Weeks 8 and 9: Homesteading as Living History

As we begin to approach the end of our 10-week session, we are trying to fit in as much Homesteading study as possible! I'm hoping, though, that our study of self-reliance, living in balance with nature, developing ties to community and the land, and living a hand-crafted life, prove to be life-long pursuits for our group. I know I am hooked and keep thinking of ways I'd like to pursue this lifestyle further!

We began the month with a reading of the poem "November" by John Updike, relishing the contrast between our gentle Fall and the faster approach of winter in other climates. Adrianna's grandma mailed pressed leaves from her backyard, and Alden and Lydia's Uncle Kirk visited from New York and helped us build our log cabin model. Prior to building the cabin, the kids created a chart that identified the resources used in building by the pioneers: Natural, Human, and Capital Goods. They created a scale for their building project and built a wonderful sod-log cabin suitable for any fairy tale. Thanks to Kirk for bringing great structural and artistic elements to this project!

We incorporated pioneer history into our yoga practice, and collected plant materials for dyeing our wool (yellow from a CA native flower in the garden and red from locally-grown pomegranate).  The students exercised their active listening and mathematical skills as they sketched the layout of our fictional pioneer family's homestead through a directed drawing activity. They had to draw everything to scale after creating their own scale, and calculate the scale through mental math as they drew. . . and each child produced brilliant results!

 

With a donation of beautiful wool felt materials from Nature of Art, the kids created vibrant mini-tapestries with a Fall theme, and learned & practiced sewing by hand at the same time!

We also read a story from our Pioneer Sampler about the intergenerational history of an immigrant/pioneer family. The kids learned a colonial singing game about travelling by ship, and studied the passenger list of a real-life immigrant ship, including several young children, thanks to the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, and listened to a fictional letter from a 12-year-old girl who travelled on the Mayflower. We started sketching our own Family Tree and discussed our own family histories of immigration and Westward Expansion. Finally, through college-lecture style note-taking, the kids created an integrated timeline/map of the settlement of the US from the time of the Pilgrims to the Spanish surrendering claim to the Pacific Northwest with the Florida Treaty. May I say again that I'm very proud of all the wonderful work the kids are doing?