Pack Lunches for Home

I haven't posted here in a while and now that I am, I'm going to send you on over to another blog.  I don't normally do this, but I just have to pass this helpful hint along.

Jenna is new to teaching her children, but not new to homeschooling.  She was home-schooled from K-12 grades and is very aware of how much time it takes out of the homeschool day to prepare, eat, and clean-up from lunch.  With a need and desire to make things simple in her growing family, she has found it easier to pack the lunches for her children (& for herself).  This post on her blog gives some great ideas for lunches that are healthy and kid-friendly.

Take a look.  Try it out.  Happy homeschooling!

Planning!

I am so excited!  Last year I finally waded into the waters of Unit Studies.  I walked in carefully using a wonderful "beginner" program called "Learning Adventures."  This has been a great program for us as it has laid out very clearly our daily activities.  It is so detailed that I could just read from Dorian's notes if I wish (and on the days that I'm experiencing fried-brain, that is exactly what I do.)  However, now that I have gotten my feet wet and I see how to do a unit study, I am ready to take the plunge into developing my own unit study for next year!

I have been very happy with Learning Adventures, but so far, the author has not had the opportunity to continue the program through the Civil War - a subject in which my children are extremely interested.  I am also not completely satisfied with the grammar section of the study.  Therefore, I have done some searching.

My cousin's wife introduced us to Evan-Moor's History Pockets this year and has allowed us to borrow 3 of her books.  If you have never used these, they can be found here.  They are filled with information and lots of fun and EASY projects for the kids to really comprehend what they are learning.  I have supplemented  our study of the colonization of America with these pockets.  The book gives some starter information about the topic and it would be so easy to use that info as springboard into finding other books to dig deeper. 

As I was preparing some more pockets for my children to do in the next couple of days, I noticed on the back of the book that Evan-Moor also offers Literature Pockets.  I hurried to the computer, went to the Evan-Moor site and I have found a pluthera of educational supplies that will make it easy for me to create a customized curriculum for next year.  Each of my subjects may or may not relate to one another, but each subject will be a fun, hands-on, and educational unit. 

If you are looking for something more interesting to do with your students next year instead of the same ole workbooks, I highly recommend this site.  I understand that the information comes from a secular and evolutional world view, however, I see that as a teaching opportunity in itself.  I plan on using their "Daily Science" books, yet when we are confronted evolution, we will see what their belief is and search out and contrast the Creationist view. 

I am so excited about this new venture next year and the fact that I have months to plan for it!

Fancy That!

My mom came over for a visit this past Saturday morning.  We were not able to spend Thanksgiving together and, as she was going to be in the area doing some shopping, we decided it would be great if she came over to do some "catching-up." 



As she was due to arrive at 10:00, I just assumed I would serve her some coffee and leftover pie (check out the recipe here).  Around 9:00, inspiration came upon me - why not have a simply fancy lunch?  My children had neglected to eat breakfast, so we could eat a bit earlier than usual so my mom could still get her shopping done. 

The menu - peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, bananas, juice, cider, and chocolate ice cream (kids) and pie (mom & me) for dessert.

"Um, Victoria, I hate to tell you, but that sounds anything but fancy!"

Yes, but it's all in the PRESENTATION!

(OK - here I must apologize.  I will be discussing presentation without any pictures to illustrate as I dumbly have forgotten for the 400th time this week to recharge my camera batteries.  So sorry.)

First, my daughter made the good ole American PB&Js and then cut them into shapes - dinosauers for the boys and hearts for the girls.  I realize that cutting sandwiches into shapes leaves quite a bit of wasted bread, etc., which is why we don't do this often.  (If you have any suggestions on how to creatively use the crust "remains" please leave them in the comments.)  She then stacked the dinos on one glass plate and the hearts on another.  So pretty.

When it was time for lunch, I brought out my good dishes and peeled the bananas before placing them on the plates and serving.  Everyone got a very pretty stemmed glass from which they drank either apple cider or sparkling juice (grape juice mixed with Sprite).  An everyday lunch served on special dishes, makes for a pretty fancy meal.

When it was time for dessert, I dished up the children's ice cream in some pretty glass sundae dishes that I have tucked away and drizzled their scoops with chocolate sauce and topped it with whipped cream.  They were so happy.  Mom and I used the dessert plates from my good set and ate our delicious warmed apple pie.

Simply fancy.  It made my mother feel welcomed and my children feel special.  Having guests for lunch no longer appears complicated.

Question for You

I need some help. 

We are beginning the busy holiday season.  As most homeschool families have experienced, the daily schedule seems to get as mixed up as a box of Christmas lights this time of year.  I know the obvious solution is to not over-scheudule ourselves.  However, that often means turning down ministry opportunities, which can be more valuable than book lessons. 

I live in a state that requires quarterly reporting.  I know my kids are learning even on the days where their "formal lessons" are not possible, but try explaining that to the superintendant.  So, my question is:

How do you accomplish "real school" in the midst of many busy days of "real life"?

