Why I Want to Homeschool

I never in my life wanted to home-school. I grew up in the school system. I liked school. I was teachers' pet, brown-noser, class clown at times, etc. Loved the attention I guess. :)  (though not always straight-A student) 

So why would I home-school?

Well, that thought didn't cross my mind until the last few years. I would say a few events slowly started preparing my mind for the idea..... (in no particular order)

• I had a baby and wondered what was best for him and started getting into healthier foods and lifestyle. And I felt that Christlike principles were the foundation.
• I read Simplicity Parenting, by Kim John Payne and thought about how to simplify for my children and create security
• I had a home-birth with my second child and then started to question all sorts of society conformed ways of doing things that we just do for the sake of tradition
• I wanted to learn patience and how to love my children fully. I grew up as the youngest and didn't do a lot with younger kids. Always to busy to babysit and wasn't use to babies. I felt I needed to formally ask God's help to get where I wanted (and so I did that many years ago)
• I started trying to do a little "school" with my son, that turned into something slightly more formal with two other boys. It has given me practice and helped me form in my mind better ways to approach learning through play and less on academics.
• I questioned the school system. I had nothing against it. I just merely wanted to put it in my mind and make a list of pros and cons. I like to have a purpose behind the things I do, whether it be if I should eat out, or if I should go through the school system. I am not going to do things just because it's typical. So, I put it out there last year. And since doing that...honestly, I feel pieces of information and people have just come into my life without my actively seeking to "go against any system."
• I won a ticket to a Waldorf Education Conference. I love learning...gobble it up (if I'm interested in it). :) And I love free. I know God put this little gift in my path because he knew I would get something out of it and use it. And I left that conference feeling there was something missing in an academic-focused atmosphere (of any kind, not just the public school system). I wanted my child to get deeply rooted in virtues and to explore the world and naturally let things unfold as he discovers himself--all things he was interested in at his pace.
• I realized all truths are eternal. So learning should be placed in context of God's plan. And history as we fragmentally learned it in school, should be placed in His-story...with Christ as the centerpiece. This is the whole picture, and this is how I know I would've learned history best. 
• ...and still, I keep stumbling upon things that take me this direction I'm heading

So, back to the question: Why Homeschool? 

It totally differs for everyone. But here are my followup questions to that question:

• What are your greatest desires in life?
• What do you think is the purpose of education--for you, for your kids, etc.?
• Do these two fit together?

Mine did. So I'm pursuing it. Not everyone's will. But I feel that I had those questions in me and that I was led step by step until I now feel that for me and my mission, there is a strong connection and link between the two.

my notes from Michelle Stone's Celestial Education talk

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So...now I feel I can best establish a foundation on which to home-school, without feeling I have to teach my kids every fact and detail and that they have to excel at everything that's standardized to a specific age and area of knowledge. The key is creating an atmosphere. I want to home-school so I can create an atmosphere of love and truth in which each child can learn and grow in peace and at their own pace to discover their identity and what their individual role is in God's beautiful plan. Placing all things they learn into the context of His-story--an eternal mind-frame. I want learning to be fun and a family event and priority.

I'm not saying you can't do that by supplementing your teachings alongside a school system. But, for me...I feel I can personally best accomplish this if I home-school. Plus, I can gain the lessons I desire to learn. So, I feel God has created this opportunity for me to reach my potential, while helping my children do the same.

So again, ask yourself questions. Turn your deepest desires over to the Lord and see where he leads you. It may not be homeschooling. Who knows...maybe it will be to Utah, or out of Utah. :) I sure wasn't planning on staying here, but I feel it is where I need to be at this time. So I am content. 

Where do you need to be? Or what do you need to be doing? Are there things He can teach you about yourself, and so you feel you are accomplishing your mission and discovering your greatest potential? Instead of just living life as it seems typical. 

Pray about it. He will show you little by little, even if you aren't aware. Have faith to step in the dark. Don't delay desires or promptings to learn or try new things (unless you aren't keeping family as your priority.) If it's where you need to be he will shine more light on your path with each step and you will grow personally and as a family as you do these things and stay close to your family.

Life is a journey. Don't just live "it." 

Embrace your potential and make the world a better place as you go.

Got Parasites?

Apparently, most people have some sort of parasites in their body. A healthy body has more good bacteria and a healthy working system to fight minor problems. But some parasites cause large problems and are worse than others. Apparently I just found out I have a parasite that is wreaking havoc inside me. (I wonder if I got it in Vietnam on my trip with school when I went swimming and remember swallowing water. Yuck.)

