5/13/19

Well, that's a wrap!

I must say, this year has been pretty magical.  I decided today that out of everything that I raise and grow here, I love growing little people the most!  We played and laughed and learned all year, and today was the cherry on top.  This group has come such a long way.  Not only have they learned new concepts, terms, etc., but they have learned how to communicate, how to give and take, how to display frustration in healthy ways, how to help others, and how to be responsible.  I am immensely proud of each and every one of them!

I hope the lessons they learned here on the farm help them to tackle obstacles, come up with solutions, handle disappointments, overcome heartaches, and revel in the beauty of this amazing life.  

5/6/19

The school year is definitely wrapping up... you can feel it in the air!  In May, the kids are always especially active.  So, we "got our wiggles out" many times today!

After our animal chores, the kids met inside for a little lesson on chicks, ducklings, turkey poults, and guinea keets.  (We mixed in some phonics as we talked about different ways that the long e can be written.)  Each of the different types of poultry have specific personalities!  The turkeys are usually shy and reserved.  They move slowly and duck and hide when they are scared.  In contrast, guinea keets are completely spastic!  They freak out and run at full speed, even running straight into things!  The class met a few babies, and then we got up out of our seats to duckwalk around the building.... yes, even me!

While they had snack, the class read their barn cat stories that they worked on at home.  Their writing has improved so much over the year.  By the end of our stories, the class was vibrating with energy once again!  We made our way to the yard, and the kids and I "shook it out" to some music!  I cranked up "I Know a Chicken", and the kids and I sang as loudly as possibly while shaking out "eggs" to the music!

Last week, the kids learned the importance of soybean farming.  They were able to see how slow the process of candle-dipping can be!  This week, each student was able to choose their own essential oil scent (or make a combination of their own), and then they made pour candles in 4oz jars.  We reviewed the terms transparent, translucent, and opaque.  I think they will remember those terms from here on out!

We ended our day with a game.  Two students were our livestock guardian dogs (or LGDs), and the rest were the foxes.  The foxes had to run across the yard and carefully step into their den (hula hoop) without knocking it down.  One by one, the foxes entered the den until it fell.  Then, they all had to sprint back to base before the LGD's caught them!

4/29/19

Last week, the class learned about quotation marks and how to use them.  They worked in groups to come up with short skits, with the farm animals as the characters.  They worked together to write down their stories, and then we created puppets for the animals.  This week, they added the finishing touches, practiced with their group, and then presented them to the class!  It was a perfect day for some outdoor theater!

Our rescue barn cats have been on the prowl and keeping the rat population here on the farm to a minimum.  One of the young cats, Mrs. Chippy, has made friends with the baby lamancha goats.  They hang out and play together, and they are even similar in color!  The class played an outdoor game called Barn Cats & Field Mice.  The three "cats" had to chase the mice and catch their "tails".  If the cat tagged them, they had to go sit out under the canopy.  But, the mice could grab an extra tail and rescue their friends!  There were sweaty faces and tired kids by the end!

Once inside, the class heard a short lesson on soybeans.  Most kids don't realize how useful soybeans are, and how they have many uses outside of being food!  I showed the kids a big bag of flaked soybean oil.  We talked about the difference between transparent, translucent, and opaque, and then the kids were able to see how heat changes the soybean oil from opaque to transparent.  In Swiss Family Robinson, the Robinsons just dipped wicks into an oil from berries to make candles.  I morphed our literature lesson with our agriculture lesson today, and the class was able to see how time consuming it is to dip candles!  At first, everyone was excited to give it a try... but once a few came up to participate, they realized that it would result in very delayed gratification!  We continued to dip the candles throughout the day, and the kids were able to see how the wax builds up to create a candle.  Next week, we'll work on a simpler and much quicker soybean oil candle so that the class will be able to take something home!

4/22/19

Working on their skits!

Baby Goat Tag

4/15/19

We tackled some pretty cool things today in our Farm Fusion lessons!  First, the class learned how to make sure conditions are sanitary for goat milking.  We milked the goats, fed all the animals, and talked about Farm News.  Then, the class had a little chemistry lesson as I walked them through the steps to pasteurize milk and make chevre, a simple goat cheese!  Throughout the process they learned about acids and pH, curds and whey, how to read a thermometer (reading and estimating between the numbers on a thermometer), and more.  As the kids took turns constantly stirring the pot of milk, the class listened to the history of John Deere tractors.  We also talked about humidity and its importance to a healthy hatch of duck eggs.  We even candled some duck eggs as we moved them from the big incubator into the hatching incubator.  They could easily see the developing embryos moving around, one egg that showed no development at all, and one that was rotten inside!  After disposing of the bad eggs, we placed the healthy ones in the hatch box.  Hopefully more ducklings will start pipping in the next few days! 

After our milk hit the correct temperature, we did a little math with fractions to decide how much vinegar and lemon juice to add to the milk.  While the curds began to form, the class "got their wiggles out" with some fun in the sun!  We then poured the curds into cheesecloth and hung them to drip.  The kids were able to choose from different fresh herbs and mix up their own chevre to take home.  This is a soft cheese that is great on crackers, or I can hang it longer and create a dryer, crumbly cheese that is great on pizza, salads, and in lasagna!  I explained to the class that all the whey left over could be put through the process again, which would result in ricotta.  We didn't have time for this, however, and the hogs were happy to splurge on all of the nutritious whey!