Farm Living - It's not the life for us.

Our homeschool playgroup dabbled in farm living a few weeks ago. Ms. Amy had us over to read a few books and do some farm related activities. We started out reading 1.5 books about farming (little Lucy took off running midway through Big Red Barn, grabbing the book on her way outta there!) Then we gathered around the "graph" and plotted our favorite farm animal. The cow won, hooves down. Then we moved down to a picnic table for some snacks while we decorated sheep "masks." We used the masks later, during an ingenuous game of Little Bo Peep seeking her lost sheep.


We also played Farmer in the Dell, a lengthy game with 8 preschoolers. When the cheese finally stood alone, Quinn insisted that he was not cheese, but a tractor driver. No sense in arguing with cheese.


Probably the best fun was a competitive egg race. The girls diligently walked up and down the lawn, careful not to drop the goods. The boys soon realized if you did drop them, the egg became a gooey mess, super cool to play in. So they edged in on S's egg. And bashed that thing up. And she was sad. And little mama A took pity on her, and willingly gave S her own egg. And S was happy again.

Off to the creek we went for some frog hunting, fishing, hiking, and rock throwing. It was thrilling for the Salad. Not so thrilling for me, when later I pulled a tick from the crook of M's arm.
Once again, the least favorite part of my day? Swings. This time, 2 swings for 8 kids. It's hard not to take on "mom voice" and tell your kids, "Ok, it's so and so's turn. Get off." You want them to navigate their way through the world on their own. It's your job to give them the tools they need to be kind, yet firm. Teach them compromise, yet not submission. I guess all you need to know you really do learn in kindergarten.