Please leave your suggestions in the comments.  I would appreciate it so very much!

Pocketful of Pinecones

Have you ever read this book by Karen Androla?  It's been out for several years, but I finally decided to read it.  Now that my approach to homeschooling has changed, I find this book extremely encouraging and has given me several new ideas.

Who knows?  Maybe we'll start a Nature Notebook of our own.

Give this book a read...and tell me what you think.

Volcano Dessert!

Yes, we're still learning about Rome - almost finished, actually. It has been quite interesting seeing how the Roman Empire parallels the history of the United States.

But, this post is not meant to make you lose your appetite, but whet it!

Our science for this unit has been geology - focusing on the 3 categories of rocks and then on to earthquakes and volcanoes. What's the connection to Rome? The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79 occurred during the Roman empire in Pompeii.

Of course, we did the age-old volcano eruption using baking soda and vinegar, but my favorite project is our volcano sundae! Be warned - the picture doesn't do it justice!

I'm telling you, one of the best things of Learning Adventures are the awesome recipes we get to try! This Volcano is made with 1/2 gallon vanilla ice-cream, 1 C. peanut butter, 1 C. chocolate chips. You mix in your mixer and then pour it into a graham cracker pie crust. As the ice cream is softened, you mold it into a volcanic shape (I had my children do this all by themselves - hence, the charming imperfection). After you finish sculpting, put it in the freezer for a couple of hours or until dinner. Then, take it out, form a crater in the top and pour hot fudge into the crater, until the "lava" begins to flow down the mountain. A mixture of powdered sugar & chocolate milk powder dusted over it makes the appearance of ash! Add a few volcanic bombs (chocolate chips) and dig in!!! YUM!!!

WARNING: By the time you finish this delicious dessert, your stomach will feel like it's about to erupt!:)

You can make this dessert without creating the volcanic shape, etc - just in pie form. This way, your guests won't think you've totally lost your mind!

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our science class and wishing you all a wonderful school day!

Olympic Festivities

This was the day of our Ancient Greek Finale! What a wonderful few weeks it has been studying Greek culture, myths, history, people, along with the human body (for science). There is SO much more to learn in these areas - which is part of the beauty of unit studies. We walk away knowing so much more than we used to but realizing there is so much more knowledge to gain. We have just whet our children's appetites for more.

Today, the children held the Olympic Games at Mount Olympia. Well, the Mount looked much like our hay barn, but with imagination we were champions at the place of champions! I read through the names of the participants, the athletes repeated the Olympic pledge (they each wrote one and voted on the best pledge to repeat), and I began each event with the trumpet fanfare (otherwise known as the screeching of a recorder). Races were run, ropes were jumped and tugged, relays were...relayed. Fingers and feet were frozen, but all walked away winners.

The Olympic banquet consisted of Greek pizza (pitas topped with ricotta & feta cheeses, spinach, tomatoes, & olives), Greek tortellini salad (tortellini marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, & salt and mixed with fresh spinach, red onion, and feta cheese), and, for dessert, Greek lemon cake. A very different meal, but one that most of us enjoyed. Best of all, it was a huge success with my husband!

Once we cleaned up from the banquet, the children presented the play they wrote together based on the fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." It was quite good and it's always fun to see them successfully work together. I never enjoyed doing skits or family plays, but our children seem to live for it!

Then came the awards ceremony. I presented the medals for each race, always beginning with the bronze and ending with the gold. Of course, the gold medalist stood on a stool between the other two medal winners.

We then had a group recitation of Psalm 139:1-15. There are 24 verses in the chapter, but we had a rough time with a couple different verses. It is our goal to have the entire chapter memorized soon.

We topped the evening off with a reading that concluded Book 3 of Mary Pope Osborne's "Tales From the Okyssey" entitled "Sirens and Sea Monsters." This is an abridged version of Homer's Illiad & Odyssey written for children. It has been a great evening read aloud for the family and we will begin book 4 as soon as we can check it out of our library!

I am actually sad to say good-bye to the ancient civilization of Greece, but I anticipate a great adventure beginning next week in Ancient Rome!

An Idea

How do you convey the idea of large numbers to young children?

At our homeschool co-op this past week, I was teaching the 2 & 3 year old class about the reason for Thanksgiving. I was telling them that the first Thanksgiving was almost 400 years ago. (Ok, so it was easier than explaning 380 years!) To a 3 year old, 400 years and 1 year are equivalent - they don't comprehend such things. In order to convey the idea more clearly to them, I had 403 pieces of dried corn (my children counted them out for me). I held 3 pieces of corn in my hand. "Most of you are 3 years old. This is 3 pieces of corn." Then I showed them the rest of the corn in a bowl. "In here are 400 pieces of corn. That's a lot more than 3. Just like 400 years is a lot more than 3 years!"

Their faces showed understanding. I'm sure they still don't have an overall concept of time, but they understood it for that lesson.

Do you have any other ideas for conveying the concept of time? I'd love to hear them!