{"id":423,"date":"2014-12-02T02:42:43","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T09:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=423"},"modified":"2015-05-21T10:26:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T16:26:25","slug":"my-cantaloupe-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/my-cantaloupe-man\/","title":{"rendered":"My Cantaloupe Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ammonscanteloupe\"<\/p>\n

Ammon (15) loves plants. He cherishes them, in fact. He can spend hours supervising and nurturing his garden. When he was a little boy, I always made sure he had his own large bed in our family garden that he could plant with whatever he wanted. This year, Ammon wanted to plant melons and squashes\u2014both which take more space than our garden would provide, so the idea was born to let Ammon grow his sprawling garden in front of our house. We live our in the country, so this is not so radical a plan as it sounds like . . . but we have had some comments from the neighbors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ammon chose his seeds carefully from catalogs during the winter months, with me as his partner. He spent hours upon hours scheming and planning on paper while the snow was still deep. Finally spring arrived and in went the seeds, not haphazardly, but with the greatest of care. All of us in our family were amazed at what detailed care he took.<\/p>\n

Now Ammon is enjoying the fruit of his labor\u2014we all are! It is cantaloupe for breakfast, honeydew for lunch and more, more, more for dinner! He wants to taste and relish each variety. He photographs each melon, both on the vine, and cut and ready to eat.<\/p>\n

As a mom, I am hoping he will very soon progress to the desire to give them away and reap the joy that comes from sharing something you have worked hard to produce. That would be the ultimate lesson.<\/p>\n

While watching Ammon out in the blazing sun tending his melons, I often think of Mark Twain’s remark: “Don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education.”<\/em><\/strong> Ammon took a Botany course at the local high school with textbook readings and rather contrived projects. He learned a lot, especially vocabulary terms that he now uses when talking about his plants. But, he has learned a zillion times more about Botany by actually getting his hands in the dirt <\/strong>and growing his melon garden. It is a lot harder in real life than on the pages of a book! There is the constant need for water, weeds to deal with along with bugs, wilting, raccoons, birds, and the scorching sun. Ammon often comes to talk to me about the newest challenge: this week the leaves have developed mildew!<\/p>\n

What wonderful preparation for life! Our at-home-Botany-course has taught marvelous lessons that far exceed the textbook, and will ready him for life, including:<\/p>\n

*neglect when things are young can ruin them when they are grown (including people, animals and plants)<\/p>\n

*the path includes challenges, and joy<\/p>\n

*we are dependent on God for every blessing<\/p>\n

*growth is a miracle that we take for granted<\/p>\n

*you only reap what you sow (corn seeds do not produce cantaloupe, forgetting to practice does not create a concert pianist)<\/p>\n

*only God can make the sun shine, can bless us with the necessary elements to create life<\/p>\n

*time marches on (get your planting done early in the season, as you cannot delay the killing frost)<\/p>\n

. . . and many more lessons! I love homeschooling!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"ammoncuttingcanteloupe\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"instantgarden1\"
\nInstant Garden
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"teepee1\"
\nBean Teepee
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"12476\"
\nThe Art of Gardening DVD
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ammon (15) loves plants. He cherishes them, in fact. He can spend hours supervising and nurturing his garden. When he was a little boy, I always made sure he had his own large bed in our family garden that he could plant with whatever he wanted. This year, Ammon wanted to plant melons and squashes\u2014both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[184,58],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to-homeschool","category-homeschooling-method","tag-freedom-in-education","tag-hands-on-learning","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-6P","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":711,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/test-or-not-test\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":0},"title":"To Test or Not To Test? 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They are little things, but they can be very annoying and inconvenient. I know I'm not the only mom who has lived with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life Skills"","block_context":{"text":"Life Skills","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/life-skills-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My husband, Rick","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/IMG_4438_2-300x297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":661,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/using-muscles-for-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":3},"title":"Using Muscles for Memory","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Wiggles! Kids seem to be full of them and they can make sitting still, learning, focusing, and concentrating extra hard! If you can't fight 'em, join 'em. Time to use those big muscles to help kids learn! I have a chin-up bar hanging over a doorway near where we do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/were_gonna_get_you_daddy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/homeschool-kindergarten\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":4},"title":"A Day in our Homeschool Kindergarten","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Kindergarten has got to be my favorite year of homeschool: sweet little eager minds so anxious to be big and to learn and everything! Come with me through a day of teaching a kindergartner at my house. After morning scripture study, bath and dressing, breakfast, chores\u2014it\u2019s school time. At our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kindergarteners are Great!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/3kidsbigball.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":747,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/moms-attitude\/","url_meta":{"origin":423,"position":5},"title":"Desert Thoughts","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, there is a lot of sagebrush in the southwestern United States! I am in the back seat of a minivan with a computer on my lap as my 16-year-old drives. It's pretty bouncy and weavy! He is trying to get his driving hours completed so he can get his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Molding the Heart"","block_context":{"text":"Molding the Heart","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/why-homeschool\/molding-the-heart\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"desertimage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/desertimage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7449,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/7449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}