Lessons from the Hen House - Review

You can count your chickens before they're hatched! Lessons From The Hen House is all about hands on learning. Even if you don't have a back yard coop, there are plenty of lesson ideas in this clever e-booklet to keep your students engaged. I wish I had thought of this years ago, when I was homeschooling my older children. Carol Alexander seamlessly incorporates math, science, language, literature, geography, art, home economics, business, and research skills into 17 pages of lesson plans, PLUS over 30 vocabulary words, creating a curriculum that can be used with all your students, for a day, a week, or a month, depending on how in-depth you want to go with it.

A few of the ideas will be perfect for homesteading families who have chickens, but most of the lessons are ideal for city-dwellers, too. Pick up a few free hatchery catalogs, or do a quick web search for information. Lots of links are included to other online resources and suggested books to read.

Intermediate and advanced lessons include starting up a related business (real or hypothetical), writing ad copy, designing a poultry catalog, various aspects of running a poultry business, disease, dissection and egg hatching.

Lessons are arranged for easy reference. Elementary lessons come first, then intermediate, then high school, and are grouped according to subject: math, language, science, etc.

This is an awesome resource for 4H or FFA leaders and participants.

All necessary materials are included or linked, with suggested research resources also listed. Plenty of room is left for the parent to add in their own preferred research materials. The booklet can be printed out, or used on the computer or an e-reader that supports PDF. It works great on my iPod with iBooks.

Other materials that might be helpful are: 3x5 cards, pencils, paper, storybooks and reference books on poultry, a magnifying glass and/or microscope for some of the science experiments, eggs, bowl of water, food coloring. I would also recommend visiting the hatchery links and requesting catalogs before beginning the study, especially if your family does not have their own chickens, as they make most of the lessons much easier.

My son was especially interested in the science experiments. He took great pains to examine several feathers under his microscope and sketch his findings. Then he had to test all our eggs for freshness, by seeing if they floated or sank in a bowl of water. We are saving the egg-coloring and crushed eggshell collages for the Easter eggs.

For roughly ten years, Carol and her family have endeavored to ‘live off the land.’ On their modest acreage, they grow extensive gardens and raise various animals for milk and meat. Carol has been homeschooling her 6 children since 1993. 3 have graduated.

Lessons from the Homestead is also a “book in process.” Coming out one section at a time, Carol is producing a full-fledged “learning by living” curriculum centered around life on the homestead. The first section, Lessons from the Seed Catalog has been released and is available at the Lessons From The Homestead website. Lessons From The Henhouse, part 2, is also now available for immediate download at the same site, for only $3.99. Subsequent parts will cover different areas of the farm/homestead. Ms. Alexander offers a 10 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the lesson plans.

I received a free copy of Lessons From The Henhouse to try out and share my thoughts. No other compensation was received for this review.

Recycling2 - Plastic Milk Jugs

We go through alot of gallon plastic jugs here on the homestead.  We have also found many ways to reuse them, rather than put them in the trash.  Our jugs are usually from distilled water, as we have our own dairy cow and goats.  If you are using juice or milk jugs, be sure to rinse or wash them out thoroughly before reusing, as that leftover liquid can cause a stench.

Refill with drinking water.  We filter our own drinking water, and this way, instead of buying bottled water wherever we go, we just grab a jug of our own.

Water scoops.  Just cut a hole in the top, removing the spout, but leaving the handle intact.  We use these to scoop out our used bath water and reuse it for flushing, laundry or watering the plants.

Grain scoops.  This time turn the jug upside down and cut off the bottom for scooping grain out of 50lb. sacks.  Make sure you leave the cap on. Now you also have a funnel if needed, just remove the cap.

Plant pots.   Cut off entire top.  Poke holes in bottom, fill with planting medium and seeds or plants.

Plant pot holders.  Cut bottom off at desired height to hold a plant pot, so that the jug bottom can catch the water runoff from the plant.

Plant protectors.  Cut off entire bottom.  Remove cap and place top of jug over any new transplants or early seedlings to protect from the elements and help retain moisture.

Change bank.  Fill with loose change daily.  Count and roll when full, then spend on a fun outing.

Drip waterers.  Punch holes 1-1/2 to 2" from bottom around jug.  Place in between rows in garden and fill with water.  Water will drip out slowly, without uprooting your tender seedlings and remaining water will help jug to remain where you put it instead of blowing away.  Refill when water gets down past holes.

