Live and Learn Farm

Teenage Chicks’ Playpen

By: Gage6 Comments

 

 

Teenage Leghorns and Red Sexlink

Good afternoon. As our surprise baby chicks grow from young balls of fluff to teenage chicks, they are getting more and more rambunctious.  One of the leghorns started wanting to roost so he/she would fly on top of the waterer.  They all love to try to fly, run, and play.  I decided they needed a perch, so my dad and I created them a small perch and they loved it!  

But that is not enough. They need to start getting ready for the outside world, the grass and hunting for bugs.  I saw a big one on Backyard Chickens, but we didn’t really want one that big.   So my Dad made them a small outdoor play pen.  It does not have a bottom so they can be in the grass and scratch around.  Their waterer and a bucket are in there (the bucket is for them to hide in if they want),  they are loving this too!  I scattered some of their chick starter on the ground in the play pen so they could start learning where to look for some of their food. I had to put them back in their brooder though because it started to rain. They all seemed shocked by the rain, this was their first rain they ever really experienced.  

Chicks' Playpen

 

 

In a month, I will move the teenage chicks out with the Rhode Island Red chickens.  We will keep them in a separate pen and the coop is separated too.  I believe they will be shocked by them too.  We think one of the surprise chicks is a rooster because… early one morning dad was checking on all the chicks when he thought he heard a strange rooster call emanating from the teenage chick’s side of the garage. I can not tell which is a rooster yet but i will be able to soon. They don’t need a heat lamp any more unless it is a cold night. If one of them finds something interesting he/she picks it up and the other two will chase it until they either lose it or if it is food, eat it. They love to cuddle with each other when they are tired

They are very tricky sometimes.  For instance… As I got their waterer out to clean and refill, one of the leghorns hopped up on a support beam in the top of the brooder.  This is not the first time this has happened.  The last time I handled it wrong and the two leghorns got out!  Thankfully me and mom caught them before they ran off. After learning my lesson last time, this time I just slowly put the top to the brooder back on and he/she just hopped back down in the brooder. 

I’ll give you an update on the baby chicks this week too.  See ya’ soon!

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Parts of a Feather

By: Trish Corlew3 Comments

As most of you are aware, we are in chicken mode right now with Gage’s business (Deluxe Clucks) starting and the brooder webcam up and running (see right sidebar and click play to watch).  We have been contacted by some local homeschoolers to come out for field trips, so we are in the process of getting ready for them to start.  As part of the homeschool field trips, I’m creating various works to help teach them more about chickens.  This lesson is about parts of a feather and it is one of a series of posts on basic Chicken Anatomy. Be sure to visit the other posts too!  You can find them here:  Hands On Chicken Anatomy Lessons and Bird’s Nest study.  

Parts of a Feather Free 3 part cardsFeathers are pretty amazing!  They are extremely strong, yet lightweight.  There are actually five basic types of feathers:  

  • Contour
  • Down
  • Semiplumes
  • Filoplumes
  • Bristles

This would be a great time to go on a nature scavenger hunt to find some feathers.  Grab a magnifying glass or a microscope to study your feathers more closely!  If you do not have access to feathers or a microscope, here are some pictures and another set is here for you to be able to see them up close.  For the Parts of a Feather study, I drew a contour feather.  I will be creating a work about the various types of feathers. Here is a set of nomenclature cards I drew and made for parts of a feather.

Most feathers have a couple of feathers in common:  

  • Most feathers have a thick hard pole down the center of the feather.  This is called the Shaft.  It is made of Keratin (the same material our fingernails are made of).  Birds cannot feel the shaft, therefore it does not hurt the bird to clip their wings.  
  • The Quill is where the feather attaches to the Bird.  Quills were used to write with long ago.  It was dipped into ink and the ink would go up the shaft a little way.  
  • The soft part of the feather is called the vane.  If you can look at this part through a microscope or magnifying glass, you will see that it has tiny hairs called barbs.  Those hairs also have tiny hairs called barbules.  They function like a hook and latch… making the wing vanes act like a zipper.  
  • Some feathers are fuzzy, these are called Down Feathers.  This  is where the barbs do not have barbules so they cannot hook (or zip) together.  Down feathers do not have a shaft.  Every bird has down feathers under it’s contour feathers.  

