So what have we been doing lately, besides making kefir and skateboarding? WEllllll
Hannah and Nathan have been making elaborate Willy Wonka Chocolate bars (different flavors; looked so good and realistic, made me crave chocolate!) with wrappers and a select few with "Golden Tickets".(Leftovers from our movie-watching days..sigh...) She then made signs, invitations, and set up a store (making sure we all had money, of course) This took them many hours, and she now has the spelling to many more words down. Very cute. It was quite exciting, she really built up the anticipation and we all excitedly tore open our bars hoping to have a golden ticket! Micah did not get one, unfortunately, was upset and kept trying to steal ours. It was fun anyway.
A special "THANK YOU" to our landlords,the Heises,who are like grandparents to our children, for bringing the kids much needed skateboard gear, much used paper, and that wonderful, tasty, much-eaten pumpkin featured on previous blogs!!!!!! They also finaced our family to go to the zoo- we had not had such a nice family outing in quite some time. To see pictues go to our other blogsite www.matthewsfamilyherald.blogspot.com . Thank you again, Heise family!!!!( They were one of the main reasons we chose this rental house.)
We are all still continuing On The Banks of Plum Creek - entertaining and informative for young and old. The kids read other selections independantly every morning and night usually, if they have time.
Jacob started a new comic strip( he's getting quite good with the writing and illustrations.)James taught him place values of up to about 15 digits with the calculator in a casual setting, (and he has it down) what normally, the old style of teaching, would have taken me years of review to accomplish.
WE went to the meadow/orchard/local sledding place yesterday( it was sunny) and had a wonderful time. WE gathered apples, blackberries, and red clover for my cough tea. They ran and rolled endlessly down the steep hills. It was truely awe-inspiring. I simply must remember to take the camera on these outings.
We have all watched as a family three volumes of "Animals that Defy Evolution" I highly recommend these amazing, scientific videos.
Well, we have lots of apples to process and can and make into pies today and we must go to the farm for more fresh milk, so gotta run!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Kefir?
No not Sutherland. Soured milk basically full of probiotics, very healthy for you see http://www.yourkefirsource.com/kefir-benefits/kefir-health-benefits This past week we went to the farm and bought about 10 quarts of fresh, raw, milk(which didn't even last week!)and kefir grains from a friend. We have enjoyed many a kefir fruthie, kefir pancakes, and kefir bread. Basically any recipe that calls for buttermilk,plain yogurt or sour cream you can subsitute for kefir( not that you would want to kill all those healthy bacteria by cooking- but hey if you have a surplus... The grains are wierdlooking-like cauliflower. And they grow! Cool! Mine have almost doubled. You just strain them out and put them in more fresh milk, and Voila!- 24 hours later you have kefir.
Our Educational Goals
Thought I would share what our educational goals are for our family. Some people have asked and many more wondered I’m sure, “Does this educational style really prepare our kids for the “real” world, for college, for being a productive member of society in their well-paying 9-5 job to provide the American Dream for their children?” The answer is a purposeful, resounding “NO!”
We are anti- “real” (pseudo) world, anti-college, and anti-American Dream 9-5 lifestyle. When one’s ultimate end goal and priority is Not the American Dream then the educational paths and vehicles taking us in a different direction will look very different from the traditional, mainstream educational methods. We believe that this world and its system, including college and a material lifestyle are contrary to the Christian faith and biblical principles. Not only that, but scripture makes it clear that it will only become more hostile to Christians, so much so that one won’t be able to buy or sell without the “mark of the beast”. This is perhaps a shorter time away than we might think. Why would we prepare our children to fit into an anti -Christian system that is faulty and harmful in every way? Wouldn’t our time be better spent learning the skills necessary for survival ; (food ,clothes, shelter, and herbal medicine) and preparation for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom through outreach, service to each other in a community of faith, and preparing them for marriage and parenthood?
I have been appalled to realize the many years wasted preparing my children for the world’s system by pumping them full of facts that the “world” says are important to know with methods that the “world” approves of. Much of homeschooling, even by Christians is nothing more than secularized education geared for success in a secular world- which makes for very unhappy , and unhealthy families and relationships. Not our idea of success. You can put a Christian label on it, have a curriculum full of Christianese lingo, refute evolution, but basically the end goal is the same: to prepare the children to become successful in this world, servants to an un-godly , materialistic, self-serving society.
