Simple Family – Page 6

How to Find Pick-Your-Own Farms in Your Area

Summer is upon us. It happens every year. I’m not sure why I’m surprised.

One of the best parts of summer in my ~~hungry~~ humble opinion is the availability of fresh produce. Fresh blows the roots off anything you can find in the grocery store.

I’ve been shocked to learn that my suspicious nature has been proven correct at farmers’ markets–some venders are receiving supplies from the same places as the grocery stores. Say wha?! That’s what I read. While the farmers’ markets are still a great option, because you can find any number of legit, hard-working farmers peddling their wares, here’s another option for you:

Pick-your-own farms.

Pick your own farms are abundant throughout the country…except maybe the desert. Here’s what I love about pick-your-owns:

You know exactly how fresh the food is.

You know exactly where the food came from, right down to the stem on the plant in the row in the field.

The prices are almost always significantly lower than anything you’ll find in the grocery stores, and almost always cheaper than the farmers’ markets as well.

It is educational. Your kids get out of the house, away from the city, and out onto the land to see where food really comes from.

It smells good–the dirt I mean, and the strawberries, and everything else. Maybe it’s because I grew up on a farm, but I love the smell of rich dirt.

Your kids can get dirty. Your kids should get dirty. Your kids need to get good and dirty as often as possible. It’s good for their immune systems. It’s good for their kid-ness. It’s just plain good for them to be outside getting sun and fresh air and, yes, dirt, without anyone telling them not to muddy their $65 shoes. Get the $12 Walmart shoes and the $2 thrift store jeans and let the kids get dirty for the love of all things real!

Your children are far more likely to try something new if they had a hand in it somehow. That hand can be as simple as selecting it at the grocery store, but the stakes are upped even more if they planted it or picked it themselves.

It counts as exercise! Woo hoo! Squats for strawberries, toe raises for cherries and apples.

The farmers are right there–you can ask them what goes on their plants and if they’re in bed with ~~MonSatan~~ MonSanto.

It’s wholesome family fun. Whee!

Those dirt comments totally made you want to find a pick-your-own farm near you, didn’t they? Good! Check out this website:

PickYourOwn.org

It has to be one of the worst looking sites I’ve run across in quite some time. It totally needs a rehab. I hate it. At the same time, I love it! It shares PYO (I got tired of writing pick-your-own) farms all over the country, and you can search by state and county. Each farm has a write-up and places to go for additional information. It rocks in its out-dated ugliness. Go check it out.

You can also run a quick search of your own region on Google or (my favorite search engine, since it helps me pay for Christmas presents just by searching) Swagbucks {affiliate link}. Just type in “Pick your own farms in Smyrna, Tennessee”…or wherever you live, since I’m pretty sure you don’t all live in Smyrna–nice place though.

Happy picking! I’ll see you in the fields!

What is your experience with pick-your-own farms?

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More Than Just a Planner {Review of Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner}

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my links, I receive a percentage of the cost at no additional cost to you–it’s lovely how that works.

A little bird must have told someone that my ratty old planning notebook wasn’t cutting it anymore. That must be why I received a complementary copy of the new Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017 from The Old Schoolhouse in exchange for this honest review.

I say complementary instead of complimentary, because the latter expresses compliments, as in pleasant and encouraging comments, but the former means free-to-me. In this case, I could have used both spellings and been correct, because the Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner is complimentary in many ways. In fact it is…

More than just a planner!

But before I tell you about the the Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner, I want to address a little schedule issue.

Schedules Are Not Dictators

I love schedules, lists, plans, and what-not, because I like to organize. I am absolutely not a strict scheduler (anymore). I like to keep things flexible, but directed–like a spine.

A schedule is the spine to our week. It keeps things moving in the right direction, keeps a vision in front of us, and serves as a record behind us. It is not a steel rod that says we must do this at this time or get no cookies! With a spine-like schedule, you can always flex enough to still reach the cookies of life.

If you are not a scheduler and feel like you’re floundering or you’re so militaristic that you’re missing out on the beauty of life, maybe rethink your approach–be fleeeeexible…not mushy, not ramrod straight, but flexible with a vision.

