Today's Homeschooling Lesson is brought to you by...

The "Cleaning of the Fish Tank" and "The Slicing of My Finger".

We haven't had a biology lesson in some time so when I was cleaning out the fish tank (and wondering exactly why it was we have these stupid goldfish in the first place), I scraped a little bit of the glop into a cup.  I set up the microscope and we viewed the tiny marvels under a 100x power magnifying lens.

After  Rhiannon drew a picture of the different life forms, we went online to try and identify them.

We positively identified vorticella, rotifers, didinium, euglena and paramecium.  Then we watched a video on microbial life in fresh water and came upon the neatest thing I've ever seen (under a microscope, that is); a waterbear.  We didn't have one ourselves, but watched a youtube video on them.  Very cool.

Rhiannon didn't really get past the "neat-o" aspect of the biology lesson, but I am still in awe at the amount of life that we don't even know exists.  Or, the amount of life that we know exists (at least in the back of our heads), but don't even consider in our day to day happenings.  I mean, come on, if you even saw a few seconds of that waterbear, you'd have to start questioning your own place in this universe.  That thing is micro-freaking-scopic.  And it looks like a little eight-legged bear.

This dude lived in space for ten days.  No helmet, no spacesuit.

After filling our brains with biological and microscopic nomenclature in an attempt to become somewhat more intelligent on the subject of paramecium and the amazing tardigrade (fancy pants word for the waterbear), I had a "dumb" moment while preparing a salad for supper that very evening.  I wasn't paying attention and sliced my finger.  That stupid thing bled for what seemed like an eternity.  There was blood everywhere.  Well, maybe not everywhere, but it sure seemed like it.  I'm not a fan of blood on my person, especially those that are caused by slices, so I had Paul clean and bandage me up so I didn't pass out on the kitchen floor.  Yes.  I am one of "those" people.  I can put a bullet through a goat's brain, drain the blood, skin, cut and butcher it, but I tend to get all pale and clammy and occasionally go unconscious if I slice a piece of my own flesh.

Oh, back to the blood bath in the kitchen.

Since there was blood gushing out of my index finger, I grabbed one of the microscope slides still conveniently located on the kitchen counter and smeared some of my life onto it.  Then got to see what red blood cells looked like.

Would you LOOK at all the blood!  I mean, it was just
gushing everywhere.  EVERYwhere!!!!!!  Auuggghhh!!!!

My lifeblood, for all to see, and watch die.

I thought it was neat / freaky.  Rhiannon was pretty much "Eh" about it.  Blood cells don't really "do" anything so I can understand her indifference to it, especially when compared to that waterbear.

But we got to scratch off "Biology" for the day on our school list and I'm now obsessed with waterbears.  Oh, and my finger still hurts.

Cat Food Casserole

My Mom watches Rhiannon when I'm working the Farmers Market.  It was a particularly cold day (25 degrees when I got there, brrrrr!!) and I had a major headache on top of it.  When I went to pick Rhiannon up, she didn't want to go home.  Of course.  What grandkid wants to go home from Grandma's house?  Christmas cookies, television, (different) cats and (different) toys to play with.

So I begrudgingly bribed her with a trip to the grocery store (which I had to go to anyhow but because of my headache was going to put it off until the weekend).  Yeah.  What kid wants to go to the grocery store?  Strange, I know.  But she enthusiastically took the bait and we headed back into town.

Rhiannon knew I had a headache because when trying to extricate her from Grandma's house, I whined to her (yeah I'm pathetic, I know, a 40 year old whining to a 6 year old) that Mommy worked all morning and my head really hurt and I just wanted to go home.  So when we got to the store, she said that she would be pushing the buggy and doing the shopping.  Which she did.  And only knocked into someone once (which she immediately said "Excuse me, I'm sorry"....which I was sooo proud of).

We went up & down the aisles (although slowly and somewhat erratically) and she carefully plucked our choices from the shelves and put them in the buggy.  She put all of the items on the check-out conveyor and even counted out the correct amount owed to the cashier (who must have a grandchild of her own given her saintly patience while Rhiannon counted out change).  By now, my headache was fading.  I'm not sure if it was because of the handful of ibuprofen I popped at Mom's house....or because of the love I was being shown from my daughter for taking care of the shopping.

When we got home she helped with barn chores and put away the groceries.  And then she said that she was going to be making supper.  Not wanting to waste an opportunity for her to feel "all grown up", I gave her several (simple) choices for the meal.  Tuna Noodle Casserole was the winner and she went about gathering ingredients and assembling them to be put in the casserole dish.  She grabbed the cans of tuna fish and with a little help, opened them.  And then shockingly said, "Ewww!  CAT FOOD?!?"

Obviously we don't eat tuna fish that often.  

So after telling her that Yes, cat food does come in a similar looking can, and Yes, tuna fish does kind'a smell like cat food, and Yes, I'm certain this is people food and not cat food.....she was finally satisfied that I wasn't playing some cruel joke on her and she finished mixing everything up.  I shoved it in the oven and not an hour later, Paul, Rhiannon and I were at the table eating what we now call "Cat Food Casserole".

