Quick post today! Pandia Press just released Real Science Odyssey PHYSICS! I'm very excited about this book! I can't wait to catch a peek at it and see how they present the material!
BTW, they are doing a giveaway for this text. You can go to http://www.pandiapress.com/rsophysics1/ to enter!
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Edible Geodes!
The two crazy little people and I have been exploring some earth science lately. Well, actually, according to the lovely plans I set up at the beginning of the year, we should be exploring the world of plants. However, since there's about 3 feet of snow on the ground, that didn't seem like a good idea (what was I thinking!?!)! So, we're on to earth science, and specifically, minerals and rocks.
During our exploration, we've learned a lot about minerals and how they have an inner crystalline structure. I decided it would be fun to run with the crystal idea, and more specifically, to spend some time exploring geodes.
Geodes are made when little gas pockets in molten lava cool and harden. Water rushes into little cracks and crevices of the pocket, depositing minerals which crystallize. We had lots of fun opening up some geodes (you can get them on Amazon) with a hammer to see what the inside looked like.
This was great fun, and I strongly suggest you try it at least once in your lifetime. Amazingly therapeutic! But I wanted to show the crazy little people a bit more about how that crystal was formed inside. They've used borax to make crystals, so we discussed that, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. And then I found this on Pinterest: http://makezine.com/2013/11/01/how-to-rock-candy-geode/
(By the way, have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest!?!)
Directions on how to make rock candy geodes! Yum! In the video, two ways to form the geodes are shown, one using fondant and one using melted chocolate. We decided that the one using fondant was most similar to how an actual geode was formed, so that's what we worked with. It turned out to be a fun and yummy project!
Basically, all we did was roll out our colored fondant, putting a dark layer on the bottom and a light layer on top. Then we laid out a large piece of tinfoil, placed a dishtowel on top, and then put a small bowl on top of that like this:
We put another layer of tin foil in the bowl, making sure to keep it bumpy like a rock. Then we laid the fondant inside. When that was done, I cooked up some simple syrup, using one cup water to 3 cups sugar. I heated that over the stove until all the sugar was dissolved and the syrup was clear. The crazy little people picked some food coloring and dyed the syrup, and then I poured it into the fondant shells. We wrapped the entire thing up in the tin foil and let it sit until the next day. The crazy little people were so excited to unwrap their little geode presents!
After they were unwrapped, we poured out the extra liquid and any crystals that were lying on top of that liquid. And there was our geode!
This led to a wonderful discussion about how these yummy geodes are different from regular geodes. We decided they should write a bit about how we made these geodes in their journals, and then it was time to eat! Who doesn't like candy geodes for a snack!
During our exploration, we've learned a lot about minerals and how they have an inner crystalline structure. I decided it would be fun to run with the crystal idea, and more specifically, to spend some time exploring geodes.
Geodes are made when little gas pockets in molten lava cool and harden. Water rushes into little cracks and crevices of the pocket, depositing minerals which crystallize. We had lots of fun opening up some geodes (you can get them on Amazon) with a hammer to see what the inside looked like.
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| Crystals! |
This was great fun, and I strongly suggest you try it at least once in your lifetime. Amazingly therapeutic! But I wanted to show the crazy little people a bit more about how that crystal was formed inside. They've used borax to make crystals, so we discussed that, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. And then I found this on Pinterest: http://makezine.com/2013/11/01/how-to-rock-candy-geode/
Directions on how to make rock candy geodes! Yum! In the video, two ways to form the geodes are shown, one using fondant and one using melted chocolate. We decided that the one using fondant was most similar to how an actual geode was formed, so that's what we worked with. It turned out to be a fun and yummy project!
Basically, all we did was roll out our colored fondant, putting a dark layer on the bottom and a light layer on top. Then we laid out a large piece of tinfoil, placed a dishtowel on top, and then put a small bowl on top of that like this:
We put another layer of tin foil in the bowl, making sure to keep it bumpy like a rock. Then we laid the fondant inside. When that was done, I cooked up some simple syrup, using one cup water to 3 cups sugar. I heated that over the stove until all the sugar was dissolved and the syrup was clear. The crazy little people picked some food coloring and dyed the syrup, and then I poured it into the fondant shells. We wrapped the entire thing up in the tin foil and let it sit until the next day. The crazy little people were so excited to unwrap their little geode presents!
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| A Nice Shiny Package! |
After they were unwrapped, we poured out the extra liquid and any crystals that were lying on top of that liquid. And there was our geode!
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| Crystals! |
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Create an Animal!
With the holiday season fast approaching, I thought it should be time for us to finish up with our study of animals so that we could concentrate on Christmas. We've been looking at a variety of different animals, as well as the classification system, and we've really enjoyed it. But I didn't have the slightest idea how to end the unit!
After spending some time on Pinterest (one of my favorite sites!), I found an idea from ilove2teach. Instead of looking at animals that already exist, the crazy little kids could come up with their own make believe animals. There was some writing involved, so I was a bit worried. CLG is a bit young to write, and CLB is just not a happy writer. I was pleasantly surprised when they both greeted the project with enthusiasm!
I decided to make a sheet that each kiddo would fill out to help them decide what their animals would look like. I didn't make it too complicated, just made sure they would have something to refer to to help them remember all the things we learned about animals:
From this, both crazy kids were able to think up interesting ideas for new creatures. And to draw them, too!
