On Handicrafts (A Charlotte Mason Style Resolution)

Handicrafts (per Charlotte Mason) is something that has been forgotten in our "school" for the most part, with the exception of a few sporatic projects through the years. So we are going to "schedule" Project Times for a few areas of study each week. If something is scheduled, we actually DO it; otherwise it is just an "intention" and generally gets forgotten. So it is OUR New Year's Resolution to focus some MAJOR attention in the area of Handicrafts -- or Life Skills -- or something .....

All of our children have expressed MANY times an interest in learning to sew, crochet, and other such crafts.

This term we are going to learn to sew and crochet. We will learn to sew first by hand (stitches), mending clothing, zippers, buttons, adjusting hems, reading patterns, making basic garments (and crafts). We will also cover basic sewing machine use. These "lessons" will work nicely with the chilly days left until spring (and hopefully LOTS of rainy "inside" days too !).

SEWING: After we have learned our handstitching, and when we begin using the sewing machine, our first craft will be to make aprons from this FREE pattern that I found online. http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=APRONINST I think they will prove to be MOST useful with our other (below) Home Economics endeavors.

**On Thursday afternoons we will be metting the "H" Family so that we can tackle some

Sewing Projects together. She is MUCH more experienced with sewing, not to mention

far more patient. THANK YOU MRS. H - WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THESE AFTERNOONS.

CROCHETING: A dear friend began teaching Cherub 2 and I to crochet (Thank You MamaLion and Miss H.E.), but we were so busy during the holidays that we did not get a chance to practice ... and now we will need a refresher. Then when we are a bit more accomplished, we plan to teach the other Cherubs to crochet too.

Next, I am going to focus A LOT of attention on teaching each child to cook - and the children are very excited !! I really regret that I have not spent much time on this at all, and am concerned that my children will be ill-prepared for "LIFE" if I do not focus some serious attention on it now !! Right now they can all make cereal, sandwiches, and instant oatmeal - but that's just about it. Sad, I know. So -- they will learn to cook from scratch -- skill wise and food wise. We have renewed our BAKE ALL OF OUR OWN BREAD commitment - some with the bread machine, and some without. In addition to the bread, we will begin with breakfast - REAL oatmeal, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, waffles, french toast, pancakes, eggs, bagels, muffins, biscuits, etc. Then from there we will proceed to lunch, and eventually to dinner. I also hope to include them a lot more in the making of the "holiday" meals, which can be quite challenging.

It is my hope that each of the children will be better prepared for adult life and family life than I was ... I did not know how to cook (or sew) AT ALL when I was married, so DadToCherubs had to endure more than a few awful meals (but politely always continued to encourage me, even asking for seconds. What a great guy !!). Did you know that if you hardboil eggs too long, that they will actually EXPLODE and make a terrible mess in the kitchen ?!?!? OH MY - I have "been there, done that". DadToCherubs also is quite talented when it comes to sewing because his mother was a very talented seamstress (hobby) - he used to hem my clothing and was completely in charge of mending. Hummm ....

And after each child has mastered at least a few dishes in each category, they will be assigned a certain day / meal to prepare -- from the planning, the shopping (budgeting included !), the preparation, the serving, and the cleaning up. Then we will hopefully move on to assigning a whole day so that there is a bit more planning, nutritional consideration, and overall preparation involved, thus giving the opportunity for them to have the near-full experience of "meals for a family".

It is amazing what seemingly "little things" have been missed in our HOME education,

even though we are home all day together.

... Home Economics ... that is what we shall call this "course".