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What are the pros and cons of raising children on a homestead? How can being brought up on a homestead benefit your children as adults, besides for the obvious survival skills and self-sufficiency?
Pros and Cons
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I too am curious about this as we are thinking of moving up to Montana and start "country" living.
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There is a difference between growing up on a homestead and not being part of society. You can still be a member of the church, you can still go do sports etc and even go to school. The only difference is that most of your products you grow and raise yourself. Isn't this the way it used to be in "the olden days"? Didn't people grow up just fine back then?
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this is true. growing up nowadays you have got to know how to use a computer.
technology isnt bad and the enemy its when people get dependant on it.
take it from me i work for ATT wireless. I am a Tech support guy for cell phones. Ive talked to people who are in all out tears because their phone doesnt work, they cant handle it. they cant function without email for a day. thats whats wrong with America today. ..
The difference with children raised on a homestead, suburbia or a city high rise is minimal. The difference comes from how the parents raise their children, not where they are being raised.
I homeschooled my grandson for 4 years, ADHD made it difficult for him to function in a classroom and he didn't like the notoriety of being the oddball class mate. In middle school he decided he wanted to try school again.
He is a highschool graduate and is curtently training in the Air Force for Aronautics Electrician.
He was raised on our homestead in southern Oregon. He was involved in school sports and concerts and drama as most children are. He attended all the dances and some school field trips.
He didn't hang out at the mall (70 miles away) or walk around town at midnight (4 miles away).
He has friends he keeps in contact with. He owns his own laptop and has a cell phone. He is an ordinary kid.
One thing he insisted on having, before he left for boot camp, was his own key to the house. Ha! Ha!
I homeschooled my grandson for 4 years, ADHD made it difficult for him to function in a classroom and he didn't like the notoriety of being the oddball class mate. In middle school he decided he wanted to try school again.
He is a highschool graduate and is curtently training in the Air Force for Aronautics Electrician.
He was raised on our homestead in southern Oregon. He was involved in school sports and concerts and drama as most children are. He attended all the dances and some school field trips.
He didn't hang out at the mall (70 miles away) or walk around town at midnight (4 miles away).
He has friends he keeps in contact with. He owns his own laptop and has a cell phone. He is an ordinary kid.
One thing he insisted on having, before he left for boot camp, was his own key to the house. Ha! Ha!
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In my opinion, I don't think there are any cons to children being raised on a small farm (or homestead as some call it). Besides learning the value, rewards and self satisfaction of work, there is also the fun factor.
I think a kid living on a small farm, homestead, farmstead, is under a great deal less stress than urban children. It gives them the opportunity to rip run and play, go to the creek catch a frog or doodle in the mud. Just be a child, not trying to grow up too fast just to impress their piers.
Growing up on a small farm in the mountains was without a doubt the best times of my life. I can still hear my granpa Gee and Haw his old mules. I can still see momma cooking on an old wood cook stove. I see my daddy in the field on his tractor while sitting on the shoulder of my older brother. All the aunts and uncles and cousins gathered together on soup canning day with everyone working together telling stories and having a wonderful time.
Most all of them have gone on many years ago now. But when I stop and think about all the good things of those days past, It seems hard to remember any bad days. I wouldn't trade those days for anything.
Red
I think a kid living on a small farm, homestead, farmstead, is under a great deal less stress than urban children. It gives them the opportunity to rip run and play, go to the creek catch a frog or doodle in the mud. Just be a child, not trying to grow up too fast just to impress their piers.
Growing up on a small farm in the mountains was without a doubt the best times of my life. I can still hear my granpa Gee and Haw his old mules. I can still see momma cooking on an old wood cook stove. I see my daddy in the field on his tractor while sitting on the shoulder of my older brother. All the aunts and uncles and cousins gathered together on soup canning day with everyone working together telling stories and having a wonderful time.
Most all of them have gone on many years ago now. But when I stop and think about all the good things of those days past, It seems hard to remember any bad days. I wouldn't trade those days for anything.
Red
I have two daughters 16 and 11 that have both been raised on a farm. We are well into the country, both attended a private Christian school where my wife works until 3rd grade and then went into public school. We wanted that good educational foundation (private school) before putting them into public school to develope their social skills. Both have thrived acedemically and socially. What life on the farm has taught them is animal husbandry, responsibility and a set of life skills that will see them able to live anywhere while those around them go hungry. Both are heavily involved in 4-H, show livestock and my youngest can can veggies with the best of adults.
A happy medium can be found between farm life and the childs social developement.
A happy medium can be found between farm life and the childs social developement.
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Regardless of whether you homeschool or not, living in the country has certain benefits that can't be found other places. One is a healthy and wholesome way of life. There is also the fact that a good work ethic will come more naturally, and there is always plenty to do. A child learns that entertainment is not a right, it's up to them to learn how to be creative and entertain themselves.
The only possible down side that I can see is that there will be a lack of constant companionship of other children. This could lead to a lack of some social skills. However, there are always school sports, band, children's theater, and 4-H. I interacted a lot with homeschooled children when I taught 4-H, and volunteered with children's theater. I never saw a difference in social skills when the child had involved parents.
I would further take this "draw back" and turn it around and say: is it so bad that your children learn how to have fun, work hard and play fair ? Is it so bad that your children find real values instead of "who has the coolest clothes" and "who has the newest cell phone"? When there is less wholesome things to do, you get more cliques, more social inadequacy, more of a need to "fit in", more gangs, more of a dependence on things.
I raised my kids in a variety of places; country, town and city. If I had to do it all over again, they would never have left the country.
The only possible down side that I can see is that there will be a lack of constant companionship of other children. This could lead to a lack of some social skills. However, there are always school sports, band, children's theater, and 4-H. I interacted a lot with homeschooled children when I taught 4-H, and volunteered with children's theater. I never saw a difference in social skills when the child had involved parents.
I would further take this "draw back" and turn it around and say: is it so bad that your children learn how to have fun, work hard and play fair ? Is it so bad that your children find real values instead of "who has the coolest clothes" and "who has the newest cell phone"? When there is less wholesome things to do, you get more cliques, more social inadequacy, more of a need to "fit in", more gangs, more of a dependence on things.
I raised my kids in a variety of places; country, town and city. If I had to do it all over again, they would never have left the country.
I moved from the city to the country at 8 years old. I thought the "christmas trees" (cedar) all around the place was strange and such but when I look back on my childhood, I am glad to have been raised in the country. Everyone knows everyone else, we all come back for visits like the county fair, plenty of room to roam and explore and just over all there is a sense of less danger in the country. I wouldn't trade it for growing up the city, that's for sure!
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