CLG came up with an "amnite fish". This little guy apparently enjoys living in the "middle" and "bottom" layers of the ocean. It was fun taking time to figure out what the technical name of those ocean layers are called, and it's still amusing listening to her try to say abyssal! This fish apparently does wander up to the top layer of the ocean to eat jellyfish, but usually stays below. The unique bit about this fish is that it's fin can change to wings! When it's threatened while having it's dinner, it will switch up its fin, fly out of the water, and hang out on the beach for a few hours (she wanted the fish to head over to the subway, but I talked her out of that one).
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| See the little fish in the wave? |
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| Doesn't it look so happy on the beach? |
CLB came up with a new amphibian called a "fran". This little guy lives in bogs, under the ground. Since it lives in a bog under the ground, and it's an amphibian, it has to leave its home periodically so it can breath. The fran likes to eat and has antenna that can help it sense worms, ants, and flies up to one mile away. It can also change color, to stay away from predators, but if it is spotted by a predator, it will use its upside down claws to quickly dig a hole for it to hide away in.
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| Close up of the antenna |
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| A fran can change from grayish green... |
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| ...to brown! |
We had a lot of fun with this project. And, no, these creatures might not be scientifically possible! But the kids spent time thinking about how their animals fit in the classification system, where they live, how they protect themselves, and where they fit in the food web of their habitats. It was a wonderful way to end a fun unit!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Letter (and Number) Bread
CLB had a friend over to play with today, so CLG and I decided to bake some bread for dinner. It's always fun having some girl time, especially since CLG enjoys baking and cooking as much as I do. We picked a bread recipe out of the book, The Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook by Gold Medal.
This book has a recipe for each letter of the alphabet! It's a fun little book with recipes that my two Crazy Kids can make, with help from me of course! For the letter t, the book has a recipe for turtle bread, which is basically bread in the shape of a turtle. We did this when CLG was focusing on the letter T, but this week, we're actually reviewing the letters, B, C, S, and T, along with the number three. So CLG thought it would be fun to make these letters and numbers out of bread and eat them for dinner. And that's just what we did!
The bread has a wonderful taste and texture, and it went beautifully with our spaghetti dinner. Even better, CLG had fun making the bread and then practicing her letter and number making skills by playing with the dough. All in all, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon!
Letter (and Number) Bread Recipe
adapted from the Gold Medal Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook
Ingredients
2 to 4 cups of all purpose flour
1 package of rapid rise active dry yeast
1 TBSP of sugar
1 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of milk
1 TBSP butter
Directions
1. Mix the yeast, 1 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Put water, milk and butter in a microwavable container. Microwave it for 15 seconds, and test the temperature. If it's warm (between 125 to 130 degrees) take it out. If not, microwave for another 15 seconds. Wait for the butter to melt a bit and then add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture.
2. Stir in one egg, and then stir in enough flour so that the dough is stiff enough to handle. Sprinkle a surface with flour and then knead the dough on this for about 5 minutes, adding flour to the board as needed. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
3. Spray one or two cookie sheets with baking spray. Cut the bread into six evenly divided chunks, and form them into long "worms". Form the worms into whatever letters or numbers you desire. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. Place the cookie sheet(s) into the oven and bake the bread for 10 to 15 minutes. The bread should be a golden brown and make a hollow sound when you tap on the bottom of a piece.
This book has a recipe for each letter of the alphabet! It's a fun little book with recipes that my two Crazy Kids can make, with help from me of course! For the letter t, the book has a recipe for turtle bread, which is basically bread in the shape of a turtle. We did this when CLG was focusing on the letter T, but this week, we're actually reviewing the letters, B, C, S, and T, along with the number three. So CLG thought it would be fun to make these letters and numbers out of bread and eat them for dinner. And that's just what we did!
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| CLG finishing up her "C" |
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| Here are all our letters (and our number 3) |
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| Getting ready to take a 20 minute rest after all that work! |
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| Rested and risen, time for the oven! |
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| Yum! Ready for dinner! |
The bread has a wonderful taste and texture, and it went beautifully with our spaghetti dinner. Even better, CLG had fun making the bread and then practicing her letter and number making skills by playing with the dough. All in all, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon!
Letter (and Number) Bread Recipe
adapted from the Gold Medal Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook
Ingredients
2 to 4 cups of all purpose flour
1 package of rapid rise active dry yeast
1 TBSP of sugar
1 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of milk
1 TBSP butter
Directions
1. Mix the yeast, 1 1/2 cups of the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Put water, milk and butter in a microwavable container. Microwave it for 15 seconds, and test the temperature. If it's warm (between 125 to 130 degrees) take it out. If not, microwave for another 15 seconds. Wait for the butter to melt a bit and then add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture.
2. Stir in one egg, and then stir in enough flour so that the dough is stiff enough to handle. Sprinkle a surface with flour and then knead the dough on this for about 5 minutes, adding flour to the board as needed. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
3. Spray one or two cookie sheets with baking spray. Cut the bread into six evenly divided chunks, and form them into long "worms". Form the worms into whatever letters or numbers you desire. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. Place the cookie sheet(s) into the oven and bake the bread for 10 to 15 minutes. The bread should be a golden brown and make a hollow sound when you tap on the bottom of a piece.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Lunchables!
