Lessons in Leverage

Don't you just love when an opportunity to learn is naturally presented and your children actually WANT to learn? This happened at our house. Yes, it does happen.

We have had to hire a bulldozer to come in and do some dirt work around the farm to slow down erosion problems. Costly, yes. Worth it? I hope in the long run that it will. But, the kids our lessons learned were highly valuable.

The bulldozer operator, Red, and our kids really hit it off. He was always making them feel a part of the process by asking for their help. Each of the kids rode along with him for a while. During Anderson's turn, they were pushing some trees to build up an area. They then proceeded to drive up on them. Anderson asked, "why are your doing that?".  Bingo! This started a lesson on leverage. They talked extensively about this concept (from what I was told) and Anderson really enjoyed it. Seeing his interest in learning, Anderson was invited about everyday to learn something more. The last day the dozer guy was here he was teaching Anderson about surveying. Kind of deep for a 9 year old but he understood the process a little more than before.

Next phase of the process is getting ready to start. This weekend we will be seeding and fertilizing the areas that were worked. I am sure that there will be another opportunity to learn.