About the Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner

Did I mention the Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner is more than just a planner? It is, but first and foremost, it is a planner. So let’s check out some of the planning features:

Weekly planner (duh!)
Year-at-a-glance calendars for this year, next year, and the year after–whoa.
Monthly, semester, and yearly goals (You know I’m all about the simple goals–write it down or it won’t happen!)
Attendance charts for five kiddos
Reading logs
Curriculum planning sheet
Homeschool contact list

Here’s where the “more than just a” part comes in and why I know that the fax machine was invented in 1843, nearly 40 long years before toilet paper was invented–priorities, people! It also has the following homeschool helps:

Writing prompts
Story starters
Info on the thirteen colonies
Timeline of inventions (utterly useless, but really, really, really fun!)
United States Presidents and first ladies
Branches of the US government
United States and capitals (Did you know that it’s only spelled “capitol” when it refers to the actual building? True story!)
Transcript forms
Skills checklist
Course organizational form
Fascinating historical tidbits and images spattered throughout. Technically, they’re probably not spattered, but rather strategically placed.

And here’s where the complimentary with an I comes in:

The planner is filled with encouragement. Filled! On our travels we meet some people that are super encouraging and some people that drain you dry with their negativity and criticisms. This planner is one of the former.

Plus, my favorite thing of all, it tells you to eat cake. I’m going to cross off cake and insert cookies and pie, but still! Dessert, people! It’s pro-dessert!

Yes, yes, I ate all the cake. My planner made me do it!

A Note On Physical Versus Digital Schedules

On the road we’ve taken to being as paperless as possible. It isn’t necessarily to save the trees, although I don’t believe in waste. It’s to save space and sanity. Still, there are some things I need to hold in my hands, like a baby or a cookie or a planner. Digital just doesn’t cut it (for me).

I want to be able to stuff it in my bag, fall asleep with it, peruse it in the bathroom–I’m talking the planner, here, not the baby or the cookie. When I need to jot something down quickly, I don’t want to press power. I also don’t want to be distracted by the gazillions of distractions online.

I don’t mind being distracted by cake.

Additional Thoughts for My Fellow Roadschoolers

No internet needed!

I know this planner is not digital, so you do have to find a place for it, but you never ever ever have to find an internet connection, and if you’re moving every 2-4 days like we are, or if you favor open skies and boondocking, like we also do, then you’re going to appreciate the no-connectivity-needed aspect. I have turned down offers to review digital planners for this very reason!

No evil plastic comb binding!

Plastic cob binding is evil–it breaks, it’s ugly, it breaks, it’s bulky, it breaks, pages fall out, and worst of all, it breaks. Hey Mama! has metal binding and, while the pages could still tear out if you forget to take it out of the bag that doubles as school bag/hiking pack and find yourself spilling your trail mix and water on it at the bottom of Bryce Canyon (been there), it seems remarkably durable.

I was a skeptic until it arrived, but it seems like it will hold up, even without desks, shelves, and normalcy, because, yeah, mine has been stored on the floor, in the book cupboard, in the van, on beds, on the table, under the table, beside the table, and so far, it still has all the pages. Of course, we have barely begun using it yet, since the calendar doesn’t begin until July, but it still seems like it will do the trick.

Look how I snuck a little baby spam in there. Sneaky sneaky!

It won’t hurt your tow weight!

If your tow rating is ridiculously low for a homeschool, business, music mission, giant dog, and family of 10, I feel your pain. This planner is remarkably thin for all it contains and it won’t put you over the top. You’re welcome.

Do your kids really go to school?

When we lived in the wild, wild west, we didn’t keep track of the number of school days we had, because, hey, we were progressing and meeting some goals, falling short of others, and blowing others out of the water, I tell ya! Now that we are legal residents of the Midwest (although still full-time travelers), we have to abide by their slightly more civilized social order, which means counting to 180 every year.

You know as well as I that 180 days of school does not mean sitting at a desk, because there’s a perfectly good education to be had in Appomattox Courthouse and at Pompey’s Pillar and boondocking in Utah and on that little known trail at Arches and at the deer farm in Minnesota and at Bear Country USA, right? Hey Mama! offers five pages of boxes you can check off to “prove” you did your time.

