Gardening Homeschooler posted at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Can you tell the difference between a plant and a weed? How about in your children’s lives? Joan Girkins presents ~Thoughts from My Garden~ (Part 4) posted at I Love Truth!.

Is it learning or is it just plain fun? Lisa Nehring offers a bit of both Summer School Shop Class posted at Golden Grasses.

Tasty treats from the garden.

Tasty treats from the garden.

In her evocative post, “Degrees of Separation” or “Your Child’s Future Sanity” posted at Sage Parnassus, Nancy reminds us to make time to touch, taste, and smell the reality around us.

Robin Phillips offers nine creative ways to connect real experiences with real learning in How To Homeschool At the Zoo: A Mini Unit Study - Crack the Egg posted at Crack the Egg Blog.

Preparing to take the plunge

Adam Faughn shared Homeschool week #3: Some of Our Preparation Steps posted at The Faughn Family of Four, saying, “We started our first week of home schooling this week, and this post shares some of the memorable steps we took to prepare for this change in our life.”

It’s awfully hard to homeschool in chaos, and it’s really not necessary when you have a built-in team of helpers. Carol J. Alexander talks about how to make it work in Getting Your Kids to Do Chores posted at Everything Home with Carol.

In This Year’s Homeschool Curriculum at her blog, MrsMamaHen.com, Conni Smith shared a rundown of the core subject curriculum her family will be using this year.

The longer you homeschool, the more likely it is that you’ll forget what you’ve taught to which child. If you do, it’s easily remedied. Elena LaVictoire presents helpful tips on Making sure they get it all covered academically and otherwise! posted at My Domestic Church.

The veterans offer tips

Is it ever too early to start reading to your child? Read Aloud … Dad presents When To Start Reading Aloud To a Child? posted at Read Aloud Dad.

It's never too early to start reading to your child.

It's never too early to start reading to your child.

Denise shares a great visual tool in Do You Mix Up These Words? posted at Blogging 2 Learn.

Billy Hart presents Danbury Baptist Association to Thomas Jefferson, Separation of Church and State posted at HistoricWords | American History | Founding Fathers | Politics | Faith | Quotes, saying, “The Danbury Baptist Association wrote this letter to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson‚Äôs reply is where the phrase Separation of Church and State comes from. The Danbury Baptist Association said, ‚ÄúThe legitimate power of civil government extends no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor.‚Äù”

Denise presents The (Mathematical) Trouble with Pizza posted at Let’s Play Math!, saying, “My daughter thinks her way through a challenging middle-school math problem.”

Laura O muses about learning a foreign language as a high school homeschooler.Tackle a foreign language? Which one? posted at Day By Day in Our World.

What’s it like to be the graduate of a Charlotte Mason education? Kaley Struble shares what she’s learned in Starting in the Right Direction on the ChildLightUSA blog.

Kaye Swain shared Bible Memory Verses Fun-Teaching The Ten Commandments to Our Children & Grandchildren-1 | SandwichINK for the Sandwich Generation posted at SandwichINK.com, saying, “The 10 Commandment Bible memory verses for children and grand kids was a fun summer project for my grandkids and me, but it’s also great for a homeschooling project any time in the year.”

HomeGrownKids presents Through the Bible overview (Week 1-4) posted at Kerugma, saying, “Kerugma Family Bible reading guide for use with young children. This guide is a no-fuss, easy to implement, overview of the Bible for the whole family. Preschool to highschool, homeschool, family bible reading.”

Technology might make it easier . . .

Does technology have something valuable to contribute?

Does technology have something valuable to contribute?

Merit K presents Back to School with Tech? posted at Mission Possible!, saying, “Modern technology has some drawbacks and dangers, but there are ways to make technology work for us as parents and educators too!”

Angela Gray presents On Digital Media in Education - Team Gray! posted at team Gray!, saying, “While public education has come to mean crowd control and classroom management, digital media could mark the return of true learning–if the teachers would just get out of the way.”

Henry shares some thoughts about the nature of education and the benefit of homeschooling in Can education be automated? Should it? on Why Homeschool.

Heartfelt reminders

Trisha Poff reminds us of the importance of taking the time to give good words to those we love in Letters Never Written posted at A Multitude of Mercies.

