Welcome to my world of homeschooling. My name is Tracy Dixon and I am a wife to a very devoted husband of 18 years and we have two rowdy boys that are such a blessing to me. My oldest son is Dakota and he is in the 6th grade. My youngest is Dallas who is in the 1st grade. They do grow up so fast.Not only do we homeschool, we have a farm which everyday is a learning experience for our boys. We raise Dairy Goats and Poultry (this includes chickens, ducks, and  turkey's)  Later, we will my oldest son will add cattle. My husband is the Wildlife Conservationist and Fisherman. He raises Labrador Retrievers for duck hunting and plants food plots for wildlife, mainly deer. We love to raise our own garden and hunt. Everything we do on our farm is a learning experience. I am by no means perfect at homeschooling, but by Gods grace, I try to do my best. I've always known I wanted to homeschool, I was just scared of getting started. I owe alot of my courage to God and my cousin who encouraged me and has helped me along the way homeschoolblogger.com/4dfarms

Well we survived February somewhat. We had a major ice storm hit our neck of the woods. No power, no heat for a few days. Power lines were not only froze but were down on our road. We knew we had to hurry and get power back because one of our neighbors is on oxygen. My husband was a real steward and checked on them for several days and helping her change out her husbands tanks. The weather and no power and no heat pushed us to spend the night elsewhere. We will be making some adjustments in the next few months for next years preperations. We will be adding a 5 block gas heater and generator. We did have a great time at my mom and dads house though. We played many games of cards to pass the time. We also had a chance to see some more of my friends since Im from that area.

If you live in an area where you will be getting more snow here is a Snow Cream Recipe, I loved my mother fixing this for us when we were little. It just goes with cold weather.

Snow Cream

Ingredients

* 1 gallon snow (16 cups)

* 1 cup white sugar

* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

* 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Gather snow and place in a large, clean bowl. Stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once or freeze until later.

Hope you enjoy and have lots of fun playing in the snow!

I have been looking through many seed catalogs and planning my garden. I love doing this cause it helps me get through the winter months.

At this time I am also anticipating the birth of one of my new goats that my husband got for me for Valentines Day. She was already bred when we purchased her and her baby from the previous spring. We are not for sure which day she will deliver seeings though the previous owner let all does in with the bucks to run for a week. I know what signs to look for though. It makes me nervous. Tisha will be having her baby in May. Cocoa, however never got pregnant seeings though she is really overweight and this causes ovulation problems. This summer she will be going on a strict diet and she will be pouting at me. Dakota helped me video

tape some segments for my educational video I am filming for people who are considering

raising dairy goats. He is a great camera man.

The kids are doing great in school. We are now counting down the days. We only have 54 lessons left. Yea.

By now everyone is experience spring tension, you know, the kind where you want to hurry

up and get done with school so you can get outside and play. This happens to us this time

every year.

I have seen alot of changes in both boys. Dakota doesnt dread things as bad, he knows it has to be done anyway so he just as well get it over with. Dallas just does it. Dakota is my late sleeper, Dallas is my early riser. Its amazing at their personalities.

Dad has decided to take Karate with Dallas. He is doing really well. He does not want us to come and watch until he gets better. How funny.

We have also been enjoying alot of baking. One morning the boys wanted to help make some thing for dessert. I got the book and mixer out and let them have at it. Dakota measured and read the recipe, Dallas poured and manned the mixer. They did a really good job. It was delicious. Many things made from scratch is a whole lot healthier for you than things bought in boxes and ready made. For example, some things have preservatives added which is not healthy. Fresh is best whenever possible. MSG is not good for you either. It is a number two ingredient on alot of packages. So please, take the time to cook from scratch if you can. I love Amish cook books and baking books. They really know how to cook. This also taught them measurments from

Arithmetic, so they are learning at the same time they are having fun.

Some great homesteading magazines I have are Mother Earth News and Countryside magazine. I love these two magazines for their articles and advice of self suffecient living.

Im going to leave you this month with an article I read from another website and I was given permission to republish here. If you are a parent of preschool children, you will love this website.

Posted: 04 Feb 2010 03:36 AM PST

This is a guest post by Lynley Baker Phillips, who is a stay-at-home mommy to two, blogger, former special education teacher, and referee in all major toy disputes. Her writings have been featured in various publications and on Examiner.com. Feel free to contact her at savethephillipsfamily@hotmail.com. Her blog url is savethephillipsfamily.com. She has terrific articles concerining preschool children. Here is one of them.