I just realized something the other night while trying to figure out what to make the Crazy Kids for dinner. You see, we generally sit down at the table all together and have a nice dinner together. But, periodically, I enjoy feeding the kids early and then have dinner set up for my husband and myself for after the Crazy Kids are in bed asleep. Something about sitting down and actually being able to pay attention to what I'm eating is just wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I like our family dinners, but it's nice to be able to eat instead of listening to the various complaints about what is sitting on this Crazy Kid's plate or whinging about whether or not the other Crazy Kid needs to eat all his/her beans or just two of them. We all need a break from that sometimes!
On days when my Crazy Kids eat separately from the grown ups, I do make a completely different meal for them. I figure if the grown ups get a treat, why not them? The only problem is that my little kid dinner repertoire is just plain sad. They get either hot dogs (yes, hot dogs! Don't get me started on what it takes to get these two to eat protein!) and a veggie, plain pasta and a veggie, or sandwiches and a veggie. They want nothing else! I tried to change it up with a quesadilla once or twice, but I probably won't be making that mistake again. And then I saw a bunch of these homemade "lunchable" ideas on Pinterest. Who knew putting food in little containers would make eating different foods appealing for little kids! I surely didn't! But my two loved the idea! Heck, CLG even helped put them together!
It was so easy! I just put paper cupcake liners into a plastic container and filled them up with different foods. I picked whatever I had on hand that was healthy (okay, so pepperoni and salami isn't the best, but they needed protein. Again, don't get me going on trying to get them to eat proteins!). And both kids LOVED it! Scarfed it all up! We will definitely be doing this again! So I just had to share! Go check out all the neat lunchable ideas over on Pinterest! I can't wait to try it again...ummm, yeah, tonight!
On days when my Crazy Kids eat separately from the grown ups, I do make a completely different meal for them. I figure if the grown ups get a treat, why not them? The only problem is that my little kid dinner repertoire is just plain sad. They get either hot dogs (yes, hot dogs! Don't get me started on what it takes to get these two to eat protein!) and a veggie, plain pasta and a veggie, or sandwiches and a veggie. They want nothing else! I tried to change it up with a quesadilla once or twice, but I probably won't be making that mistake again. And then I saw a bunch of these homemade "lunchable" ideas on Pinterest. Who knew putting food in little containers would make eating different foods appealing for little kids! I surely didn't! But my two loved the idea! Heck, CLG even helped put them together!
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| A quick and easy dinner for the Crazy Little Kids! |
It was so easy! I just put paper cupcake liners into a plastic container and filled them up with different foods. I picked whatever I had on hand that was healthy (okay, so pepperoni and salami isn't the best, but they needed protein. Again, don't get me going on trying to get them to eat proteins!). And both kids LOVED it! Scarfed it all up! We will definitely be doing this again! So I just had to share! Go check out all the neat lunchable ideas over on Pinterest! I can't wait to try it again...ummm, yeah, tonight!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Rice Mosaic
So we did a fun little activity to go along with the book A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman. Again, this activity is thanks to the book, Learn at Home Grade 4, which we absolutely love for our homeschool!
After soaking in the baggies for a bit, I just poured out the extra alcohol and laid the rice on piles of paper towel to dry. Once they dried up, I put them into clean baggies to keep them separated.
If you haven't read the book, it's basically about an extremely clever peasant and a princess who want to marry, but good old dad, the Emperor, is standing in the way. It's fun to see how the clever guy wins over the Emperor by starting with a simple grain of rice. CLB loved it! So he decided to do the accompanying rice mosaic craft that was suggested in Learn at Home.
First I had to dye rice different colors. It's really not that difficult, but you need a bit of space. I divided one bag of rice into 6 different baggies. Then added enough rubbing alcohol to cover the grains (just a couple of tablespoons will do, I think, but I did use more than that). Then I added drops of regular old food coloring into each bag, mixing colors until I had the entire rainbow:
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| The colors came out so vibrantly! |
The next day, CLB decided on a picture to make. He wanted to make a tree, so used regular Elmer's glue to lay down the trunk and branches. He got a little carried away with the glue, so I suggested he use cotton swabs to move the glue about the page. As he completed each part, he would sprinkle the glue with colored rice, and then move onto the next piece.
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| CLB has always said that he prefers making abstract art to real life pictures. I guess that's pretty obvious with this depiction! |
Now I should warn you that gluing rice, although fun, is a bit messy, so have a broom and dustbin on standby! But CLB had a blast, and, although it's tough to see the tree because he decided to use some unusual coloring, he was really proud of the result. And that's all that matters, right!?!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Making Butter
Today we decided to take some heavy cream and turn it into butter. All we had to do was put cream in a container and shake it, so easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? CLB did it over the summer in a science class at the library, and it didn't seem so bad, and CLG is exploring farm animals, so why not make butter?
Well, let me tell you, making butter may sound easy, but it involves a lot of shaking! Not the kids' shaking the container, mind you. Know this in advance if you decide to do this with your kids! Those excited little people are going to give up pretty fast on the shaking, and you're going to be left with the butter. And a sore arm!