Our picture of success looks more like this. We want our children first and foremost to have a totally devoted and intimately personal relationship with God, demonstrated by Godly lives of obedience and service to others. This alone would be enough. With God’s leading, they would become and do everything God wanted them to be and do, whether it is a doctor, or pilot, or sanitary worker, farmer, homemaker, entertainer, artist, teacher or hamburger flipper . They would hear God, know and be submitted to His plan for their life and He would equip them through whatever methods He chose. We tell our children, that they don’t get to chose whatever they want to be, but that God already chose and wrote the days of their life designing inside of them the desires and talents necessary, before they were even born. (That is another worldly lie- “you can be whatever you want to be if you just believe in yourself!”) That is totally unbiblical. The Bible says to believe in God- not yourself. That is humanistic, “We don’t need God, we can build a tower to the sky ourselves” kind of thinking. This kind of thinking is very prevalent, not just in public schools and public educational television, but even among Christian homeschoolers. We don’t even tell our children that it is their job to find out what God wants them to be or do. We don’t want our children identifying who they are by the job they do- those titles are not who they are. They are a redeemed; second Adam generation, new creations. They are only to identify with their new life and identity in Christ (being crucified and raised with Christ, hid in Christ, no longer they that live, but Christ who lives in them).
They may “do” many things throughout their lives to provide food, clothes, and shelter for themselves and their families. Learning how to provide these things without being dependant on others is ideal and gives them more freedom, especially as Christians. These are the practical skills we wish to teach our children. The journey, the purifying of Christ’s Bride, each and every step or moment walking with our God, being a light to those around us furthering the kingdom of God to which we are loyal citizens, IS our mission here on this Earth. In contrast to society’s mindset of preparing one’s whole life to reaching a pinnacle of occupational height or wealth, material goods or reputation (which are usually unreachable and at the cost of much family destruction and misery.) Man’s nature is such that it is never satisfied; not with these things anyway. God designed man to only have satisfaction and total contentedness, peace and Joy when being restored to Himself. Farmers, on the other hand, experience less divorce and health problems, and live a generally longer, healthier life with strong family bonds.
The other goals/skills we wish to train or teach our children are relationship skills, such as pertains to marriage and parenthood. Much of a successful happy life depends upon these two factors. Society does a good job at downplaying the family (which is their goal), but ask any married person (or divorced) or parent. They will tell you the largest bulk of their woes are related to their children and/or spouse (or lack thereof). We aren’t the perfect model of parenthood or marriage at all times, but when we blow it we acknowledge that to each other with apologies, and tell our kids that that is Not the right way to behave. As we grow in Faith to Walk more and more after the Spirit, these things take care of themselves, so everything, really, relates back to that walk with God. The children are trained and practice daily in with one another very vital skills, like: selflessness, preferring others above you, forgiveness, not returning evil for evil, self-control, patience/longsuffering, kindness, not being envious or jealous, generosity. These are the skills that will make for a happy, successful life as it pertains to all relationships whether it be your children, spouse, boss, co-workers friends, or neighbors.
This is the “socialization” we prefer to give our children. Not the dog-eat-dog, cliquish, competitive, cruel, me-first, sexually saturated, foul-mouthed, disrespectful to authorities, governmental/political; brainwashing and often violent socialization that the world has to offer( I know , I went to public school and things are 100 times worse now.) This is how children are trained in relationships in the world. Is it any wonder that more than half of marriages end in divorce and children are rebellious and estranged from the family? Well, I’ll get off this soap-box for now.
Do we think all other book learning is irrelevant? NO. Of course not. Reading , writing , and arithmetic, as well as history and science, all play a very important role in everyday life ( especially rural living). For example, when we were picking apples yesterday at an orchard, Micah, found too kinds of flavors he liked to eat together, came home and decided to plant some seeds, and got very excited when I told him how farmers breed two kinds together to get hybrids ( this is NOT genetical engineering , mind you!) So we will get books about how to do that at the library today hopefully. Jacob has a renewed interest in navigation( stars , compass, etc.), and Hannah, is enjoying her newfound freedom to make all kinds of projects and write letters to friends, now that she is writing independently. I mean, come on, deep down in every man, they long to build a log cabin with their own hands- it takes quite a bit of math and science there to do it properly. (Micah is itching to build his own skateboard ramp! I see a great geometry opportunity.)