Bald Knobbers and Sassafras Suckers

Today's blog title sounds a bit strange, if not mildly obscene (to those of  you have such minds....not thinking of anyone in particular...PP...cough-cough), but it is honestly a very appropriate - and clean - description of what we saw and did over our weekend.  We took a little drive through some very beautiful and scenic back roads over the weekend.  Although just the drive would have been reason enough to go out, we actually had a destination in mind:

One of our homeschooling newsletters had a link of "Pioneer Days" events going on in the local (and not so local) area and this one looked really interesting.  I just learned about it on Thursday but was able to schedule a quick day trip for Saturday.  A picnic lunch was packed and we were set to go!

Most of the road we travelled was state highway, but once you got off the secondary paved road (paved....like twenty years ago), it was a 3 1/2 mile drive on a dirt road to get to the property.  The road was well maintained (as far as dirt roads go), but you still got the feeling that you were, in fact, at the "Edge of The World" as the sign posted on an oak tree proclaimed.  It also suggested that you check your brakes because if you were travelling in a vehicle with questionable stopping ability, you might end up over the cliff and in the creek below.

A two mule team pulling a wagon full of excited kids (and adults) passed us by as we entered the event area, and there were other horse and mule drawn carriages carrying people through a loop around the main gathering.

We hopped on the horse-drawn buggy powered by "Flame" and Rhiannon and I got an exciting ride along the creek.  Rhiannon got to wash some clothes the old fashioned way, saw soap being made and wood shingles being split by hand....all in one stop.

Moseyed over to where all the clanging was coming from and saw two different blacksmiths doing their blacksmithing magic:

We went over to the Civil War table where we saw what a solider would have in his knapsack:

Stopped by a sweets tent and bought a couple of suckers and then looked in at what seemed to be the norm for encampment protocol (white canvas tents, iron cooking grates, coffee boiling in pots and cast iron pots filled with beans):

There was also a wagon for supplies and a table set up showing what would have been common "pantry" items on the wagon:

Imagine Rhiannon's surprise when I showed her the basket of these and told her what they were and what they were used for:

Then we stumbled upon some one's supper being cooked.  Which was well guarded, to say the least:

Wool (and dog hair.  yes.  dog hair) being hand spun:

A lady who does chair caning:

Horse-powered doo-dad (yes, that's the technical term) that crushes the sorghum cane and a molasses cooking demonstration:

We sat and enjoyed some great music while eating our picnic lunch:

And last, but not least, some hands-on weapons practice.  What 5 year old kid wouldn't want to throw a tomahawk?!

There were also vendors selling everything from sassafras walking sticks to brain-tanned deer hides.  Tables with antler handle knives, deer hide purses, custom made long bows, wooden whistles, some iron work and a book for sale by a local author (who just so happens to work at our local library) on  the Ozark vigilantes known as the Bald Knobbers.

There is plenty of parking, people with golf carts available to shuttle you to & from the lot, porta johns, a large pavilion to provide shade or shelter and food stand (with the biggest burgers I've seen) if you didn't pack a lunch.  The entire area was groomed and neat and it was very family friendly. It was a great little get-away and I hope that we'll be able to go again.  If you're in the Ozarks in October of next year, might I suggest you take a little jaunt and go check it out?  You won't be disappointed.

Homeschooling and Flashbacks

I've been neglecting a few things around here and the house.  I haven't been replying to comments as much as I used to, and I apologize for that.  I truly appreciate every one of your comments (except for that guy from Dubai who says I have a large sum of money waiting for me if I'd just give him my bank account number), and I will try harder to reply back to them again.

Why the neglect?  Why has the garden gone to pot?  Why haven't I vacuumed under the bed in over six months (who am I kidding, I never vacuum under the bed, Mom usually does).  Why are there a hundred and sixty-two items on the "ToDo" list that still haven't been crossed off?

Well, I do have a small excuse.  Actually, that excuse isn't that small anymore; she weighs in around fifty pounds.  And even though we've been teaching her things for years now, we "officially" started school at the beginning of September (i.e. had to file with the local powers-that-be to make sure they can get their $$ even though we're not sending her to school).  We've been somewhat involved with a local homeschooling group for two years now, but there never seemed to be much that she could join in on.  I taught an art class for a small group earlier this summer and found that I really, really enjoyed doing it.  So I agreed to do another nine week semester this Fall with the larger group.

Whoever thinks that it's easy to homeschool must be insane.  I can't believe how much prep work there was for me (as the teacher) to get a semester of art going.  Granted, this is my first time pretending to be a teacher and I'm sure things will go more smoothly as time goes on, but really, I wouldn't blame a person one bit if they tried homeschooling and ended up putting their kids into a public/private school after finding out how much work was actually involved.

