Well, after a vacation to visit family and friends out in California we’re back with a new installment of HMHS Vintage Video. And just in time for the holiday season!

From 1951, the Homemade Homeschoolers Podcast presents: A Day of Thanksgiving.

Like many, the family in this film is unable to afford a turkey for their Thanksgiving meal, but use the opportunity of the holiday to focus on the things that they have been blessed with. After all, that is what a day of Thanksgiving is really about, just as the chorus of the beloved hymn encourages us to do every day: “Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count you blessings, see what God hath done”.

Use this film in a discussion of the true meaning behind the 1st Thanksgiving holiday with your children.

We would also encourage you to read our Thanksgiving post from last year titled “Thankfulness”. And as we enter this time of the year you may also want to consider our PDF download lesson on writing a proper Thank You letter. The file includes stationary with designs for use all year long.

How have you taught your children the true meaning of Thanksgiving? We would love to hear from you. Use our comment section below; it is both easy and convenient.

SUBSCRIBE | DOWNLOAD | SUBSCRIBE IN iTUNES | HMHS PODCAST ON YOUTUBE

Man, it’s been crazy here for the last 2 months!

In mid May Shelly’s parents came to visit for a couple weeks or so. These kindly folks love to do stuff. I was dragged to all kinds of wonderful places. Have you ever been to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN? If not, plan a trip right now! What a beautiful place. Everything about the tour was amazing… until the last room that we visited, which was upstairs. Let me back up a minute and remind you that the area surrounding the Carnton House was the site of the “five bloodiest hours of the Civil War” in the Battle of Franklin – where almost 10,000 soldiers died! The very large mansion – home of John and Carrie (The Widow of The South) McGavock – was perfectly suited to serve as a field hospital. In fact (if memory serves) there were over 300 wounded and dying men in the house at any given time. Naturally there were copious amounts of blood being spilled on the floor, and our tour guide made sure to point out all the 200+ year old stains in every room. Now, our boy doesn’t like blood. Neither does his dad, but I’m old enough to block out things that I don’t want to hear about. Well, he did well enough until the final room upstairs which houses amazing glass cases of the surgical equipment used at the time. Tools that conjured up pretty disgusting images in my mind, so I walked out of the room and into the 2nd floor landing (casually, of course) to view some nice, non-medical furniture and art. When the group came out behind me I used the opportunity to gather our two daughters and stand by Grammy & Poppy. A few moments later as I realized that my wife and son were nowhere to be seen the tour guide looked toward the room and down, and asked “Is he alright?” As I made a b-line for the room I hear my wife answer “He fainted.” The boy was out cold! Literally and figuratively. Cold as a cucumber, friends. After we got him revived and up and walking I took him outside to get some fresh air, and took the opportunity to tell my own stories about passing out in similar nasty situations. I also used that as the perfect situation to let him know that if he’s seeing and hearing things that he doesn’t like to walk out! I did. As a side note my wife loves that medical stuff.

Carnton Plantation

Another great couple of places that we visited were in Huntsville, Alabama (my family’s first time visiting that state)- The  Constitution Village and Early Works Children’s Museum. The Constitution Village is comprised of an historically and archeologically accurate reconstruction of the village as it existed in the 1820’s. All built on the original footings! A fascinating visit for a family such as ours with a great affinity for American history.

Constitution Village Gardens

After the village we walked to the Huntsville Town Square to eat at a Greek restaurant that was recommend by our tour guide. Pretty good Mediterranean food! Then it was off to the Early Works Children’s Museum, a wonderful “hands on” type of museum. Those seem to be a relatively new phenomenon. When I was a kid we weren’t even allowed to breath on things in the museum, much less touch them. This museum was right up the alley for our kids.  Completely hands-on play in a log cabin, an 1800’s general store, a entire riverboat, and much more.  A great day! Once we got back Bedford County, TN (God’s country) we stopped in at 50’s & Fiddles for my favorite Root beer Malt! Mmm-mmm. These two – no, three places also need to be placed on your immediate to-do lists.

While all these exciting adventures were taking place my dad and I had to undertake a major construction project! My In-Laws purchased the kids a serious fort/swing-set building (for lack of better words). We had been looking around at the various options, and I’ll tell you what – they aren’t giving those things away! Added to the price is, or course installation costs. My dad being the incredibly industrious person that he is convinced me that we could save hundreds of dollars by building it ourselves. I’m not too shabby with tools myself, so I agreed. We settled on the best overall set and went to work! It took us about a week with all the family site seeing trips and rain days, but it came out better than I could have hoped for! We even made some improvement modifications. This thing is rock-solid and fastened hard to the ground. Perfect for our monkeys. In fact, they may not even be able to destroy it. My Mother In-Law was convinced that the project was too much for us, and tried to talk us into hiring some folks to put it together. So, I did (admittedly) get some satisfaction from pointing out that she stopped just shy of telling us flat-out that we couldn’t do it. She denied it and we all had a good laugh. As a side note we also put up a new pool (that my wife’s folks also bought) for the Summer. Its hard enough getting the kids to leave the house for any reason; now with Disneyland in our backyard its that much harder!

