GRAMMAR
It’s a beautiful day and students begin by participating in morning homestead chores. Each student manages a different responsibility on the homestead. They are learning how to be godly leaders and teammates as they work together to accomplish each task. They let the chickens out of their coop and feed and water them while each student takes the time to observe each bird. After learning the basics of chicken anatomy, students look for any problems that need solving like molting feathers or a limping chicken with bumble foot. They have learned how to respect and care for the animals.
After they have accomplished their responsibilities, students head to the garden pavilion to enjoy a morning snack of fresh milk and homegrown veggies while they hear the next chapter of Little House on the Prarie read aloud. Next up is caring for the plants they planted in the garden last month. Because they have learned about tool safety, care and organization, they know how to select what they need from the tool shed and get to work stringing up cucumber vines, pruning tomato plants and pulling weeds. It won’t be too much longer before the first fruits are ready for harvest. After learning about garden friends and foes, the children catch grasshoppers and relocate lady bugs after inspecting the plants for aphids.
It’s time to take a break and have some free time. The students choose to have a pinecone tossing contest or play leapfrog in the grass and spend some time playing tag. Now that they have worked up an appetite, they head back to the pavilion for lunch followed by quiet time.
The last activity of the day is to begin comparing the different types of soil found on the homestead and experimenting with their moisture content, density and compaction. They never complain about opportunities to play in the dirt! At the end of each day, the students collect and track the eggs laid that day, remembering to give thanks for every good gift. Their parents arrive to pick them up and are sure to hear tales of their adventures from the day on their way home.
LOGIC
Logic students arrive ready to tackle the busy day ahead by starting with a nature prayer walk around the property. They stop to feed and water the swine, always enjoying their hilarious antics and the occasional opportunity to provide a good scratch. The greenhouse garden is ready to be put to bed for the winter. The last harvest was just before Thanksgiving and they had much to be thankful for with an abundant haul of spaghetti squash and pumpkins to the root cellar. They spread themselves out in rows and begin pulling up dry roots, trimming perennials, and collecting reusable materials. The next team comes behind them to rake up the debris. They are followed by the compost team, moving everything out to it’s next use. The work goes fast with so many working hands. They laugh and sing as they work together. They’ve worked hard to earn their snack of homemade pumpkin bread and this morning’s whipped cream.
The rest of their morning is spent in the kitchen learning the different methods of preserving the last of this year’s zucchini harvest. They work in teams to prepare the zucchini according to the directions for each preservation method. As they hypothesize about which method will produce the best results, they get excited for next week’s taste test. All of that work in the kitchen makes them hungry for lunch and the following free time.
The Logic students have been tasked with finding an efficient solution for delivering fresh water to the chicken tractor for next year’s meat birds. They start by calculating the distance the tractor will move per day and saw that their solution must be a flexible one. Today they will test their hypotheses and evaluate them using the classical tools of learning. Over the week, they will individually research each possible solution and present their sources next week as they prepare to debate. They are all looking forward to developing the winning solution to their water transport issue. The day goes by quickly and the students are already excited for next week.
RHETORIC
The Rhetoric students have arrived after a night of heavy spring rain. It’s going to be a messy one. They pull their boots on, grab their pitch forks and shovels, and head toward the corral to manage waste and care for the cattle. On their way to the compost pile, they notice all of the soaked alfalfa on the ground surrounding the feeder. It isn’t salvageable for the beef cattle or bedding. They identify the issue and fill out an issue report for the project wall in the shop. They’ve been collecting issue reports from system problems around the homestead in need of solutions. In two weeks, they will choose next month’s project solution to present for approval. They finish their work and then head in for breakfast. In the kitchen, they work together to prepare their own meal and sit down to enjoy fresh eggs at the table, where they do their devotional, pray and discuss the day’s agenda. They’ve prioritized the tasks ahead.
Each of the students has chosen a different homestead issue to investigate, research and propose solutions for. For the morning, they work independently in researching solutions but come together to consider one another’s ideas. Once their work is organized, they present their proposal to the class, using their rhetoric skills to convince their teammates to select their project for pursuit. After all of the ideas are considered, they will decide as a group which issue they would like to tackle.
After a break, some downtime, and a quick trip down to feed the cattle, the Rhetoric students head to the construction area where they continue building their previously designed feed storage container that will solve last month’s homestead issue of feed storage efficiency. They enjoy the complexity of simultaneously building one project while planning another and keep the conversation going as they work. It’s been another great day of teamwork and camaraderie between friends.