Marketing deploys

I have a bit of a secret to confess.

I'm hardly swayed by marketing tactics anymore. Meaning, I can read a catalogue with fancy deals and cheaper stuff for bargain prices and think nar, I still don't need it. Even with a 30% off sale. Even with free offers. Even with the buy one get the second for half price. You know what that is? Basically it is a 25% off sale but you have to buy two pairs to get it. Mind you the shop wins more because you get half price the cheaper item. No deal X

One of my favorite city things to do many many years ago was to sit and check out the catalogues. There are heaps in the city barely any in the country. But I did it. Not a lot to buy with no money.

We have this doggy. He's our guard doggy. Actually he is a she. She barks from time to time. She hates vacuum cleaners, sneezes and motorbike/moped/things. Unfortunately for our junk mail delivery lady who must be fed up with being chased so much that she no longer delivers us junk mail. I don't even miss it.
I checked out a pile from my sister in laws and found nothing I wanted to buy.
Yep, even woollies can't sucker me in anymore.

My advice to you? GET RID OF THE MARKETING THAT COMES INTO YOUR HOME! DO NOT LET IT IN :)

I estimate that I spend a lot less because of it but that I am also not bringing a lot of stuff into our home. My whole point really.

The less you shop, the less you buy, the less you buy the less stuff you have in your home. Win-win in my opinion.

Amalia (4) December 2012

5 Things I am Thankful for:
1. Learning and Growing in not being led-astray
2. Saving more $ by not buying crap
3. Not needing to declutter the home cos there isn't much to clutter it
4. Not having buyers remorse
5. Being content and learning to be content with what we have

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Building a Home School Library on a budget

One of the beauties of Home Schooling is the multitude of books that come through the home. One of the not-so-beauties is having to pay for them all. At a cost of $20 per book can get a bit.. You know.. Pricey.

Naturally there are more frugal alternatives like using the library.

Library

Personally, I am not a library fan. Perhaps it is because our local library seems to have more inappropriate content in reach of my very small children, or because I would rather not attempt at choosing decent living books with four small children to supervise also.
It could be a bit of a drama when the baby would prefer to play with the toddler-sized-chairs rather than be read to or look at books quietly and a tantrum has ALWAYS ensued a visit, and perhaps the library staff take their sweet time to check out all 30-odd books when we go, and perhaps carrying out 30-odd books to the car while attempting to hold two-toddler hands and stop a runner-5-year-old from skipping her merry way in front of a car crossing the car park.
In short, I don't enjoy library visits as a family outing. Perhaps one day we will, this is not a one-day. I could possibly just go on my own but that would have to be timed well.

Enough about the library.

Home Library
Building a library for home use is an adventure and super fun. Especially when you bring them home by the box load. Here's how:

• Garage Sales
• Op Shops
• Gorgeous Friends who's children have outgrown their books 
• Book Sales
• Library Book Sales
• Toy Library Book Sales
• Online Home School sites
• Birthday and Special Occassion Gifts
• Buy when on $ALE

There, easy. And 1/8th of the price of Regular Retail

(Yes, I would prefer to take my kids into an op shop than the library!)

Buying Second Hand means we are recycling what others are no longer using. 

My Experiences
In the picture above the right hand side cubby hole is Dr Seuss books only. I only have like 38 of them (although I think I have acquired a few more since last count). I picked most of them up for $2ea and the bigger two for $3 in a bulk lot with loads of other books.

At an opshop I went through the entire shelf piling up books of interest, took my pile to the counter and said "How much for all of these? I only have $x so I will have to put some back" She gave them to me for $10 (would have been one of those cubby holes full). I was prepared to put some back but she was happy that the shelves were being cleared.

At another opshop I got two huge boxes full of books, homeschool curriculums and non-fiction books + educational games and puzzles + a few outfits + new glasses and bowls + things for the kitchen. For $30!! I can go to McDonalds for lunch with 4 kids and spend over that amount!!

Honestly homeschoolers, it is worth doing it!! 

Benefits of having a Home Library

• A wide variety of books available to all children at all times
• No late fees or return dates *ahem*
• Can have the book for ages and ages not a mere 3 weeks
• Builds interest in children, seeing different subject matter available all the time means they can choose different books so much easier
• When the baby rips a page out... its less a big deal than a library book (hasn't happened to me yet)
• You can lend your books out to other book lovers without pressure
• No library visits. Or reduced library visits
• Have the exact books that you DO want on hand when you want them
• You can pick up a specific book when a child asks you a specific question. Such as our human body books, when children ask questions we can 'research the answer together' 
• likewise when children want to know something or check on something they know they can find the book and 'teach themselves' or remind themselves. Rather than being 'force-fed' like what can happen in schools
• For us having lots of kids means that children are growing out of younger books and being picked up by younger children, so they are getting used and used well

Are you building a homeschool library? I'd love to know, 

and I'd love to know how you are building it :)

5 Things I am Thankful for:

1. Books available to buy at great prices

2. Amazing friends who's children are older and don't read their books anymore

3. Learning that takes place naturally through literature

4. Language development and interest through literature

5. Self-learning children researching areas of interest themselves (& seeking help when they need it)

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Hatching Chickens & Ducks

The learning style of both myself and atleast one of our children is kinestic. Meaning, that we learn by hands on experience, which goes well in sustainable living. We don't just learn it, we do it.