Really all it is is putting an amount of heavy cream into a container that you can seal and then putting in the time to shake the container. Non-stop! For about 15 minutes or so. Which, I know, doesn't sound long, but when the Crazy Little Kids gave up after a couple of minutes, those 15 minutes I was left with shaking the cream seemed to take forever. Oh, and did I mention about 5 seconds into my shaking, I realized I hadn't put the lid on tightly. Cream all over me and the kids. Fun! Make sure your lid actually fits your container tightly!
After we shook for a bit, the cream turned into whipped cream. At this point, I added a bit of salt to the mix and started shaking....again! I kept at it but made the kids shake at times to give my arm a rest (they actually liked to jump with the container. To be honest, that seemed to work better than my shaking!). Eventually, we noticed that a liquid had reformed back in the container. We opened it up and there it was!
We were amazed!! To be honest, I didn't think it would work. I mean, knowing that it should work and then having it actually work are two different things. Next question, how did it taste!? So we drained the butter from the buttermilk:
And then plopped it onto wax paper:
Then the big taste test...would it taste like butter!?!
It does! Like fresh salted butter. It's fantastic! I can't believe we did it! We wrapped it up and put it in the fridge.
The Crazy Kids and I have every intention of eating it with dinner tonight. It's lovely! And fun! Now, I just have to work out this cramp in my arm....
Well, let me tell you, making butter may sound easy, but it involves a lot of shaking! Not the kids' shaking the container, mind you. Know this in advance if you decide to do this with your kids! Those excited little people are going to give up pretty fast on the shaking, and you're going to be left with the butter. And a sore arm!
Really all it is is putting an amount of heavy cream into a container that you can seal and then putting in the time to shake the container. Non-stop! For about 15 minutes or so. Which, I know, doesn't sound long, but when the Crazy Little Kids gave up after a couple of minutes, those 15 minutes I was left with shaking the cream seemed to take forever. Oh, and did I mention about 5 seconds into my shaking, I realized I hadn't put the lid on tightly. Cream all over me and the kids. Fun! Make sure your lid actually fits your container tightly!
After we shook for a bit, the cream turned into whipped cream. At this point, I added a bit of salt to the mix and started shaking....again! I kept at it but made the kids shake at times to give my arm a rest (they actually liked to jump with the container. To be honest, that seemed to work better than my shaking!). Eventually, we noticed that a liquid had reformed back in the container. We opened it up and there it was!
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| Butter! Sitting in it's very own buttermilk! |
We were amazed!! To be honest, I didn't think it would work. I mean, knowing that it should work and then having it actually work are two different things. Next question, how did it taste!? So we drained the butter from the buttermilk:
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| Really high tech, huh! |
And then plopped it onto wax paper:
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| This was still actually pretty wet. I ended up draining more buttermilk using a paper towel and putting the butter back onto fresh wax paper. |
Then the big taste test...would it taste like butter!?!
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| It looks good, but how does it taste? |
It does! Like fresh salted butter. It's fantastic! I can't believe we did it! We wrapped it up and put it in the fridge.
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| All wrapped up and ready to go! |
The Crazy Kids and I have every intention of eating it with dinner tonight. It's lovely! And fun! Now, I just have to work out this cramp in my arm....
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Catching Some Zzzzzs!
I'm a member of a local mom's group, as I'm sure a lot of moms are. The group communicates by email and all us moms share deals around town, where to find the best plumber, contractor, dentist, pediatrician, etc. and offer advice to other moms who are trying to figure out a particular mom problem. One of the issues that tends to come up almost cyclically (probably at least four times a year) is how to get a three year old to go to sleep in his/her own bed. Since we just worked our way through this with CLG, I decided to reply (well, actually I decided to reply after one mom suggested massages and another melatonin...for the kid, not the mom!!), and realized, hey, this is a pretty good blog post! And so here it is:
Ahhh, getting a three year old to go to sleep. We've just
worked our way through this, too, with our youngest one. Three year
olds are great draggers of feet! LOL! Both mine stopped napping
around 3, so that did make my life easier. But they do like to push
their limits with the bedtime routine. We stuck closely to our
routine, and if the kids tried to stray, we'd gently put them back on
course. We are strong proponents of the 5 Bs: Bath, Brush, Bathroom,
Book, Bed. We give plenty of time to get it done, no rushing through
this, but everyone stays focused on the task at hand. We do not
generally clean up the toys and such before, during or after this
routine. Cleaning up toys happens before dinner, we eat dinner, and
then, depending on the bedtime of the child, we start the bed time
routine (our son is older now, so he doesn't go to bed quite as early
any more, but we still only allow quiet reading/drawing before bed
usually). We stick closely to our routine, and if the kids try
to stray, we gently put them back on course. "I need a drink of
water" doesn't stop the routine, because we either tell the kids
they'll have a drink when they brush their teeth, or we remind them
that they just had a drink when they brushed. That kind of thing. We
do sometimes have issues with teeth brushing, though, and then we get
a bit firmer. If a child is refusing to brush his/her teeth, we
explain that he/she either can get the teeth taken care of or there
will be no book. This generally does the trick, but only because when
it didn't do the trick, we took the book away. It doesn't matter how
much they scream, if the teeth don't get brushed (or there's any sort
of outright refusal to get the routine done), the child doesn't get a
book. It makes for a louder (ie the kid is screaming and crying)
bedtime, but we figured out a way to deal with that too (see below).
