homeschool – Homespun Sugar

Parlor Room and Pound Cake

Michelle Underwood Gratitude, Homeschool December 28, 2021November 10, 2022Farmer Boy, homeschool, painting, parlor room 0 Comment

December 28, 2021 – Tuesday

The Christmas season has come and gone. My sweet husband is home for a week with us. This is the first time we have had a staycation since we moved to Midwest. There is something so refreshing about being home. At least for me. My husband on the other hand, may need a vacation from his staycation. He is generously tackling my honey-do list in the school room, and for that I am SO thankful!

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The room appears to have been originally designed as a parlor room, complete with dark red stripped walls and a gaudy chandelier. Along one wall is an amazing nook where our beloved 1919 player piano resides – right at home in the late 19^th century motif of the room.

Historically, the parlor room was typically set apart for formal occasions, conversations, and entertaining acquaintances. It was the mothers pride and joy and not to be defiled by her children. Think Farmer Boy. You remember the scene. Mother and father are out of town and Alice wants to make a pound-cake and eat it in the parlor room. Eliza Jane, the oldest and most responsible sister, tells her ‘you’ll do no such thing… you know the parlor’s just for company’.

"That day they made ice-cream again, and they ate the last cake. Alice said she knew how to make a pound-cake. She said she’d make one, and then she was going to go sit in the parlor. Almanzo thought that wouldn’t be any fun. But Eliza Jane said: “You’ll do no such thing, Alice. You know very well the parlor’s just for company.” ~ Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder

We have never eaten pound cake in our parlor room… but that’s only because I have never made pound cake. Contrary to Mrs. Wilder’s home, our parlor room is the children’s space. There are days I do dream of making the parlor room all mine… No pound cake! No children! No pets! A room where I can go to find refuge from the chaos. Where I can enter without stepping on Legos, sit in a chair without first clearing it off, or read a novel without looking around at all that needs to be tidied. I would sip tea with girlfriends and play chess with my husband. I would sit at my writing desk and scribble notes for the most wonderful stories… Alas, that is not my season. Nor do I want it to be. The truth is that I love my season and the energy my children bring into our home. I wouldn’t have it any other way! There will be days for a parlor of sorts I suppose. But then I will miss my school room terribly.

After some deliberation, my husband and I have decided to change the paint and light fixture, all while working to maintain some of the parlor charm. The term parlor was originally derived from the French verb parler, which means to speak. Therefore a parlor room is a room in which to have conversations (1). I love that! Isn’t that what school should be? A place where we converse and share ideas. A place where children are seen and heard. A place where friends gather. Perhaps, after all, a parlor room is the perfect school room.

https://www.americanheritage.com/parlor

21 days to Hatching

Michelle Underwood Feathered Friends May 3, 2021May 4, 2021chickens, homeschool, incubation 0 Comment

Homeschool Incubation Project

As part of our homeschool curriculum this year, I knew I wanted to give my children (and let's be honest - myself) the experience of hatching a baby chick. Years ago we volunteered on a farm and had the opportunity to hold baby chicks, lambs and pigs each spring. It sparked a fire in me that has never been quenched, and a hatching experience has been on my wish list ever since.

Trying to find fertilized eggs to hatch proved to be more challenging that I first thought. That was until I called our Cooperative Extension and got connected with the Embryology program. As a part of their elementary school program, the Extension provides schools and homeschool families with fertilized eggs and an incubator for an indepth hatching experience. In addition to the equipment and the eggs, they also provide an excellent selection of educational resources to accompany this experience. It was an open and go curriculum, complete with baby chicks! What an incredible blessing.

The eggs we hatched were White Leghorns. The Extension did give us the option to keep or return the chicks we hatched. Based on my research, this breed was not my first choice. They are known for their stellar egg production, but tend to be more flighty, nervous and shy, not the ideal bird for small children. Because there are so many other breeds that are great with children, we decided to hand select our own. More on that later...

Day 1 we set up our incubator and prepared for the 21 day journey to hatching. The fertilized egg begins its development the moment they are held at around 100 degrees F. If never incubated the fertilized egg would never begin the process of embryo development.

We rotated our eggs morning, noon and night for almost 3 weeks. On day 7 and 14 we candled them with a flash light to determine if the egg was a winner, quiter or a yoker, and to take a look at the development inside. A winner has a viable chick forming inside, a quiter was fertilized but didn't succeed in development, and a yoker was never fertilized. Amazingly all 12 of our eggs were winners! On day 18 we stopped rotating our eggs and just let them sit in the incubator until hatching day. Right on track, on day 21, the hatching process began.

