Could you Homestead AND Homeschool?

I have zero idea how I stumbled upon this cool YouTuber family that homeschools and homesteads in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.  But I did.  I discovered them just a few days ago and I'm a little bit obsessed with their videos because it blows my mind how anybody could raise their six children in 500 square feet while homeschooling and homesteading.

Their family is super cute.  Also they have six kids, we have six (living) children. They are the ultimate DIYers and I like to DIY as well.  They make an effort to be "producers" and I like that concept too.  What really draws me to them is their genuine love for what they do.  Their motto is "What ever you do, do it with your whole heart!"  I think I've tried to live by that all my life so I feel a connection to this notion of whole  heartedness.

This video they posted a while back on how and why they homeschool is enlightening.  I'm struck by how fully and completely they utilize the freedom that homeschooling allows.  Often times I find myself caught in the "must dos" and "should dos" of home educating my kids that I forget the bigger picture of what I'm really doing.  I get bogged down in details and curriculum and end of year testing.  Staying above that, staying in the realm of real education, is a constant challenge.

Ok, so take a look at this video and then I'll share my thoughts with you about it.




So did you like that?  What did you think?

Here's my reaction: Wow! Amazing parents!  I love that they are so united as a couple on pretty much everything!  I agree with many of their reasons for homeschooling.  I do have a very different approach however, and that's ok.  That's what makes HSing great! We all do it in a way that works for us.  For example, I'm not really down with air writing.  I'm too tactile and so are my kids. We DO need the paper, the pencil, the seats, the table, the manipulatives, the projects.  We really like that! So I have probably WAY more homeschooling stuff than they do.  I DO hang on to my stuff so that I can reuse it again and thereby save money. I have a whole room (probably the size of their entire house) dedicated to home education.  So, that's where we differ a ton.

But I love that they have extended their classroom to include the entire homestead.  I don't have a homestead.  I have to educate in other ways. :)

I think my main take away from this came from Carrie's comments at the end when she addressed her background in education (she's a licensed teacher in CA) and the struggle she has had with her own list of "shoulds".  It's very freeing to think that our goal  is not to simply instill knowledge, but rather to imbue wisdom.

Her one comment about "useless knowledge" was a bit grating though.  I like to think that all learning is interrelated.  Knowledge is never useless (to a degree, right? Let's be reasonable).   But yes, to her point: There's no need to think that we can teach it all, do it all, fill every gap, address every topic.  We just can't.  There WILL be gaps.  But as she stated, if we do our job right, our kids will have the tools (and knowledge!) to fill their own gaps, prepare their own path, pass their own tests, and reach their own goals what ever they may be.

Ok, on a different note: here are some fun pictures from the days when I did a little bit of my own backyard homesteading in WA.  We had chickens for a few years. And I've always had a garden every year.  It was an adventure for sure! I'd love to do chickens again here in NC.

And here's a pic of my garden back in the day: 

So there may be a tad of a homesteader in me.  But just a tad.