WE love discovering how the gospel message, is hidden in all of nature, including every system of our body/ math and the sciences that have math and formulas all contain spiritual truths in them as well. Literally, EVERYTHING (in this natural world (natural laws included) SCREAMs to us “ILOVE YOU” from God. The Bible tells us this about nature as well in Romans 1:19, 20; “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them: for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His external power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
Generally, as a guideline our learning choices are based upon these three goals/priorities:
(a) To know God
(b) To be known by Him
(c) To make Him known to others
These are the reasons we learn anything that we learn: it keeps us on target, constantly vigilant to weed out the worldly, unnecessary things (there are many, many things to learn out there). We select only the best that line up with these priorities and the Christian Faith ( biblical, God-glorifying truths.) Truly, all the subjects can/are, used to fulfill these three criteria. I could list many specific examples; if you’re truly interested, just comment to this blogpost.
So we don’t learn “just for the sake of learning” or just because society says it is something you should know. We don’t learn for the end goal that most people get an “education”. Education being the cure-all to all man’s ills, is another very popular deception out there ( even among Christians, sadly). WE learn to learn more about God and how much he loves us, this in turn, leads to the second reason we learn- to grow in our relationship with God, and this in turn, leads us to the third reason we learn, to further God’s kingdom here on earth. We also learn, to be able to sustain life on this earth (independently of society, if need be) so that we can fulfill the first three goals. So there you have it- Our educational goals.
Hope this blesses and encourages someone or at least clears up some confusion. Happy Whole-life learning!
We are anti- “real” (pseudo) world, anti-college, and anti-American Dream 9-5 lifestyle. When one’s ultimate end goal and priority is Not the American Dream then the educational paths and vehicles taking us in a different direction will look very different from the traditional, mainstream educational methods. We believe that this world and its system, including college and a material lifestyle are contrary to the Christian faith and biblical principles. Not only that, but scripture makes it clear that it will only become more hostile to Christians, so much so that one won’t be able to buy or sell without the “mark of the beast”. This is perhaps a shorter time away than we might think. Why would we prepare our children to fit into an anti -Christian system that is faulty and harmful in every way? Wouldn’t our time be better spent learning the skills necessary for survival ; (food ,clothes, shelter, and herbal medicine) and preparation for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom through outreach, service to each other in a community of faith, and preparing them for marriage and parenthood?
I have been appalled to realize the many years wasted preparing my children for the world’s system by pumping them full of facts that the “world” says are important to know with methods that the “world” approves of. Much of homeschooling, even by Christians is nothing more than secularized education geared for success in a secular world- which makes for very unhappy , and unhealthy families and relationships. Not our idea of success. You can put a Christian label on it, have a curriculum full of Christianese lingo, refute evolution, but basically the end goal is the same: to prepare the children to become successful in this world, servants to an un-godly , materialistic, self-serving society.
Our picture of success looks more like this. We want our children first and foremost to have a totally devoted and intimately personal relationship with God, demonstrated by Godly lives of obedience and service to others. This alone would be enough. With God’s leading, they would become and do everything God wanted them to be and do, whether it is a doctor, or pilot, or sanitary worker, farmer, homemaker, entertainer, artist, teacher or hamburger flipper . They would hear God, know and be submitted to His plan for their life and He would equip them through whatever methods He chose. We tell our children, that they don’t get to chose whatever they want to be, but that God already chose and wrote the days of their life designing inside of them the desires and talents necessary, before they were even born. (That is another worldly lie- “you can be whatever you want to be if you just believe in yourself!”) That is totally unbiblical. The Bible says to believe in God- not yourself. That is humanistic, “We don’t need God, we can build a tower to the sky ourselves” kind of thinking. This kind of thinking is very prevalent, not just in public schools and public educational television, but even among Christian homeschoolers. We don’t even tell our children that it is their job to find out what God wants them to be or do. We don’t want our children identifying who they are by the job they do- those titles are not who they are. They are a redeemed; second Adam generation, new creations. They are only to identify with their new life and identity in Christ (being crucified and raised with Christ, hid in Christ, no longer they that live, but Christ who lives in them).
