Prepare and Pray Lesson 10 - Preparing for Winter

In chapter nine of The Swiss Family Robinson, the Robinson's continue their preparations for winter and settle in their new home in the cave,"Rockburg," for the winter. They passed the time productively in the cave learning, building, mastering skills and serving one another. We compared this to our desires to idle away time watching television and our efforts to limit and censor what we watch. We discussed how much more valuable it is to be wise stewards of our time doing activities that are productive and we talked about some of the ways that we can do this.

So, how can we be the best stewards of the time we have? First, we must seek Him, then all other things will be added to us. When we honor Him, He blesses our time and talent. We ask Him to order our day, and then try to honor Him in all we do.

For Scripture memory this lesson, we began work on Proverbs 31:10-31.

We learned about tornados - what causes them to develop, what the difference is between a funnel cloud and a tornado, what a waterspout is, what a jet stream is and when tornados are most likely to develop. We also developed a tornado, hurricane, earthquake plan and talked about what to do - where we should go/not go, what to take, and whom to help. We talked about specific dangers and how to be safe. We watched this video, Tornados 101, about how tornados are formed and how to stay out of their way. We made a tornado in a bottle to see how the air from the bottom bottle is sucked up to form the wind tunnel, much in the same way a tornado is formed.
   

 We took a virtual field trip to Ready Kids and did some preparedness games and activities on tornados. We made a Family Plan and organized our preparedness packs and first aid kits.


The boys each have a camo fanny pack that they can carry with them when we are in the mountains. Each bag contains: hot hand packs, solar blanket, para cord, emergency candle and tin can, waterproof matches and magnesium fire starter, whistle, light stick or flashlight, multi-purpose tool/pocket knife, compass, rain poncho, emergency drinking water, fishing line, fishing hooks, lashing cord, bandana, and dried fruit. Then we each have a bigger bag, such as the boys' army rucksacks, which contain a set of clothes, more food, a Berkey water purifier (which will purify water straight from a stream), small hand tools such as a Gerber multi-tool, pocket knives, hand shovel, binoculars, fire starters, waterproof matches, para cord, twine, gloves, duct tape, etc. Then, in the car, we have more of the above, plus tarps, a small piece of carpet, emergency candles, a small shovel, and hand crank flashlight/radio. We have a cargo bag that goes on top for sleeping bags and a tent. We still need to add a few things, so we made a list.

We also learned how to free oneself from quicksand and watched this short video.


 We talked about how to heat water without electricity using solar hot water heaters, and wood stove reservoirs. And what winter preparations we would need to make in our region.

We learned how to mend.

 

We learned how to sew a patch, repair seams, and hem.


We learned how to sew a button, make a button hole, and hand felt.


We made banana chips using a honey dip to pretreat the bananas: 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup honey. We dried 9 trays of bananas!


And had lots of banana peels to compost. So, we thought this would be a good time to start a new compost pile. We peeled and cut the bananas into smaller pieces so it would compost faster. In warm weather, we will turn it frequently. Our last compost pile took forever to compost because we rarely turned it.


We have 40 pounds of Organic apples to dehydrate next. We get organic apples from a food co-op for .80 cents a pound! If you live in the Northwest/Midwest and don't know about Azure Standard, I encourage you to check them out. They have quality natural and organic foods at great prices when you buy in bulk!

We concluded our lesson by reading about the Critter of the Week: Sheep. We used the book Barnyard in your Backyard to learn sheep terminology, qualities of a good sheep, care and keeping of sheep, sheep sheering, and how to prepare and use the wool.

4 comments

  1. That does it, I am coming to your house for school....Love ya!

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  2. You are so neat!!! And the more I read about the Swiss Family Robinson stuff, the more I want to get that. Where did you get it again?

    "So, how can we be the best stewards of the time we have? First, we must seek Him, then all other things will be added to us. When we honor Him, He blesses our time and talent. We ask Him to order our day, and then try to honor Him in all we do. "

    Now, THIS was a good piece. I've recently been working on being a better steward of my time. I've always had a hard time with this, b/c I'm very easily distracted, have a hard time focusing, can't multi-task on many things, etc. I've started praying about it. What stood out to me about what you wrote is the part about if we honor Him, He will bless our time and talent.

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  3. Prepare and Pray can be found here;

    http://www.prepareandpray.com/detail.tpl?sku=1002

    :-)

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  4. Michelle, I just came upon your blog this morning after doing some research on the Prepare and Pray curriculum. I can't tell you how refreshing it is browsing your entries!! I want to come to your school :) I am one of those Mommies that gets all excited about something new to do with the kids ( lapbooks, notebooking pages, etc), buys them and then they, shameful to say, sit on the shelf,unused. I need encouragement, and you have provided it here! What do you think of Prepare and Pray? We are a real 'outdoorsey' family ( hunting, fishing, trapping,etc) and this really appeals to me. Does it take a lot of teacher prep time? Do you use it with other curriculum? I would love any info!!! We live in Minnesota...how about you( mountains, I hear? My kids have never seen mountains in real life. We need to travel more!) THANK YOU for taking time to blog your days and encourage Mommies like me...you are a Dear! Sincerly, Angie decouxa@yahoo.com

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