Day 21 - We saw our first pip/crack in the shell. The chick inside started to chirp. A couple of hourse later, the baby made its way out of the shell.

You can see this chicks egg tooth on the tip of her beak that she used to break out of the egg.

Most of our eggs hatched over a 24 hour period, though two eggs took almost 48 hours. When all was said and done we had 12 healthy, fluffy baby chicks. They all lined up along their radiant heater for a quick photo. So cute!

A few days after hatching we took them outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Aren't they precious!

Day 5 after hatching, it was time to return our baby chicks to the Extension office. It was sad to let them go, but we replace them with 6 baby chicks of our own. You can see the colorful bunch below.

Here are some cinquain poems the kids wrote about their hatching experience.

Many thanks to our local Cooperative Extension Embryology Program for making this possible!

Creating an Environment of Thanksgiving in our Homes

Michelle Underwood Gratitude November 1, 2020November 15, 2021entitlement, Gratitude, homeschool, oak tree, Thanksgiving 0 Comment

My nine-year-old daughter has an amazing gift and love for endlessly asking questions. What is your favorite color? Favorite day of the week? Favorite animal? Favorite number? She recently asked me what my favorite month was, and after giving it some thought I settled on November. There are so many things I love about November. November is strikingly beautiful! I love the cool fall weather and change of the season, the cozy nights by the fire with a cup of tea and a good book, the brightly colored trees, and the crunch of leaves below my feet. What I love best though is the celebration of thankfulness. As we journey from a celebration of darkness in October, to a celebration of gratitude in November, November seems to shine even brighter. Perhaps the contrast makes the latter more stunning; perhaps the latter simply is more stunning.

As the cold November wind blows the final leaves from the trees, the absence of the leaves allows us to see beyond, to what we couldn’t see before, and our vision becomes enhanced. Similarly, the November wind of thankfulness gusts through our lives, and enhances our vision. Gratitude by nature enhances vision by adjusting focus. I have heard it said many times, “What we focus on, we magnify”. November blesses us with the opportunity to focus on, and therefore, to magnify gratitude.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Ps 34:3, NKJV)

When we gratefully acknowledge the visible everyday gifts, we open our eyes to God’s goodness in our lives. A posture of gratitude allows us to “see the visible, which makes us understand the invisible” (Rom 1:20). Thanksgiving, by definition, is grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God (www.dictionary.com). Thanksgiving begins with acknowledgement. In order to understand this fully, we have to understand an important truth. Everything we have is from God (Ps. 24:1). We cannot acknowledge the Giver if we do not know the source.

The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it. The world belongs to him. And so do all those who live in it. (Ps 24:1, NIRV)

Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance, because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse. (Rom 1:20, TPT)

In a world of entitlement, I think we would all agree that there is space for more gratitude. Two day shipping, 1-click shopping, pressure cooked meals, high speed internet, instant text messaging, and movies on demand, all reinforce a message that we are entitled to what we want, when we want it. We are blessed to live in a time such as this, but we must pair these benefits and privileges with the wisdom gratitude imparts. Gratitude shifts our focus by allowing us to first acknowledge the gift, and in turn, express our appreciation to the Giver. By better understanding the definitions of these terms it will help us to define the solution.

Entitled: having a right to certain benefits or privileges (Merriam-Webster); real or perceived.

Grateful: to be appreciative of benefits received (Merriam-Webster).

Thanksgiving: grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God (www.dictionary.com).

Entitlement is simply a right to certain benefits, whereas gratitude is an appreciation of those benefits. Entitlement and gratitude are designed to go hand-in-hand, which is the nature of thanksgiving – the act of acknowledging our benefits and favors with gratitude, especially to God.

“I hope my child grows up to be entitled,” said no mom ever! As parents, if there is one thing we would all agree on, I believe, it is that we want to raise grateful children. In a world where there is so much division, gratitude is a common denominator that unites us. Raising grateful children may feel like a daunting task, but be encouraged, we can! We become transformed by the renewing of our mind. How do we renew our minds – we can begin with a focus on thanksgiving.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:2, NASB)

Entitlement alone is not the problem plaguing our nation, but rather, entitlement paired with the absence of appreciation and gratitude. There are many things we are entitled to. Simply by being born in America we are entitled to freedom to worship as we wish, the right to vote, the right to choose how we educate our children (public, private, homeschool), “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”… The list of our privileges in America is extensive. That truth alone should make us grateful.