They may “do” many things throughout their lives to provide food, clothes, and shelter for themselves and their families. Learning how to provide these things without being dependant on others is ideal and gives them more freedom, especially as Christians. These are the practical skills we wish to teach our children. The journey, the purifying of Christ’s Bride, each and every step or moment walking with our God, being a light to those around us furthering the kingdom of God to which we are loyal citizens, IS our mission here on this Earth. In contrast to society’s mindset of preparing one’s whole life to reaching a pinnacle of occupational height or wealth, material goods or reputation (which are usually unreachable and at the cost of much family destruction and misery.) Man’s nature is such that it is never satisfied; not with these things anyway. God designed man to only have satisfaction and total contentedness, peace and Joy when being restored to Himself. Farmers, on the other hand, experience less divorce and health problems, and live a generally longer, healthier life with strong family bonds.
The other goals/skills we wish to train or teach our children are relationship skills, such as pertains to marriage and parenthood. Much of a successful happy life depends upon these two factors. Society does a good job at downplaying the family (which is their goal), but ask any married person (or divorced) or parent. They will tell you the largest bulk of their woes are related to their children and/or spouse (or lack thereof). We aren’t the perfect model of parenthood or marriage at all times, but when we blow it we acknowledge that to each other with apologies, and tell our kids that that is Not the right way to behave. As we grow in Faith to Walk more and more after the Spirit, these things take care of themselves, so everything, really, relates back to that walk with God. The children are trained and practice daily in with one another very vital skills, like: selflessness, preferring others above you, forgiveness, not returning evil for evil, self-control, patience/longsuffering, kindness, not being envious or jealous, generosity. These are the skills that will make for a happy, successful life as it pertains to all relationships whether it be your children, spouse, boss, co-workers friends, or neighbors.
This is the “socialization” we prefer to give our children. Not the dog-eat-dog, cliquish, competitive, cruel, me-first, sexually saturated, foul-mouthed, disrespectful to authorities, governmental/political; brainwashing and often violent socialization that the world has to offer( I know , I went to public school and things are 100 times worse now.) This is how children are trained in relationships in the world. Is it any wonder that more than half of marriages end in divorce and children are rebellious and estranged from the family? Well, I’ll get off this soap-box for now.
Do we think all other book learning is irrelevant? NO. Of course not. Reading , writing , and arithmetic, as well as history and science, all play a very important role in everyday life ( especially rural living). For example, when we were picking apples yesterday at an orchard, Micah, found too kinds of flavors he liked to eat together, came home and decided to plant some seeds, and got very excited when I told him how farmers breed two kinds together to get hybrids ( this is NOT genetical engineering , mind you!) So we will get books about how to do that at the library today hopefully. Jacob has a renewed interest in navigation( stars , compass, etc.), and Hannah, is enjoying her newfound freedom to make all kinds of projects and write letters to friends, now that she is writing independently. I mean, come on, deep down in every man, they long to build a log cabin with their own hands- it takes quite a bit of math and science there to do it properly. (Micah is itching to build his own skateboard ramp! I see a great geometry opportunity.)
WE love discovering how the gospel message, is hidden in all of nature, including every system of our body/ math and the sciences that have math and formulas all contain spiritual truths in them as well. Literally, EVERYTHING (in this natural world (natural laws included) SCREAMs to us “ILOVE YOU” from God. The Bible tells us this about nature as well in Romans 1:19, 20; “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them: for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His external power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
Generally, as a guideline our learning choices are based upon these three goals/priorities:
(a) To know God
(b) To be known by Him
(c) To make Him known to others
These are the reasons we learn anything that we learn: it keeps us on target, constantly vigilant to weed out the worldly, unnecessary things (there are many, many things to learn out there). We select only the best that line up with these priorities and the Christian Faith ( biblical, God-glorifying truths.) Truly, all the subjects can/are, used to fulfill these three criteria. I could list many specific examples; if you’re truly interested, just comment to this blogpost.