Structuring the Stay-at-Home Mom’s Day

When I bid my teaching days farewell and started my career as a stay-at-home mom, I had many grand dreams for what the days would hold for me and my new baby boy. There would be trips to the park, lunch dates with fellow stay-at-home moms (SAHM), outings to Mommy and Me classes and long morning spent around the house wearing our PJs. I was realistic enough to know that Sesame Street would most likely be on the television rather than a soap opera and there would be more Cheerios consumed than exotic bonbons (especially if I ever wanted to wear something that did not involve an elastic waist). I knew being a SAHM was hard work, but it was a career choice I was excited about and ready to tackle.

As time marched on, I settled into life with a new baby….a life that was nothing like my preconceived notions of being at home. Although precious, my new baby was easily over-stimulated which made lunch dates impossible. Our area happened to be experiencing an Indian summer that year, which made trips to the park in 100 degree heat miserable. The husband and I had slimmed down the budget to accommodate my lack of income, which made expensive baby classes out of the question. Suddenly the ideals I held in place about the structure of the SAHM’s day crumbled. I soon found myself inside with a baby 24/7, unhappy and questioning this new career choice.

About four months into my gig as a SAHM something clicked. I decided I could either roam aimlessly though my life wearing faded yoga pants and finding excitement over getting all of the baby bottles washed by noon or I could take charge of this new career I had chosen. Sure the aspects of the job were a bit different than I had expected and my boss, although terribly handsome, was incredibly demanding. Yet if I was going to succeed as a stay-at-home mom, then I needed to structure my work day and establish routine in my life. I wanted to be productive during my day, tend to my family’s needs and go to bed at night knowing that I had accomplished something good at work. Below are some tips I incorporated into my SAHM work day that put my career at home back on track.

1. Designate a beginning and an end to the workday. Being a SAHM does not appear to be a typical 9-5 job, especially when the “boss” can call you in to deal with a stomach virus at 2am or request just one more drink of water before bedtime. Although parenting is a 24/7 job, designate a time frame for the work day. Set a beginning time and an end time, allowing yourself to rest after a day’s work. Do not be tempted to mop floors after the family is tucked in for the evening or fold one more load of laundry before sitting down to talk with your spouse at the end of the day. Having an official end to the workday will help you be able to prepare for the next day at home.

2. Accomplish a big task early in the day. Often times, SAHMs can reach the end of the day and not be able to identify one big task they accomplished despite being busy all day long. Choose one big task a day to accomplish first thing in the morning, such as vacuuming bedrooms or cleaning the bathrooms. Have children help get these tasks done so you can spend time with them doing a fun activity.

3. Schedule an outing. Getting out of the house, even just for a quick errand to the post office, keeps spirits high. Try to get out of the house a few days each week. Outings can be more fun for everyone if they are scheduled when children are fed and rested, such as in the morning or after nap time. Subscribe to local parenting websites that send out weekly schedules of family-friendly events happening in your area for ideas on what to do on these outings.

4. Use a calendar to organize the day. There are several online tools to help busy mom’s organize their day as well as many types of day planners. Set aside a time, such as Sunday evenings, to plan for the upcoming week and update the family calendar.

5. Keep clutter to a minimum. When children are at home all day with a parent, it can seem like the toys are overtaking the house by 5pm. Designate two times during the day to do a quick toy clean-up, such as before lunch and before bedtime. Be sure to have children help (or accomplish this task on their own). Keeping toy chaos to a minimum allows children to have the space to enjoy their belongings more and keeps the house uncluttered.

6. Consider taking a day off. SAHMs rarely have the chance to call in sick or take a personal day off of work to get things accomplished. Consider swapping babysitting duties with a fellow stay-at-home mom. Offer to watch her kids one morning by hosting a play date, allowing her to have a few hours to herself. The next week, she can return the favor.

7. Set aside a block of alone time each day. Whether it is having some quiet time with a cup of coffee and a good book in the mornings before the family wakes up or browsing the Internet while the children nap, be sure to set aside time each day to do something enjoyable by yourself. One must take care of themselves in order to effectively take care of a family.

8. Have reasonable expectations. Do not set out to clean an entire house, complete various educational activities with the children, host a play date, read a book, cook three healthy meals, and get to bed at a reasonable hour all in one day as a SAHM. Set a few goals for each day, take time to interact with your family, and go to bed each evening being proud of your job and the work that was accomplished.