All birds molt.  It is where the bird loses its old feathers and grows new ones.  Why do birds molt?  Simply, because their feathers get old and beat up.  Most birds molt gradually losing a few feathers at a time.  There are a few birds that lose their feathers all at once.  Doesn’t that sounds like a great research project to figure out which ones do this?!?  

If you don’t know where to begin to teach zoology to your students, we used Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Zoology, Flying Creatures Book. For more information about how I take traditional curriculum and make them more hands-on and Montessori-ish, look here under the Zoology and Botany tags.   

I’ll be covering more basic anatomy information about chickens (and birds in general, like this lesson), so stay tuned!  

Until next time… 

Permaculture Garden Update

By: Trish Corlew2 Comments

As most of you know, we are converting from traditional gardening techniques to a permaculture garden this year, so I wanted to give you all a quick Permaculture Garden Update.  We have been busy trying to get mulch in place and seeds planted.   Well, we have finally seen a few signs of life under all that mulch (besides weeds), so I wanted to share our pictures of our first plants.  We have not watered the mulch once!  How exciting is this!!!  

We have planted all the cold weather crops (except Kale and I’m hoping we are not too late to get one round in the ground next week).  We are getting the spring crops in the ground slowly but surely!  We have tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, and catnip planted in the greenhouse, but we are having a hard time remembering to get in there and water!  I guess that is a result of NOT having to water the rest of the garden!  Will have to stay on top of this one better!  I’ll continue to post pictures as the plants start peeking out!  

I was really worried about the nitrogen levels of the ground the first year… so this is exciting to see any plants successfully growing.  It may not last, but we are praying we have a bumper crop this year.   If you are not familiar with the concept of permaculture gardening, think about a forest floor.  There you will find extremely rich moist soil that is not watered at all…  yet all these plants continue to thrive and grow year after year in the forest.  We are attempting to recreate this concept.  I first learned about it via a video called “Back to Eden Gardening“.  I talked with Paul Gautschi (the gardener in the video) and we decided to convert our raised beds to wood mulch planting this year.  So far, I’m thoroughly impressed and totally excited about the planting season!  For anybody that has gardened without the luxury of a tractor, you know that is not common to hear somebody being excited about planting!  I was and still am!  

Our “to do list” is a mile long and continues to grow, but we are chipping away at it and will do the very best we can.  And that will be good enough!  Anyway, here are some pictures from the first little plants out of the ground!!!

Cherry Belle Radish Perma-culture Garden   Comet Radish Perma-culture Garden

Peas Perma-culture Garden

 

Until Next Time…. 

 

 

 

Hands-on Chicken Anatomy Lessons

By: Trish Corlew17 Comments

As most of you know, we are in full out chicken mode right now with Gage’s business assets arriving (chicks) and with the webcam up and running (see link in the right hand column, click play), I thought this would be a perfect time to start an in-depth, hands-on study about chickens!  I will even attempt to answer the proverbial question, “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”.  Read to the bottom for that one 🙂  In the meantime, let’s get to some hands-on chicken anatomy lessons!

Vocabulary Matching Chicken Family Tree

 

The first thing that I teach about chickens is the vocabulary.  Most areas of study or professions have a certain vocabulary that is associated with that particular topic.  Chickens are no exception.  Some of the vocabulary will be very familiar, but some won’t be.  I try to use the correct vocabulary for all the works in a particular area, so this is the first document to present to your students.  I call it the Chicken Family Tree because so much of it surrounds the names of the chickens at different stages of their life.

 

 

Chicken 3 Part Cards Montessori Print ShopThe next area I typically teach is the anatomy of a chicken.  Montessori Print Shop has a beautiful set you can purchase.  If you are not in a position to purchase them, here is another set of chicken anatomy that I found this is free.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I got these, if you know who to give credit to, please let me know!  

I know some people consider nomenclature (3 Part) cards to be just for young students, but I use them with my older boys all the time.  If you are a visual learner (I am and two of my boys are), we like to see it… so we continue to use nomenclature cards even though they are 9, 11, and 13  (and I’m 47) now.  It’s all about following the child to teach them the way they learn the best!  Anatomy is the same across breeds but not across gender.  So any set of chicken anatomy cards needs to distinguish if they are defining anatomy of a hen or a rooster.  Here is a great chart of the differences between hens and roosters.  