Even greater than any privilege we may be entitled to on this earth, are the unlimited privileges and benefits of being children of God. We are abundantly entitled! The world seems to consistently get the right message with the wrong interpretation. We got the message that we are entitled – we just misinterpreted it. To see how we missed the mark on COVID click here. We are entitled to a Kingdom full of blessings because of a Savior who adores us! How do we tap into the truth of entitlement? Gratitude. How do we do it? We shout for joy to Lord, and we enter His gates with Thanksgiving (Ps 100)!

Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
¹Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
³Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Everything we have, that is good, is from God (Jm 1:17). When God opens His generous hand, it is full of blessings, satisfying the longings of every living thing (Ps 145:16). God loves us so much that he calls us His children, and as His children, we are heirs to His promises (1 John 3:1, Gal 3:29).

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV)

When you open your generous hand, it’s full of blessings, satisfying the longings of every living thing. (Ps 145:16, TPT)

Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children. (1 John 3:1, TPT)

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. (Gal 3:29, NLT)

Let’s ponder the thought that perhaps we do want to raise entitled children, entitled children who are equipped with the wisdom gratitude imparts. We are raising children of God who are entitled to all the blessings of the Kingdom. That’s a big darn deal y’all! Our goal should be to raise children who know who they are, who their Father is, and how much He loves them. Gratitude imparts wisdom. By acknowledging and appreciating our gifts and knowing their true source, the atmosphere in our homes will shift.

The bondage of entitlement comes from the absence of gratitude. As gratitude increases, the bondage to entitlement decreases. The result… thanksgiving!

I recently heard it said, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the next best time is now”. This really spoke to my heart because our family just moved to a new property, and we inherited very few established trees. We can’t help but question why the people before us didn’t plant any trees when they moved in 15 years ago?! I get it, starting with little saplings feels like such a long-term investment, and may often feel like it is hardly worth the effort, especially if your residence is temporary. But the truth is, if we don’t plant them today, we will never have trees. We can dwell on the time we missed, or embrace the opportunity today! So today… we are planting trees!

One of the trees we have chosen to plant it an oak tree. Much to my surprise, even tree enthusiasts have tried to sway us away from the long term investment of the slow growing oak, particularly if we are uncertain if we will be in this house forever. If we approach life with this philosophy… we are missing the mark on our purpose here. We are here on this earth for only a short while, this is our temporary residence. We must embrace an eternal perspective when choosing what seeds to plant and water. While we are here, we are called to create beauty and to leave a lasting mark for future generations. Your temporary impact has eternal rewards! Plant the oak tree!

As with trees, the best time to teach children about gratitude is today. Don’t dwell over missed opportunities. Yes, we could have started 5 years ago, but the next best time is now. There are ways you reinforce gratitude daily with your children, you know what they are. You are doing a good job. That little sapling is growing up to be a mighty oak. Just stick with it. Instilling gratitude in children is indeed a long-term commitment with eternal rewards!

My hope is to both encourage you and equip you with practical tools you can use in your home during this season of Thanksgiving and throughout the year. Join me in focusing on and magnify thanksgiving in our homes!

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18)

What you can do (open links for attached lessons)

Memorize Psalm 100. This is a beautiful Psalm you can spend the month of November focusing on with your family. Our family loves this song version of this Psalm.
Gratitude leaves
Gratitude Journals
Meal Time Praises and Prayers – This is a family tradition of ours, and is basically what it sounds like… During our dinner prayer we have each person say a praise and a prayer as we go around the table. It creates a daily environment of thanksgiving in our home, and also teaches little ones how to pray.
Other gratitude resources:
1. Not Consumed
2. ABC Jesus Loves Me (for younger children)

Leaves of Gratitude

Michelle Underwood Gratitude November 1, 2020November 15, 2021Gratitude, homeschool 0 Comment

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18)

Every November I bring out the gratitude leaves in our home. Years ago a friend introduced me to this concept and we have been using it ever since. It has taken on a few different forms over the years, but the underlying message is the same, thanksgiving – grateful acknowledgement of all we have been blessed with. There are so many versions of this concept on the internet – you can search and be inspired for hours. While the inspiration of the internet is a huge gift, it can also lead to lots of inspiration without a lot of action. Set an action plan for yourself. Anytime you start is great, just get started.