So we don’t learn “just for the sake of learning” or just because society says it is something you should know. We don’t learn for the end goal that most people get an “education”. Education being the cure-all to all man’s ills, is another very popular deception out there ( even among Christians, sadly). WE learn to learn more about God and how much he loves us, this in turn, leads to the second reason we learn- to grow in our relationship with God, and this in turn, leads us to the third reason we learn, to further God’s kingdom here on earth. We also learn, to be able to sustain life on this earth (independently of society, if need be) so that we can fulfill the first three goals. So there you have it- Our educational goals.
Hope this blesses and encourages someone or at least clears up some confusion. Happy Whole-life learning!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
'Tis the Season!
Yesterday was a very cold, rainy day. We started out the day with steamy, creamy, blueberry oatmeal. We read a lot together,(Little House) and had fun building a tent in the living room. We made some homemade butter(yum!) We plan to obtain some raw milk from a local farm and try our hand at cheese, yogurt and keifer. My friend has some keifer grains and I discovered that our amazing nettle can be used as rennet. ( yah, we watched our homesteading dvd recently)
We also watched vol. 2 of Making Herbs Simple. I can’t wait to make salve! I might even be brave enough to try a Henna hair dye. The kids got a big kick out of that.
Jacob started reading Oliver Twist and is halfway finished. He had a lot to share and questions to ask. He is very big-hearted and would wipe the world of injustices, if he could. I can foresee a lot of great discussions later. Not on the literary aspects. For we do not praise these, but how people without God/hope deal with problems, and the sad truth of reality vs. fiction and romanticized tragedy. About how to recognize Satan’s tactics to discourage someone through his lies; that there is any good in man aside from God. And mostly how to wisely choose reading material that is lovely and pure, noble, and of Good report. I believe it is time for the Illustrated Classics to go. (Except perhaps Swiss Family Robinson, and Heidi)
Hannah realized she had missed a couple of her friends’ in the States birthdays, and made cards for them and wrote letters yesterday. She started to ask me how to spell some things and I made her do it. She was thrilled and surprised that she could! I have been so pleased to see her whole mindset shift about reading and writing (unprompted) from total disdain and aversion to joy and eagerness!
Micah spent most the day down in the woodworking shop carving a sailboat from a log he obtained in the forest a s a gift for someone. It is looking pretty good! And of course, I am making sure he learns diligence with the clean-up and care of tools.
Nathan spent a lot of time watching his bros and playing, making butter and being my general helper. We have been doing a lot of training with him on obedience, joyfully and willingly, without asking twice or whining. Eden as well. They get lots of hugs, praise and kisses when they do it right. When they do it wrong, we redo the whole scene. He was excited and interested to learn how to load the dishwasher (!!!!!) His siblings were excited about that.
I realized that I still have some secular educational ideals to discard when I was secretly pleased that they were doing things that were more “academic” for me to blog about. Either that or I still have a fear on how others will judge/critique us. Or both. I suppose it is warranted somewhat in the fact that the government can take your kids away if you are not teaching them the way they believe is the right way. Oh well, I suppose I will have to trust in God.
Today, I am Thankful that not one child coughed all night( causing me to have to get them some more herbal cough tea- which works within seconds, by the way!) Nathan was running fever a little last evening, so I gave him immunity tincture( in OJ, cause I made the mistake of making it with vodka instead of glycerin last year-Hey! We’re talking a half a teaspoon in a cup of juice here- Don’t call CPS yet!!) Not too tasty. I really had no clue how bad the stuff tastes. On the bright side, I don’t think they will ever be tempted in that respect. Hee Hee Hee. I have new cough and immunity tinctures brewing in glycerin that I made yesterday- will be ready in a month or so. Then I rubbed all his lymph nodes and feet with the infused garlic oil, that I made last week, and gave him herbal tea, and he was good as new before bedtime. And I had a good night’s sleep.
My poor little guinea pigs. I wouldn’t be surprised, if they drew up a Doc. Mom comic strip, with my apron instead of a cape. “ Is that a sniffle I heard?” ZOOM? SWOOSH!! “ Here Take this!” AAAHHH,
“But mom, I’m not sick!” “Take it anyway! To keep you from getting sick- It is the season!”
Ah, but I digress- time to go look on line for herbal oil diffusers for my new essential oils!
We also watched vol. 2 of Making Herbs Simple. I can’t wait to make salve! I might even be brave enough to try a Henna hair dye. The kids got a big kick out of that.
