My Budding Photographer

Gave the camera to the boy the other day and this is what he came back with.

They just don't pose like this for me!

I think I need to hire him to do my pictures from now on.

Mabel seems to agree.

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.

Coyotes in the Classroom

Coyotes took over the schoolroom on Tuesday.  When we went out to feed our animals we discovered several holes in the chicken coop just about the right size and height for a coyote snout.  Add to that the fact that I've been waking up the last few nights to their howling, and what else could we do?  One more night and those holes would be big enough for a grown coyote to go through and we would be waking up to no more chickens.  Not to mention the two huge turkeys who will soon be making their way into the freezer.

Fortunately, the last time we had this problem, several years ago, I scrounged a number of pieces of sheet metal to block off the problem areas most of the way around the coop.  So just a few yards of flimsy wire netting remained to be reinforced.  I explained the problem to my student, and had him inspect the damage.  He agreed with me on what needed to be done. We managed to scrounge up one more length of sheet metal, and several pieces of plywood that were not much good for anything else, but perfect for this. So while he held up the "walls" and fished for nails, I hammered away.

After hours of laboring in the late summer sun, we were finally satisfied that our poultry were protected and called it a day.  We retreated to the house for shade, cold drinks and a late lunch.  With our schedule thrown into chaos, we spent the rest of the week catching up.  I am happy to report that we are back on track and ready to begin week 4 of third grade right where we are supposed to...at home;)

New Arrivals at Mrs. D's Homestead

Occasionally when I let the chickens out to free range, one will not come back.  Usually  it has become dinner for a coyote, but once in a while, it will reappear and surprise me.  This is the case with this mama hen and her chicks. 

We were just finishing up breakfast and I was thinking about having a cup of tea with the llamas in the backyard when li'l homesteader dashed into the house squealing with delight.  When he finally regained control of his tongue, he blurted out, "baby chicks in the back yard, Betty's (our pit bull "guard" dog) not even eating them!".  I stumbled over my feet to get my camera out of my purse and jammed my shoes on as I ran out the back door.

The proud mama strutted all over the yard, showing off her handsome brood to curious rabbits and majestic llamas alike.  Betty, ever the protective mother, snarled at the crea for getting too close to "her" chicks.  Mamma llama seemed only mildly interested, having recently supplied what she felt to be the supreme gift to the homestead, her crea.  After parading her chicks around the chicken coop, mama hen settled down with her babies in the goat pen for a little nap. 

What a joyful day!!