Some symptoms of having parasite problems
(found on mindbodygreen.com--you generally won't have all these symptoms, but some)

• You traveled internationally and remember getting traveler’s diarrhea while abroad
• You have a history of food poisoning and your digestion has not been the same since.
• You have trouble falling asleep, or you wake up multiple times during the night.
• You get skin irritations or unexplained rashes, hives, rosacea or eczema.
• You experience fatigue, exhaustion, etc.
• You rarely feel satisfied or full after your meals.
• You've been diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia.
• You have an explained constipation, diarrhea, gas, or other symptoms of IBS
• *I would add gurgly belly (specifically related to moon cycle, when parasites egg hatch...as disgusting as that sounds)

I found it interesting to know that some parasites infect your blood, nervous system, other ares, etc. If you want to understand more about the three types of parasites and where they cause problems in the body google it. I read the government site and some nutritional sites.
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Anyway...there are things to implement in your life to help. Like staying away from foods that feed parasites, like simple carbohydates--sugars and dairy. And then adding in foods that don't create a hospitable environment for the parasites. These things listed below are things I've read on various sites that I am trying. So this information is to aid others who may have something, but not a totally solution.

Natural Things You Can Do...

• Pumpkin seeds
• raw garlic cloves
• probiotics to boost good bacteria
• Betamine HCL (digestive aid to help neutralize stomach acid)
• homeopathic, specific for the parasite you have (I have one from Butterfly Express)
• pomegranate juice, papaya, carrots and beets
• eat more fiber

*side note for any interested: I recently have had gum recession that might lead to periodontitis if not controlled. I haven't wanted to take the antibiotic, because I feel it related to a deeper issue. After lots of searching, I came across a holistic dentist's site who explained that periodontitis is frequently related to the Amoeba parasite being in your blood and affects your lungs or colon too. It eats red blood cells. Hmmm! Very interesting! And if you look at this map of teeth being related to areas in the body, you can notice the lung/large intestine labelled teeth on the bottom is exactly where my issue is. So now I'm looking into that.

Backyard Chickens 101

Why get chickens?

We got them because we like eating eggs (and chicken), we like eating for optimal nutrition, we don't like going to the grocery store and we like to be self-reliant. We also are frugal, but depending how you approach having chickens, you may or may not save money. We figure we about evened out when we started with a cheap scrap coop and four chickens that gave us 12-14 eggs weekly in warm seasons. But we don't care to spend our time tallying those details anymore, and have since gotten six more chickens and built a fancy chicken condominium of sorts.

Baby chicks just a few days old.

Starting Out - Baby Chicks

If you are going for ease, then just go buy new baby chicks in the Spring at the local IFA or similar store (about $3-4 each). (Or you can hatch them from eggs, but that is more difficult...like planting a seed vs. buying a transplant.) These baby chicks will need to stay warm under a light, in a box, for six weeks or more until ready to transition outside. So buy a heat lamp ($15 ish) to stick above the container, and Which you will raise each week about an inch more, until they are ready for the outside weather. You will need basic chick water and food containers that aren't just open containers ($3-5 each). Chicks are messy and poop all over everything and knock things over. So you will need some type of pine shavings for the tub or box you put them in so they have a soft bed and so it can soak up some of their crap, literally. We just used pine shavings ($10 and lasts a year) and a Rubbermaid type container (barely held four for 6 weeks by the time they get large). And it stunk if we didn't change the pine shavings regularly, so we put it down in our unfinished basement.

There are also different breeds. You will want to decide why you have chickens: for eggs or meat, or both (dual purpose). All of ours are dual purpose. Thinks about egg production, temperament, egg color, feather color, broodiness (some breeds tend to sit on their eggs a lot when they get in certain moods....not fun). I purposely chose four different dual purpose birds of different colors that gave me a good variety of color eggs and pretty good production. (California leghorn--can be a little feisty, white egg, 4-5 a week, white feathers; Plymouth Barred Rock--light brown eggs, black and white spotted feathers, 3-4 a week; Buff Orpington--super passive and friendly, light brown eggs, orange feathers, 4 eggs a week; Americana--brown with black feathers, dark brown eggs (typically green or blue eggs), assertive, but not aggressive. (As seen below in photo)

This next batch we have is different, but I will post on those breeds once they are full grown.