Jacob started reading Oliver Twist and is halfway finished. He had a lot to share and questions to ask. He is very big-hearted and would wipe the world of injustices, if he could. I can foresee a lot of great discussions later. Not on the literary aspects. For we do not praise these, but how people without God/hope deal with problems, and the sad truth of reality vs. fiction and romanticized tragedy. About how to recognize Satan’s tactics to discourage someone through his lies; that there is any good in man aside from God. And mostly how to wisely choose reading material that is lovely and pure, noble, and of Good report. I believe it is time for the Illustrated Classics to go. (Except perhaps Swiss Family Robinson, and Heidi)
Hannah realized she had missed a couple of her friends’ in the States birthdays, and made cards for them and wrote letters yesterday. She started to ask me how to spell some things and I made her do it. She was thrilled and surprised that she could! I have been so pleased to see her whole mindset shift about reading and writing (unprompted) from total disdain and aversion to joy and eagerness!
Micah spent most the day down in the woodworking shop carving a sailboat from a log he obtained in the forest a s a gift for someone. It is looking pretty good! And of course, I am making sure he learns diligence with the clean-up and care of tools.
Nathan spent a lot of time watching his bros and playing, making butter and being my general helper. We have been doing a lot of training with him on obedience, joyfully and willingly, without asking twice or whining. Eden as well. They get lots of hugs, praise and kisses when they do it right. When they do it wrong, we redo the whole scene. He was excited and interested to learn how to load the dishwasher (!!!!!) His siblings were excited about that.
I realized that I still have some secular educational ideals to discard when I was secretly pleased that they were doing things that were more “academic” for me to blog about. Either that or I still have a fear on how others will judge/critique us. Or both. I suppose it is warranted somewhat in the fact that the government can take your kids away if you are not teaching them the way they believe is the right way. Oh well, I suppose I will have to trust in God.
Today, I am Thankful that not one child coughed all night( causing me to have to get them some more herbal cough tea- which works within seconds, by the way!) Nathan was running fever a little last evening, so I gave him immunity tincture( in OJ, cause I made the mistake of making it with vodka instead of glycerin last year-Hey! We’re talking a half a teaspoon in a cup of juice here- Don’t call CPS yet!!) Not too tasty. I really had no clue how bad the stuff tastes. On the bright side, I don’t think they will ever be tempted in that respect. Hee Hee Hee. I have new cough and immunity tinctures brewing in glycerin that I made yesterday- will be ready in a month or so. Then I rubbed all his lymph nodes and feet with the infused garlic oil, that I made last week, and gave him herbal tea, and he was good as new before bedtime. And I had a good night’s sleep.
My poor little guinea pigs. I wouldn’t be surprised, if they drew up a Doc. Mom comic strip, with my apron instead of a cape. “ Is that a sniffle I heard?” ZOOM? SWOOSH!! “ Here Take this!” AAAHHH,
“But mom, I’m not sick!” “Take it anyway! To keep you from getting sick- It is the season!”
Ah, but I digress- time to go look on line for herbal oil diffusers for my new essential oils!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Fall Fun
Well, today we enjoyed an unusually sunny afternoon outside raking leaves and gathering the last of the hazelnuts from the tree in our yard. Although it was very cold, the kids enjoyed playing around in the leaves and learning to use the rakes- even Eden. This of course was rewarded with some very chocolaty hot cocoa.
The three pumpkin pies cooked just the day before yesterday are already gone! I still have a large amount of pumpkin left from the other day however. First, the kids threw the large pumpkin over the balcony to shatter it in pieces. Then we gathered the seeds to wash, and hauled the flesh pieces in a clothes basket to the tub to clean them and cut out the rest of the "guts". After baking them in the oven for a few hours we peeled the skin of the mushy chunks and blended it up. Micah made his first batch of cookies without any help from me.
