Swiss Family Robinson Book Repot

Elysia made a diorama for her book report this month. We had such a good time working on it together.  We started with a Scene-o-rama kit from a craft store.  She cut out photos from her old magazines and glued them to the cardboard to create a rain forest scene. She even remembered to add the thirty foot Boa Constrictor. 

Next she crumpled up paper and place it where she wanted the island to be.  Together we laid the wet plaster cloth over the wadded paper piles to create the illusion of hills.  This was probably one of the most crucial parts of the project but one of the easiest.  Just lay it down and blend plaster with fingers.

 

Rockberge was the Swiss Family's cave home, we made it out of a simple plastic cup stuffed into the mass of paper.

Once the plaster dried she painted it with earth tones. 

For the ocean, we used construction paper and clear glue.  The hardened glue reflected light like real water and gave the appearance that it was wet.  Next she sprayed glue on the island and sprinkled the green stuff on.

YES, I did help her construct the tree house, but she glued on the floor of sticks and made the ladder completely by herself.

I recommend this diorama kit to every student! It's so easy even an eight year old can do it! You can do all kinds of projects with this. Last year Elysia made a volcano and a little log cabin on a farm scene. 

I love sharing ideas and I look forward to hearing about yours.  I hope you will share.

Lessons with Makenna

Makenna is such a joy to homeschool.  She loves to learn and is easy to teach.  Unfortunately not all children are as easy going, that's why Elysia is in school this year.  Although Kenna enjoys doing her lessons she can at times get tired of book work.  At that point I try to think of some creative ways to reinforce what she is learning.

Now that Kenna can recognize her numbers and understand the value of each one, she is learning how to add.  I also thought this would be a good time to introduce number word recognition. I had her work out the problem with counting bears.  After figuring out the answer she had to find the word number card and place it  in the correct spot.

On a different day I gave her a number card that she placed on the floor.  Next I gave her another card and she had to decide if the new number came before or after the one on the floor.  We continued this until she placed all the numbers in the correct order.  I like these cards because it has the written form of the number as well.  We also do this activity with alphabet cards.

Other days when she finishes early I let her play with educational games.

Increasing the grains and decreasing white sugar.

 Healthy 5 grain oatmeal with fresh fruit is a breakfast staple around here. Often I will cook up a big batch at the beginning of the week and put it in the fridge.  In the morning we will quickly scoop out a serving and warm it up with some maple syrup.  Add some fresh fruit and you're good to go.
For more nutritious natural sugar ideas check out:
http://www.healthy-recipes-for-your-family.com/natural-sugar-substitutes.html

 Another family favorite grain is quinoa. I like to under cook it just a little so the consistency is crisp rather than mushy.  This meal is great warm or chilled.  Boil 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups chicken broth until tender. Prepare your chicken thighs or left over meat from last nights chicken roast.  Saute minced garlic and some onion in olive oil.  Add finely diced carrots and asparagus and saute for just a few minutes until slightly tender.  Keep in mind that raw veggies are more nutritious than over cooked ones.  The last step is to mix it all together.  Quick and healthy, just the way I like it.  Enjoy!

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God.

I haven't posted anything in awhile because I just couldn't find the time.  Let me explain.  I enjoy a clean and tidy house and my days scheduled, but as of late my life has been in complete chaos.  An entire winter's worth of dust and clutter has consumed my house.  I feel like I'm lost in a sea of toys and childrens art work. My front door rotted and had to be replaced which left my entryway torn apart and unfinished. Everyday I would wake up to another day of cleaning and decluttering, just to find the kids behind me undoing everything that I just did.  To top it off, huge ice chucks fell off my roof and took out my front porch, which can't be replaced until the snow melts. All this combined left me feeling joyless, stressed, and overwhelmed. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but it's necessary for me to share this before I can share of Gods wonderful works.  So one day as we were rushing out of the house late again, one of the girls couldn't find her shoe. Ahhh...  I broke down and called unto the Lord and asked for help. As I was praying I couldn't help but think how my house was resembling what was going on in my heart.  Lots of worldly clutter fogging up my mind and unnecessary anxieties not given to the Lord.  I saw how my time was wasted on pointless TV shows and hobbies as my devotional life dwindled.  As I was thinking about all this, my mind turned to the front entry, "What in the world could unfinished work have to do with my devotional life?"  Did I hear myself say "unfinished work"?  Yes, I have allowed the Lord to begin His work in my life just to stop Him short of completion.  Of course I have lost my joy and peace, I left my first love.  How could this have happened?  I love the Lord and desire to serve Him, right?  Praise God that He answers when we call and is always waiting near for when we return.  These past two weeks I have spent my time repenting, reading, praying, and seeking the kingdom of God.  As I was doing this I began to see the joy and order return to my life.  I'm happy to say my house is clean, organized and clutter free again! (except for the basement!) It's amazing how the Lord has blessed my efforts. I even received the bedroom set I have been praying for, goodbye plastic rubbermaid draws!  As for my entryway, I'm trusting the Lord for completion in His time.