 

Chicken Anatomy Cones Free 3 part CardsDid you know chickens can’t sweat? Since they do not sweat, they lose a primary way to cool their body down.  Instead, chickens have combs and wattles to help them regulate their body temperature. But not all combs and wattles are created the same. I have created a Chicken Anatomy Combs work to show the reason for the differences and variations.  The comb variations are usually based on breed and gender.  The comb is not just a means to cool off, it is also used to attract a mate.  In addition, when a young female chicken (called a pullet) is ready to start laying eggs, her comb will turn from pink to red.  

 

Since we are now discussing various chicken breeds, there is a great chart here to help your children see all the variations in each breed.

Now, back to the question about the chicken and the egg and which came first… if you believe in the Bible, it answers this question for us.  

Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Gen 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Since I’m pretty sure there were not any eggs walking around, it would mean the chicken came first 🙂

I have so much more to cover regarding chickens, but this is a good place to stop for this study.  I’ll be posting much more on chickens since it appears we will be spending much of our time with our new chicks.  We recently received a request to host some homeschool field trip days, so we will be creating lots of works to teach our guests when these field trips start.  

Until next time….

Announcing … The Deluxe Clucks Live Brooder Cam!!!

By: Gage21 Comments

Deluxe Clucks Live Brooder CamI am so excited to announce the Deluxe Clucks Live Brooder Cam!!!  My dad has been working on this project for a little while and he tested it yesterday with our three surprise chicks…. and it’s working!!!  There will be two ways to access the webcam feed.  You can go to www.ustream.com and search for “Deluxe Clucks” and watch it there.  Or you can go to this blog and look in the right sidebar.  There you will see a box and you click play to watch the webcam!  Thanks Dad for getting the webcam working!!!  

The way it works is, we have a video camera over the brooder box that is connected to a laptop.  It is sending the live feed to ustream.   Isn’t technology amazing?!?

I hope you will watch the chicks often and enjoy them!  I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks!  Mom contacted Welp Hatchery today to see if the chicks had shipped on the ninth.  So be sure to watch on the 11th for the new frizzle and cochin bantam baby chicks!

 

See Ya’ Soon!

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Cedar Shavings Can Be TOXIC for Chicks!

By: Gage4 Comments

 

 

Cedar Shavings can be Toxic to Chickens

Good afternoon!!  Yesterday I reviewed the comments on my posts and a few people were saying not to use cedar shavings. What’s wrong with cedar I thought? Well, after doing some research it turns out that cedar shavings can be toxic for chicks!!!  And, even worse, they don’t even have to eat the the shavings or breathe the oil’s fumes for it to hurt them. The oil from cedar  can be absorbed through the feet of the chicks.  The oil fumes can also cause respiratory problems and digestive track problems. The safest thing to use is pine shavings which do not have toxic oils. But for the first few days you need to use paper towels.   I wanted to be sure everyone knows not to use cedar for their chicks!

McMurray Hatchery states:

LITTER: Wood shavings, rice hulls, or ground cobs make good litter. Do not use cedar chips, sawdust (It is too small and the birds may eat it instead of their food), or treated wood chips. Sand, straw, or dirt will also work but are not as good as the others. Put the litter all over the floor at least 1 inch thick. Keep it covered for the first day with newspapers to keep the chicks from eating the litter instead of the feed. To avoid possible leg problems, remove the papers after the first day for heavy breeds and meat birds and after the third day for lighter breeds.

Thank you to all who commented for me to change the shavings!  You guys really helped me out and maybe even saved my chicks’ lives!  You all have been a blessing!  

See Ya’ Soon!

New HUGE Brooder Box

By: Gage18 Comments

Good afternoon!  Yesterday as we approached four days until the chicks would arrive, I knew we had to come up with a huge brooder box design.  Our current cattle trough brooder just won’t hold 33 chicks.  

Cattle Trough Chick Brooder Box

 

I’ve been researching brooders,  the cattle trough and dog kennel designs would not work nor would any of the other designs we looked at.  I visited BackYard Chickens to see the suggestions out there.  They have a long list of ideas, but I needed something that would hold 30 chicks and to make it out of things we already have here.  