I've been lucky enough to find a homeschooling mentor of sorts.  She has four kids; a seven year old, a five year old, a three year old and an eighteen month squishy baby.  She has already been through a lot of the stuff with her eldest son, and her girl is the same age as Rhiannon so not only do I get to pick her brain on the things she's already done, but we often get together to do subjects like math, science and reading.

And I finally got around to making Rhiannon her own little school area.  Black Susan approves.

I've also been scouring garage sales for the past few years looking for textbooks and other items we can use in our homeschool adventures.  And would you look at these golden oldie gems I've come up with:

Remember seeing commercials for these babies in the 70's? 

I had the Speak & Math and my sister had the Speak & Spell.
We were soooo cool back then, not everyone had a computer in 1980.

Even though I've been having flashbacks and enjoying playing, I mean teaching Rhiannon, with these "old time" educational products, we do not totally shun modern technology. I subscribe to two online programs, get a lot of ideas from the net as well as use youtube often for watching programs or videos that aren't available at the library in their DVD collection.  One day during our Biology lesson, we were focusing on plant parts and since Rhiannon was munching on peanuts, we you-tubed "Harvesting Peanuts" and learned how peanuts were planted, grown and harvested.  Most of our subject matter comes from every day life or what we just so happen to be doing that day (i.e. the Peanuts lesson).

I'm really liking homeschooling and the occasional teaching stint and I hope to be able to continue it as long as possible.  Although once we hit sentence diagramming, I may have to get her a tutor because I totally, thoroughly, absolutely hated those things:

Does ANYONE ever, ever use these stupid things?
I had nightmares in grade school when we did them.
I'm convinced the nuns made this shit up just to screw with us.

Teachable Moments (whether you know it or not)

Rhiannon is no stranger to the kitchen; either by way of sneaking snacks in the fridge or by helping me cook.  This past weekend, she asked to make breakfast "All By Myself".  So I let her.  Supervised, of course.

Nothing tastes better than something you made yourself!

It's really no surprise that she wants to help cook; she sees Mommy in the kitchen a lot (probably too much if you know what I mean) and as most young'ens are apt to do, they watch and they want to imitate.

Rhiannon and I were playing in her bedroom a few days ago.  I was eventually able to extricate myself from the Princess Diamond Pony and Velociraptor Adventures and went to sit down on the bed with a magazine while she continued playing.  Not really watching her, I was a bit puzzled when she announces, "......and now we take the guts out."

At some point she had abandoned the plastic horses and dollar store dinosaurs and had taken my Svengoolie* rubber chicken (*sorry, a Chicagoland reference......BERWIN?!?), wrapped a hair band around it's feet, secure it to the bedroom doorknob and apparently was at the end of the butchering process.  She had even gone into her bathroom to grab a pair of tweezers and was picking off the imaginary pinfeathers!

So I guess that my worrying about how she would take being around poultry butchering days when she was younger was all for naught.

Krazo Acres Biology Class

Today's homeschooling lesson was on Biology; namely pathogenic nematode eggs and amoebas.

The nematode eggs came from the backside of one of our goats.

Nettie had some poop'n problems on Monday ago so I dosed her with some Probios, Vitamin B Complex and limited her to hay & alfalfa pellets.  A day later, she was poop'n pretty much like normal so I gathered some fresh goat turds and went about to making a fecal solution to check for worms.

I had just wormed everyone on the 3rd of January with Positive Pellet Goat Dewormer and it is supposed to take care of Haemonchus Contortus (barberpole worm), Ostertagia Circumcincta (brown stomach worm) and Trichostrongylus Axel (small stomach worm).  I know, I know, I should be doing a fecal test before and after worming the goats in order to establish if the wormer is actually working.  One day I will.

Anyways, I tested Nettie's poop and found about fifteen (what I think are) barberpole worm eggs and two thread worms.  

Barberpole Worm Egg (I think).

I'm not too concerned about those numbers, but I think it's something I'll have to check up on again in a month.  Now I just have to remember to do it.  I also need to order some slides with grids on them.  When searching for stuff on slides, you're supposed to do a up-across-down-across-repeat movement in order to make sure you cover the entire slide.  But when searching at a higher magnification, it's difficult to keep on track.  I also found some other funky looking round things, which I am assuming are some sort of grass pollen.  The pollen is not in the air this time of the year, but we are feeding hay and I'm sure there's plenty of pollen trapped in the bales.

Pollen (I think).

The amoebas came from my daughter's bedroom.  Not from the carpet or the bed or in some corner of the closet, but from the fish tank.  The fish tank that was waaaaaaaay overdue for a cleaning.  So I saved a little of the green gunk from the filter and put that under the microscope.

Classic example of an amoeba.  Eating something or other.

Some sort of nematode, just cruising 'round the block.

Rhiannon found the fish tank microscopic life much more interesting (as did I) and to quote her, the fish tank goo was neat and the poop was "just poop".

I love homeschooling on the homestead!