Don't just limit yourself to milk or water jugs either.  Look at what you're throwing away.  What else could it be used for?  Why pay $2 or $3 for something from the dollar store when you can repurpose a container that you already have?

These are the main uses we have for plastic milk jugs on our homestead.  With a little reflection, you can probably come up with several unique ideas of your own.

Freedom!! and Volcanoes

Couldn't resist.  I recently watched part of "Braveheart" with my oldest son,  who called it "the most romantic movie of all time".  This, just prior to the scene in which the Wallace is publicly disemboweled.  Then again, he (my son) is supposedly descended from Genghis Khan.  Ah, medieval justice.  Would there be fewer crimes today if the death penalty meant being drawn and quartered?  But I digress...

Freedom, the cattle call of homeschoolers, is one of the many benefits of this choice of lifestyle.  I do purchase a complete curriculum which I really like and seems to be extremely effective with my son.  I especially like that it leaves room for us to use many of the excellent supplements and enrichment materials that I come across in my wanderings.  Santa brought some science materials this year that are just too good to leave on the shelf for playtime.  So in between our studies of plants, animals, the universe, and health and nutrition, we will take some detours to study volcanoes, environmental science and geology.

Our first detour:  Volcanoes.

The Volcano Making Kit, by KidzLabs Fun Science Projects, www.4M-IND.com, comes with everything needed to complete the project except vinegar and baking soda (and water to mix the plaster).  My son easily   mixed, poured and painted the volcano with little help from me.  I mostly took pictures.  To make the volcano erupt, I showed him how to do the vinegar and baking soda the first time and he did it thereafter.  Caution:  keep lots of newspapers handy for the assembly and use of the volcano.  The original volcano can be used over and over, and the mold can be reused to make more volcanoes, simply get more plaster mix.



As a prelude to assembling and observing the volcano, we read the section on Earthquakes and Volcanoes from the book "How the Earth Works, 64 fun activities for exploring volcanoes, fossils, earthquakes and more", by Michelle O'Brien-Palmer.  Later, in a discussion with and elderly friend, my 8 year old son started spouting facts about volcanoes that left me speechless, but proud.

This month, we will return briefly to the subject of volcanoes, as we are studying Italy, home to Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius.  This time we will peruse a short unit study I have been saving from The Simple Homeschool called All About Volcanoes.  This inexpensive, downloadable, printable unit study is packed with info and activities about volcanoes for 6-12 year olds for only 99 cents!

Now it's back to our regular science book to study more about plants, habitats and food chains, then maybe another detour to take on Environmental  Science with Earth Labs, before we get into anatomy.

The Happy Scientist

Of the many books on our living room shelves, two are specifically science experiments for children, "101 Great Science Experiments", by Neil Ardley, and "101 Nature Experiments", by David Burnie.  The other day, my son was browsing through them and decided to try making the homemade flashlight.  For perhaps a variety of reasons, he could not get it working.  Possibilities include not having the exact bulb holder the directions called for, weak batteries, bad wires.  Whatever it was, after a number of failed atttempts, he put the whole thing away.  The impressive thing here is that he went after it on his own, and though his several attempts failed, I assured him it is not always so.  It could even have been faulty directions.  At any rate, after his initial disappointment wore off, I caught him gathering supplies for a new experiment, this time from his science book.  I expect he'll have better results with this one - it's non-electric.

Homestead Blessings - The Art of Bread Making

Watch the West Ladies teach you how to make bread in their cozy homestead kitchen.  With their modest dress, beautiful long hair and colorful aprons, Jasmine, CeCe, Vicki and Hannah make you feel right at home while they explain how to make a number of different hearty, whole grain breads.  I've been making my own breads for many years, but I found their cornbread recipe (be sure to watch the video for some special tricks not included in the PDF recipes) to be out of this world.  I will never go back to my old ways of making cornbread!  I also plan to try their hamburger bun/cinnamon roll recipe, now that I've seen them do it a few times.

Though I didn't think I necessarily needed the how-to's in this video, I really enjoyed the presentation and I was reminded that you can almost always learn something from another's experience.  Guitar-picking in the background sets the mood for good ole' country cooking.  The West kitchen set is a homesteader's dream of honey-colored wood paneling and pantry shelves lined with dozens of canning jars with colorful contents.  I kept looking for the old-fashioned cook stove, but the bread was baked in a state-of-the-art electric range-oven.