Remember to take time for things that matter . . .

Remember to take time for things that matter . . .

Are you at a difficult place in life? Learn more about Homeschooling Through Sicknesses, Pregnancies and Other Distressing Times at Beyond The Silver and The Gold - A Filipino Family’s Homeschool Journey.

If you’re in the early years of homeschooling, and juggling many children of different ages, don’t worry–it won’t always be this hard. Nebby offers encouragement in Homeschooling: Some Parts Get Easier posted at Letters from Nebby.

My contribution for this carnival will be the Of Daffodils and Diesels Revisited post from the archive. It was hard to choose– there are articles on everything from literature to caregiving to learning styles to homeschooling boys– but Daffodils and Diesels is especially worth reading at the beginning of a school year. It’s important to teach the student we have, rather than teaching a particular curriculum. Enjoy!

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the carnival!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homeschooling using the official carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

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Plan to Live Life on Purpose


Warm and at peace...

Warm and at peace...

As we approach the end of 2010, my thoughts turn toward the coming year. I like to spend some quiet time looking back at the year we’ve just lived– its joys and sorrows, its milestones and hurdles– and meditate on what I’ve learned, and where I need to go. As I think through these things, I begin planning for next year. Planning and setting goals helps me live life on purpose, making time for things that matter, rather than letting life just happen.

Wikipedia defines a goal as “a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.” Goals are not a to-do list, but rather a snapshot of your vision for a desired outcome. Therefore, it’s important to have a very clear picture of what you want to achieve before you set any goals. For many years I have used mission statements to guide my yearly goal-setting, and those statements provide a vision of what I want individual goals to accomplish.

Mission Statements

Mission statements can be long or short, but I’ve found that for most people a short, memorable mission statement works best. I prefer to have short, separate mission statements for each of my life roles– mother, wife, daughter, writer, teacher, friend. Here’s my “Mom Mission” statement: “I will create a loving, serene, creative environment that encourages personal and spiritual growth in a warm, nurturing family.” Notice that the mission addresses the “being” part of our family. Goals will address the “doing” end of things.

Goals

Once you have a mission statement that captures your vision for a particular area of life, outline up to three goals in that area. It’s important to create just a few realistic goals or you’ll feel overwhelmed and never get started. For instance, goals for my Mom Mission have varied over the years, but usually included daily quiet time, nurturing dinner table conversations, and a focus on home-centered activities. Goals are not tasks– those come next!

The Plan

In order to meet goals, you’ll need to create a plan for making it happen. Ask yourself what needs to happen in order to meet your goals. Is there something you need to make, buy, move, repurpose, or change? Do you need to revise your daily schedule (or create one) in order to make time for something new? What do you need to communicate to your children, and how will you do so? List what you need to do in order to achieve the goal, and estimate how long it might take to accomplish it.

For example, if you want to begin having a daily quiet time for each person in the family, decide where each person’s quiet time spot will be (everyone needs to have a separate space, even if it’s just tucked behind a sofa or under the dining room table). Make a list of the kinds of activities that are permitted during quiet time– I always allowed naps, reading, writing, drawing, clay, or quiet building blocks, and share the list with everyone.

If you’ve never done quiet time with your family, briefly explain what you’re doing and why. Share the idea with joy and enthusiasm so they’ll understand that it’s something wonderful for everyone. If you meet with resistance, simply move forward, being pleasant but firm. Remember, you’re the mom!

Living life on purpose takes planning, but making time for things that matter means being flexible. Once you’ve established your vision and goals, remember that the long-term mission is more important than the stort-term task list. If you take your eyes off the goal of a loving, serene, creative environment, you might find yourself snapping at children who interrupt while you’re virtuously rearranging the house to accomodate quiet time. It’s often harder to live the fruit of the spirit than it is to complete a to-do list, but your mission statement can keep you focused.

Making Time for Things that Matter: Where’s the Impact?

I had the opportunity to speak on Making Time for Things that Matter at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo last week, and I’ve also been reading a book called Eternal Impact: Investing in the Lives of Others by Phil Downer. Although Eternal Impact isn’t focused on family relationships, one of the key ideas–significance–in it applies beautifully to the idea of making time for things that matter.

