Posts in Circle Time
Cooking Science Update
One of the fringe benefits of our cooking science class has been the ability to make a portion of dinner.  We made beerocks recently, and really, all I did was supervise.  Beerocks were the entire dinner that night!

Browning the Ground Beef (make sure you wear your best jewelry for this job)

How 11-Year-Old Boys Chop Cabbage

Cook the Cabbage and Beef Together

Joe Loves Beerocks!

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Circle Time, Educating at HomeKendra Comments
Weakness
During our Circle Time yesterday morning, we were reading Romans 12, and I stopped at verses 4-8: "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." It occurred to me that we as a family weren't really considering each member as a unique part of the body.  I re-read the verses and then asked each child what they thought their strength was. Sometimes other members of our family can see our strengths better than we can, and it was fun to hear brothers and sisters chime in about their siblings' strengths. I have a friend who often reminds me that we as a church body should be encouraging each other's strengths and protecting one another's weaknesses.  I told my children that.  I have been seeing far too much teasing of weaknesses, or annoyance at each other's annoying traits, rather than gentle forbearance and patient protection of hearts. It wasn't easy to admit the most prominent weakness.  When I asked my kids what my biggest weakness is, one of the teens answered immediately, "You don't always listen to the whole story."  Ouch. But.  We are family.  We should be joyfully encouraging the strengths and boldly protecting the weaknesses.  I don't mean excusing the weaknesses.  I mean that we should be patiently, lovingly, gently understanding that something is a weakness in another person rather than allowing that trait to get under our skin. In a home where Christ reigns and where the members of that particular body are protected by those who love them most, it's ok to be weak. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22
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Circle TimeKendra Comments
Cooking as Science
Recently we talked a bit about finding something you love to do and injecting it into your day. For me, cooking and baking are a particular delight and I have long been wanting to teach my kids how to be capable in the kitchen. We started several weeks ago with a free lapbook posted on HomeschoolShare. We've covered measuring, tools, cleanliness, knife skills, and food borne illnesses. We've made pretzels, crescent rolls, carrot sticks, and scrambled eggs.