Since the folks left we’ve also been involved in the Middle-Tennessee Music and Dance Camp as well as two different V.B.S.s which were all a ton of fun. We’re getting ready for church camp coming up next.  We’ll post some pictures of our fun happenings on the Community Refrigerator for you to enjoy.   Hope y’all’s Summer is going well. Feel free to leave comment below. Everyone likes that! And remember to invite your friends to join us on Homemade Homeschoolers.

For more information on the Battle of Franklin, there’s a great 2-CD set by Dr. James Dobson from Focus on the Family Radio Broadcast called Remembering the Battle of Franklin.

To find a living history museum near you, try America’s Living History which focuses on the period before the 1840s westward movement and features 300 of the nation’s best living history parks, historic sites and museums.

Till next time – Michael

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year.  I get to enjoy a cozy fire and hot cocoa, yummy foods, gathering of family, and warm feelings of being richly blessed.  During this time of year, thankfulness seems to flow much more easily.  It is our time to look about us and count those blessings bestowed throughout the year and praise God for every good thing we have, no matter how little it may be.  We are READY and expecting to give thanks.

All good things come from the Lord and He rightly deserves all thanksgiving.  But are we filled with the same thankfulness in early August or run of the mill late January?  And how does our gratitude express itself in our daily lives and interactions with one another?  Thankfulness is more than a feeling, it is an attitude and a character trait that we must work to develop and retain beyond the warm coziness of late Fall.  It should translate into our lives as kindness, hospitality, selfless giving, and contentment (that’s a hard one!).

Our children are not born thankful creatures.  They are selfish little beings (as we were also) and must learn to humble themselves into gratitude.  We are in a special circumstance as homeschooling parents to consistently work on the development of thankfulness in our children.  We must point them always toward God as the originator of all good things.  But, we must also teach them to show this grateful attitude in little kindnesses to each other every day.

Attempting to teach gratitude to my own children, we have made it a habit to consistently write cards and thank-you notes.  A note of thanks, no matter how simple, will in turn reward the giver and the receiver.  It is giving a gift back to the person who has given to you.  It also develops in you the wonderful habit of giving thanks.  And giving thanks is so much MORE than just feeling thankful.  It is developing the character traits of kindness, thoughtfulness, and gratitude all at once.  Of course, we don’t receive gifts everyday.  So, our thank-you notes are for more than just gift giving.  We express thanks for a kind deed, friendship, hospitality, help given, a playdate, a shared treat, and much more.

We have successfully entwined the habit of writing thank-you notes into our overall writing curriculum.  As a double-fold bonus, it also helps the children with recognizing when thanksgiving is due and expressing that gratitude in writing.  To aid you in adding thank-you notes to your lessons, Michael and I have put together a package on how to simply write a thank-you letter along with some beautiful stationary for various occasions.  You will find Thank You Letters in our brand-new HMHS Store.  We hope they will aid you in adding this habit in your own home and begin to develop a grateful attitude in your children.

To discuss gratitude, writing, or any other homeschooling topic, please visit our HMHS Discussion Forum.

Happy Halloween!

What would Halloween be without those grinning Jack-o-lanterns?  After cutting off the top, the most fun is reaching in and digging out the seeds – eeewwww!  But don’t throw those seeds away – make pepitas instead!  Toasted pumpkin seeds can be a favorite treat – with no tricks involved!

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Fresh pumpkin seeds

Olive oil

Salt (or other seasonings such as seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper)

1. Rinse the pumpkin seeds, removing the stringy pulp.

2. Spread the seeds out on some paper towel and let dry overnight.

3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees and cover a cookie sheet with some non-stick foil.

4. Put the seeds in a bowl and toss with enough olive oil to coat the seeds.

5. Spread the seeds on to the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and any other desired seasonings.

6. Bake for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until nicely browned.

7. Allow to cool completely.  They can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 months, but they never seem to last that long!

To discuss recipes or any homeschooling topic, please visit our HMHS Discussion Forum.

In the Los Angeles Times newspaper today, there is a wonderful article on cooking with kids!  They have some good recipes and tips on making pasta with your homeschool helpers.  I remember when I was a kid and my mom would make homemade chicken noodle soup.  We would have noodles hanging everywhere drying.  Not to mention how wonderful it tasted when I had contributed in making it.  Projects like these can become lifelong memories in your child!  Enjoy.

Homemade Pasta in the L.A. Tmes.

To discuss cooking, daily life, or any other homeschooling topic, please visit the HMHS Discussion Forum.

