Prepare and Pray Lesson 5

Prepare and Pray, is a family preparedness study based off the book Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss. SFR is a delightful "living" book that is rich in natural science, vocabulary, geographical details, history and physical science. It is a timeless classic with strong moral and spiritual content. We read the original version and love the rich language (this is not the Disney version!).

The subjects we cover in our curriculum include Bible memory, Handi-work/Crafts, Life skills, Clothing, Shelter, Health, Safety and Nutrition, Natural and Physical Science, Geography and History. The discussion questions provided provoke deep discussions. And I love the Toddler Tales for the little ones.

So far this year we have made survival kits, first aid kits, stuff sacks, fire bugs, a sun clock, a solar water distiller, emergency shelters, tin can stoves, a reflector oven, and even a solar hot dog cooker. We've learned how to build campfires, learned first aid techniques, how to track animals, how to tie different knots and how to identify wild edibles. And these are just SOME of the activities we have done!

We are on lesson 5 and I will share some of the activities we are doing. In this chapter, Fritz and Mr. Robinson find valuable items on the wrecked vessel that were useful to their work on the island, constructed a raft, used a turtle to speedily haul the raft, made a sledge to move heavy items, and we discover that Mrs. Robinson secretly planted a vegetable garden with seeds that she brought from the boat.
The boys are coloring a picture of Native Americans preparing food while Luke reads to them. I find this helps them to focus and listen better. After we read chapter 5, we did the discussion questions and looked up the vocab words we didn't know.

Then we discussed radio waves and did a tuning fork activity to listen to sound travel from a fork, through string and to our ears! Jordan was given an assignment to research Morse Code and give a demonstration.

As a family, we decided upon trail-marking signals to trace the trail of a separated family member. Our signal is groupings of 3 stones, slashes in bark, or broken twigs etc. Nathan and Dylan were given an assignment to make a poster board of 4 important knots they have learned and explain how they are commonly used.

Our first project was to build a raft. We opted for the miniature version, but the skills are the same. We reviewed the clove hitch knot and learned several lashing techniques: Square lashing, sheer lashing to lash poles side by side, and round lashing, which we discovered is much easier than sheer lashing.

   

Lashing demonstrations:

 

 This was a lot of hard work! So, we took a break and the boys practiced round lashing on each other.

 



Then, we made Energy Bars. We used dried currents, cherries, cranberries, raisins, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts and this was mixed with nut butter (we used peanut butter), applesauce and honey and then rolled in whole grain flour mixed with oats.



Dylan had way too much fun with the sticky mess and stuck around to see the finished product. As Dylan puts it, "I don't mind getting my hands messy!" The finished product!


We froze these to toss in our bags for future hiking trips.

Each lesson takes 2 weeks to complete. We have decided (with the exception of assigned projects) that we will do this study as a family once a week. So, we look forward finishing Lesson 5, Fresh Discoveries, next week.

6 comments

  1. Oh, Chel, you're such an inspiration. That Prepare and Pray really sounds good. I'm getting excited about school for William. :-) I will be getting serious about it in January. Right now, we're mainly reading the bible every day and working on his reading and writing.

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  2. I'd love to hear what you have planned! Is he still asking to do experiments? I thought that was so cute. :-)

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  3. This is so awesome! I will definitely have to get this book; I know that all my kids would enjoy it so much! You have a great blog :) I look forward to reading more!

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  4. NEAT!!! I wanna come to your house for school! haha - Tiff

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  5. Where do you get Prepare and Pray? As a Girl Scout, I figure it'd count toward more than a few badges!

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    1. https://www.prepareandpray.com/

      We also like Keepers at Home and Contenders of the Faith for scouting, but A Delectable Education website has a podcast on scouting with a link to a great book with more ideas.

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