I’m not exactly sure how that’s actually proof, but it gives the government a warm and fuzzy to know we can count to 180. Personally, it makes me feel better, too, knowing that, while we say we homeschool year round, we actually are getting half a year in! Whew!

Summary

Great flex-planner
Encouraging
Informative
Useful
Christian
Pro-dessert

Discount and a Freebie–Sort Of

If you’re interested in a print planner, you can get $10 off until July 15, 2016 by using the code CREWCODE. If you want the printable version, that is available through this link, or you can get it free with a subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers.com, which I reviewed here.

I’m sure you want to know what other, more stationary, closer to normal homeschoolers have to say about the Hey Mama! Planner, don’t you? Click on the banner below to find out.

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When Cell Phones Trump Relationships {Free Printable}

_{Photo Credit (Text Mine)}

My husband loves it when I say irritating things like this:

“Oooobviouslyyyy you love your phooooone more than you love meeeee.”

I love it when he says annoying things like this:

“Maybe your ears would work better if your eyes weren’t plastered to your phone.”

Yeah, some days we have a phone problem. Some mornings our eyes are still blurry with sleep, and instead of smooching each other and inhaling that aromatic morning breath, we fumble around for our phones. To be fair to me, I’m just looking to see what time it is…and get distracted…forever. He, on the other hand, is probably doing something utterly pointless, like checking the weather.

Wink.

Some times we’re driving down the road and I’m ignoring a van full of totally tubular people (my slang is stuck in the 80s) with my face in the phone because I have to know. Know what? Absolutely nothing of importance, but my behavior tells my family that the current nothing of importance is more important than they are.

It’s time to stop.

When my husband first planted that smart phone in my hand, I wrote out a printable decree. Here it is:

My Cell Phone Decree

This phone is now and will forever remain merely an electronic device, not an appendage or extra bodily organ.
This phone has no ring finger and no wedding ring, so it will not usurp the one who does wear the ring.
This phone came out of a box, not out of my womb, and it will be treated accordingly.
This phone will be set face down, silenced, or turned off when real eyes seek mine.
Because this phone receives its meals in a charging station, it will not be welcomed at the family dinner table.
Because this phone does not speak properly, it will not be involved in any family conversations, except when invited with these words: “I don’t know; let’s look that up,” or “That’s a good question; let’s call Grandma.”
This phone will be put away before bed; all drool will be reserved for my own or my husband’s pillow, not for electronic devices.
This phone may be used for Bible reading, but only if Bible time is not interrupted by Facebook, texts, bleeps, beeps, or any other non-human sound.
When in public with me, this phone will not keep me from looking into someone else’s face.
Ultimately, this phone is just a phone, and it will never come between me and another human being. Ever.

{Print this decree by clicking here.}

And I broke the decree.

To be fair, I didn’t break all of the points. I never broke number fo–, um, thr–, oh…hmmm…I never broke number eig–. Blast. I didn’t break number 11, okay?!

Yeah, I have a problem. And so does he.

_{Photo Credit}

What’s the cure? Limits. Discussing and setting limits. More specifically limits that express your priorities. Joshua Straub calls it an e-nuptial agreement. (You can download Joshua’s e-nup free right here, or write your own.)

Of course, we all get a little judgmental when called out on our cell phone over-usage, mostly because deep down we know we overdo it, but somehow that addictive little electronic device lures and satisfies us…or at least we think it does. Strangely, this area needs to be approached delicately.

Here’s how to bring this topic up with a spouse or teen:

Wait until neither of you is on the phone and both of you are calm.
Confess that you spend too much time on your phone and want to spend more time together instead.
Explain how you plan to do that–feel free to use one or all of the points on my decree above or Joshua Straub’s e-nup.
Do what you said you would do.
Wait until neither of you is on the phone and both of you are calm again.
Kindly ask that your spouse or teen join you in spending less time on the phone, and explain what that would mean to you and your relationship. You might also explain how it feels when your relationship is trumped by the phone. Don’t say “you always” or otherwise sound accusatory, but refer them back to how they may have felt when you were addicted to your screen, and how much more alive and connected you feel now. (Don’t actually say “connected,” because you’ll sound like an insurance agent, which only works for selling insurance.)
Pick one area from my decree or the e-nup to work on and build from there, such as no phones at the dinner table; optionally, jump in with both feet an tackle the whole thing at once.
Enjoy the increased time together…but make it worthwhile.