This activity was such a low-cost learning adventure that we can do over and over again, for even less costs. Bonus! Frugal! Sustainable!

Hubby bought himself an incubator, and popped a pile of eggs in. 

Hubby carefully checks the eggs, giving them an 'ultrasound' to see if they are alive and how well they are growing. See the veins? That is what your looking for. Amazingly you can see the actual chicken or duck growing inside!!

Hubby and Kids LOVED watching them, turning them daily.

Hubby wrote the dates they went IN to the incubator so he could guess when they were ready. 

After so many days of making sure they had a bit of water, and turning them twice a day they began to make their appearance.

The chicken starts by pecking a tiny hole into their egg shell

The wet bird is exhausted once it has broken out

We left them in the incubator and then moved them under a light, for human scrutiny.
The box of a BBQ was a perfect size for them to be in, kids to be out, and for all of us to look at.

Then its play time, with babies ;)

Isaiah checking out the new life

Jarah seeing the baby

Proud new dad ;)

The same kind of thing, with a larger egg, and a duck inside. 

 

 

Except... Ducks can SWIM :)

 

This Chick got thrown into the bathroom,
 by a 2yr old who didn't know that chickens can not swim.
It survived. 

5 Things I am Thankful for:
1. Hubby-led learning
2. Children learning so much about responsibility and caring for others through natural day-to-day learning
3. I didn't have to do too much 'work' with this project
4. That we can 'do it all again' next available season
5. Ducks and Chickens that give us fresh eggs

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Recycling (for Kids)

Teaching children how to recycle is REALLY easy, set up a rubbish bin for your rubbish, and a recycle bin for your recyclables.

Find out what is recycled in your area.

Show the children the sign to look for. The Triangle means it is recyclable.

Children are very adaptable and learn very fast, especially when you practice daily. 

Recycle Bin
I washed out the recyclable item, passed it onto my child (aged 5, 3 & 2 at the time) and asked them which bin it goes into. Children regularly tip the bucket of recyclable materials into our recycle bin.

Children would then search for triangles on grocery items at the shops before even being purchased.

Bush Walking
Another natural learning activity we took part in was picking up aluminium cans from the bushes, we talked about how it is not good practice to throw rubbish in the bush or on the ground, enforcing using bins.

2 years on the children still talk about doing this and how it is not good for the environment to throw rubbish on the ground

Using up what we have
We always discuss using up what we have already.

Recycling Paper
Being homeschoolers we go through a lot of paper, or a lot of paper comes through our hands. We have dealt with paper by shredding it and...

• Compost
• Worm Farm
• Chicken bed layering
• Baby duck/ Baby chicken bedding
• On the garden
• Local pet shop

Our Personal Journey

We used to live in a VERY small house where space was limited and storage was non-existent. We didn't even have a shed for storage. 

Growing up in a recycling/keep-everything-that-could-be-used kind of home I grew a stockpile or recyclable materials very quickly. The problem was I had nowhere to store it, and was not using it. 

The time came when I discovered that these items would actually be more useful in our local recycling plant than clogging up my home. I packed them all up, put them in the recycle bin, and have never looked back nor missed those items. 

Internally this felt like a much needed release of relief as my home become more manageable and clutter-free.

2 years on, I now put all these items straight into the recycle bin where they can be turned into something else. 

Okay, I admit, now that we are in a bigger home with loads of storage we are growing a 'useful' box of recyclable materials for crafting activities. 

Homeschooling

Teaching children to respect the environment and to practice sustainability naturally means they will be more likely to live it out in their adult years. Under the Government Curriculum Framework this practice falls into the category of Society and Environment. 

To further this area of knowledge, simply go for a walk to your local water ways to discover what has happened to the rivers and lakes. 

You Tube 

We've watched documentaries on what they do with the recyclable materials and what can happen if they are not. I find it interesting and so do SOME of my children ;)

There is so much available to view! Go check it out. 

Recyclable Truck

The kids love watching the garbage truck come every week receiving a double viewing every fortnight when the recycle truck comes. Even after 2 1/2years of weekly stop-what-your-doing-and-run-to-the-window/gate and it gives so much to talk about.