Practicing Knife Skills

This week we learned about candy making and the science behind all the stages of sugar cookery. I came upon a most wonderful website put together by the talented people at the San Francisco Exploratorium complete with video of the stages of candy hardness. As I looked further, I found the site to be a perfect companion to our cooking science course. Put the lapbook and the website together with some interesting books from the library and you'll have a fun time learning in the kitchen. Amy's Crescent Rolls from my friend and mom of many, Amy Micu 1/2 c milk 1/2 c butter 1/3 c sugar 1/2 t salt 1 package (2 1/4 T) yeast 1 egg 1/2 c warm water 4 c all-purpose flour In a saucepan, heat milk until bubbles appear around edges of pan. Add butter, milk, sugar, and salt and stir off heat until combined. Cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand until foamy. Beat yeast and egg into milk. Beat in 2 cups flour, adding more until dough pulls away from sides of pan. Knead dough very gently until smooth and elastic, 2-3 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl and cover loosely. Let rise 1 hour, then punch down and divide into two pieces. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll dough into a circle and cut into eight wedges. Roll up each wedge and then curve into a crescent. Place on a greased cookie sheet, point side down. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
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Circle Time, Educating at Home, Family Friendly Recipes, ResourcesKendra Comments
Anatomy of Day Gone NOT as Planned
So. I am the Preschoolers and Peace gal who loves routine.  Schedules.  Plans!  But... My wise friend Cheryl has often said to me, "Hold your plans loosely", and I am getting lots of practice doing just that these days. For those of you who might think I've got the corner on organization, I give you Tuesday, January 20th 8:00 5-year-old crawls into my bed to rub my back.  The day has begun well! 8:10 Mother-in-Law calls from next door to tell us that the inauguration is coming on and do we want to come over and watch it?  I *thought* it was going to be on at 11:30, but apparently that's real time, not California time. 8:30 Put strata (made yesterday by my friend who helps us on Mondays) into the oven. 8:35 9-year-old, 7-year-old, 5-year-old, 22-month-old, and I go next door to watch the inauguration.  No sign of the teenagers- they prefer their warm beds in the morning. 9:30 Come back home to feed baby. 10:00 Eat breakfast, read devotional, send everyone on a hunt for my small Bible, clean kitchen, fold a load of laundry, listen to phone message from food co-op coordinator. 11:00 Put 22-month-old in the playpen in the family room with the intent of starting our history study in the schoolroom.  13-year-old reminds me that his guitar lesson will be in that room in 15 minutes.  Move playpen upstairs to my room.  Forgot Beatrix Potter DVD downstairs.  Who needs a gym? 11:15 Start history.  Can I tell you how thankful I am that Linda Hobar has recorded The Mystery of History???  I push "play" and sit down to check email.  Diaper desperately in need of changing. 11:19 Crack open a can of Diet Coke.  I'm off the wagon, but as my best friend says, "Its not Vodka". 11:30 Search Google for photos of Chinese foot binding. 11:35 Search Google for photos of acupuncture. 11:50 Discuss St. Simon and the Coptic Church.  Discuss Eric the Red (we're going chronologically). 12:00 Clean up schoolroom.  This after my little friendly but loud lecture about actually doing your job rather than claiming to have done your job. 12:03 Discuss inauguration on the phone with my husband.  Put away Christmas books while talking.  Conversation ends when he arrives at the pool for a noontime swim. 12:08 Continue to encourage the cleaning of the schoolroom.  Collect library books for return. 12:20 Send children to do their morning chores.  It's not morning.  We're pretty darn majorly behind, and by the way- our two hour Circle Time has been reduced to 45 minutes, and we only studied history.  "Hold your plans loosely"... Grab 22-month-old and 8-month-old to go put the littlest guy down for his nap. 12:25 Carry 5-year-old downstairs.  She still can't walk until we see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. 12:26 Read aloud in the living room.  Tell 5-year-old to sit still and stop fussing because she didn't get as many pretzels as she wanted. Correct 22-month-old 11 times while he sits in his little booster seat and eats pretzels.  Knit seven rows on a baby bootie. 12:45 Ask 13-year-old to start celery with peanut butter for lunch.  He's the Tuesday breakfast guy but he was nowhere to be found when breakfast needed to be started. 1:00 Discuss the fact that it takes more calories to eat celery than is to be gained by it.  Listen to the 15-year-old tell me about a movie he, his brothers, and cousin plan to make about facial exercise.  Practice facial exercises.  Crack ourselves up. 1:15 Talk to best friend on the phone.  We will miss seeing each other as she passes through our town today :( 1:20 Hear 11-year-old frantically practicing the piano because his lesson is at 2:00.  Watch the celery and peanut butter disappear.  Watch the crackers and apples disappear.  Watch the oatmeal cookies disappear. 1:35 Sneak upstairs to write this. 1:40 Tell piano players to get into the van.  "Take your math!".  Give 13-year-old instructions for feeding and playing with the baby.  Try to find lip gloss.  Make-up is a priority. 2:00 Drop two pianists off at piano.  Drive to chiropractor with 15-year-old for adjustments. 2:30 Back at piano teacher/dear friend's house.  Paint the remainder of her kitchen cabinets that I couldn't finish the night before. 4:00 Home.  Have long conversation with best friend on the way, finishing as a load of laundry goes from washer to dryer.  Approve two snack requests.  Tell everyone downstairs to come upstairs for school help. 4:20 Spelling with 9-year-old.  I spell "raving" wrong just to get a laugh out of her. 4:40 Realize I didn't pick up my food co-op order.  Really, really, bummed at myself. 4:52 Check Facebook.  Why?  I don't know.  Feel guilty that I'm not downstairs checking on the other schoolwork being done at the kitchen table.  Getting up now... I'll stop there, partly because I'm thinking you're bored about now and partly because I can't remember.  Are you all feeling better about your days now? Enjoy today, and hold your plans loosely!
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Circle Time, Educating at Home, Life with Preschoolers, School OrganizationKendra Comments
Circle Time Questions Beget Circle Time Questions
What am I to do with baby once she is past the holding in the sling stage? What do you do with Mighty Joe (Praise the Lord he is well) when Christian has playpen time? Also, you have a school room as do we. Do you spend a lot of time there? -Vicki Mighty Joe sleeps most of the morning.  He is up from about 8:30 till about 10:30, and in that time he is either being held by someone, in his little swing, or in his car seat watching the rest of us.  Then he sleeps until 12:30 or so.  That helps tremendously. Once he is more wakeful, he'll be with us in confined ways- either in the front pack or backpack (I have an Ergo, which serves as both), in the doorway jumper, or in the playpen when Christian isn't there.  It's just a matter of juggling both little guys.  Someone (usually a sister) tends to want to take them for stroller rides or otherwise entertain them, as well. Our schoolroom usage has varied from season to season.  Some years we've done almost everything in the schoolroom, while other years the schoolroom serves more as a storage space for everything and a workspace for kiddos who want to use it.  We are fairly mobile this year, but I find that if I park myself in the schoolroom, I can help more kids at once. Did you wait to introduce formal math to your older kids until they were in about 3rd-4th grade? -Jennifer I think the answer depends upon what you consider to be "formal math".  Math facts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, measuring, and money?  Then no, we don't wait.  Abstract concepts?  Yes, we definitely wait.  We agree (particularly as we've watched all of them develop academically) with the Bluedorns. Up to what age have you used a playpen, Kendra? I’ve never used one at this age, but think maybe I should. At least to get us thru part of the morning. Any advice? -Dawn 38.  Some days when my husband gets home, I'm in the playpen and everyone else is running around.  I might be sucking my thumb, depending on how bad the day has been. :D I don't really know the answer to this question.  My guess would be 3?  4?  It probably has depended largely on the child.  I have a son who was so mellow he sat at the table coloring happily for 45 minutes when he was two.  I have a daughter who should have been in the playpen until she was six. My 2nd little boy, now 20 months old, can get very fussy. When he’s fussing because he’s not getting his way, we do the, “Oh, fussy babies have to go sit in their bed.” Then, we put him in his bed and come back to get him telling him he needs to be happy. Do you think that is the right way to handle it or do you have another magic method? -Amy Yes, that's a good plan.  You're communicating the standard and expectations.  No, I have no magic methods.  Bummer. My question is - IN THE AFTERNOON - when the little ones need naps (and sometimes mom does too!) what do the older kids do? -Christina Kathleen answered this one nicely: I’ve purchased lots of books on CD– The Chronicles of Narnia, j park (Jonathan Park), Radio Theatre, etc. and the big kids get quiet time where they each go to a room alone and “listen, play and read” with their CD player, stack of books, and tub of Legos or projects. They are refreshed by the alone time (which we all need when there are so many of us) and the little ones can sleep. After about 2 hrs. I get everyone up and we finish the day…
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Circle Time, Life with Preschoolers, Training Little OnesKendra Comment