Luke 10:27
Matthew 6:33

Vermicomposting

Each school year the kids and I choose a topic to study for science.  The past two school years we have focused our time learning about beneficial creatures for our garden.  Last year we learned all about ladybugs and we even raised them and set them free in our garden to eat our pesky aphids.  I didn't particularly care for this project, the larva stage was absolutely disgusting!  This year we're researching worms!  Not just any worms but red wrigglers!  Let me share with you what we have been discovering about this wonderful creation of God.  They are different from regular earthworms that you find in the garden, we keep them in the house!

Why on earth would we keep worms in our house?  Not just for educational purposes but because they cut our kitchen waste down by a third and then recycle it into organic fertilizer for free.  Vermicomposting is much faster and more effective than regular composting, and can be done right through the winter.  Start by shredding all your old newspapers, junk mail, paper bags, leaves, house plant clippings, ect... whatever you have laying around.  Then soak it in water and squeeze out the excess moisture.  Put the dampened material into a bin, and there you have it, a bed for worms.  Feed your worms your vegetable and fruit scraps.  They also like tea and coffee, bread, rice, and other grains.  Feeding and watering is really all you have to do, they do the rest!

This is what they leave you with.  Rich fertile compost, well actually it's worm castings (poop).  They will turn the entire junk mail bed into garden gold.  This is God's miracle grow, all 100% natural.  Another repulsive but wonderful thing they do is make compost tea.  All that excess moisture from their slimy bodies drains out from vents on the bottom of the bin.  You may not want this for your morning tea but plants will absolutely adore you if you offer them a cup. Make sure to mix it with water first, you may burn them.

We have so much fun with our new pet worms we actually named a few.

This is Layla and her cocoons. She is expecting her new arrivals in eleven weeks.
There is so much more to tell but I just don't have the time. If your interested in learning more here are some good websites.
http://www.joansworms.com/
 http://www.wackywild.com/lfstuff/articles

Warm me up! Winter soup.

One of my favorite things about winter is all the homemade soups.  There's nothing better on a bitter cold day than to walk in the front door and smell the aroma of warm simmering soup.  What a wonderful way of saying "Welcome home".  Whoever invented the crock pot deserves a bowl.

Every week I buy a bunch of fresh veggies and whatever is left over goes into the soup at the end of the week.  The kids enjoy the soup and I enjoy the thought of how many vegetables they're are consuming. I try to always make some biscuits or whole grain bread of some sort, just to sneak in the extra grains.  I'll post some of the bread recipes another day.

On the weeks that I roast a whole chicken for dinner, the family looks forward to later in the week. I simmer the chicken carcass for about 3-4 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.  You'll be surprised by how much meat you will have.  Separate the meat and toss the other stuff.

Chicken broth
1 can of diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano.
1 onion diced
1 clove of garlic or more
1 summer squash and zucchini sliced
 2 carrots chopped or more
green beans
celery
carrots
about 1/4 cup of brown rice
Cook until vegetables are tender.

This one is my personal favorite.  Use the same base as before.  Chicken broth and Diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano.  Dump the whole can in, juice and all.

sliced summer squash and zucchini
carrots
onion and garlic
kale, chopped into bite size pieces
1/4 pearled barley

I never measure I just throw stuff in and it always comes out great.  Enjoy!

Little Homemakers in Training

Ever since the girls were babies, I have always included them in the cooking and baking.  They would sit in their high chair next to me as I prepared dinners.  As they grew they would pull over a chair and help dump measured ingredients into bowls.  When I felt they were ready, I would allow then to stir the simmering soup on the stove or sauteing vegetables, of course I'm always right beside them.  As they grew in their obedience and gross motor skills, I would allow them to cut soft foods with a butter knife.  Now, Elysia at age eight and Makenna at age five, are fully capable of helping me with most of the kitchen duties.  Not only do they cook but I've trained them to help clean up.  Elysia is able to load and unload the dishwasher by herself , although this is still my job on most nights.  Elysia has meals that she has learned to prepare alone with no help.  When she is finished I will put it in the oven for her.  Often when I make the week's menu, each of the girls will choose a new meal to make with me.  Not only do each of them learn a new meal, they also get to have one on one time with Mommy.  From time to time people will ask why I do this?  I truly have a passion for cooking and baking and wanted my girls to feel the same way, and it worked!  The girls are continuously asking to make something and they truly enjoy it. (As I'm writing this Elysia is begging me to allow her to make some cookies.) Not to mention it's an important life skill that they will one day need.  It's also a great way to teach basic math skills, nutrition, how to read and follow directions, and it encourages a sense of accomplishment of their behalf. I'm so grateful the Lord has blessed me with my beautiful daughters, I'm just having so much fun!  I can see the benefit of my labor as Elysia often allows Connor to help her bake.  I see her teaching him how to dump measured ingredients into a bowl and stir, not only did I teach her cooking skills but how to prepare to be a homemaking mommy.  I can only depend on the Lord to teach me how to be a loving mother as I train my little girls to one day cherish motherhood as well.