Once the child
is in bed, he/she says prayers, gets kisses and hugs and maybe a
little song, and that's it. Any other discussion can be done during
the bath and brushing parts of the program (we like to discuss what
we did that day and what we're doing the next day). If one of the
kids acts up and is out of bed or screaming, there's a routine for
that too. The first time I get up right away and remind him/her it's
bedtime. Pick him/her up and tuck him back into bed. No kissing, no
hugging, no talking beyond saying it's time for bed. Second time
around, he/she gets no conversation at all, just gets put back in
bed. And that continues until he/she stays in bed. And believe me,
there's been many a night where I just sat on the floor by the door
for a half hour to an hour until the kid stays in bed! But they learn
that bed is the place to be and where they're going to end up
regardless of whatever wandering they would like to do!
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| It's called a bed! You sleep in it! |
If there's any
yelling, screaming, asking questions (of any sort...don't fall for
the "Could you get me a drink of water?" play...that seems
to be a specialty of three year olds!), anything like that, again, I
go up right away and remind the child it's time for bed and tuck
him/her back in. Nothing else, no yelling, no other talking, no
hugging no kissing! If he/she continues to scream and/or ask for
stuff, I just go out of the room and wait 5 minutes or so, then I go
back in and try again to tuck him/her back in. If it works, great, if
it doesn't back out again for another 10 minutes this time. Keep
increasing the time in between by 5 minutes or so. Sometimes, they
just are so tired that they need to yell, I think. But make sure to
go in there when they settle down and tuck them in...I think they
also need that tucking in and face wiping to really settle in.
And if you
don't want the child in the bed with you any more, for goodness sake
don't let him/her sleep in your bed any more!! If the child gets up
in the middle of the night and wants to get into bed with you, remind
him/her about his/her own bed, lead the child back to the bed, and
tuck him/her in. No hugs, no kisses, just a reminder about his/her
own bed. If he/she gets out and comes back in, just bring him/her
back, no talking this time, and tuck him/her in. And repeat, repeat,
repeat. If there's any screaming, crying, or yelling involved, but
they're staying in bed, great! Just see above to see how we dealt
with screaming and crying. It's tough on you the first few times, but
if you let the child back into your bed, it'll be 20 times harder the
next time because he/she will try longer to see if you give in.
Believe me, I know with this one...my husband always let my youngest
into bed, which worked fine for him because she stopped bugging us,
but was not fine for me because she basically shoved me out of bed. I
like my snuggles, but not at 2 am when I need my sleep!
As far as
monsters and bad dreams go, the only things that have worked for us
is a bit of imagination. These things are coming from their
imagination, so we figured we'd fight the monsters with our
imagination :). I made monster spray (just water and glitter), which
I would spray around the room whenever that worry came up. Monster
spray works for at least a week and is guaranteed to keep all
monsters away for at least that long (after I spray it, I always ask
if I missed any spots). Bad dreams are a tough one, though. I do give
lots of hugs and kisses after a bad dream, but at one point it was so
bad that my son was waking up constantly and working his way into not
wanting to go to sleep at all. In a fit of desperation, I grabbed
this tiny stuffed dog and frantically yelled out, "This is Good
Dream Doggie!! When he's with you, you don't have any bad dreams!".
My son stopped crying, rolled over and went to sleep without bad
dreams. I was shocked...but it worked for us!
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| Thank Heavens for little doggies! |
Oh, and if
there's a really bad thunderstorm that wakes the kids up, all bets
are off...both kids usually end up in bed with us getting loads of
hugs, kisses, and whatever else they need. But you can bet the next
night they're back in their own beds!!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Bake While You Spell!
A few months ago, CLG figured out how to sound out simple words and spell them. Since then, she seems to be asking how to spell different words, non-stop. We're talking every day, all day, with every breath she takes! I had a couple of days there when it seemed we had moved past this phase, but she came back to it after a bit of a break. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that she is curious about spelling and sounding out words, which is why I answer her questions each time she asks. But after months (and months!) of spelling words, I think even the most patient person in the world would start to twitch a bit!
To try to shake things up, I thought we'd mix in some baking with all this spelling. If there's one thing the CLG likes more than spelling, it's baking! So both Crazy Kids and I made up some sugar cookie dough (Thank you, Pioneer Woman for the dough recipe!), rolled it up in wax paper into two tubes, and then put it in the fridge over night. The next morning, I baked the cookies up into little rounds and frosted them (again, thanks Pioneer Woman!!!) in different colors. Then the CLG went to spelling some words. As she spelled them, I wrote the letters on the cookies in melted chocolate. We went through a number of -at words, and then moved on to -ogs.
CLG had great fun, and CLB is happy to have lots of cookies to eat. All in all, a successful spelling lesson!
To try to shake things up, I thought we'd mix in some baking with all this spelling. If there's one thing the CLG likes more than spelling, it's baking! So both Crazy Kids and I made up some sugar cookie dough (Thank you, Pioneer Woman for the dough recipe!), rolled it up in wax paper into two tubes, and then put it in the fridge over night. The next morning, I baked the cookies up into little rounds and frosted them (again, thanks Pioneer Woman!!!) in different colors. Then the CLG went to spelling some words. As she spelled them, I wrote the letters on the cookies in melted chocolate. We went through a number of -at words, and then moved on to -ogs.