Replace your phone time with chatting time, cookie-baking time, good time. Live life again, rotate your neck, look up for a change, remember the seasons, stick your head out the door to check the weather, buy a watch to check the time, and get one of those funky phones for your house with a cord that attaches it to the wall, so it cannot physically invade every aspect of your life.

Print my cell phone decree here, sign it, and hang it on your refrigerator for a daily reminder of where electronic devices should rank in life.

I’d love to hear your tips on taking control of your cell phone time.

P.S. I wrote this a few months ago. By turning the sound off on my phone when with others, keeping it in its charging station, and removing my personal Facebook account from my phone, I find myself less connected to the digital realm, and more connected to my cuties and my hottie. Plus dinner’s on time more often. Score!

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A Christian Introductory Video Science Course

Disclosure: We received access to the Science Shepherd videos for Introductory Science level B, as well as the student workbook and teacher’s guide in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thanks for listening!

As luck and life would have it, we finished our science curriculum and, being on the road, did not have access to our schoolbooks that were in storage. We were offered an opportunity to review Introductory Science by Science Shepherd, which would satisfy a year’s worth of science study. I said in my head, “Naaaah. I like what we use.” Then my pocketbook said, “True, but that’s in storage several states away, and y’ain’t got the moolah to buy something you already have.” My pocketbook is very practical and annoying. I half-heartedly checked it out before agreeing.

After watching the free lesson, I was sold, so here we are. My head is happy. My pocketbook is happy. My science students are happy. And Marissa just made cookies, so Daddy is happy.

Faith First

One of the things I loved about our in-storage curriculum was that it was faith-based and taught science from a young-earth Creationist perspective, showing how science can and does support Creation, because the Creator is the first and greatest scientist. My kids also study evolution, but I wanted a curriculum that didn’t leave the faith-based side of it entirely to us. I don’t want to always be on the hunt for resources.

I was delighted that Science Shepherd is Creation-based as well! Your students will learn creation, geology, biology, astronomy, oceanography, and meteorology from a Biblical perspective. Cool beans, that! (FYI, as you progress in your Creation-science studies over the years, you will find that this perspective makes solid sense and isn’t just a bunch of bunk from a cult of fairy-tale-believing voodoo weirdos.)

Family First

I have eight children, as you know, and am a freelance writer, as you know, and travel the country full time for our Christian music mission, as you know, so I ~~like to chill out with my man and pretend I~~ don’t have time to spend prepping multiple lessons. Call me lazy.

Science Shepherd is pretty much a plug-and-play program. There isn’t really any parent prep necessary on a daily basis. You should get involved to some degree, especially if you participate in the additional activities, but it is not going to monopolize your time. Thank you, Science Shepherd!

How it Works

This is how the program works and how we used it:

Watch a video each day. They are short–super short. It’s really hard to fall asleep during one of them because they’re so short, and believe me, I can fall asleep through anything! We all watched them together, but it isn’t necessary.
Do a worksheet. These are short and simple, but they do review some important concepts. We did the first two weeks together aloud instead of as assignments, because it was all Creation review for us. After that, however, review over!
Enjoy the midweek activity. This, of course, is optional, because you’re homeschoolers, so if it’s stressing you out, pretend the enrichment activity doesn’t exist. Homeschooler prerogative!

It’s really easy as pie–easier even–yet full of solid information. If you need to, say, hike the Grand Canyon for a couple days one week, the sessions are short enough that you can combine them with other days. We did that many times. Shhh. Don’t tell.

Additional Thoughts from My Kids

My seventh grader thought it was too easy. While I don’t recommend her for the target audience (and neither does the publisher, since this is for 9- to 11-year-olds), if science studies have been weak prior to this, or if your studies have been extremely specific, like only studying astronomy and botany, for example, this will be a nice overview which a seventh-grader could run through quickly.