 

Bookshelf Brooder Box

 

Dad and I were in the barn looking at some cabinets we have but they looked too small to me.  So, I decided to use some old book shelves we have in the garage.  They were left over from our recent classroom redesign and I knew I could arrange them into a large brooder box.  We moved them into the shape of a rectangle  (5’4″ x 2’3″) and taped large garbage bags onto the backs of the bookshelves so they would not get ruined.

 

Brooder Box Cover

After we got the bookshelves in place and bags taped on the backs,  Dad and I started making the cover to the brooder box.  We made it out of tomato stakes and chicken wire.  We decided to use two covers instead of one giant one, which makes it easier to open.  There are only a couple of things that need to be done to be completely ready for the chicks to arrive:

  • put cardboard on the floor under the shelves
  • put some shavings in the bottom of the brooder
  • get another feeder
  • get another waterer
  • get another heat lamp
  • find a recipe for jump starter for the chicks when they first arrive to help them regain their strength

 

Today I met with our post office manager to ask if they would call me when the chicks arrive from Welp Hatchery this week.   I should be finished with the rest of this list by the time the chicks get here.  When I find a good kick-start recipe, I’ll post it here too.  

If you see anything that I have left out of the brooder or the things I need to get, please leave a comment down below.  I check them everyday after class.  

See ya’ soon!  

 

Spring has Sprung and the Snakes are Awake!

By: Trish Corlew2 Comments

Disclosure

If you know me, you know I HATE snakes!  I don’t mean I just don’t like snakes… I mean I hate snakes with a passion!  So spring to me means the snakes are awake!  They scare me to death!  When God said He was putting enmity between woman and the serpent, He was NOT kidding!  (Genesis 3:15)  

Today we spent the day helping Gage get his brooder box ready for the 30 chicks that are arriving this week.  When Gage and I were about to walk out of the garage, he calmly announced “SNAKE”.  There slithering off of our front walkway into the shrubs is THE snake.  I immediately froze.  My hubby, David, was there with us so he grabbed a shovel and a hoe.  When Hubby approached the snake, he could not immediately tell if it was poisonous or not because the snake was acting so aggressively.  Well, it turns out it was a two foot Hognose snake!  And, to make matters worse, David does not believe in killing the wretched things unless they are poisonous… but he will take it off, at least.  Even though I completely abhor snakes, there are some good lessons here to learn.  And yes, I took these pictures!  

Snake Identification HognoseHognose snakes are hard to tell apart from a Water Moccasin (Cotton Mouth) snake when they are little.  If you are like me, kill the darn thing and worry about if it is poisonous after the threat is gone … but that is not hubby’s mode of operation so we have to learn this stuff when he is around.  

The color of a Hognose snake varies widely, so using color as an identifier is not viable.  As always, we look at the face and eyes.  But this guy was so small, we couldn’t see his eyes.  We did, however, notice its snout was upturned. But that actually made it hard to determine if it had a triangular or round nose.

 

 

Hognose Snake Playing Dead When threatened, a hognose snake will flatten their neck and raise their head off the ground and hiss like a cobra … behaving quite aggressively.  This also makes it hard to determine if they have a triangular or round head.  Our little snake was doing a fabulous job at acting all aggressive, hissing, flaring, etc.  He almost lost his head cause he is such a good actor!  So, needless to say, putting our face down there to see its eyes was completely out of the question!  

If flattening and flaring their neck and hissing  fails to thwart their attacker, the Hognose snake will literally roll over and play dead, with their tongue hanging out of their gaping open mouth. (Ugh!!!  Have I mentioned I hate snakes… ).  

 

Hognose Snake playing deadThe Hognose Snake will continue to play dead until the threat has disappeared.  I can assure you, no snake was harmed during this event (although this one is an excellent actor at faking it).  This snake WAS personally escorted off the property, by my hubby.  

Something every family that lives in an area where there are snakes needs is a great snake identification book!  Just in case the internet is down when you stumble upon one of these!  (Note we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program.  Any money received via this relationship is used for our homeschool!  PS. I’ve made a grand total of $0.00 from affiliate marketing… but the FTC says I have to tell you that IF you buy it, I will make 4% of the sale as commission.) 

