Art class idea

Today for art class we got creative! (Well, aren't you always creative in art class?) First, we made a salt dough with 1/2 cup salt, 2 cups flour, and 3/4 cup water. The girls mixed it together and split it two. (You will want to double or triple this for more kids). The toddler preferred just to squish the dough and helped me make a bowl. "A" made a frog and a "plate that looks like the United States of America." We then baked the dough at 350 for an hour to harden it. Next art day we'll paint them!

This is What Homeschooling Looks Like... Today (again)

I realized this weekend that we hadn't gone to the local state park with a sand beach all summer, and summer was just about done (officially- we were past Labor Day so it was already unofficially over). I checked the weather hoping for a warm day. Behold: Tuesday was supposed to be sunny and warm. 'A' did her tablework first thing in the morning. Then, we attended a Mommy & Me class for G before packing up for the "beach." We brought history and science with them. As I sat at the picnic table reading a missionary story as we ate our lunch, I knew I had made a good choice to come. It was so beautiful and peaceful! After lunch, the kids grabbed the sand toys and started what A called art class. After some free play, I started to read history. Just perfectly, today's lesson was about mud huts and round houses. The girls made an African village resembling the one in our book, with "mud" walls, round homes, and thatch roofs to keep the rain off the walls.
Later we read about sea anemones and clownfish while sitting on the playground climber. They even went into spontaneous role play pretending they were baby loggerhead turtles hiding from their predator, the red fox (yesterday's science lesson). Today was a good day for homeschooling.

The County Fair

Our local county fair was this past week. It was a great opportunity to see different animals, foods, and expand on our skill set. Unfortunately, there was major flooding, so the only animals we saw was a horse from a horse show and a kangaroo from another show. Normally there are goats, chickens, cows, rabbits and i think pigs. (Fortunately, we had gone to a smaller fair the previous month just to see animals).

As you can see, there were all sorts of vegetables and eggs to look at. It was amazing to see the different sizes and colors. There were rows of baked and jarred food and a separate building for flowers and hay.

The cool thing was, not only could we learn by seeing, but we learned by doing. "A" made cookies solo for the first time and took first prize in the youth under 19 category (she's six). I only helped by reading the recipe and putting the pan of cookies she scooped in the oven. She also entered photography, art (honorable mention), an apron she sewed (grandma supervised- 2nd place), a napkin holder (4th place), marigolds (5th) and a flower arrangement (2nd). G also got an honorable mention for her art.

Paired with the food and entertainment, it was a relatively inexpensive fun family event! Check one out near you!

More carrots please!

I'm a broccoli person. Not so much into carrots, but I bought some on a whim last shopping trip. Had a craving. As I was boiling some of that veggie pasta, I pulled out the baby carrots and cut them into smaller sticks. I then arranged them into a sun around some ranch dressing and gave each girl a plate. I didn't really expect them to eat much. I was wrong... They asked for seconds!

What happened next surprised me even more. Taking a tip from my friend Michelle @ MichellesCharmWorld, I then cut up the rest of the bag and put them into individual baggies. Later that evening, the baby went into the fridge looking for some cheese as a snack, but instead grabbed a bag of carrot sticks, and ate almost all of them!

Unintended Homeschool Benefits

When we started homeschooling this year, I never really thought the toddler would get much out of it. She wants to do everything her sister does! Here you see them doing math together. Sure, she's not really doing a math worksheet, but she's pretending to write numbers. While doing handwriting, I printed a letter sheet just for fun and was shocked she traced it! It'll be interesting to see her development now that she's learning right along big sister!