My first grader thought the speaker could be more animated. The speaker says what needs to be said with no fluff, filler, or distraction. You decide if that’s a plus or a minus based on your family. Personally, I think that if he added foofoo comments about cookies and pie and posted random images, why, he’d be no less distracting than this blog! It’s a straightforward presentation–a little more animation from the speaker wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t necessary. Maybe a tap dance? Just a little one.

My fourth grader is doing great with this program. He learns much better with screens–woe is me–and his easily distracted self thrives on the short lessons with no games and gizmos. This is ideal for him. He is the main student anyway, and is the one in the suggested age group and the one with the workbook. Imagine that.

A Little Bit More About Our Experience

The program is designed to have a workbook for each student–my other students were just tagalongs. The seven-year-old will continue to tag along, but the 13-year-old is out. Just for information’s sake, we also have a four-year-old who is tagging along with the study, and she will do…well…whatever she wants. Ha!

We added Chris Driesbach’s Creation song “God Made It All” from his kids CD Feed Your Faith. Christ is a fellow traveling Christian musician, and his song fit perfectly and helped the kids memorize and reinforce what they learned the first two weeks of Science Shepherd. Chris doesn’t have a song for the subsequent weeks, so you’ll have to figure out your own memory tricks…or just do the worksheets.

This is not an in-depth science course. It touches on many aspects of science and is an introductory course as the name suggests. You will not be going super deep into any one topic. It is an excellent overview. We have gaps in our science education (who doesn’t) because we study some topics in depth–this is great for filling in those gaps, and we skim over areas where we are already strong.

Thoughts for Large Families

We enjoy working on subjects together, and this worked great for that. Of course each child needs a workbook, so there’s that. Also, budget-wise, I am not a fan of membership sites, since you can’t pass a membership down to the next child. I prefer DVDs or books. Take this as you will.

Additional Thoughts for My Fellow Roadschoolers

The benefit to no DVDs or books is it totally fits on our total lack of shelf space! Woo hoo!

It does, unfortunately, require an internet connection, which may or may not be the same albatross to you as it is to us. In talking to many of you on the road, it’s a hit-or-miss issue with many of you. Because you can be flexible, it shouldn’t be too big a deal.

Personally, I think the solid Scriptural perspective, the short, flexible lessons, and the depth of the topics make this worth the shelf space for the student books and teacher guide. Short lessons, after all, leave lots of time for exploring the world outside the screen and page. That’s my favorite science lesson. Grin.

Connect with Science Shepherd here:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ScienceShepherd/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/scienceshepherd
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/scienceshepherd

Read what other homeschoolers have to say here:

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Astronomy, Mythology, and Stargazing on the Road

Note: Memoria Press sent us their Book of Astronomy Set (including one Student Guide and the Teacher Guide) in exchange for a fair and honest review. The government isn’t happy with my site if I don’t disclose that bit of info. Now we’re all friends again. We also bought D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths with our own money to go along with our study of astronomy. The government doesn’t care about that, but I thought you might.

When we began homeschooling back when our now 19-year-old Hannah was a small fry, we were classical schoolers. That lasted, like, 5 minutes before we learned we were really more the Charlotte Mason type, which lasted several years before we hit the road and became the do-whatever-it-takes-to-not-look-like-a-bunch-of-dumb-hicks-living-in-a-travel-trailer type. We still say we’re Charlotte Mason schoolers, because it sounds better. Point being…

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Classical approach to education. I believe it is effective and it is modeled in Scripture. It also overlaps beautifully with Charlotte Mason, and everything overlaps with the do-whatever-it-takes approach.

Memoria Press is a great classical publisher. Our Latin curriculum is from them, and I, for one, think it’s a hoot! (I know you’re not supposed to have that much fun in Latin, but I can’t help it.) We also reviewed a literature curriculum from them–loved it and are still using it! And now this!

Last things first…

Before I get into the this, that, and the other about The Book of Astronomy, I’m going to go a little backward and give you my final thoughts first.

After this review period has ended, we will continue using this curriculum. That is the ultimate compliment. We will make space for it in our 240 square-foot travel trailer and cart it through the 20-some states we’ll be visiting between now and this time next year. After that, we will reuse it with our younger children.