He was proud and they were amazing topped with a cream cheese spiced frosting! We soaked the seeds in salt water for a few days and roasted them, (that was a very yummy snack for everyone on Sat.)During this we discussed why we dry seeds, and soak them to get the enzyme inhibitors off for digestion; and why we don't want them off the ones were saving for planting. They all enthusiastically helped with every step of the process- and we had a lot of fun.We ate our first batch of stinging nettles the other night. You simply boil them, adding butter salt pepper onion, bacon or however you would normally fix your favorite greens. Boiling gets rid of all prickles. Man were they tasty! Nettles are a liver and blood purifier, clearing up skin problems, healthy for hair, and helps with rheumatism. Not to mention,they're packed with vitamins and minerals. James and I especially are getting into wild edible plants. He even cut some cattail stalks and roots to try while getting water from the spring. We discovered you have to harvest them in summer to be edible.
We made eggshell water by soaking 5-6 cleaned organic eggshells in a couple of cups of boiling water, adding a tbl of lemon juice to break it down. Strain off the shells and refrigerate the liquid. This is helpful for building bones and getting other vitamins and minerals. I like putting some in my fruthies or just drinking my vitamins down with some. It helps to have something with magnesium at the same time to help absorb the calcium. Nathan and Eden helped me with this project and had fun crushing the shells for me.
As a family, we have also watched the "Making Herbs Simple" Vol 1 dvd and "Homesteading For Beginners"vol 1. Everyone enjoyed these immensely and are looking forward to watching vol 2. We have also started reading the 4th book of Little House series, " On the Banks of Plum Creek" together. They usually beg for one more chapter.
Other learning interests going on include the ancient civilizations Treasure Chests I acquired not too long ago, we have one on Egypt, Roman and Aztec( Jacob is building the Aztec temple activity right now). These are full of activities,crafts, booklets and maps and all kinds of cool stuff.
They are also a bit into zoology and Micah is reading through the Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day, and always citing some new interesting tidbit of info to the family. Jacob is reading more worthy literure of a scientific or historical nature. This was a welcomed respite from his usual Garfield and StarWars books( Which James and I feel led to scrap now, because they are too worldly, and not much benefit to his spiritual growth.)Micah is now reading A Tale of Two Cities which is also under prayerful scrutiny.
Speaking of zoology, our landlords payed for us to go to the zoo here in Heidelberg. It was a wonderful, beautiful perfect day! Everyone had a fabulous time. This zoo had an added bonus of a petting zoo. Baby goats are so cute! And best of all, there was a huge field beside the park full of plantain. I dug out a few plants and transplanted them in our flower bed.
Hannah has finished her blue reader, and read 40 pages in the next level in one day! It used to be such a struggle to get her to read 5 a day. Nathan loves to get books and sit looking at the pictures
when no one is available. At the library , he likes to get books about animals and Magic School Bus. These are full of evolution statements, so I am glad he doesn't read yet; I can paraphrase and edit as I go.We are actually in the process of gleaning out all academic resources that have any anti- Christian, evolution, or non- glorifying to God statements in them( brownies with a little poop in them.) There are plenty of Christian resources that give God glory and are much more reliable out there. So, we are prayerful trading in the Ok for the best. Meanwhile we all are growing and learning together through LIFE!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Connecting Through Botany\ Health and Sports
The last week or so, since we have come back from “Holiday” as the Germans call it, we have been doing a mixture of things.
Hannah has really been blooming in the area of reading, spelling and writing. She borrowed an electronic laptop v-tech toy from a friend and has been amazing everyone including herself with her spelling skills. She is writing a lot more on her own and drawing other things besides horses. One thing she drew that really surprised me was apples being manufactured in a factory into applesauce with an array of different machines. Go figure!
The boys have mostly left their comic book, art phase for a skateboarding interest. Endless tricks, practice, you-tube videos, and skinned elbows and knees, has actually taught them a lot. Aside from the fact that they should always wear their gear as mom says, and the wonderful soreness of good old fashion physical activity, they have learned perseverance, courage, and “ a few choice phrases” as Micah jokingly said. They have experienced physics and laws of nature such as gravity, momentum, inertia, friction, oh and “an object in motion stays in motion unless otherwise acted upon by an outside force”- preferable not the pavement. This, although not on paper learning ,will be even more beneficial to them practically in everyday life as their reflexes improve and their body and brain will instinctively know how to accurately judge speeds and angles and force. I have learned what “dropping in, Ollie, kick-flip, 5-0, 50-50 grind, tail- grind, tail- slide, rock –to-fakey, and other skateboarding terms mean.” Knowing and being excited about what excites your kids is wonderful for strengthening relationships. They have been allowed ample time to improve their skills and be boys- I daresay it has toughened them up a bit and bonded them more as brothers.