Makenna making brownies and Elysia preparing salad.

Elysia's famous pizza!

Face painting

I had the kiddos paint while I was cooking supper this evening.  Usually I would have them help me cook but tonight I just wanted to get it done quickly and with little to no mess.  Well,  I got dinner done but had a whole different kind of mess to clean up.  I think I will stick to the normal routine for now on.

Cookie Math

This is a quick video reenactment of what we did during cookie math today.  I should let you know that I had to bribe her with two cookies if she did it again in front of the camera.  Of course she didn't count as high as she did the first time.  Oh well, I'm sure you get the gist of our counting lesson.

Makenna is doing really well with her math lessons and can count without my help up to twenty nine.  She was having trouble understanding what number comes after, she wanted to say twenty ten. As I was thinking of a fun way to teach this new concept to her, I remembered back when I was doing preschool with Elysia, and decided it was time for cookie math!

She whipped up a batch of sugar cookie dough, rolled it out, used number cookie cutters, and then waited patiently until they were done!

I had her place the cookie numbers zero through nine in a line as she counted.  Then I place a number one above the line to represent the teens group.  She brought each number up to the one making a new number from the teens group.  As she came to the nine cookie she realized that there was no ten, ( here's when the light bulb went one) "Oh, I start back with the zero."  At this point I asked her what comes after one?  I replaced it with a two and explained that this is the twenties group.  We continue this for some time until she was tired.

Next, she frosted some circles with the peppermint frosting that Elysia made.  I chose a number and she had to place the same amount of chocolate chips on the circle cookie.

Outside Time with Daddy

The girls got new snowboards for Christmas from their Auntie. They were so excited and so was Matt!  He has been waiting for this for a long time.  When Matt was a teenager he worked on a near by mountain as a snowboard instructor.  He has been looking forward to teaching his own kids when the time was right.  He wanted to begin teaching them when he felt they were old enough to truly enjoy it and not get frustrated or over whelmed.  Well, here it goes...

Elysia is still smiling!  She is able to go a few feet before falling, laughing, and getting up again.  I have to say Matt was right to wait,  if we started teaching her last year I know that she would have been crying at this point.

Kenna is doing well too, but she still prefers to use her blue sled.

I'm happy to say that Elysia is now turning slightly and learning to stop now that she has mastered the art of falling gracefully.

Thank you Daddy and Auntie!

Baking Snowflake Cupcakes

The girls love to bake and I enjoy baking with them.  Today we decided to make home made cupcakes instead of buying the box, we don't typically make them from scratch. Of course, I had to some how tie it into what we are learning in our lesson time.  So we added candy snowflakes on top!  Oh yeah, I also made it into a math lesson on fractions.  Elysia got it but Kenna was kind of lost. 

Bake at 375 for 18 minutes.
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tea. baking powder
1/2 tea. salt
2/3 cup butter
1 3/4 sugar
1 1/2 tea. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk

Beat butter, add sugar and vanilla.  Next, add eggs one at a time.  Now you can add the flour with baking powder alternating with the milk.  Oops... Just add the salt whenever you remember.

Spoon batter into the pan.  Don't forget to use your "Shh...I'm concentrating" face.

Whip up some yummy homemade frosting using butter, confectionery sugar, and a little milk.

You know what to do next! 

My Father's Dragon

Most everyday I read to the kids.  The experts say it's one of the best things you can do for your kids, so hopefully I get at least one thing right in this whole parenting thing. Currently we're reading My Father's Dragon by Ruth Chrisman Gannett.  Another homeschooling mom passed it on to us and I thought it would be a good starting place to transition from picture books to chapter books.  It's relativity short, only eight seven pages and ten chapters.  My goal is to increase Makenna's attention span and encourage her in vocabulary and language skills, but more importantly to foster a love of reading for well written literature.

I wanted to see how Makenna was doing following the story and if she was fully understanding it.  I had her narrate back to me what we have read so far, I was surprised to find out she understood it quite well.  I also had her draw a picture of the Dragon using the description found in a paragraph.

Connor on the other hand didn't really care for books, he just wanted to play with his trucks and trains. Never mind with that sitting down stuff!  So I began to pray about it.  My boy was very different from my girls who loved to sit on my lap and have me read to them, so of course I was a little concerned.  Not many days after my quick prayer, I noticed he wanted to look at a picture on his little board book.  Now he reads his books more than he plays with his trucks. :)  This is how he goes to sleep every night.  We keep his draw filled with interesting new material and then he drifts off to la la land in a pile of books.