A Bunny Runs Around a Tree
As I am fighting off a cold, I succumbed to my Sunday afternoon sleepiness and napped four solid hours. Now I am feeling a lot less sick and a lot less tired. That's good. However, I am now pushing 3 hours past my bedtime. That's bad. Real bad.
Well, in bed a few moments ago while trying to get sleepy for the night, I read this Orion article and was inspired. In my previous personal conclusion that the ultimate answer to the current economic crisis is a return to a more simple lives that include a lot more small farms on the North American landscape, I found myself nodding in great agreement as I read.
Now, I am completely in charge of what goes on in the third grade classroom this week and the last thing I did before bed was plan some reading enrichment activities. Still in teacher mode, I decided that the article deserved an enrichment activity.
Directions: Read the above linked article. Reflect on your current skill set. Make two lists. The first will be a list of skills you have that could serve you well in hard times. The second list will be skills you'd like to acquire for hard times.
Extra Credit: Include resources you have available to you to acquire your desired skills.
Relevance and Extension: Go learn these things. Life is short! Teach things you know to others who want to know.
Name: Laura M. Date: 2/23/2009
skills I have
1. gardening
2. canning
3. knitting
4. cutting hair
5. reading maps
6. cooking with whole foods
7. mending clothes
8. composting
9. bicycling, inflating tires, putting chain back on
10. swimming
11. driving (automatic only)
12. paper making, envelope making
13. letter writing
14. painting (art and domestic)
15. cleaning and organizing
16. using a computer
17. teaching
18. read aloud
19. pitch a tent
20. build a fire (and cook on it)
21. ferment wine
22. make natural paint
23. work a film camera, develop film, print photos
24. ski
25. shovel a driveway by hand
26. baking bread from scratch
27. find quality second hand items
28. reuse "disposable" items
29. tell time from the sun
30. canoe
31. simple carpentry
32. catch fish
33. clean a trout
34. identify moon phases
35. start seedlings
36. plunge a toilet
37. use a compass properly
38. caulk a basement
39. make orange juice and apple cider
40. dumpster dive for regular groceries
41. bind a book
skills to acquire
1. milk a cow/goat - Neal
2. raise, kill and pluck a chicken - Grandpa
3. make clothes -Jess
4. brew beer
5. maintain a root cellar
6. make soap
7. make glue
8. make natural cleaning solutions - Grandma
9. drive a stick shift - Any takers
10. make and work with leather
11. raise livestock - Neal
12. butcher livestock
13. smoke meat
14. tap maple trees
15. build a raft
16. make furniture - Aunt Mary Jo
17. drive a modest tractor (or any other large machinery) - Neal
18. raise rabbits
19. clean fish besides trout
20. identify (more) constellations
21. name more kinds of trees
22. identify edible mushrooms
23. identify edible berries
24. repair leather shoes
25. identify more kinds of birds
26. make jelly - Nathan
27. build a tree house - Neal
28. build a house
29. properly harvest seeds for future planting
30. grow potatoes
31. build a fence
32. dig a well
33. sandbag a building for a flood
34. roast coffee
35. hitchhike
36. sharpen knives properly
37. change oil in a car - Neal
38. stain wood
39. repair a crack in a wall
40. test water for drinking suitability
41. grind meat, make sausage
42. dry fruit, beans
43. harvest grains and grasses
Let me know which of my skills you want me to teach you and what wanted skills you will teach me.
Now your turn. Go!
Well, in bed a few moments ago while trying to get sleepy for the night, I read this Orion article and was inspired. In my previous personal conclusion that the ultimate answer to the current economic crisis is a return to a more simple lives that include a lot more small farms on the North American landscape, I found myself nodding in great agreement as I read.
Now, I am completely in charge of what goes on in the third grade classroom this week and the last thing I did before bed was plan some reading enrichment activities. Still in teacher mode, I decided that the article deserved an enrichment activity.
Directions: Read the above linked article. Reflect on your current skill set. Make two lists. The first will be a list of skills you have that could serve you well in hard times. The second list will be skills you'd like to acquire for hard times.
Extra Credit: Include resources you have available to you to acquire your desired skills.
Relevance and Extension: Go learn these things. Life is short! Teach things you know to others who want to know.
Name: Laura M. Date: 2/23/2009
skills I have
1. gardening
2. canning
3. knitting
4. cutting hair
5. reading maps
6. cooking with whole foods
7. mending clothes
8. composting
9. bicycling, inflating tires, putting chain back on
10. swimming
11. driving (automatic only)
12. paper making, envelope making
13. letter writing
14. painting (art and domestic)
15. cleaning and organizing
16. using a computer
17. teaching
18. read aloud
19. pitch a tent
20. build a fire (and cook on it)
21. ferment wine
22. make natural paint
23. work a film camera, develop film, print photos
24. ski
25. shovel a driveway by hand
26. baking bread from scratch
27. find quality second hand items
28. reuse "disposable" items
29. tell time from the sun
30. canoe
31. simple carpentry
32. catch fish
33. clean a trout
34. identify moon phases
35. start seedlings
36. plunge a toilet
37. use a compass properly
38. caulk a basement
39. make orange juice and apple cider
40. dumpster dive for regular groceries
41. bind a book
skills to acquire
1. milk a cow/goat - Neal
2. raise, kill and pluck a chicken - Grandpa
3. make clothes -Jess
4. brew beer
5. maintain a root cellar
6. make soap
7. make glue
8. make natural cleaning solutions - Grandma
9. drive a stick shift - Any takers
10. make and work with leather
11. raise livestock - Neal
12. butcher livestock
13. smoke meat
14. tap maple trees
15. build a raft
16. make furniture - Aunt Mary Jo
17. drive a modest tractor (or any other large machinery) - Neal
18. raise rabbits
19. clean fish besides trout
20. identify (more) constellations
21. name more kinds of trees
22. identify edible mushrooms
23. identify edible berries
24. repair leather shoes
25. identify more kinds of birds
26. make jelly - Nathan
27. build a tree house - Neal
28. build a house
29. properly harvest seeds for future planting
30. grow potatoes
31. build a fence
32. dig a well
33. sandbag a building for a flood
34. roast coffee
35. hitchhike
36. sharpen knives properly
37. change oil in a car - Neal
38. stain wood
39. repair a crack in a wall
40. test water for drinking suitability
41. grind meat, make sausage
42. dry fruit, beans
43. harvest grains and grasses
Let me know which of my skills you want me to teach you and what wanted skills you will teach me.
Now your turn. Go!