"Children do not need to be made to learn about the world, or shown how. They want to, and they know how." -John Holt

Monday, May 14, 2007

Life on the Farm

Today was our first morning with goats to tend to. The kids had already trekked down to the barn earlier while I was still sleeping (yes, we had a talk about that!) and were anxious to let them out of their stall. Luckily, they can't quite work the trap door yet...

We thought Gideon would be crying for a bottle so we made one up, donned our overalls over our pj's and headed to the pen, fully embracing our new farmer lifestyle.


Since everyone is still adjusting, nobody was interested in grain or bottles so we just kept them company for a while until our bellies were crying for breakfast. I can see were never going to make it out of the house on time for anything ever again!

Anyway, check out our new goat habitat that Rich has been slaving away on for weeks... fencing with a gate, new overhang to cover the new hay rack and feeding area, a trapdoor for the goats to access their stall (and for us to lock them in at night) and a door on the backside for easy stall cleaning...

4 comments:

Susan Burke said...

Lochlann is standing here next to me asking, " When we see them?!", and " I want one!" So.. when can we come see the cute cute goats?
Susan

Finn said...

That is soooo cool! Your hubby is so handy, Jess. I can't wait to see them.

Sarah, Chris, Elijah & Sadie said...

Rich, you're a badass! What a cool goat habitat! I love the pictures of your overall-clad children!

Anonymous said...

You write very well.

"By nature people are learning animals. Birds fly; fish swim; humans think and learn. Therefore, we do not need to motivate children into learning by wheedling, bribing, or bullying. We do not need to keep picking away at their minds to make sure they are learning. What we need to do - and all we need to do - is to give children as much help and guidance as they need and ask for, listen respectfully when they feel like talking, and then get out of the way. We can trust them to do the rest."
John Holt
"In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it...and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself." -Grace Llewellyn
"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
George Bernard Shaw
Real, natural learning is in the living. It's in the observing, the questioning, the examining, the pondering, the analyzing, the watching, the reading, the DO-ing, the living, the breathing, the loving, the JOY. It's in the joy. ~Anne Ohman
"How could youth better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?" -Henry D. Thoreau