Not much makes the cut around here. The Book of Astronomy set is a keeper.

Why?

We’re huge into Creation. Studying God’s Creation, particularly the heavens, helps our children grasp that God is so grand that he’s ungraspable, which makes the unbelievable more believable. Did that make sense? If God is so big that he made all that, then he’s big enough to change water into wine and move hearts.

Next, it’s simply fascinating.

Also, it’s impressive when your kids can point to the heavens and bowl a few of the doubting relatives over with some intelligible comments–ha ha ha! Okay, that’s not really the reason, but it is true.

Finally, we’ve seen some amazing night views. Amazing! We love to study them.

Now, let’s hammer out some nuts and bolts.

The teacher’s guide contains the following:

the cheat version of the student workbook (answers are filled in)
unit tests
a final exam
blackline masters for overhead transparencies…which makes me laugh considering our situation…but for co-ops, that’s brilliant! Actually, I dunno–do people still have overhead projectors? I’m so non-techy!

The student workbook is consumable. If possible, get one for each of your chicos, since they’ll want to practice drawing their constellations.

The study is broken up into units as follows (let’s switch to square bullets this time; they’re fun):

unit 1: introductory basics, summer-fall constellations, summer-fall zodiac (I’m an aquarius. What are you?)
unit 2: the winter sky
unit 3: the spring sky
unit 4: solar system, planets, munchkin planets, and moons covering the planets, dwarf planets, and major moons.

Each unit also includes exercises, with reviews available at the end of the book as well.

A spread from the teacher's manual. The student draws the constellation and labels the first magnitude stars on the left. The right is for copywork and ideally memorization. It's also great discussion. — A spread from the teacher’s manual. The student draws the constellation and labels the first magnitude stars on the left. The right is for copywork and ideally memorization. It’s also great discussion.

Digging Deeper

If you want to tie science into history and literature, snag the D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths, available at Amazon and similar retailers. The astronomy study references the D’Aulaire book since many of the constellations and stars get their names from the ancient Greeks and Romans. We added it to our library. Our first grader reads it for fun.

Memoria also offers a study guide to go along with the D’Aulaire book, if you really want to dig deep! Neither is necessary for your study of astronomy, but if you’re interested and can swing it, dive in!

The Age Issue

This set is appropriate for grades three and up. Ironically, my first grader is the most interested in it and is diligently memorizing and looking for stars and constellations. She was talking to her sister in college about some of the first magnitude stars, and her sister said, “I didn’t know that. I’m impressed!” She’s hard to impress.

Our main students are the 1st, 4th, and 7th graders, but we also have other ages tagging along. As for the upper age limit, I have learned masses of information. Siriusly. That was a little star joke there.

Additional Thoughts for my Fellow Roadschoolers

If you’re a roadschooler, that means you’ve probably boondocked in Utah or stared at the vast stars in the western skies of Nevada. Stargazing out in the boonies is an experience. Period. This program is worth its minimal size and weight for the educational aspect it will add to your night viewing.

Of course, you’ll need a student book for each student, which takes up a little more space, but they’re slim.

For more reviews, please click here or on the banner below:

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Cure Anemia Naturally With These Top Foods Rich in Iron

My daughter with Crohn’s often has to battle anemia, and I occasionally have the same problem, like right now. My daughters were excited to jump on the natural healing train when they heard my recent anemia diagnosis, and they immediately began filling my tired self with molasses and homemade chocolate, because that’s what we do–heal ourselves with food.

For those of you interested in battling the debilitating exhaustion of anemia with food, I’ve got a reasonable list of fairly normal foods rich in iron.

Iron is present in both animal and plant foods, and it does make a difference which you consume. We’ll break them up into those two categories, because categories are fun. Whee!

Top Animal-Based Foods Rich in Iron

Animal sources contain heme iron which is highly absorbable at a rate of around 30%. You do not need to eat these foods in combination with anything else to improve absorption, although you may consider not simultaneously eating the iron absorption inhibitors conveniently listed at the end of this article.

