A Little Bit of Learning.......

 I have found that earning is often shunted in to categories by just about everyone.
Clearly we have the standard 'school learning' then we have 'home learning' and within those groups we have many differing categories that we all identify with.

In fact I know I try to incorporate various 'subjects' together to cover what I am trying to present to the children. It makes it more real and enjoyable I believe in this format.

The more I have 'lived' a home education lifestyle with our family, the more I find we are really 'living this life'.
So much of what we do is incorporated into daily living that it's often impossible to tell where 'home education starts and living' starts.

In the last year we have especially grown in the area of Homesteading for a better word. This is a part of our daily routine and while sometimes we can have a few complainers about the chores that come with this, there have been many educational advantages as well.

For aren't we preparing our children for the real world, where they have to go out and live. They need to be able to recognise work as a ethic to be valued-something I think that is sorely missing in many of today's youth.

What better way than to recognise that all people need food, shelter,  basic sanitation and quality of life.
I mean really isn't' that why people go to work, to provide those things for themselves and their families?

We have branched out in our 'Homesteading' this past year. We have focused a lot on the animals we can grow to provide food and small opportunities for selling or barter.

We also have created an orchard this year, all in pots though until we find our final homestead. I have only in the past been interested in the typical stone fruits and European fruits we are familiar with, but with our interest in foraging for food  we have added quite a few native edibles that are so interesting to see and use.

Reading is and has always been a  huge part of our home learning.  I will admit I have been lax in insisting our younger children have 'assigned reading' so  this year I am trying to implement this again with them.
The choices are probably not going to be what the older children had but the insistence of 1 hour of assigned reading per day will be.

Again reading aloud is a much loved part of our learning and to get us started this year we will be adding these books to our daily routine. Sometimes it is hard to not just choose a  book because I had such fun reading it to the older ones. which also means trying to read to the younger crowd interesting. 

Introducing new books to our 'home learning' while trying to share those old treasured favourites can be a difficult decision for us all - especially as the older ones try to share their favourites with the younger ones.

Self Sufficiency is essentially part of what we are trying to achieve and to that end we were extremely pleased with our efforts to finally get to eat 'bunny bits' as we called them.
We have been raising meat rabbits for a good part of the year and while they can be prolific that diseases they can contract can entirely wipe out all the work you have put into it.

So again that allows us and the children real opportunities to see that hard work does not always produce the results you are looking for- life lessons that are so important in this world that expects things for nothing or even just because we have  poured our hearts and souls into it.

There is something about being able to cook on the barbie that seems like a rite of passage to me. Mind you in our family there are a few who can actually cook and some who we try to keep from inflicting charcoal on us all.

Looking at this from a real life perspective though it is also about being open to allowing children to grow in skills and responsibilities that help them achieve their own goals and ambitions while still allowing them the opportunity to  be children.

Therefore  this year will indeed be a great year of learning not only for the children but also for the rest of us as we grow and learn along side them.

Our Wilderness School will continue to be a major part of our lives as we continue to learn about our environment and how to successfully live in it, both in being able to provide food, shelter, and other real life living for the prosperity of our family and to being able to have members of our family to contribute to the community and the good of our world.

And now a  small reminder that I have my St Valentine's Day eBook ready for Sale - only $14:99 AUD and $11:83 USD
Please consider buying  this for your family before the coming feast day.
It has some lovely traditions to start with your family. Also decorating, colouring pages, recipes and activities to do together to bring more meaning to your St Valentine's Day

Blessings to you and your homes,