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| Frog, log, hog, bog....Thank goodness I get to eat cookies after all this spelling!! |
CLG had great fun, and CLB is happy to have lots of cookies to eat. All in all, a successful spelling lesson!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Cool Science Experiment!!
For science, CLB has been exploring force and motion. He's read about Sir Isaac Newton a bit, and watched a short biography about him on biography.com. But reading and watching about force and motion only goes so far. I wanted to show CLB how this all fit together. I was absolutely delighted when I found this experiment on the blog, ordinary life magic. Although the potential for mess was high, we just couldn't pass it up!
The idea behind this experiment involves Newton's First Law of Motion...an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. CLB knows these words, but he hasn't seen them in action! First, I set up the experiment, without telling him what we were doing. I was going for the WOW factor here, and man, does this experiment have a lot of WOW. So here's the set up:
The egg fell straight down into the water, which broke it's fall so it didn't break!!! I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck doing this. I really wanted it to work, but I wasn't so sure about my karate chop capabilities! This experiment works because the karate chop knocks over the pie plate and the lip of the plate hits the paper tube, knocking it over in turn. However the egg hasn't been knocked over (acted upon) by either my hand, the pie plate, or the paper tube. Since there isn't a force acting on it except gravity, it falls straight down to the water.
The idea behind this experiment involves Newton's First Law of Motion...an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. CLB knows these words, but he hasn't seen them in action! First, I set up the experiment, without telling him what we were doing. I was going for the WOW factor here, and man, does this experiment have a lot of WOW. So here's the set up:
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| The potential for mess here is HUGE!!! |
Yes, that is a RAW egg perched on top of a small paper tube, on top of a tin pie plate, on top of a glass of water! And guess what I did? I knocked the pan away with a mighty karate chop! POW! Before I did that, I asked CLB what he thought would happen. His hypothesis was that there would be a mighty mess to go along with the mighty karate chop! But what actually happened was:
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| YEEESSS! |
The egg fell straight down into the water, which broke it's fall so it didn't break!!! I have to admit, I was a nervous wreck doing this. I really wanted it to work, but I wasn't so sure about my karate chop capabilities! This experiment works because the karate chop knocks over the pie plate and the lip of the plate hits the paper tube, knocking it over in turn. However the egg hasn't been knocked over (acted upon) by either my hand, the pie plate, or the paper tube. Since there isn't a force acting on it except gravity, it falls straight down to the water.
You should note that you absolutely have to line the paper tube up with the opening to the glass so that the egg falls into the glass and not on the counter. And you need to make sure to hit only the pie plate with your karate chop. If you hit the glass and the pie plate you do end up with a mess, as CLB found out when he tried it:
If I were you, I would definitely give this one a try! Hey, what's a bit of mess compared to showing your kids how cool you and science are!?! But, just in case you're worried about it and just can't bring yourself to try it, CLB took some video of our third attempt of this. It's a bit shaky (he is only 8, so his videotaping skills need a bit of work), but in 45 seconds you can see exactly what happens and how exciting it all is to Crazy Little Kids!
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| Egg down! Egg down! Actually, the egg did crack but not too badly. Cleaning up the water was more of a pain than the egg! |
If I were you, I would definitely give this one a try! Hey, what's a bit of mess compared to showing your kids how cool you and science are!?! But, just in case you're worried about it and just can't bring yourself to try it, CLB took some video of our third attempt of this. It's a bit shaky (he is only 8, so his videotaping skills need a bit of work), but in 45 seconds you can see exactly what happens and how exciting it all is to Crazy Little Kids!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Spelling City!
Just a quick shout out: SpellingCity.com is offering a free 30 day premium membership sign up for new members until August 31st. I've used SpellingCity, the free version, for the last couple of years and loved it, but never thought to pay the $30 a year for the premium version. Since we started playing around with the premium membership, I've been able to see all the games that CLB can play to help his spelling. And I can group the lists how I want and set up assignments for CLB to do on his own by a certain date. We're loving it! I'm not affiliated with the site at all, just a happy homeschooling mommy who can't believe she didn't try this out earlier!
To get the free 30 day trial, just go to SpellingCity.com by August 31st, click the "Sign Me Up" button and enter the code BTS13 at checkout. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
To get the free 30 day trial, just go to SpellingCity.com by August 31st, click the "Sign Me Up" button and enter the code BTS13 at checkout. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Circles and Faces!
Just a quick little post from little old me! Just about done wrapping up the first week of school, and I wanted to share these cute little snacks we made this week. CLG has been making an "All About Me" book, and one of the first things she did was to look at different faces and then try to draw her own face.