Four years and another kid later, my days at a SAHM have a lot more structure than they did in those early days of mommyhood. There is still chaos on some days and still times when any sort of structure is demolished by a missed nap or a sudden fever. Despite these bumps in the road, I can proudly say I love my job…demanding bosses and all.

Another preschool website is homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com She has a very realistic blog as well. She also posts alot of crafts for preschool children.

I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed putting this together.

See you next month, but stay in touch with the family at homeschoolblogger.com/4dfarms

mstracydixon@yahoo.com

Lambing Season

Is it lambing season on your homestead? Or maybe a neighbor’s homestead? If so, I’m sure your children are oohing and ahhing over the cute little fluff balls. What a wonderful thing for your homeschool!

Even the youngest child has probably memorized the old nursery rhyme, Mary had a Little Lamb. Please don’t follow the example of Mary’s teacher, who wouldn’t allow Mary’s lamb to school! Instead, follow the advice in this poem, written by Agnes A. Twichell in 1898:

Mary’s Lamb “Up To Date”

If Mary’s little lamb, my dears,

Had lived in ’98,

The little, fleeting woolly thing,

Would have met a better fate.

For if it followed her to school,

The teacher kind would say;

“Why, Mary, dear, I’m glad he’s here,

I think we’ll let him stay.”

The children all would gather round,

Discussing every feature.

As though a treasure they had found,

They’d talk about the creature.

They’d draw a picture of it, too.

‘Twould really do them credit,

And then a story each would write,

‘Twould please you if you read it.

The lamb would be allowed to roam,

Around the room at pleasure,

And when at noon it trotted home,

It’s joy would know no measure.

I’m glad that time a change has wrought,

Regarding education,

Now children’s minds are used for thought,

Their eyes for observation.

Lesson Ideas

Read some picture books about sheep:

Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders

The Weaver's Gift by Kathryn Lasky

A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert

Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie DePaola Free Unit Study and Lapbook

Do just as the poem suggests – encourage your child to describe every feature, write a story about it, draw a picture. You could also use the poem for copywork, dictation, or just memorization.

Older children can compare and contrast the two versions of the poem.

Which do they like better? Why?

Learn about the anatomy, diet, and reproductive systems of these mammals.

Here are some printables to help with your unit study:

Sheep Printout with Info

Sheep Shearing Coloring Page

Sheep Report Form  with writing cues

Sheep Report Form blank

Sheep Report Form one box

Sheep Notebook Page

Sheep Shape Book Pattern

Sheep Fact Graduated Book

Sheep Classification Horizontal Graduated Book

Lamb Paper with Primary Lines

Little Boy Blue Free Lapbook

Lamb Nursery Rhyme Book

Hope you all have a wonderful spring in your homesteading homeschool!

In those parts of the country with maple trees, sugaring time is quickly approaching. If you are fortunate enough to have a sugar maple to tap on your homestead, lucky you! If not, you may be able to find a local nature center that does tapping demonstrations, and maybe even get a sample! Before heading off with those spiels and buckets, your children may enjoy taking some time to complete a unit study on Maple Sugaring. These lessons are excerpted from Homeschool Share, where you can find the Complete Unit and Free Lapbook

Book Suggestions: 

My First Little House Book – Sugar Snow

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder Free Lapbook
Sugarbush Spring by Marsha Wilson Chall

Sugar on Snow by Nan Parson Rossiter
Sugaring by Jessie Haas
My Little House Cookbook
At Grandpa's Sugar Bush by Margaret Carney
The Maple Syrup Book by Marilyn Linton
Fun With Nature by Boring, Burns and Dandy (or another tree field guide book)

Helpful Links:

History of maple tapping, and general info

Site to ID maples

Science:

Maple Trees
Maple trees are deciduous trees, meaning they are leaf losing. Read about maple trees on pages 252-253 in Fun With Nature (or another field guide type book). Go for a nature walk to locate maple trees. If you are looking in late winter, before the buds have opened, you can identify a maple by its bark, seed pod “helicopters”, and its characteristic “eye to eye” leaf growth. Color or draw pictures of maple leaves, seedpods or trees.

You may also want to discuss the life cycle and parts of a maple tree with your child.

1. Seed - Inside a seed coat is a tiny living plant, called an embryo. Under the right
   conditions, including temperature, air and water, the tiny plant will break through the seed coat
   and "germinate".

