Saturday, April 23, 2011

Homeschool Conversations

 Yesterday our homeschool group met up for park day as we do on most Fridays. There were about 9 moms with 1-4 kids each so we had a good group. The kids had fun playing in the creek and generally chasing around. As I was leaving I wondered what moms in a big city homeschool group would talk about.  
 Our conversation yesterday centered around our gardens and the animals we hoped to raise this year. We talked about the best chickens to raise for meat and eggs , the best way to butcher them, how many a family would need in a year and how we could help each other out with that big chore. We considered what breed of rabbits to raise and volunteered to help one mom to make a better chicken tractor as she didn't like hers.
 We talked about the gardens and I hoped it wasn't to late to put in potatoes. Composting came up which then lead to a conversation about humanure. Most had read The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins and I told of a new one out called Holy Shit by Gene Logsdon. One family had already tried this and said the soil that was produced after 2 years was the richest she had ever seen. I thought that was quite interesting.r
 In between these conversations we kept an eye on kids, passed out snacks, passed around babies and generally made sure no one roamed to far away. With all the families there about half lived in town with the rest living any where from just outside to about 30-45 min away. I think we all consider ourselves homesteaders, urban and country. All in all it was a great play day for the kids and me!

5 comments:

Starr said...

This is great!

Rivenfae said...

can I ask a silly question..? how hard is it to get started on homeschooling? my three kids are in state schools and I worry about what they are learning . Silver and I discussed if we have a child together that we would home school it and be done with state schools and their danged tests.. so any info you could pass my way even if in email?

Penny said...

I don't think thats a silly question, just a few years ago I didn't even know what homeschooling was!
What state are you in? Find out what the regulations are for your state then get online and ck. out the library on homeschooling. Is it hard to start? I thinking making the decision was the hardest part. There is so much info and curriculium avaliable now, homeschooling is starting to become more mainstream. What ages are your kids? Some famlies do both, have one in ps and homeschool others. I can send you a list of books to read and websites to ck out if you want me to.

Rivenfae said...

Please do we are in Missouri and kids are 14,12,11 2 with learning disabilities.

Jessica said...

We had a great time at the playgroup as well and I really enjoyed the conversation! I wonder, too, what a more urban group of homeschoolers would talk about. . .