She's been having great fun putting all of this together, and the activities have been right up her alley (Love love love the Learn at Home series!) Our favorite one this week, though, was making a snack that looked like her face. We started with a rice cake:
I gave her a choice of jam or peanut butter to put on the rice cake to help glue the face on. She chose jam, so I spread that on for her:
For the eyes and nose, CLG added yogurt covered raisins:
Then an apple slice for the smile and grapes for the ears:
CLG loved making her circle face snack almost as much as she enjoyed eating it! Oh, and CLB just couldn't resist making one either:
This snack was adapted from an activity in the book, Learn at Home Grade K, published by American Education Publishing
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| Give her a break...she's only just about 4! Handout is from the book Learn at Home Grade K |
She's been having great fun putting all of this together, and the activities have been right up her alley (Love love love the Learn at Home series!) Our favorite one this week, though, was making a snack that looked like her face. We started with a rice cake:
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| And lookie there...it's a circle! This led to a completely different conversation linking to our study of circles this week! |
I gave her a choice of jam or peanut butter to put on the rice cake to help glue the face on. She chose jam, so I spread that on for her:
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| Looking yummy! |
For the eyes and nose, CLG added yogurt covered raisins:
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| Cute as a button! |
Then an apple slice for the smile and grapes for the ears:
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| Yes, I know, her "ears" are actually cheeks. Again, she's not quite four!! |
CLG loved making her circle face snack almost as much as she enjoyed eating it! Oh, and CLB just couldn't resist making one either:
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| Now, him, he's in 3rd grade...I gave him grief about the "ears" a bit :) |
This snack was adapted from an activity in the book, Learn at Home Grade K, published by American Education Publishing
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Peanut Butter Fudge
NOTE: I don't generally cook this up with the Crazy Kids. It requires the use of one glass bowl, heated up in the microwave for 4 minutes. Since the bowl gets really hot, the Crazy Kids just get to sit back and watch while I put this together.
First, make sure you use a large glass bowl for this. The ingredients are going to expand in the microwave, so you need room for that. In the glass bowl, put in a cup of salted butter (2 sticks) and one cup of peanut butter. Then add another big wallop of that peanut butter! Seriously, you can't go wrong...just do it!
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| You know this can't be good for you! But who cares today!?! |
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| You'll notice I barely take this out of the microwave. The bowl is already starting to get super hot, and I keep it here away from the Crazy Kids. |
Back in to the microwave it all goes for another 2 minutes. The mixture will expand this go around, so cross your fingers that you picked the correct bowl size!!
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| It had me worried there for a minute! |
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| Mmm, don't forget to smell the vanilla! |
Then, a cup at a time, mix in the powdered sugar. The amount of sugar you end up putting in is going to depend on how much peanut butter you ended up adding, so add your sugar a cup at a time. Again, remember to mix with that wooden spoon!
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| This is the first cup |
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| This is after the third cup. The mixture is starting to get some body to it. |
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| Perfect! |
Plop it in a buttered 8x8 glass pan and refrigerate until cool.
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| Mmmmm! |
You might want to leave just a bit in the bowl to tide you over until the fudge is cooled down!
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| Nom! No one will miss this little bit...go on! Indulge! |
Seriously, this is one of the simplest recipes I know that satisfies my sweet tooth! And the actual work time on it is less than 10 minutes! Who can resist!?! Certainly not me!
Recipe:
Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Fudge
adapted from a recipe by Alton Brown
Ingredients:
1 cup salted butter (2 sticks) and a bit more to grease the pan
1 cup peanut butter, with more added for good measure
1 tsp. vanilla
3-5 cups powdered sugar
Add the butter and peanut butter to a large glass bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Take the bowl out of the microwave, stir with a wooden spoon until combined, and then microwave again for another 2 minutes. Take the bowl out of the microwave with pot holders and place on a pot holder. Add the vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and stir (again, use that trusty wooden spoon!). When the mixture starts thickening up, stir in powdered sugar about 1/3 of a cup at a time. When the mixture starts pulling away from the side of the bowl while you're stirring it, you've added enough sugar. Pour the mixture into a buttered 8x8 glass pan, and refrigerate until cool. Cut into bite size pieces and enjoy!!
Monday, August 19, 2013
First Day of "Home" School Traditions
So today was our first official day of homeschooling for the 2013-14 school year! Yay! The Crazy Kids were excited, I was excited, the entire house was excited! I figure everyone has different ways to celebrate the first day of school, so I thought I'd share some of ours.
The big one for me is that the first day of school is just for us. We don't plan on meeting up with friends at the park or attending any kind of group activities. Don't get me wrong...I sooooo do not have the "stay at home, don't socialize" kind of Crazy Kids! We have a very vibrant social life, with many different activities and friends to share them with. But on the first day, I want to let the Crazy Kids ease into school, not dart through lessons and then yell, "Hey, come on, it's time to go play with friends!", or, "It's such and such a day, time to go to (fill in the blank...it could be anything from the Y to a playdate to a co-op class!)." Nope, slow and steady on the first day! It helps us enjoy the day and each other, and always reminds me how lucky I am to be with my kids all day and able to homeschool them.
So like everyone else we know, we take our first day of school pictures and gather our materials. But before we start, we always ring the bell. My grandmother's apple bell. I love this bell...it's so pretty! And the crazy kids especially love to ring it rigorously and joyfully! First day of school!
Then we ease into our planned activities and school work. Sometimes this involves learning new procedures or schedules for the year. I try to start with anything that's going to be with us all year as soon as possible. This year, I'm hoping CLB will learn to ask for help with his writing when he needs it instead of simply waiting for me to step in and give suggestions. So right away, we went over the new schedule for writing, and I'll keep it up on the white board until he's comfortable with it or until I need to make changes to it to help support him more.