Organ meats
Beef (your best bet)
Lamb and pork
Poultry
Seafood (shellfish is significantly higher than fin fish)
Eggs (chicken are the highest, but others rank well)
Dairy does have some level of iron in it, but calcium is an inhibitor, so…there ya go.

I’m totally aware that I just listed all the normal available animal foods in the stores.

Top Plant-Based Foods Rich in Iron

Plant sources contain non-heme iron, which absorbs at a rate of about 5%. Not very impressive, is it? You can improve the absorption by eating these products in conjunction with a meat source (especially beef), vitamin C, and citric acid.₁

lentils
beans
tomatoes
potatoes (leave the skin on)
spinach
pumpkin
sesame seeds
pumpkin seeds
chickpeas (check out my favorite hummus recipe)
dried fruit
nuts
coconut
rice
wheat flour
oats
these other grains
molasses
cocoa, especially dark

Iron-Absorption Inhibitors

The following foods often prevent or decrease the absorption of iron. Ironically, some of them are excellent sources of iron. Confusing, isn’t it? Kinda like wondering whether you should wash that red and white striped shirt with the whites or the darks. The best advice this non-medically-trained mama can give you is to avoid these foods during a high-iron meal, but not in general, since a well-rounded diet is your best friend (and you thought it was your dog).

protein from the yolk and white of eggs (strangely, some people cure anemia by upping their yolk intake)
cocoa (do not tell my girls–I’m enjoying the indulgence)
phytic acid–this is a common mineral stripper found in the bran of grains, legumes, and other plants that can be reduced by soaking or fermenting.
dairy because of the calcium
magnesium, zinc, copper
tannic acid found in tea
peppermint or chamomile
coffee–so don’t have a coffee with your porterhouse steak, ‘kay?

Why Not Just Take a Supplement?

While Hannah was prescribed a supplement and took it religiously while anemic so as not to further incite the wrath of her doctor who was not 100% on board with our dietary approach to healing, I do not. Here’s why:

I already have to eat. Why not eat smarter!
Iron supplements are notorious for causing constipation, which is something Crohnsies and pregnant women battle anyway–why make it worse?
Supplements cost money–again, I’m already buying food.
Many supplements are not very absorbable.
Some of them are stinky–blech. (Okay, that doesn’t really stop me, but it might stop, say, your three-year-old.)

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Check here for a more thorough list of iron-rich foods that takes considerably longer to read; optionally, go eat a steak.

What are your best tips for fighting anemia? A strong upper left hook?

That lame joke reminds me of a quote from one of my children: “Mommy, would you like some crackers to go with your jokes?” I do get pretty cheesy.

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A High School Art Course

ARTistic Pursuits Inc. sent us a free copy of their ARTistic Pursuits High School Book One art curriculum in exchange for a fair review by me (the artistically disinclined), 17-year-old Marissa (who is beginning her art business), and our 15- and 13-year-old “twins,” Elisabeth and Emily (both more artistically talented than their mother). All opinions are ours…’kay? ‘Kay.

A Brief Overview of ARTistic Pursuits Inc.’s High School Book One art curriculum:

16 units
1 year
2 lessons per week
1(ish) hour per lesson

Was that brief enough for you?

A slightly less brief discussion on what each unit entails:

Building a Visual Vocabulary: In plain English, the students will learn to “see” the unit’s main focus artistically out in the real world. My artistic daughter Marissa sees the world differently than I (the word girl) do. It’s fascinating to listen to her explain what she sees. It’s an entirely different way of viewing the world. This first lesson in each unit teaches your students to see like an artist…but only one topic at a time, so it’s manageable.
Art Appreciation and Art History: Here the student is still observing based on the unit’s topic, but this time they are studying the work of the masters. Ooooo…masters. This is a technique we’ve used in the past with our kids–always effective.
Techniques: Time to get busy busy busy. The students learn applied techniques. Fun!
Application: This is like the final exam, like the doctoral thesis, like the…well, like the project at the end of the unit.

Each of the four steps above includes an assignment which should take roughly an hour for your student to complete. (You can join in or fold laundry–your choice.)

Thoughts for the artistically inclined:

Marissa explained that the course has quite a few topics that she already knows instinctively, having flown from the womb with innate artistic ability that she did not inherit from the owner of said womb. She said that it offers lessons that fill in some of the gaps, explaining why and how best to do what she inherently does.

