Farming & Practical Skills
Farming Class
Before we moved to our own farm, we spent a lot of time on other farms. Here both children are making applesauce as part of a 7-week class on farming and practical skills for home
learners on a farm near where we used to live.
Topics in this class included:
- animal care for horses, donkeys, chickens, and rabbits (feeding,
equipment, mucking stalls, health/medicine, and lifecycle)
- the lifecycle of the bee (also, how to collect honey and work with
bees)
- gardening (planting, composting, types of plants, soil preparation)
- baking and cooking (including making butter, cheese, and applesauce)
- making beeswax candles
While the class was primarily for the benefit
of complementing a main lesson block for our son at the time, our (older) daughter was also able to participate
in some activities, simultaneously, on a level more suited to her own age. This class took place in the fall, as part of the curriculum for grade 3.
This is an artistic expression of an experience that took place the farm class
mentioned above. Here is a picture of the children working with Grace the donkey.
The children worked with a horse named Nell. They mucked stalls, and learn
how to feed and brush Nell. They also had the opportunity to learn how to ride a horse. The essence of this work was to learn practical skills, such as respect and care for tools, as well as animal
care. As the bulk of the work is taking place on a farm, the location continues to support in grounding the
children as they continue their journey during the period of the nine-year change. As such, they "get grounded" with
activities that bring them closer to the earth, such as mucking a stall and digging in a garden.
During this same farm class, the children were able to work with bees and
beeswax. The text for this picture is: "One day we visited the beehive. We went inside and made beeswax candles in glass
jars, and ate honey on homemade bread". This was one of the last of the seven weeks on the farm in the autumn.
Fiber Arts
Here our son is weaving some wool into a small wall hanging as
part of a four-week class on the theme of sheep and wool. The emphasis of the class is on making
the connection between the sheep and the end-product of fiber, as well as simply enjoying activities related to wool.
Topics in this class included:
- feeding and learning about the lifecycle of the sheep
- washing wool, carding wool (by hand and with a drum carder)
- collecting plants from the garden (spinach, carrot tops, red
cabbage) to make natural dyes
- dyeing fiber and yarn with pre-made natural dyes (onion skins, black
walnuts, pokeweed), spinning yard (by hand, drop spindle, spinning wheel)
- weaving (using a small frame loom and a 4-harness table loom)
- felting (various objects)
This class was completed in the autumn, along with
the farming work. We also worked on similar handwork projects at home throughout the year.
This is the finished product - a nice wool weaving that hangs in our
house today. This is an excellent example of taking a project from its "true start" to its "true
finish" while participating in the whole process along the way.
Gardening
This is our son working in a class on gardening at a local farm.
The class complemented the work we were doing in gardening and Native American lore at home. In this picture, a
"3 sisters" garden (corn, bean, squash) is being planeted.
Activities in this class included:
- collecting natural items and using them for tools
- comparing how we live today to how native people
lived 500 years ago
- exploring the woods and fields at the farm
- making clay beads and objects
- preparing food (nokahik or Journey Cake) to cook
on an open fire
- prepping, planting, watering, and weeding a 3 sisters
bed in the garden over a period of several weeks and using both modern and non-modern tools to tend it
- sharing Native American stories and acting them out
- talking about survival based on self-sufficiency
- considering sources of food (including foraging, hunting,
and farming)
- using corn husks and other items to make toys and dolls
The year has come full circle now, from farming and harvesting in the
autumn to planting a new garden in the spring. Once again, the children are "grounded" by this work. They know their
rightful place on the Earth. They are "home".
During this block, we also:
- offered family readings of various books, including Huckleberry Hill: Child Life in Old New England,
Farmer Boy, The Long Winter
- visited a farming museum featuring ancient farming tools
- visited an Amish farmhouse
- read pioneer stories
- went apple-picking
- continued in learning and engaging in practical skills at home, including maintaining a garden, cooking,
knitting, felting, candle-making, handling tools, light carpentry, and caring for small animals
When our oldest child worked on these blocks, we approached a local farm with the idea of creating a weekly
class that would run from September through May and would follow the lifecycle of the farm. They had never done anything like
this before, but agreed to try. Thus, the first pilot project for homeschoolers on this farm was born! Together with
3 other families, we co-created a weekly 2-hour class, the content of which complemented our main lesson work at home.
Since that time, many other homeschooling families have gone on to co-create classes with this same farm.
During the course of the year with this project, we:
- planted and harvested herbs and vegetables
- cooked and ate food we had planted and harvested
- learned about root cellars
- learned about canning and drying methods
- engaged in barn chores
- made cheese and butter
- cared for animals, including chickens (with an emphasis on the life cycle of the chicken), pigs, cows, sheep,
horses, and goats
- carded, spun, dyed, and felted wool
- went on nature hikes
- participated in tracking animals in winter
- went snow shoeing
- learned about maple sugaring and helped in the sugar shack
- learned about Native American shelters
- studied the nests of birds and farm life in all seasons
In addition, we also:
- toured a yogurt factory
- visited other farms
- took a workshop on hearth cooking, including a historical tour with an exhibit of early measuring tools
- visited a museum with an exhibit on early sewing tools and textiles
- attended a jam-making workshop with other homeschoolers