Tip Runs

Naturally we take children wherever we go and specifically use tip runs as educational experiences. Children are so curious as to the environments they are in and the tip is no exception. The smells stimulate our senses in such a way we desire to recycle more and waste less. We drive past the recycle shed as slowly as we can to catch the glimpse inside of sorted-by-hand recycling. 

We discuss the piles of mattress's, metals, plastics and green wastes before dropping our gear off. 

We watch and talk about the giant machinery that workers use. 

We discuss the activitiy of all the different birds. 

We notice the plastics caught in trees and fences along the ways

We drive past the neatly packed recyclable materials ready and waiting to be trucked off to their designated places

Disclaimer: These are just SOME of the ways we are teaching recycling and sustainability to our children. I'm open to ideas if you have any available, and especially any links involved :)

5 Things I am Thankful for:

1. Having a town that recycles

2. Children learning daily and naturally in a way that supports maintaining order cleanliness within the home

3. Enthusiastic interest in the mundane

4. Over-abundance of the country we live in

5. Not feeling that I am being wasteful by 'throwing out' recyclable materials to the recycling plant

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Worm farm

Worm farming is a great way to recycle and reuse waste in your own back yard, they are fun and a positive way for small children to learn about sustainability and caring for our environment.

I view home education as a positive practice to cultivate a hands on type learning that allows our environment to grow along with our children and the natural rythyms of life.

Caring for worms is an easy enough practice to simply leave without needing daily attention like chickens and dogs and cats. Practically a must for a busy homeschooling family with lots of little kids.

Building your Worm Farm
To get started you need some sort of container with a tap/spout/drainage hole to allow excess liquids to flow out. I use a worm farm that can be purchased from local nurseries. Mine was given ;)
Layer several sheets of unwanted newspaper on the bottom, followed by soil/dirt, chuck your worms in, food scraps, dirt and shredded paper/newspaper or a worm blanket. A worm blanket can be anything plant based eg wool or cotton - i used nothing then decided upon recycling 3 cotton shirts. The worms will eventually eat it - less in landfill ;) works for me!! Water it through so it's all wet. Those 3 shirts completely disappeared!!

To feed the worms:
Gather food scraps and place under wet blanket. We have chickens and ducks so I feed the worms juice pulp when we juice our vegetables and tiny scraps. I find the worms are able to process the pulp/smaller pieces faster giving a higher turnover rate. I've heard of others blending it into worm soup..
Appealing huh?! The other animals get the bigger pieces of scraps.

What to feed worms
Worms will happily munch through any plant based food items + cotton, paper & wool. Hold off on the meat and dairy, onion and their peel & citrus. (same as composting). Worms will also chew through manure though I've been told not to give them dog poop as the dogs worming routine will have residue stuff and kill the worms. They like high nitrogen to keep breeding. I've even added in a pile of coffee grounds which I received from a local cafe.

Worm Problems
When a problem occurs give them lime, bugs? Feed them lime, sick? Feed them lime. We stopped off on the side of the road and picked up a few lime stone rocks that got crushed up though that's easy given we live upon a lime pit.

Water
Water the worms every now and then, especially on hot days to make sure their home is kept moist. Some days I'll water mine daily other days I will water them every 3-5 days.

Worm Wees/Waste water
Catch the worm wees and feed it directly onto your garden (or lawn) for a highly nutritious plant meal ;) within a few days our dying chilli plant had a new lease on life and gave us a bush full of chilli's, likewise with the goji berry bush, everything thrives on worm wees.

I used a 10L watering can before discovering your meant to use only a cup or so of water to keep the worms moist, these worms are very forgiving. Either way your worm wees will be highly nutritious.

Vermi-compost. 
After a few weeks or months empty the bottom tray, dilute by about 1:10 water and place on plants or amongst your garden bed for a natural home made fertiliser.

Worms and Home Schooling
Caring for worms and watching them turn food wastes into healthy natural fertiliser is enough of a lesson, however if you are keen to teach more google is your friend.
You can include all areas of learning into building a worm farm from Science, Maths, English, Social Studies and even Technology.

Isaiah (4), Amalia (2) showing me the worms they found in the garden 2010

My children
I have gotten my children to draw pictures of the worms and their home but usually they just want to hold them. We also discuss the benefits of worms in the garden which I then hear children discuss amongst themselves as they search the garden beds for worms.

My children have been interested in worms since they were 2 & 4 years old, digging in the mud and finding big fat healthy worms. We could even call that a sensory learning experience ;)

Given the younger ages of my children I still haven't gone into a deep study of worms but perhaps I will as they grow older.

All of this has been a natural hands on experience, and honestly we prefer it that way ;)


5 Things I am Thankful for:
1. Natural Learning
2. Healthy plants I've produced through worm castings
3. No-waste kitchen
4. Children's interest in my interest
5. Family Projects

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