One of the glorious advantages of homeschooling is that par- ents can infuse educational principles into real-life settings. After all, one of the main goals for
our;children’s;education;is;to;give;them
the;skills;they;need;to;succeed;in;any;life
field.;Sadly,;many;children;never;see;the
connection between education and their
daily lives. When children spend the ma-jority;of;their;time;in;the;fake;world;of
tests;and;textbooks,;they;may;learn;facts
but will miss the joy of learning.
Looking back over my own experi-
ence as a homeschooled student, nothing
helped grow a love of learning more than
the;tiny;6-acre;farm;my;family;worked
during my childhood. In this world of
Missouri;dirt,;fresh;produce,;busy;chick-
ens, and rambunctious calves, I learned
that a healthy life is a learning life. Even
in;the;mixing;of;a;feed;bucket,;I;engaged
the realms of research, science, math, and
history at their most meaningful levels.
Research, the Key to Learning
Many do not consider research a typical
school subject, but as our society contin-
ues to become more information savvy,
the ability to conduct the rudiments of
research;(known;as;selected;study,;cross
reference, and documentation) could be-
come the new dividing line between the
educated and uneducated. Show me a
person who can research and I will show
you a person who can learn anything.
Thankfully,;this;priceless;skill;is;one;of
the easiest to learn and is one learned
naturally on the homestead.
When my parents started their home-
steading adventure, they had only about
10% of the knowledge that they now
have,;fifteen;years;later.;I;had;the;oppor-
tunity to watch, and later assist, them in
conducting an avalanche of research. A
case in point is when we decided to add
dairy;goats;to;our;homestead.;We;first
did intense study of dairy goat websites,
pamphlets,;and;books,;and;we;pestered
dairy goat owners with a thousand ques-
tions. We then cross-referenced our
www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
By;Mckenzi;Knapp
A
Down-to-Earth
Education
In;this;world;of;Missouri;dirt,;fresh;produce,;busy;chickens,;and
rambunctious calves, I learned that a healthy life is a learning life.