Because “school” is such a big part of homeschooling, it’s easy to get bogged down in details– what curriculum to use, how many math problems to do each day, how to motivate little Ebenezer to prefer phonics to Legos. The big picture, the key to lasting significance, sometimes slips into the background.

Phil Downer defines significance as “making a difference in the lives of people over time.” The biggest idea I try to convey when I talk to homeschooling moms is that children remember atmosphere more than activities. It’s more important to create a home in which there is love, respect, and a united purpose to build strong relationships, than it is to be super-busy, part of every co-op, sports, or ministry opportunity, or to keep house to Ritz-Carlton standards.

There are many good things you can do, but what are the best things? What will have a lasting impact on your family? In the definition of “significance,” note the phrase “over time.” As your family grows together, your home will take on its own individual atmosphere.

You’ll understand what I mean about atmosphere when you think back to your own childhood, and visiting your friends’ homes. When you walked in the door, what did you notice? Did the house seem welcoming and warm? Was your friend’s mom easy-going and kind, or did she bark at her children (and maybe even you)? Was the home extreme in some way– cold and sterile or packed to the ceiling with clutter? Which homes did you most enjoy visiting?

I believe that home atmosphere is one of the key ways that homeschooling moms can create significance in the lives of their children. The atmosphere I’m talking about isn’t related to the size or cost of your home, nor is it affected by the curriculum you choose, or the church you attend.

It’s an atmosphere that you purpose to create that allows your children to walk in the door and relax, knowing that they’re unconditionally loved and accepted, and they’re in a place where they can freely ask questions, share joys and griefs, and learn to be the individuals they were created to be. As Charlotte Mason said, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” Homeschool moms have a unique opportunity to impact their children’s lives for both time and eternity. With the big picture in mind, it becomes possible.

I’ll be sharing more on this idea soon.

The Blessing of Creative Handwork

Granddaughter's Quilt

Granddaughter's Quilt

I just wanted to share what I’ve been working on. This is for our expected granddaughter, due in October.

My friend Belinda, who’s also my daughter-in-law’s mother, embroidered many of the squares (I did the Scottie, the bunnies, and part of the black sheep block, and she did the rest), and I designed and pieced the top. Next step is the back (I like a pieced back, as well) and the quilting. I think we’ll finish in time! We can hardly wait to welcome the new little one.

Homeschooling moms have a unique opportunity to pass along creative skills that their daughters can enjoy for many years. I remember sitting and doing embroidery, crochet, macrame, cross stitch, candlewicking, crewel, drawing, calligraphy, and other crafts each evening as we listened to Daddy read scripture. Some evenings, we also enjoyed listening to the CBS radio mystery theatre or music. Read more

Caregiving for Homeschool Families: Don’t Go Into It Lightly

Daddy's hands. He loved the Word and carried it with him throughout his life.

Homeschool families are notoriously family-friendly, but I’ve recently been hearing questions and concerns about caregiving while homeschooling, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts here. Most of the people who have asked questions have been thinking about their parents or grandparents and have options available other than in-home caregiving, so I’ll mostly address things to consider in deciding whether or not to opt for in-home caregiving.

I was raised by my grandparents, so caregiving arrived early for me. My husband Donald and I cared for my grandfather (actually step-g) from 1989 until he passed on from complications of Alzheimer’s disease in 1993, and have been caring for my grandmother ever since. The observations I’ll share are based on my experiences and those of my caregiving friends during the past couple of decades and may not apply to everyone. Perhaps they’ll help as you consider what might lie ahead for your family.

You Gain

You Lose Read more

Wishing You A Joyous Thanksgiving- Here’s a Recipe and a Sale!

We wish you and your family a joyous Thanksgiving. Be sure to visit the big Thanksgiving Sale!

We wish you and your family a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving. Click on the postcard to visit the big Thanksgiving Sale!

