We needed a change in our homeschool. Interest and attention seemed to be waning, which, I realize is kind of normal; after all, how many boys would admit that they LOVE school? Not mine, anyway. They look at it as something to be endured, until they get to go ride bikes and play around outside. Still…I do have a desire that they enjoy themselves while learning, and I knew this was possible.
I made the somewhat radical decision to totally change up our curriculum, mid-year! It may be a crazy experiment, but I believe that whatever happens, we will learn from our time along this new trail.
Speaking of trails, that’s really what our new curriculum is all about–blazing trails, wilderness survival, and practical approaches to everyday life that will help us to meet whatever challenges the future holds. The best preparation, as Christians, is to have our hiding place in Jesus, who is the only one who can protect us ultimately. Yet there are prudent measures families can take to deal with emergencies and unexpected life events. Taking a first-aid kit along while hiking, anticipating tornadoes and making some basic preparations, learning how to care for illnesses from what grows around us–all of these things are really common sense skills, but we don’t always give them much attention.
So, the name of the curriculum is Pray and Prepare. You can get it here: Prepare and Pray. It’s not very well-know, I’m finding, and so as I’ve tried to do some research on the curriculum, I haven’t found too many users of it. That’s why I decided to share what we end up doing with it. Because it is a unit study approach, many subjects overlap, and every home using it will have its own unique way of carrying out the projects. It’s very much pick and choose, and since we are just getting started, I am having to figure it out as we go.
This is our third week into it, with one whole week housing a sick boy. So, there have been some bumps in the road. I think the biggest bump so far is figuring out how much to try to tackle each day. Those first days, although they had fun activities, stretched out way too long into the afternoon, which was wearying. I’d been told to not try to tackle every project listed, but I tend to want to, and that leads to fatigue and mental overload. So, a couple projects per week is all we can really tackle, and concentrate on the basics the other times.
Our first week projects included making a bear bag, which is what you’d do while camping to store your food away from bears. I read the description of how to make it to the boys, and was content with that information. That’s my tendency. But I felt a prick of conscience telling me that I got this guide so that we could learn hands-on, not just read it & regurgitate it. So, we toon the mesh onion bag, and packed it with food, got the tape measure, and had to go outside to hunt up the right size tree, then measure and hang the thing. I can tell you which method the boys and I will remember–the one we did, not read!! Lesson for me, who would often rather sit on the sofa than get up and go out! Maybe this curriculum is more for me!!!
In our wild edible portion (you get to pick your own plants research), we studied the pine tree and mullein. We ended up learning so much about the pine tree and all it has to offer in a survival situation, that we needed the whole week instead of one day. We actually harvested the inner bark if the pine tree and cooked it–we kind of liked it! I don’t think we will be frying pine bark in coconut oil in a survival situation, unless we happen to be stranded on a tropical island, but it was good learning.
Also from the pine tree, we made pine needle tea, which we all agreed tasted more like medicine than Celestial Seasonings. And the tea left our mouths feelin dry, like when you eat an unripe persimmon. Not really a big hit here. But, it does contain five times more vitamin C than an orange, so don’t cross it off your survival list!!
Pine sap is useful in many ways, one of which is making a torch!! As soon as my youngest two heard that, they shot off outside to cut a big stick and harvest some pine pitch!! I think their eagerness probably led to some skipped steps in their torch-making process, because I never did see a very long time-burning flame, but I believe that understood the process. Do remember pine pitch for any wounds or cuts while hiking, because it has soothing and healing , as well as antimicrobial properties, and makes a pretty good glue for your cut!
Mullein, we learned, had many useful properties too. The boys remember the “Cowboy Toilet Paper”! We finally found some right out back today, so I harvested some for tea. While the tea is fairly pleasant, those tiny hairs from the leaves do not feel good, so I would think long and hard before I’d use the mullein for TP. I need to mention that to the boys. Not everything has to be experienced!
Not directly from the P&P, we have been studying camping skills also. So, yesterday, youngest camper showed how he could build and start a fire with just one (almost) match. The windy day did not help his one match, but it did ignite with just one! Also, he needed to bake bread on a stick! He gave a valiant attempt, but since the biscuit dough was gluten-free, it just would not stick to that stick!! So…we got biscuits the ordinary way!!
Middle Man Bro build us a nice fork thing for hanging pots on over the fire. We haven’t made any soup on that fire yet, but one day we will try.
For writing projects so far, the boys have had to create posters detailing the nine survival priorities, which is very practical. Don’t worry about food if you don’t have shelter or water available, etc. The next week was a small research project on ducks. Is week we chose our own writing project out of our Bible lesson on Naaman. We are focusing on Little Maid and the preparation her parents obviously gave her before she was carried away into captivity. That was a sobering thought for me–we are preparing our children for an unknown future. That’s where the Pray really comes in.
I’m leaving out lots, but for now will just hit on some of the hands-on projects, because that’s what we are trying to fit more of into our learning.
Today we took another side trip because the boys are working in a Seed honor for Pathfinders. They had to collect thirty different kinds of seeds! That would be much easier during a different part of the year, but even on this dreary and cold day, we traipsed around and found enough. No, we don’t have black beans growing in our back yard; they were allowed to choose ten from household and seed packets. I was surprised but not surprised to see which of our boys really don’t into this project–my Middle Man! He loved it! Sometimes I am at a loss as to what will motivate him–turns out it’s Nature! The Little Man seemed to enjoy it too–they worked together! Big Bro–my most motivated usually, did his part, but it was not really his cup of tea.
Here are a few shots from these first weeks (Unit one). So far so good. The major lesson is to not over-do the projects.
Organizing the seeds
Mullein from out back!
The cooking fork
Freshly harvested inner pine bark
Thirty-plus seeds!
Toasting the bark!
One match fire
Inner pine bark that we toasted
Up a tree harvesting pine bark
Lessons...and lessons 