A Walk in the Woods

Field trips abound this Fall!  They are simply everywhere and we are getting right into them.  Nothing says "I like learning" like a good field trip.  Thus far, we have gone to fire safety day at the local school,  visited the Maine state museum for "bug mania" and "earth science day" and visited the Botanical Gardens with a group of dedicated educators.

It is amazing how carrying a little magnifying glass actually does make you be more aware of your surroundings.

It was a wonderful trip in which we received a tour of the woods.  In the woods the boys learned to look for the different types of moss,  mushrooms and to move logs to find little slimy creatures.  Much of this they already do at home, but there is just something special about having someone else show you how to be more observant while on a hike.  At home, the boys tend to tromp on through while I am stuck in the back attempting to study the woods as well as navigate the "trail" of fallen logs, stumps, and branches.

After our wonderful little wood walk we were sent out like little birds out of the nest to explore the gardens.  Impressed doesn't begin to share how I was feeling about the plans, care, and implementation of this place.  I was torn between simply enjoying my surroundings while also wondering how on earth they had the money to do what they had done.  The children's garden is wonderful with its own little library, clubhouse, bear cave, ponds, and fountains.  Something else that blew my mind was the 5 senses garden in which you walked through sections that were planted with a specific sense in mind.  Simply amazing!

"sound rocks" were a huge hit as we all tried to fit our heads in the rock and hear our voice bounce off the sides.

I hear that the gardens are quite pricey to visit, but if you get a school group together and get a tour the cost is very manageable.  So go get a group together and plan an entire day to explore this beautiful garden.

The "sound" section of the 5 senses garden included a waterfall.

There is still time for more field trips before we are all snowed in.  I wonder what other adventures we can come up with.

Cider Pressing

Cider pressing season is here, and man that makes us all happy!  There are few things as wonderful as a fresh cup of thick aromatic sweet apple cider!

MMMMM!  Doesn't it look good, gooey, and downright delicious?  Nothing beats fresh pressed cider. Nothing.  Well, maybe God. He would beat it with a stick.  Okay, now we are just rambling.  Go find some fresh cider and you will ramble too!

The Gardens

A lot is happening here this fall.  Despite the rain we have still managed to get a few things done to prepare for Winter.  The biggest thing is that we have a wonderful skidder making trails in our woods as he collects hemlock, pine, and poplar for pulp.  A wonderful side effect to this is that we are also getting some very large hemlock pieces to mill next year into lumber to build a barn ( sugarhouse, garage...).  We have also managed to complete our hoop house over the broccoli plants.  I am hoping that this will protect my little darlings through the first few frosts enough so that they actually produce before snowfall.  We shall see if this little experiment works!

Eli and Siah watching the stone cutters at the fair.  They don't look happy do they?  The atmosphere there wasn't very friendly.

What is happening in school right now?  Well, last week we spent a day at the Commonground Country Fair, and tomorrow, we are off to the Botanical Gardens of Maine!  Time to get those field trips in before the snow keeps up housebound!  

Project Days: A New Approach

During the school prep workshop in August all of us dedicated moms found that we had identical requests from our boys:  Make school fun.  So,  the question that seemed to dominate all of our brainstorming was:  How DO we make school fun? 

I shared that one freeing and enjoyable part of our schooling week is project days.  In our house every Friday holds 2 things (that always bring a smile to my face):  1. Room cleaning day and 2.  Project day.    Friday is when every cool project that we have always wanted to work on becomes reality.  I have found that that bookshelf idea I had on Monday was less of a distraction because I knew that I could set the idea aside and focus on it on Friday.  My boys, also, find freedom in our project days as their schoolwork consists of math, reading and a spelling test.  After those three simple tasks (and a clean room), they are free to work on any project that has been pre-approved by Tyler or myself.  I have found that we all look forward to these days and the added benefits to the morale, and creativity in my house is an incredible bonus.  

With this idea as our base my comrades and I decided to make project days a group event.  Ideas abounded as to what ventures we should offer our little men.  Finally, we decided to embark on an 8 week project that marries both hands on art and science.  What is it you may ask?  Why it is 8 project days in a row in which the participants build, study, film, edit, produce and enjoy robots.  Mind you,  beginner robots, as our boys are between the ages of 6 and 9, but robots nonetheless.  Using this idea as a start opens up our chances to include more complex systems as our boys grow.  

This is not the only ingenious idea to come from our brainstorming session this year.  If you want to know more please feel free to ask, and if you don't ask I am sure we will share them when we implement them.  For updates on how the boys are doing with their robots stay tuned!  We will keep you posted on all of the great fun happening in our school this year!

P.S.  Feel like you missed something amazing?  You did.  Our workshop in August was a benefit to all who attended.  Join us next time (January 2013) to contribute, learn, and be inspired for your own school!   

The above picture is one of Eli's most recent projects:  A mold to make an iron axe.  

Fall Updates

Getting ready for Winter holds 2 great adventures for us here.  First,  we must do what every animal owner does:  prepare the animal housing for cold weather.  Second,  we must take advantage of discounted fruit trees.

Tyler and I would love to see a few fruit trees dotting our yard between the house and gardens.  Thus,  we were super excited to get our own little peach tree.  The boys, especially Matthias,  were great helpers in planting it, and hopefully in a few years we can all enjoy the fruits of our tree. 

Preparing for Winter at DozenAcre includes building the rabbits a permanent home that allows them access to the inside of the goat shed.  Tyler and Eli got started on this project and all of us are excited to see the fluff balls in their new home soon.  

Sophie is eagerly awaiting the move to her new home.

What are you Learning?

This past week at DozenAcre we hosted a back to school workshop.  For two days our doors were open to homeschooling moms to come in and discuss what they are doing in their schools, what they want to be doing, and how they are going to accomplish their goals.  While here they have access to the internet, a copier, and other office supplies that they can use to gather their materials together with.  Our discussion veered toward art this year, but all of the main participants came hoping to get excited for the new year and also to gain some insight on how to make their schooling more fun.  My hope is that they left feeling as though they accompished their goals here.  We discussed many ways to make your school fun, and even incorporated a lot of art into that, and we all left excited to try out what we had learned.

This is the second year for such a workshop.  It has been small, but very beneficial.  We hope to be able to offer two such open door workshops a year.  One in August before the start of school, and one in January to help bring everyone out of Christmas vacation.  If you are interested in learning more feel free to leave a comment or  just check back to see the details on our Winter workshop.  If you are interested in joining in the fun and seeing some of the things that we learned you can check out the discussion board to ask your own questions or see what others are learning.

Homeschool workshops are based on this question:  What are you learning in your school this year? Want to know what we are learning?  I just might share a little of our brainstorming genius this fall so stay tuned!

Introducing

DozenAcre farm is a small family farm located in rural Maine.  We have 5 boys, 3 lady goats ( 1 on loan), 2 angora rabbits, 6 beehives, a dog, a cat, vegetables, fruit trees, and other farm type items.  We love to create  furniture pieces with wood, play around with lighting fixtures, and visit with our animals.  

This is a young farm that, although not producing a lot in the realm of animal byproducts, has a great amount of potential.  With that being said,  please feel free to ask questions about what plans we have in the mix, and feel free to stop by anytime to see what is happening at DozenAcre farm.