Family

Farmers do what they do for many reasons. One of the reasons the Rickard family farms is because it is a way for the family to live and work together.
Hanna is 7 years old and Jesse is 9. They go to school at home and their mother is their teacher. How might their school be different from yours?

Children that live on a farm generally have chores to do that help out the family with the running of the family business.

I talked to some sixth graders at Mount Vernon Middle School who live on farms. They told me about the chores they have to do everyday on their farms.

Line of Horses Graphic


Courtney says "with five other brothers and sisters it doesn't take much time to feed all the animals."
Courtney's jobs include "watering and giving hay to the horses."

Line of  Cows Graphic

Chris said, "I feed the chickens and get their eggs and I feed the hermit crabs and feed all the other animals."

All children need to be convinced to do their chores sometimes. Farm children are no different. Judy Sinnabery says:


"When my children say 'do we have to do our chores again?' I say, Do you want to eat again? I just made dinner last night. The kids know the animals are part of our family too. It is a rule at our farm-- the animals get fed before we do."
Judy Shinnaberry
What do farm kids do when they are not working on the farm?

The same kind of things all kids like to do. Courtney likes to ride her horses and play softball and basketball.

Farms are often passed down from one generation to another. A family may live on the land where their grandparents and great grandparents lived. Can you think of anything in your family that has been past down from generation to generation?

The Hathaways live on a farm that has been in their family for a very long time. People from different generations live and work on the same farm. The grandfather, father and children all work together. Does your family ever do that?

Quilt Image
What in the world do quilts have to do with families?


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