Thoughts for the artistically disinclined:

Parents who can’t even draw stick figures, rest easy. You don’t need to know anything (except how to drive so you can get to the store and buy art supplies). The book is written for the student. The time is the student’s. You don’t need to do or know anything.

That said, it’s a whole lot more fun if you do the program with your children.

Regarding the necessary supplies, we had everything on hand. We are an art family, however, so that may not be the norm for everyone. Still, there’s nothing you have to send a rover to Mars for.

ARTistic Pursuits Inc.--High School Art Curriculum Review — *{Emily’s study of space was this lighthouse we visited.}*

Thoughts for…well…anyone:

A daughter’s opinion: One of my daughters said, “I like that the student samples are not perfect. It makes me feel like, hey, I can do that. I can even do better than that!”

A teaching mama’s opinion: I really like that the program is teaching them to draw realistically. Other programs we’ve tried taught shape and color and lines, and the end result was fun, whimsical, and fake. That’s great, too but I have always wanted to be able to draw, say, a turtle, and have someone say, “Wow! Look at that turtle!” or even just, “It’s a turtle,” instead of “Nice rock. Why’s it green?”

I also like the attention paid to the masters. There’s a reason they’re the masters, and it’s not the whole cutting off the ear thing.

Thoughts on the timing: My children have found the two-projects a week time frame to be unrealistic for them. I would estimate they spend between two and four hours on each of their drawings. (Now, mind you, I have those children who, at the end of a Sunday school or vacation Bible school session are still there working on their art projects…forever!) They would prefer to spend the week on one assignment instead of two, so they can really work on it without it taking up as much of their time as it does with two sessions per week.

On the other hand, two of Marissa’s art mentors encouraged her to “speed up” the process, and do a little more free sketching with less perfectionism. The two-projects-a-week pace might encourage more decisiveness and less perfectionism with the “twins.”

*{Elisabeth ran out of time to finish this sketch of her brother.}*

Musings on the approach: This is a different approach to art than some of the other programs we’ve tried. It’s less how-to and more integrative. What does integrative mean, really? In this case, it means you develop certain skills which you then apply to art. You’re not going to walk away from these lessons knowing how to draw a sleeping cat and nothing else. One of my daughters enjoys this; the other just wants the how-to.

If you want realistic drawing lessons with history and analysis tied in, this is a great curriculum. Plus, ARTistic Pursuits Inc. has a line from preschool through high school/adult, so if it works for you, you’re set! I love being set.

Additional thoughts for my fellow roadschoolers:

If you want to do art on the road, you have to be totally committed, because it potentially takes up a lot of space. Space, as you know, is prime real estate in the RVing world. So if you really want your kids to learn to see and draw some of the places you are exploring and people you are meeting (which I highly encourage), and you want to commit to it, take note of this:

The tools you need for this curriculum are not ridiculously extravagant. With the exception of the sketch pad, you could keep everything else in a pencil pouch that you can hook right into a binder or stuff under a pillow–don’t your kids stuff art supplies under their pillows? The sketch pads and the book itself will be your space hogs.

And of course, the book has lay-flat plastic comb binding, which is ideal for the curriculum. Still, comb binding and trailer living are not friends. Someone inevitably leaves the book on the floor of the van and it gets stepped on or the cat knocks it off the bureau (dresser for those of you born in this century) or it gets crammed unceremoniously into the too-small-for-homeschoolers cupboard–in other words, trailer living is abusive to books. That said, this has held up very well so far.

If you do this program, you have to bite the bullet and buy each artist a sketch pad. This will prevent the attack of the paper monster, because everything will be neatly enclosed in a sketch pad. Ah, neatness–how I love thee!

Do I recommend this program for roadschoolers–absolutely yes, if you are committed to getting the supplies. It can really add to your children’s journals of their travels. It’s worth the space.

ARTistic Pursuits--High School Art Curriculum Review — *{Elisabeth’s preliminary sketch of a hike we took in Sonoma, Arizona. When it’s finished, this will be a great reminder of our family fun there!}*

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