Once all the paper and pencil (and markers, paint, shaving cream, etc.) work is completed, we have a little fun! We always go out to eat for lunch, and I usually let the Crazy Kids pick where they want to go. This year, I didn't even bother asking where they wanted to eat, because every time I do ask, it's always "MCDONALD'S!!!". We try not to go too often, so going on the first day of school was a special treat! While we were there, we also worked on a scavenger hunt for CLG. She was supposed to look around to find circles while we were out and about and find circles she did!
While we eat, I always check in with the Crazy Kids and see how the first day went. There have been times when CLB has felt completely overwhelmed on the first day and others where he is left wondering if that was all we'd be doing for the day, because it surely didn't feel like much! I'm happy to report that it seems as if we reached a happy medium this year. Over lunch, we also talk about our first service project for the year and how we can accomplish it. This year, we had already decided to do Operation Christmas Child and thought it would be a great idea to head over to the local Target to pick up items for our shoe box with the money the Crazy Kids have been saving. I like starting the year speaking to the Crazy Kids about how they can help other people in our community and across the world. I feel it's important for them to realize that not everything revolves around their little Crazy selves and although they might be little, a little bit of something can make a big difference and is definitely better than nothing!!
This really was a big day for the Crazy Kids, and they enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed them! But before we finished up for the day, we all thought there was one more thing we should do to celebrate a successful first day of school:
I think this is going to be a new treat we add to our list of things to do on the first day of school. Oh, and look at that:
Another circle! Whoda thunk!?!
The big one for me is that the first day of school is just for us. We don't plan on meeting up with friends at the park or attending any kind of group activities. Don't get me wrong...I sooooo do not have the "stay at home, don't socialize" kind of Crazy Kids! We have a very vibrant social life, with many different activities and friends to share them with. But on the first day, I want to let the Crazy Kids ease into school, not dart through lessons and then yell, "Hey, come on, it's time to go play with friends!", or, "It's such and such a day, time to go to (fill in the blank...it could be anything from the Y to a playdate to a co-op class!)." Nope, slow and steady on the first day! It helps us enjoy the day and each other, and always reminds me how lucky I am to be with my kids all day and able to homeschool them.
So like everyone else we know, we take our first day of school pictures and gather our materials. But before we start, we always ring the bell. My grandmother's apple bell. I love this bell...it's so pretty! And the crazy kids especially love to ring it rigorously and joyfully! First day of school!
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| Ring the bell for the first day of school! |
We may forget to ring it every day as the school year goes on and we get more and more wrapped up with our work. But you can bet on that first day, that apple bell's a-ringing!
Once the bell has rung, we can't forget to put our first jelly bean into our jelly bean containers. I have to admit, I always do forget, but as I said in a previous post, the two Crazy Kids love this countdown to the Hundredth day of school and never miss a day!
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| Jelly bean #1!!! |
Then we ease into our planned activities and school work. Sometimes this involves learning new procedures or schedules for the year. I try to start with anything that's going to be with us all year as soon as possible. This year, I'm hoping CLB will learn to ask for help with his writing when he needs it instead of simply waiting for me to step in and give suggestions. So right away, we went over the new schedule for writing, and I'll keep it up on the white board until he's comfortable with it or until I need to make changes to it to help support him more.
 |
| If this doesn't work, and CLB doesn't ask for help, then I'll make sure to change it up! |
Once all the paper and pencil (and markers, paint, shaving cream, etc.) work is completed, we have a little fun! We always go out to eat for lunch, and I usually let the Crazy Kids pick where they want to go. This year, I didn't even bother asking where they wanted to eat, because every time I do ask, it's always "MCDONALD'S!!!". We try not to go too often, so going on the first day of school was a special treat! While we were there, we also worked on a scavenger hunt for CLG. She was supposed to look around to find circles while we were out and about and find circles she did!
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| My chocolate milk cap, Mooom! |
While we eat, I always check in with the Crazy Kids and see how the first day went. There have been times when CLB has felt completely overwhelmed on the first day and others where he is left wondering if that was all we'd be doing for the day, because it surely didn't feel like much! I'm happy to report that it seems as if we reached a happy medium this year. Over lunch, we also talk about our first service project for the year and how we can accomplish it. This year, we had already decided to do Operation Christmas Child and thought it would be a great idea to head over to the local Target to pick up items for our shoe box with the money the Crazy Kids have been saving. I like starting the year speaking to the Crazy Kids about how they can help other people in our community and across the world. I feel it's important for them to realize that not everything revolves around their little Crazy selves and although they might be little, a little bit of something can make a big difference and is definitely better than nothing!!
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| Some of our donation picks for Operation Christmas Child. Yup, more pictures for the circle scavenger hunt! |
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| You can fit a lot in a shoebox! And lookie there, I was able to buy some school supplies this year. Ahhh, my zen moment! |
This really was a big day for the Crazy Kids, and they enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed them! But before we finished up for the day, we all thought there was one more thing we should do to celebrate a successful first day of school:
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| ICE CREAM!! |
I think this is going to be a new treat we add to our list of things to do on the first day of school. Oh, and look at that:
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| Nom! |
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