I found a recipe for homemade cheese at littlehouseinthesuburbs.com together pitty-pat and I made a double batch. It is draining in the fridge until tommorro. I hope it turns out good.
Today we also made bread again in the bread machine. It has become a every day-off thing for us. I am trying my hand at cinnamon rolls tonight. But have to leave soon right in the middle.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Field Trip-Nature Center
The Nature Center was a big hit with the kids and my sister. I didn't realize Sawyer hadn't ever seen farm animals--kinda funny since before Sawyer we had animals at a friends in the country. He loved the chickens best even after one pecked his finger. Pitty-pat loved the log cabin. Tippy-toe loved the stilts at the one room school. I enjoyed a picnic beside the river. Carolyn kept taking us on trail walks. I think we will have to repeat this trip again. I think we will also get one of the learning trunks to use in our home school. You can check them out at $20.00 for two weeks time.
Homestead Field Trip
today we are going to the Chippewa nature Center in Midland, Michigan. They have a cabin homestead and one room school museum displays with all sorts of activities for the kids today. This is free admission! It also fits perfectly with our "Little House in the Big Woods" unit study. Cam went in third grade with her public school class and is really looking forward to going as a family today. I also went as a chaperone before so this should be very educational and fun today. It is a drive but worth it since we already know what to expect. I packed a picnic lunch to eat by the river in the park. Midland is a nice place to visit and I am lucky to have access to a calender of events this weekend.More after we get home tonight. They should really be tired tonight.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Third grade curriculum
This is a work in progress but so far I have planned for this year (2010-11) to work with Pitty-pat on mostly third grade. We tryed to get her into church school but she wasnt excepted but they are going to let her do field trips and some half days at school to see if she could go next year.
"Little House in the Big Woods" unit study-plus activities to go along with events in the book. I have been doing the activities before we get to the story in the book so the kids will understand better what they are reading. Some days she can read really well and others she struggles over the same word over and over again, these are all sight words she already loves to show up tippy-toe and shout out before he can work on them but struggles when they are in a sentance. So Aaron is making them do silly sight word sentences on magnetic fridge words I made.
History--It will be of course the pioneers and westward expansion as we did pilgrims last fall with both. I am working on a time line to put it in perspective visually for them
Science--- We are working on the Science wonders Brownie Try-its right now as I am making Pitty-pat a julliet brownie scout. She doesn't know that fun Brownie activity is really school---sneaky mom! I also found a microscope so we will do some things with microscope study. Our nature study will continue year round as we have really enjoyed those activities with all the kids.
"Little House in the Big Woods" unit study-plus activities to go along with events in the book. I have been doing the activities before we get to the story in the book so the kids will understand better what they are reading. Some days she can read really well and others she struggles over the same word over and over again, these are all sight words she already loves to show up tippy-toe and shout out before he can work on them but struggles when they are in a sentance. So Aaron is making them do silly sight word sentences on magnetic fridge words I made.
History--It will be of course the pioneers and westward expansion as we did pilgrims last fall with both. I am working on a time line to put it in perspective visually for them
Science--- We are working on the Science wonders Brownie Try-its right now as I am making Pitty-pat a julliet brownie scout. She doesn't know that fun Brownie activity is really school---sneaky mom! I also found a microscope so we will do some things with microscope study. Our nature study will continue year round as we have really enjoyed those activities with all the kids.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Science Wonders Home Grown Crystals
Our sugar crystals we were growning are done. We found this idea in "Try-Its for Brownie Girl Scouts" book pages 130-131. The recipe was a little unclear so a search revealed a great recipe at www.exploritorium.edu/cooking/candy Camryn was fascinated with hers and wanted to save the best looking crystal group from her string.Aaron added food coloring so they could each tell wich was their crystal jar. Here is the recipe if you want to try-it too.
Rock Candy
4 cups sugar
2 cups water few drops food coloring
small clean glass jar cotton string
waxed paper (we used ziploc baggies upside down over the jars)
tip:dip the string in a sugar syrup and let dry a few days to make better crystals(we let ours dry overnight)
Bring the water to a boil slowly add sugar stirring to disolve it a little at a time. When cooled at little pour into glass jar. Add foood coloring if you want. Hang string over jar from a straw or pencil. Let set and watch.
Our crystals grew really big. They look like those candies you find on wooden sticks in novelty stores.
Science you can eat!
Rock Candy
4 cups sugar
2 cups water few drops food coloring
small clean glass jar cotton string
waxed paper (we used ziploc baggies upside down over the jars)
tip:dip the string in a sugar syrup and let dry a few days to make better crystals(we let ours dry overnight)
Bring the water to a boil slowly add sugar stirring to disolve it a little at a time. When cooled at little pour into glass jar. Add foood coloring if you want. Hang string over jar from a straw or pencil. Let set and watch.
Our crystals grew really big. They look like those candies you find on wooden sticks in novelty stores.
Science you can eat!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
First Grade Curriculum
Tippy-toe will be doing a combined K-1st Grade since he is kind of in between these two grades this year. (although we home school year round september marks the new school year for us too)
Included in his plan for this year is:
The Five senses unit study---this includes a 5 senses minit lap book,scented playdough play,scent jars I made in the montessori style,mystery touch bag,bells sound activity, reading "My Five Senses" by aliki, verse this unit is Psalms 139:14 "I will praise you beacuse I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
He is excited to learn to read so we are continuing to use phonics games and starfall phonics online. He spends time each day "reading" picture books and magazines like "ranger rick" and "birds and blooms".