Our main educational focus as a family late, has been herbs, nutrition, and herbal medicine. On our walks into the forest lately, we have gathered nettle, plantain, dandelion, and red clover. I have been teaching the kids how each herb is beneficial to the body, and what herbs to mix them with to make tinctures, teas and infusions for specific ailments, that we plan to make for family and friends. We have strung and dried, nettle, red clover and dandelion, and planted the plantain plants in the front yard. We have infused garlic oil, cold tea mixtures and calendula (marigold)/ comfry oil for Rachel’s, eczema lotion. Hannah and I also spent an afternoon making scented lotions. I find that most the time when I start doing these things, the kids all come around naturally curious and start helping, as I tell them what and why, even Micah.
Hannah has really been blooming in the area of reading, spelling and writing. She borrowed an electronic laptop v-tech toy from a friend and has been amazing everyone including herself with her spelling skills. She is writing a lot more on her own and drawing other things besides horses. One thing she drew that really surprised me was apples being manufactured in a factory into applesauce with an array of different machines. Go figure!
The boys have mostly left their comic book, art phase for a skateboarding interest. Endless tricks, practice, you-tube videos, and skinned elbows and knees, has actually taught them a lot. Aside from the fact that they should always wear their gear as mom says, and the wonderful soreness of good old fashion physical activity, they have learned perseverance, courage, and “ a few choice phrases” as Micah jokingly said. They have experienced physics and laws of nature such as gravity, momentum, inertia, friction, oh and “an object in motion stays in motion unless otherwise acted upon by an outside force”- preferable not the pavement. This, although not on paper learning ,will be even more beneficial to them practically in everyday life as their reflexes improve and their body and brain will instinctively know how to accurately judge speeds and angles and force. I have learned what “dropping in, Ollie, kick-flip, 5-0, 50-50 grind, tail- grind, tail- slide, rock –to-fakey, and other skateboarding terms mean.” Knowing and being excited about what excites your kids is wonderful for strengthening relationships. They have been allowed ample time to improve their skills and be boys- I daresay it has toughened them up a bit and bonded them more as brothers.
Our main educational focus as a family late, has been herbs, nutrition, and herbal medicine. On our walks into the forest lately, we have gathered nettle, plantain, dandelion, and red clover. I have been teaching the kids how each herb is beneficial to the body, and what herbs to mix them with to make tinctures, teas and infusions for specific ailments, that we plan to make for family and friends. We have strung and dried, nettle, red clover and dandelion, and planted the plantain plants in the front yard. We have infused garlic oil, cold tea mixtures and calendula (marigold)/ comfry oil for Rachel’s, eczema lotion. Hannah and I also spent an afternoon making scented lotions. I find that most the time when I start doing these things, the kids all come around naturally curious and start helping, as I tell them what and why, even Micah.
We have had amazing results with these home remedies. Eden has had a cold and cough at night that clears up right away with the infused herbal tea( cooked on low for 24 hours) with organic wildflower honey. One night Hannah started running a high fever for no apparent reason that she could tell me or I could see. After giving her some of the tea and rubbing the garlic oil on her lymph nodes and feet, her fever broke within an hour and she woke up good as new. Yesterday, Hannah raised up under the window that was opened up to air out the house ( German windows open up inwardly and have sharp points on the bottom.) Well her head was bleeding from a cut on it, so I quickly chewed up some of the fresh plantain we had just acquired and plastered it on the spot- then I had to quickly leave and recover before I passed out( I don’t do well with head wounds for some reason) This stopped the bleeding and has really speed up the healing process. The plantain also came in handy when Eden tried to get on a chair and fell off hitting her mouth, and busting her top and bottom lip. ( I am beginning to wonder if having all these herbs and remedies on hand is causing a influx of illnesses and injuries) Either way, we have avoided having to go to the doctor.
Learning together and using this knowledge has been extremely unifying and satisfying for all of us.
Next post- PUMPKIN PROCESSING and eggshell water! HMMM- gotta go, Micah just made pumpkin cookies!
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