2. Roots and Shoots - After the seed germinates, the roots grow down into the ground and the
   shoots grow up towards the sunlight. The roots suck up food and water from the soil, store energy, and provide support for the tree. The shoot thickens into a stem and then into a trunk..

3. Branches – Branches grow off the main trunk, and buds then appear.

4. Leaves - The first true leaves emerge on the branches.

5. Canopy of leaves – As the branches grow, extending up towards the sunlight, the upper parts of the tree, where the leaves are, forms a canopy.

6. Seed Pods – From buds on the branches, seedpods develop. They will eventually fall to the ground, and start the cycle of life once again.

Explain to your child that only certain kinds of trees can be tapped for maple syrup.  These include four different varieties of maple trees-- silver maple, red maple, ash leaf maple (known more commonly as a box elder), and sugar maples.  Sugar Maples contain more sugar than the other three kinds; the sugar maple produces the best-flavored maple syrup (the others are dark in color and less flavorful). 

Maple Sugaring Process
Discuss the process and special tools needed for tapping trees and making syrup.

Tools needed to tap the tree include:
An auger-- a hand drill or power drill with a 7/16 inch drill bit
spiel (preferably with hooks)
sap bucket

Supplies needed to make maple syrup:
large plastic pail
large pot
cheesecloth or cone-shaped paper coffee filters
canning jars or bottles
cooking or candy thermometer
oven mitts
slotted spoon
sieve

1. Clean Your Equipment - Clean all of your equipment and rinse it well with hot water. Let it dry completely.

2.  Pick Your Tree - Select a maple tree that is at least 10 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet high. Do not attempt to tap a smaller tree; you will do permanent damage.

3.  Tap Your Tree - Do not tap a tree when the temperature is below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. At about 4.5 feet, drill a hole on the sunny (south) side of your tree. Drill on an upward angle to a depth of no more than 3 inches. If your tree is larger than 18 inches in diameter, you can drill another hole. It should be at least 6 inches away from the first hole (you want to measure horizontally not vertically). Carefully and gently tap the spiel into the hole.  

4.  Collect the Sap - Place your bucket on the hook (below the spiel). Attach a cover to prevent unpleasant things from getting into your sap such as bugs, bark, and rain. Collect your sap at least once a day. If you leave it longer than a day, it may spoil. If the weather gets below freezing, your bucket might split.  If you can't boil your sap immediately, store it in your freezer. Before you boil it, strain it through cheesecloth.

5.  Boil the Sap - Bring the sap to a boil.  Continue boiling until it reaches 219 degrees Fahrenheit. (If you would like to try this at home, I highly recommend that you read the information provided in The Maple Syrup Book by Eagleson & Hasner)

6.  Filter and Bottle - You can use any bottle you would like to store your syrup as long as it is clean and dry. Filter your syrup through cheesecloth or a few cone-shaped coffee filters stack together. You want to remove the sugar sand that was produced while the sap was boiling. Pour filtered syrup into the bottle, attach the cap, and place the container on its side (this will sterilize the lid). 

Source:  The Maple Syrup Book by Eagleson and Hasner

Evaporation

Evaporating the water out of the maple sap makes maple syrup. If you have the opportunity, take some time to show your student the process of evaporation.  If you have some tomatoes, boil them down to make tomato sauce.  You could also boil down some apples to make apple butter.  Show them the steam and explain how the water is being removed and why the sauce or butter (and maple syrup) starts with a large quantity, but yields a much smaller amount.  

Social Studies:

Map Skills

Using the Internet or the book The Maple Syrup Book by Eagleson and Hasner, research where maple syrup is produced. Locate Quebec, Vermont, Ontario, Maine, and New York on a map of North America.

Math:

Liquid Measurements

Maple syrup is a liquid that is usually stored in bottles. Discuss the different size bottles, and how liquids are measured. Explain to your child that there are two pints in one quart, and four quarts in a gallon. It takes 40 gallons of maple sap to yield one gallon of maple syrup. 

1. How many gallons of maple sap would you need to yield 3 gallons of syrup?
2. How many gallons of maple sap would you need to yield 5 gallons of syrup?
3. How many gallons of maple sap would you need to yield 10 gallons of syrup?
4. If you had five gallons of maple sap, how many quarts do you have?
5. If you have 40 quarts of maple sap, how many gallons do you have?
6. How many quarts of maple sap would it take to yield one gallon of maple syrup?
7. If you have six gallons of maple syrup, and you give one to a neighbor and two to your grandmother, how many do you have left?
8. If you want to have three gallons of maple syrup on your shelf at the end of sugaring season and one gallon in your refrigerator, how many gallons of sap do you need to tap from your trees?