Side note:  There is some controversy over if the Hognose snake is venomous or not.  Here is a Quote from Wikipedia:

The venomous nature of Hognose snakes is controversial, however it is generally agreed upon that they are not venomous. A bite from a hognose can result in swelling and numbness at the site of the bite, though this is likely the result of a simple allergic reaction. Similar symptoms can result from dog and cat bites, and even from human saliva. There does not seem to have been any scientific studies to determine the existence or characterize the nature of hognose “venom.”

The most reliable identifier of the Hognose Snake is the upturned nose.  It uses it to dig out toads, their primary diet.   These snakes are stout bodied and do not grow very long, adults are from 14 to 40 inches long.  They are diurnal (means they are active during the daytime), and burrow into loose soil.  Hognose snakes are not constrictors, they are rear-fanged.  Their venom enables them to overcome toads to allow the snake to swallow the toad.  Hognose snakes have mild dispositions and rarely bite.  Apparently this makes them attractive for those that like to keep snakes.  

I can assure you, this is one pet this household will NOT have (at least not while they are living here)!  

Until next time….. 

Note we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. 

Pasty Butt WARNING!

By: Gage5 Comments

Pasty ButtGood afternoon!  I know, strange title… but this is important and could save your chick’s life one day.  So… what is pasty butt, you ask?

Pasty butt is a common thing that can happen to your chicks. When chicks are stressed, chilled or dehydrated, they can get this.  It can be fatal, if not treated.  Its just poop that has hardened on a chick’s bottom but it can block their vent.  This is critical that the vent area gets cleaned thoroughly because the vent is the place where they poop, urinate and lay eggs.  If it is blocked, the chick can’t poop or pee leading to death.  

This is what happened and how we dealt with it.  As we were looking at our chicks the other day we discovered that one of our leghorn chicks had pasty butt.  The first thing I tried to do was just wipe the poop off, but it was really dried and stuck. So I went and got a small plastic tub and filled it with warm water. Then I picked up the little leghorn chick and she got a bottom soak, which she seemed to enjoy for a little while.  After her soak I tried to wipe her bottom again, but it was still stuck. So I soaked her bottom some more and finally I got it off.  Today I checked her bottom, but which bottom is her’s? Her bottom was so clean I could not tell the two leghorns apart!! I have decided to name her Tweety because of her sweet little tweets while I soaked her.  I did finally determine which chick was which…. because Tweety has a bigger head than April.  So I figured out which leghorn was which!  

This morning my mom was talking with a Google+ friend who has a business helping people start farms and raise healthy animals.  Ms. Vicky Hinschlager owns Small Farm Solutions and she confirmed that we did the right thing to help Tweety.  I’m thankful Ms. Vicky is there to help us!  

I will continue to check on Tweety’s situation and to be sure her sickness is gone.  In the meantime, we read on BackYard Chickens about some natural remedies and found that yogurt is helpful. Yogurt has probiotics that give the chicks more friendly bacteria in their intestines to help fight off sicknesses better.  We also have dairy cows on our farm, so mom and I made yogurt this morning.  We pulled out our new Yogotherm and used it for the first time!  We are waiting for it to be ready to mix with their chick starter for dinner tonight!  I’m sure I’ll post about what the chicks thought of the yogurt later (with pictures)!  

See ya’ soon! 

 

 

Farmschooling – Montessori Middle School Part 2

By: Trish Corlew5 Comments

Maria Montessori Adolescent Middle School ErdkinderThis is part two of an ongoing exploration of Maria Montessori’s vision for middle school and high school. I’ve dubbed it Farmschooling – Montessori Middle School.  In part 1 we discussed what is going on in the teenage mind and how unsure of themselves they really are.  In part 2 we will explore some of the recommendations Montessori made for reaching our teens!  Again, I will be quoting from Montessori Today by Paula Polk Lillard. (Note we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program.  Any money received via this relationship is used for our homeschool!  PS. I’ve made a grand total of $0.00 from affiliate marketing… but the FTC says I have to tell you that IF you buy it, I will make 4% of the sale as commission.)  And, same as before, in some areas I will paraphrase and in other areas I will quote verbatim.