As always, we will continue our nature study with the bird feeder identification station in one window. I have added two new "used" books--A Guide to field identification Birds of North America by Golden Press and "World of Birds' by Fisher and Petersen. "Birds and Blooms" has neat little cards in the back of most issues which we cut out and save for a quiz game of name that bird. Fall is the perfect time to continue our walks in the woods. Last year we did a unit on woodpeckers (Tippy-toe's favorite bird). This year we will do owls as this goes along with our third grade "Little House in the big Woods" unit-We can do this with both of them.
Tippy-Toe is building his own robot out of salvaged pieces of metal. So far he has an old waffle maker for a head. Long bolts for "bones" and other nuts and bolts we found at a garage sale or two this summer. I have put the word out loooking for robot parts we will see what we find this will cover many months I am sure.
I have a dinosaurs rocks and minerals unit almost ready. I have been collecting rocks and fossils for a display in the science cabinet to go along with this unit.
August was sea shells for the display in the science cabinet. I found a large conch shell and tippy-toe and pitty-pat have some shells we set out. I left out "Discovering Seashells" by Douglas Florian, "A Shell for Seahorse" a picture book and "The Snail's Spell" by Joanne Rider as the reading time books.
Included in his plan for this year is:
The Five senses unit study---this includes a 5 senses minit lap book,scented playdough play,scent jars I made in the montessori style,mystery touch bag,bells sound activity, reading "My Five Senses" by aliki, verse this unit is Psalms 139:14 "I will praise you beacuse I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
He is excited to learn to read so we are continuing to use phonics games and starfall phonics online. He spends time each day "reading" picture books and magazines like "ranger rick" and "birds and blooms".
As always, we will continue our nature study with the bird feeder identification station in one window. I have added two new "used" books--A Guide to field identification Birds of North America by Golden Press and "World of Birds' by Fisher and Petersen. "Birds and Blooms" has neat little cards in the back of most issues which we cut out and save for a quiz game of name that bird. Fall is the perfect time to continue our walks in the woods. Last year we did a unit on woodpeckers (Tippy-toe's favorite bird). This year we will do owls as this goes along with our third grade "Little House in the big Woods" unit-We can do this with both of them.
Tippy-Toe is building his own robot out of salvaged pieces of metal. So far he has an old waffle maker for a head. Long bolts for "bones" and other nuts and bolts we found at a garage sale or two this summer. I have put the word out loooking for robot parts we will see what we find this will cover many months I am sure.
I have a dinosaurs rocks and minerals unit almost ready. I have been collecting rocks and fossils for a display in the science cabinet to go along with this unit.
August was sea shells for the display in the science cabinet. I found a large conch shell and tippy-toe and pitty-pat have some shells we set out. I left out "Discovering Seashells" by Douglas Florian, "A Shell for Seahorse" a picture book and "The Snail's Spell" by Joanne Rider as the reading time books.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Little House in the Big Woods Unit Study
I am doing a unit study with Pitty-pat using the book "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. So far we have made butter, baked bread, and rendered lard--all things my mother who lived during the depression taught me. I also know how to make soap and plan to do this with the kids. We are using templates from homeschoolhelper.com for our lapbook to go along with the story.
Home made Butter Recipe:
1 pint whipping cream in the dairy aisle of the grocery store. Put in a clean glass jar with a lid. I recycled a plastic peanut butter jar because it had a very tight fitting lid. Now let kids shake until butter forms. when enough butter forms pour off the buttermilk. Rinse and salt butter if desired. Taste best on warm bread.
Single bar recipe for soap making
(**use caution not for small children Lye is VERY, VERY Dangerous!!)
use safety glasses when handling lye
1/2 cup cold water
2 heaping tblsp. commercial lye
1 cup tallow or lard or mix of each
slowly add the lye to the water, then bring both the lye solution and tallow to about body temperature. Combine the two in a glass bowl and mix slowly and steadily until the consistency is about that of sour cream. Pour mixture into a mold and age. (original recipe from "Back to Basics"book published by Reader's Digest. My mother always used red devil lye and the recipe for a large batch was on the can. The older the soap the better it was for getting stains out.
Home made Butter Recipe:
1 pint whipping cream in the dairy aisle of the grocery store. Put in a clean glass jar with a lid. I recycled a plastic peanut butter jar because it had a very tight fitting lid. Now let kids shake until butter forms. when enough butter forms pour off the buttermilk. Rinse and salt butter if desired. Taste best on warm bread.
Single bar recipe for soap making
(**use caution not for small children Lye is VERY, VERY Dangerous!!)
use safety glasses when handling lye
1/2 cup cold water
2 heaping tblsp. commercial lye
1 cup tallow or lard or mix of each
slowly add the lye to the water, then bring both the lye solution and tallow to about body temperature. Combine the two in a glass bowl and mix slowly and steadily until the consistency is about that of sour cream. Pour mixture into a mold and age. (original recipe from "Back to Basics"book published by Reader's Digest. My mother always used red devil lye and the recipe for a large batch was on the can. The older the soap the better it was for getting stains out.
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