Diameter

In order to determine if a tree is ready to tap, it must be at least 10 inches in diameter.  Does your student know what the word diameter means? Diameter is the measurement equal to the distance across the center of a circle. Have your child measure various circles around the house, such as plates, bowls, and tables.

Pie Graph
With your older child, make a pie graph based on the following data for the leaders in maple syrup production. 
Quebec 81.4%
Vermont 5.5%
Ontario 3.3%
Maine 3.3 %
New York 2.7%
Other 3.8%

Let your student make a graph online.  He gets to input the numbers, choose the colors, and everything else! 

-information from The Maple Syrup Book by Janet Eagleson and Rosemary Hasner

Language Arts:

Vocabulary
Note:  these are not necessarily words you will encounter in the books you read, but words that you will encounter as you complete the lessons in this unit.

Spiel: a spout inserted in a tree to draw off sap

Evaporate: to remove some of the water from (as by heating)

Sap: a watery solution that circulates through a tree carrying food and nutrients

Sugar house: a building where maple sap is boiled to make maple syrup and maple sugar
 

Auger: a tool made like a spiral or screw and used for boring holes

Deciduous: a tree with leaves that fall off

Grade: a standard of quality

Art:

Symmetry

One of the things that make maple leaves so beautiful is their symmetry. Symmetry is when one side of an item is a mirror image of the other. It creates a sense of balance and harmony. Have your child look at the maple leaves, seeds, sprouts and buds. They are all symmetrical. Have your child draw pictures of symmetrical objects.

Cooking:

Having children help to measure and mix, make Laura’s Little Maple Cakes from My Little House Cookbook. 

Have your child help to read and prepare various Maple Recipes.

Last month, Homesteader News held a writing contest, the winner receiving a brand-new copy of Fun with Nature Take-Along Guide.

It was a tough choice, with so many good stories to choose from.

The judges (two homeschooled children!) chose:

WINNER: Einar, age 7 for his Fishing in Alaska story

Runner Up: Meg, age 7, for her deer and turtle stories

Runner Up: Eme, age 9, for her Story About the Wolves

Congratulations to you all!

“Fishing in Alaska”

written by Einar Sharpe, age 7

The Author fishing in a skiff in Chignik Bay, AK

Day One

Noon. They weren't having good luck. They were low on fish. They weren't having a good catch. Captain John said, “We better wrap up for the day. We better sell the fish we've got.” He was sad. He was hoping for more than one hundred pounds of sockeye salmon. But his net tore because a seal tried to get the fish and they had to wrap up for the day.

“I hope they get a good price of $50 in the market,” said First Mate Zach. Each crew member got a dollar for the fish they caught. Usually they got ten dollars. Zach, fourteen years old, was hoping to get a candy bar with his money.

It would take one hundred dollars to fix the net. Captain John only had one hundred dollars and he had to repair the skiff. That would take two hundred. He was very worried about getting his skiff done in time for the next season because he needed the skiff to haul in nets sometimes. He hoped he would get more than 200 lbs of fish in the next haul. That would be more than one hundred dollars.

“I wonder if we can get that net done in time for the next opener in two weeks. First Mate Zach is a master crocheter. He can get a whole net done in less than two hours,” thought Captain John. He radioed First Mate Zach.

“Hello, Captain,” First Mate Zach croaked.

“What happened, Zach? You sound sick! I haven't seen you since this morning.”

“I got bit by a brown bear.”

“Are you ok? Think you can repair the net?”

“I don't think so because I got bit in the thigh and it's really painful. My hands are good but if I move the one by the bitten thigh it really hurts.

DAY TWO

First Mate Zach was feeling the tiniest bit better. Captain John said, “I think I just got lucky because in the mail I just got three hundred dollars!! I think we have enough to repair the net, Zach! We'll have a professional repair it! And we can repair the skiff!” It would take about 2 days to get the net fixed by a professional because it takes about an hour to fix one tiny piece.

He would rent a net for ten dollars from the captain of the Alkee. He felt better after making that decision. He'd have to wait two days because the Alkee was in Anchorage picking up a net.

So for the next two days he used his fishing pole to fish off the boat for whatever he could catch and First Mate Zach was sleept in his little cabin behind the old warehouse.

The End