Table setting seems to be the first “job” we give our kids when they are old enough to help us in the kitchen.  If we give them that job to do, we should also teach them the correct way to do it!

The correct table setting is actually quite simple and is based on what is used first, from the outside towards the plate.  Forks are always on the left with the salad fork first, since salad is usually served first; next comes the dinner fork; and, if used, the dessert fork is closest to the plate.  On the right, closest to the plate is the knife – with the cutting edge towards the plate.  Then come the spoons – teaspoon to the right of the knife with the soup spoon on the far right, since soup is usually served before the main course.

The napkin should be set to the left of the forks with the folded edge towards the plate.  It is best not to set the silverware on top of the napkin, because you would have to remove all the silverware to get to the napkin, because it is the first item used at the table..  It can be placed on the plate or where the plate goes to eliminate using too much table space for one place setting.

The Emily Post website is an excellent source to use, with diagrams of place settings and tips on how to remember whose bread plate and drink glass belongs to whom!

And what is a well set table without a centerpiece??  The main thing to keep in mind with centerpieces is that you don’t want them interfering with your conversation to the people across the table.  Either make them low enough so you can see over them or raise them high enough so you can see the person across the table from you.   Depending on the size of your family, the centerpiece could be set on one side of the table if you use the other 3 sides for place settings.  That way the centerpiece could be any height, since it does not interfere with conversation.

Imagination can be your guide for a centerpiece – and kids have great imaginations!  You don’t need fancy, cut glass vases.  Some ordinary bottles are unique enough to hold a some flowers.  Use several small jars or bottles with just a flower in each one.  With fall in full swing, pumpkins, gourds, leaves, etc. can set a theme for your table.  You do not need to use flowers as a centerpiece.  Some of your class artwork can become centerpieces to be enjoyed by the whole family.

I love candles and usually have many candles lit for a dinner!  If using candles, of course, safety is your first concern.  Tapers are most likely to be tipped over, so I like to use several votives when I want candlelight with children at the table.  You can even purchase battery run tea lights that look like the real thing with no fire involved!  As the kids get older, it was an honor to light the candles and to be the one to snuff them out.  A candle snuffer is a safer way to put out a candle rather than blowing it out, since hot wax get blown along with the flame!

Try a formal dinner with your kids, they’ll love it!

To discuss table setting and other home economic topics, please visit our HMHS Discussion Forum.

Kids Can Cook

In our busy lives, it is sometimes easier and quicker to just have the kids set the table instead of having them help you cook dinner!  But when the kids ask, “Can I do that?” the teachable moment pops up and you can feel guilty passing it up!

Baking is always an easy way to get kids to help in the kitchen, and it involves careful measuring with a practical look at fractions.  Sometimes it’s harder to come up with a main course that they can cook.  A simple chili is a good start.

There are some rules to follow first:

1.       Wash your hands well.

2.       Gather up all the ingredients and pans, utensils, etc. that you will need before you start.  There is nothing worse than getting a recipe half prepared to find out you are missing an ingredient.

3.       Read the recipe through before you start so you know how to proceed.

DICK’S SIMPLE CHILI

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

1 small onion chopped

3 cans (15 oz) chili beans in sauce

1 can condensed tomato soup and 1 soup can filled with water

1 can chopped tomatoes Mexican style

1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste)

Salt to taste

1.        Brown ground beef or turkey in a non-stick 3 quart saucepan, crumbling the meat as it cooks.  This may need to be done for younger children.

2.       Drain the fat off the meat.  (For calorie conscious people, you can actually put the cooked ground beef in a colander and run hot water over it, rinsing off the fat!  That way you can purchase the least expensive ground beef and have an almost fat free entrée.)

3.       Chop the onion.  For younger children, a food chopper works well.  If you are using a knife, cut the onion in half from stem to root.  Then cut the half into quarters.  While holding the quarters together, cut across the onion in 1/8 to ¼ inch size pieces.

4.       Open all the cans.  In the pan with the ground beef and onions, add the 3 cans of beans, 1 can of tomato soup, 1 soup can full of water, and 1 can of chopped tomatoes.

5.       Mix together and heat on high until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Add chili powder and salt to taste.  Turn down the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid.

6.       Simmer for a half hour or more until the chili thickens, stirring occasionally.  Be careful when lifting the lid so you don’t get burned by the steam – always lift the lid away from you.

This chili tastes good with fresh carrots, celery, and cornbread.  Or you can sprinkle it with fresh chopped onions and grated cheese and serve with corn chips.

Equipment you need to make this recipe:

3 quart saucepan with lid

Cutting board and sharp knife or a food chopper

Can opener

Rubber scraper

Colander

Tablespoon

See our HMHS Community Refrigerator for more pictures of cooking with the kiddos!

To discuss Cooking and other Homeschooling topics and ideas, please visit our Homemade Homeschoolers discussion forum.