In part 1, we learned that the third plane child has a very difficult time concentrating and focusing.  However, Montessori still had faith in the teen’s abilities, even with their diminished concentration.  She believed in the benefits of academic knowledge and intellectual study,  and how important it is to grow and expand the field of knowledge.  Study, she believed, answers a need of the intelligence and therefore, does not cause mental fatigue, on the contrary, she believed that it regenerates and strengthens “the development of the mind.”  She further discussed that adolescents have a great need for creative expression.  This is not for the purpose of understanding art, but for their own means of self-expression and self-discovery.  

Maria Montessori discusses that the child’s natural drive for independence is further extended in the third plane into two new areas:

  •  a need to make a “direct contribution to society and have it recognized” and
  • a desire to become financially independent

We, as parents, need to encourage students in their efforts to achieve independence via helping them identify opportunities opportunities where they can experience stewardship and selflessness.  

One of the teen’s primary focuses is to understand and explore reality, in both the natural world and in human organizations and institutions.  Their mantra shifts from “help me to do it myself” to “help me to think for myself”.  In the natural world, they want to test themselves, to test what they can do, how far, how fast, etc. and to explore what they can become.  So opportunities that might present themselves to explore would be work with Habitat for Humanity, hiking, backpacking, and various wilderness adventures.  In this plane, they are learning to use tools, work the land and develop skills for maintenance and repair of minor machinery.  

In the human organizations and institutions category, it perfectly matches their desire for financial independence, they want to explore:

  • commerce
  • trade
  • production and
  • economic exchange

At this stage they are learning to question deeply and research answers… with a focus on solving problems.  And the adults in their world NEED to listen to their teen, their reasoning, their conclusions, their ideas, their imagination.  Give them a voice and an avenue to be heard… not only at home but also in the larger world.  Get them involved in activities outside the home, especially environments where they can collaborate and work with other homeschoolers, such as coops, virtual homeschool classes, etc.  They need this interaction with peers where they can develop self confidence and explore their capabilities.  

For homeschoolers, this can be a challenge.  However, we have recently stumbled upon a fantastic organization Virtual Homeschool Group.  My boys have been taking middle school science, photography and Spanish via VHSG all this year and we are more than impressed.  I am shocked at how much my boys love the interaction with the teachers and students, the classes and the quality of instruction they are receiving.  And did I mention it is FREE?  Yep, and I’m not kidding.  We have been enrolled for this entire school year and the only money they received was a donation we gave ’cause we are so impressed!  There are ways to bring your homeschool students into this kind of peer rich environment!  Seek them out for your children!  

Montessori, like in all the planes before, continues the focus on development of the child’s personality.  In the younger child, this development of their personality is called “normalization”, in the third plane Montessori calls it “valorization of the personality”.  Valor’s root in Latin means strong or worthy… she defines it as:  “discovering and developing one’s own worthiness and strength”.  It is THE goal of the third plane teen.  

Normalization / Valorization Marta Donahoe

In the Cincinnati Montessori Secondary Teacher Education Program, Marta Donahue shared a chart that was shared with her 16 before from John Long.  It shows the characteristics the child is ready to develop in the lower plane of development and the third plane of development.  If we can remember what characteristics we are trying to develop, a well thought out plan can invoke these qualities… and bring forth valorization!

The vogue “self-worth” concept is NOT what Montessori meant by self confidence.  She referred to is as a practical notion grounded in the individual’s profound sense of REAL accomplishment.  In understanding their real limits and capabilities.  Success in life depends on a self-confidence born of a true knowledge of one’s capabilities, combined with the many-sided powers of adaptation…. and Montessori believed this can only be accomplished through work and direct experience of the environment.  

The challenge for the educator of the third plane (12 – 18) child is to develop an education plan that combines intellectual pursuits and discovery with REAL situations… both in nature and in society.  Montessori emphasized that subjects should be interlinked instead of divided into categories.  So all-inclusive curriculum or unit studies are absolutely something we will be investigating! We have one already identified that we are planning to use this summer.  It is called Paths of Exploration and we are already starting to make this curriculum more hands-on.  You can see these works here.   And, just as in the lower planes, students are encouraged to follow their interests.  Again the teacher is to serve as a guide.  

We can summarize part 2 with these thoughts.  Teens have a strong need to:

  • .  work
  •    be challenged
  •    be empowered
  •    work the land
  •    build community
  •    develop a personal vision 

Maria Montessori mentions six areas as the foundation of the academic program for the adolescent.  We will explore those in part 3.  

Until next time