I sent out the relish recipe in the newsletter and thought I’d post it here as well. One of our readers in Malaysia reminded me that they have no cranberries there. I sometimes forget that even small things such as cranberries can be a cause for giving thanks! There are doubtless some lovely tropical fruits in Malaysia with which to create a lovely salad or dessert. I hope to visit and find out some day! Read more

Nature Fun for Summertime

Two foxes strolled through the yard yesterday as if inspecting their own property. I’m surprised they hadn’t been frightened out of the neighborhood by the yapping of our little terrier who had spotted a doe browsing through the azaleas just an hour or so earlier, and was still “woofing” her displeasure at the trespasser. The foxes weren’t very big, but they sported bushy tails that were almost as big around as they were. I wish we’d had time to grab the camera!

Later, we sat on the patio at the edge of the woods and watched as a hawk tended its nest of noisy babies. There was a lot of activity up there, and I kept a sharp eye on our smallest cat, lest she look a bit too much like lunch from the hawk’s lofty vantage point. All went well, and we were able to bear the mosquitos long enough to enjoy watching fireflies flicker across the lawn, and see the occasional bat swoop by.

You may not have wildlife neighbors as we do, but in any neighborhood, there are many things to enjoy. I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles, and much of my world probably seemed to outsiders to be almost entirely paved over. Even there, there was much to see. Our tiny yard was a rich ecosystem of ferns, St. Augustine grass (nice for nibbling, if your mother didn’t catch you), an avocado tree, and many other plants. Less than a mile away was a park, ringed with fragrant eucalyptus trees and featuring ample play equipment and space for running and playing.

What kind of fun can you have with just a few plants, trees, or rocks?

There’s much more you can do, but that’s a start. I’d love to hear your ideas– please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

The key is to go outside and stay for awhile and be willing to get dirty. It’s a joy to appreciate and experience creation, but if you’ve not been used to doing so, it may take a bit of practice. Trust me– it’s worth it!

*****

Convention Season Specials: We’re in our last week of the convention season, so the sale will end after this weekend. If you need any high school reference or language arts materials, be sure to check it out!

Northern Virginia Home Education Conference: If you can come, please look us up in booth 203. I’ll be speaking on High School Transcripts and The Essential Essay. I hope to see you there!

Requiem for Clue- A Very Old Dog: 1996-2009

Today we said good-bye to dear old friend. It’s never easy, and I’ll miss his ancient tottering steps following me through the house from dawn to dark. Today is the first time I’ve sat in my office chair, without needing to stay still in order to not roll over his old paws. Read more

“Gratefulnesse”- A Poem of Thanksgiving & A Recipe

This is my favorite Thanksgiving poem, and if you have been with me for many years, you know that you’ll receive it each year as my Thanksgiving “article.” It is a poem of grace and beauty, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

GRATEFULNESSE

by George Herbert (1593- 1633)

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart.
See how thy beggar works on thee
By art.

He makes thy gifts occasion more,
And says, If he in this be crossed,
All thou hast given him heretofore
Is lost.

But thou didst reckon, when at first
Thy word our hearts and hands did crave,
What it would come to at the worst
To save.

Perpetual knockings at thy door,
Tears sullying thy transparent rooms,
Gift upon gift, much would have more,
And comes.

This not withstanding, thou wenst on,
And didst allow us all our noise:
Nay thou hast made a sigh and groan
Thy joys.

Not that thou hast not still above
Much better tunes, than groans can make;
But that these country-airs thy love
Did take.

Wherefore I cry, and cry again;
And in no quiet canst thou be,
Till I a thankful heart obtain
Of thee:

Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe

Fresh Cranberry-Orange Relish

2 bags fresh cranberries (frozen is okay)

3 juicy Valencia oranges, unpeeled, cut in eighths

2-3 handfuls of shelled walnuts

Sugar to taste

Chop or grind the cranberries and orange pieces in a food processor or old-fashioned crank-type food grinder. Chop the walnuts with a knife (definitely not the food processor– trust me on this) and add to the fruit. Add about a cup of sugar to start, stir, and keep adding sugar until it’s perfect. It’s good when made the day before, as the flavors blend nicely. If you do this, you’ll need to keep it out of sight, or you may have a problem with poachers. Whatever you call it, it’s been a family favorite ever since I can remember pouring berries through the grinder when I was a little girl. Yum!

Here’s a link to my Black Friday Clearance Sale!

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