The Homestead Blessings Series is a collection of 11 DVD presentations by the West ladies and Franklin Springs Media.  Homestead Blessings - The Art of Bread Making, copyright 2009, is delightful, instructional and entertaining; printable recipes are included.  Vicki and the girls are inspiring to watch.  Canning, gardening, quilting and crafting are just a few more titles for homesteaders or city folk who want to try their hand at these basic survival skills.

Catching Mabel

Despite all my best efforts, sometimes the animals still get through the fence.  When a fifteen hundred pound jersey cow decides the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, not much is going to keep her in.  So when Mabel decided she wanted a night out with the girls (the neighboring rancher's cows), she just plowed right over the fence.  Luckily, my neighbor, being a  neighborly sort of person, called me and asked if I had a cow and informed me that she was out with his cows.  I searched my entire property and no Mabel.  So I drove over to where he said he saw her, but no Mabel.  I stopped the car and got out and walked the area, finding no trace of her.  I shook the can of 4way grain that I had with me.  Still no luck.  I listened hard, but it was so windy I couldn't even hear the sound of the jeep's engine fifty feet away from me.  Night was  coming on, so I drove around the area in a two mile radius, but no Mabel.  With heavy heart, I went home.  Maybe I could find her in the morning, just past dawn, before the wind came up again.  I prayed she would stay put with my neighbor's cows and not go wandering off with a range herd.  I might never see her again.

After a fitful sleep, I got up and brewed some coffee, gathering lead ropes, halter, grain buckets and some muffins for breakfast.  As soon as the sun peeked over the hills, I got the boy up and threw his clothes over his jammies.  No wind yet, so once again we started with the "point last seen", and there she was, big as a dairy cow, grazing in the middle of my neighbor's field.  I shook the grain bucket and called her name and Marvelous Mabel, who can hear two oat groats rubbing against each other ten acres away and come running, TURNED HER BACK ON ME!!  I walked up to her and hooked up the lead rope and showed her the bucket.  She obligingly stuck her snout in and came up with a mouthful of grain.  I got back into the jeep, holding the lead rope, and coaxed her this way, all the way out to the road, at which point she jerked away from me and ran back across the field into the trees.

Resigned to my fate, I locked up the jeep, got the grain bucket, an extra satchel of grain and the milking halter and hoofed it after her, my son following with an extra lead rope and yet another satchel of grain.  It didn't take long for us to catch up to Mabel and her friends.  The friends ran and hid, but Mabel came for the grain. I slipped the milking halter over her head, with its training chain, and let her get a couple mouthfuls of 4way.  Then we began the one mile trek home.  Mabel only tried to sneak away twice, but the training chain gave her a gentle reminder to stay on course.  Thankfully, it was not as slow-going as I thought it would be, and we got Mabel back into the barn without further incident.  After a ten minute break and some refreshment, we headed back for the jeep.  Without Mabel in tow, the hike was much shorter, and we were back home in time to wash up and go to church.  Lessons learned?  Always keep your cows bred.  Do not let a cow in heat out to graze - especially if your fence needs reinforcing!  Check your fence lines regularly and repair!

Book Reports

This year we are learning how to do book reports.  Now that third grade homesteader can read quite well, he    can pick out some of his own books at the library.  After our friend and former librarian gave him "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", there has been no stopping him.  Thank you for the genius of Jeff Kinney, in writing his series of graphic novels for elementary age boys.  My older sons did not start reading for pleasure until they were ages 10 and 12, respectively.  And what got them going?  Harry Potter, and Goosebumps.  Never underestimate the power of children's literature.  

Our lesson plans from Catholic Heritage Curriculum provide 3 basic formats to use for book reports - written, oral and hands-on.  For starters we are using the fill-in-the-blank form provided for a beginner's written report.  By the end of the year, the goal is to have him use the decorative lined papers and completely write out his entire report, including narrative detail (why not shoot for the stars?!).  

The oral report format also has simple guidelines for my beginner, with the goal of a dramatic presentation or speech by year's end (no problem there).

The hands-on report format is the most loosely structured, and potentially most creative.  Students are encouraged to use their imagination in creating a project which will tell the story or a part of the story in their chosen book.  Suggestions are:  make a shadow box, a model of part of the story, a storyboard, illustrated story book for a younger sibling or friend, puppet show, etc.  (This could be really fun!!)

I like the variety of choices for book reports that Catholic Heritage Curriculum offers to my 8 year old son.  I see each format helping him to hone his communication skills, written and verbal, in practical ways.  At the same time, he is encouraged to focus on what he is reading, in order to retain the content and relay it to his audience - his family.