These are 6-8 week old chicks...so still not full size.

Transitioning to Outside

Between six and eight weeks old the chicks are old enough to go outside. Sometimes putting different ages chickens with each other could present a social problem, so beware. We will put our new chicks into our mobile coop for the summer and then the big coop once they start laying eggs. Egg production doesn't start until about 6 months old. So we don't put in a nest box until then. 

Laying Hens

So, a brief lesson on chickens. Hens are female chickens. Roosters are male. Hens will regularly lay eggs for almost two years, after which they slow down production. These eggs are edible. However, if a rooster gets to the hen....watch out! That is when you will get fertilized eggs--new chicks--instead of eggs to scramble. So...if you don't have a rooster, no worries, and more eggs for you to eat. As for accommodations, they will need a roost to sleep on (some type of raised horizontal pole--one foot per bird, space-wise). For laying eggs, they will need a nesting box with pine shavings about 1x1foot and one box for every 2-4 chickens. It needs to be nice and clean. We put a golf ball it he box to teach the hens where to lay the eggs. Each time a chicken lays an egg it sings its little bauwck, bauwck song for a few minutes and then you know they have laid. This isn't that loud and its the only real noise they make. So I wouldn't consider chickens very loud (roosters are another story, however). Our chickens normally lay between 10am - noon.

Egg Handling

We collect our eggs each late morning. Our four lay 12-14 a week generally. We put them in an egg container and leave it on top of our fridge. Yes, I said on top. We don't put them in the fridge because they don't need to, unless they have already been refrigerated or washed. The eggs have a protective layer on them which keeps them safe until washed. So don't wash until ready to use them, or if you are  going to put them in the fridge afterwards. And I wouldn't use hot or cold water, just room temperature water and mild soap for a quick wash/rinse. Always wash your hands after handling eggs and chicks. Chicken poop is not pleasant for your tummy, so don't take a chance eating with dirty hands (or eggs). And eggs should last a few weeks, but the way to test is if the egg floats it is old and should be discarded. Fresh eggs should sink.

Coop Design

If you want to have a minimal effort coop, design it smart. My first i used scrap everything the only thing i bought was screws and green paint. But it can really be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. The basics are four feet square roaming room per chick minimum. One foot roost space to sleep (the robot should be elated off the ground). One nest box per few birds. The design should be draft free, but also include some ventilation from all the poop that sits inside between cleanings. We like to just clean our coop once a month. The poop and pine shaving work great for compost. You need to decided the purpose of your coop and chickens. Do you want them to roam and free range around your yard eating up plants and pooping everywhere? We have ours in a stationary coop in a fenced off area to roam and eat whatever in there.

The Mobile Coop to put over garden beds.

But we have a mobile a-frame we put on top our veggie garden beds when we want the chickens to clean up camp after harvest, in our nice part of the yard where we don't want poop everywhere. We also knew free range would be better for us not having to clean the coop so often. So...figure out your priorities and design around that.

The Big coop.

Egg Door from back deck (taken before we put the door on)

Another maintenance issue besides cleaning is how often to fill food and water. At first i was changing those little chick food and water containers daily. if chickens don't have water they can die in as quick as that same day. Food isn't quite as big of an issue. We ended up building in a big box and trough to pour a 50lb bag of food into. We refill food only once a month. And the water is a hanging six-gallon bucket with a hose attached to the top and three chicken water nipples hanging from the bottom. We just turn on the hose for a minute or two each week to fill it higher.

Chickens can jump quite high, so I would suggest five feet tall fence with small holes. Chickens can squeeze through surprisingly small areas if they really want to. Chicken wire is great. And you can always clip the chicken wings quite easily if you don't want them to flap and try to fly a bit.

Wintering

The chickens will get through the winter fine. They acclimate. Although you do need to have a basic draft-free coop for them. A heat lamp ensures better egg production. And you will need something to keep the water from freezing. There are expensive water heaters, or you can put a bulb in a cinder block under the water container. Or we use the metal piece that hangs into the water bucket and plugs into a wall. So keep this all in mind. We didn't our first winter and we didn't get eggs and had to change water daily.

Anyway...this is what you need to know for starting your chicken journey. I highly suggest it. They are fun to have and our kids love taking them down the slide, chasing them and collecting morning eggs. And since we won't have dogs....this is a good, practical alternative. :)

Let me know if you have further questions. I'd love to help you start.