Gratitude Leaves and Display Options

Cut leaves

These leaves will be used to write messages of gratitude on, throughout the month of November.

Amount needed: To have enough leaves for the entire month of November, plan on 1 leaf/person/day (~30 leaves x number of people in your house). You can cut about 9-12 leaves per sheet of paper, so you need about 3, 8×10, sheets of paper of person. You can share leaves if you write small.

Paper: any colored or patterned paper will do. You can use a combination of yellow, red, orange and brown if you like. This year I am using patterned paper I purchased years ago (I found it in the scrapbooking aisle at one of the big-box stores).

Cutting: I use EK Tools Paper Punch, Large, Maple Leaf. It makes the process much quicker for 100+ leaves. You can also cut leaves by hand, just keep the pattern simple.

Leaf display options – choose an option that works best for you. I have done them all. We are not striving for perfection here – just gratitude. Do what works for you this season.

Gratitude Tree (OPTION 1): scroll down for other options

STEP 1: Download GRATITUDE TREE FILE HERE: GRATITUDE TREE

STEP 2: Save PDF file onto your computer.

STEP 3: Print images (12 sheets of paper)

Option 1: Print images onto brown cardstock
Option 2: Print images onto white cardstock to paint brown yourself.

STEP 4: Assemble printed documents.

Note: Start assembly right to left, and then proceed top to bottom. We taped the paper together with masking tape on the back, and filled in the paper overlap on the front with glue (see photo).

Glue paper overlap on front of tree to create smooth seams

STEP 5: Paint your tree (if using white cardstock). If you chose to use brown cardstock you will omit this step and proceed to STEP 6 (ASSEMBLY).

We painted the tree brown, and then we mixed brown and black paint, and used a sponge to add texture to the tree.

STEP 6: DISPLAY

To display tree, attach to wall or surface of your choice. We used blue painters tape to attach it to the wall. Masking tape leaves a sticky residue behind and is not recommended.

That’s it, you are done and ready to hang your leaves.

STEP 7: LEAF ATTACHMENT

I will be using the same blue painters tape to attach my leaves. Blue painters tape is easy to remove and will allow us to use our tree year after year, with proper storage.

Gratitude WALL (OPTION 2):

Choose a wall or window where you can attach rows of loosely tied jute twine. I didn’t intentionally capture a photo of our wall last year, but it was in the background of another picture… so this is the best I have for you. Hopefully it gives you the idea. We used jute twine and clothespins.

Gratitude Jar (OPTION 3):

Have a clear glass jar to collect gratitude leaves in. Simple and beautiful.

Gratitude Tree, Branches (OPTION 4):

We used this option a few years ago, but with 6 people in our family, we simply had too many leaves for our branches. I do however plan on using something similar on our Thanksgiving table this year for guests to fill out and enjoy.

What to do at the end of November?

I sort the leaves by person and we read over them again. We then glue them into our gratitude journals and date the page. These leaves have become a fun keepsake. I try to encourage my little’s to write their own leaves because I treasure their sweet handwriting as much as their simple gratitude. With that said, I also want this to be a fun memory for them, so if they don’t want to write, I simply do the writing for them. This is not a lesson in handwriting, it is a lesson in gratitude. I have to remind the multi-tasker in myself to stay focused.

Blessings to you and your family this holiday season. May the blessing of gratitude overwhelm your hearts this Thanksgiving season and throughout the year.

Gratitude Journals

Michelle Underwood Gratitude November 1, 2020November 5, 2020Gratitude, homeschool 0 Comment

I mentioned Gratitude Journals in my post Creating an Environment of Thanksgiving in our Homes. You can read the full post here: http://homespunsugar.com/creating-an-environment-of-thanksgiving-in-our-homes/.

One of our favorite ways to focus on gratitude throughout the year is a simple gratitude journal. We each write what we are thankful for as a regular part of our routine. We have been doing this since my children were very little and it has become such a treasure. Don’t hesitate to sit down with them and either write or draw (I do both) in your journal too. Gratitude is something we all need more of in our lives. And don’t forget, gratitude is caught not taught, so be sure to allow them to see you being thankful too!

For my younger kids (elementary ages) I use this journal:

Strathmore Kids 100 Series Youth Story Drawing Book, 8-1/2 x 11 Inches, White, 30 Sheets. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022JOAZI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

Here are some sample journal entries my children have done.