Cranberry Thanksgiving

Cranberry Thanksgiving is one of our all time favorite books.  I don't know if it is because it was one of the first successful unit studies our family did , if it is because of the yummie treat the reading of the story always demands or if it is just the signaling of the changing seasons we enjoy most.  Whatever it is, this story is here to stay and a family classic in our home.

This season I decided to share the story with our homeschool co-op class.  This class was for k and 1st graders.  We started out by identifying the New England States on our maps and coloring them.  I used a printable from Homeschool Shares Unit Study found here.

Then we watched a video from You Tube of the cranberry harvest:

From Bog to Table

I think the children really love seeing all the equipment used to bring cranberries to our table.

After all the background information it was time to read out story:

And of course, we followed it with a tasting of Cranberry Bread:

Here is a good recipe to try from Ocean Spray. I don't have a picture of it but we also cut the berries in half and used them to stamp a decorative border on a copy of the recipe to take home and try.  I really loved how the stamping turned out and gave so much detail of the berry's insides.

After our snack and a bit of play we strung cranberries and popcorn to take home and hang on a tree or bush to feed the birds, chipmunks and squirrels.

That's it.  A quick study for Thanksgiving.  Thanks for stopping by and I am linking up with Montessori Monday.

Leaf Day

A few weeks ago, as we wrapped up our summer/early fall term my oldest declared it leaf day.  What is leaf day you ask?  It was a day to celebrate fall and take a break from our regular studies to enjoy art, baking and a bit of science.

ART
Leaf Day was a day of art with different media.  We started by following this idea for painting a fall tree with q-tips.  As you can see, each child is different and put their own spin on their project.

Then we moved on to some fun with markers from Kathy Barbro. Kathy's site is great fun, with projects for all ages, abilities and intensities.

The last project was also from Kathy's site and a bit challenging for even me. It was a complete the leaf, copy its details and colors activity.

Baking

Between art projects we also pulled out our fall cookie cutters for some sugar cookie making.  Have you ever added autumn spices to your dough or glaze, try it, you will probably like it. Think ginger, nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon.  I love the way the sugar sparkles on the icing.

Science/Nature Study
Finally, we collected all of our Fall books for some reading and learning why leaves change colors.

Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Look What I Did with a Leaf
Fall Leaves Fall !
Fall Is Here I Love It!
Leaf Man

I f you still have leaves on your trees take some time to enjoy there beauty and make it a special day with the children.

Balloon Animals and YouTube

Hi everyone!  How is your summer going?  We have been very busy this past week with Vacation Bible School and gearing up for more fun this week.  On the 4th of July we celebrate E's 11th birthday, which means a trip to the water park and on the 5th it is my husband's birthday, so this is always a go, go, go time of the summer for us.  However, among the hustle and bustle the children still need some suggestions of what to do when we are home in the afternoon (especially when I have pulled the t.v. and all devices).  So out came the balloons.

We started with a package of animal balloons and the book Crazy Balloon Modeling.

It was so interesting to watch the children attack this project.  E got right to work making a dog for herself and then for B our youngest. K wanted a ladybug which proved to be too much for her and for me.  (If you follow me on Facebook, you saw my post "It's official, "I suck at balloon animals!"  AJ took a long, long time to decide on what to make.

Poor little K was so frustrated about her lack of abilities but then she got creative,  She scrapped the book and just followed her own ideas and made a few hats and balloons.  I was so proud of her.  She gets frustrated then can go into a very negative mode but she pulled herself out and moved forward.

E is a get to it kind of gal and she helped B participate by making him a dog and a humming bird.

Then we moved on to YouTube. Is there no end to the self and home education that can be done through that website?  If you want to make balloon animals just search "easy balloon animals" and you will be overwhelmed with choices.  AJ watched and watched then finally made a sword and a dog.

Watching a YouTube tutorial.

E is making a heart she saw on YouTube.

After the animal balloons, out came the party balloons for games of all kinds.

So, don't ever underestimate the fun that balloons can be on a hot summer afternoon.  I think I will also add this to our list of winter activity ideas.

I also wanted to tell you how fabulous rocket balloons are.  I don't have any pictures but if you haven't tried them yet, you should.  Once you pump them up they travel a long distance with a great noise.

And just in case you wanted to know what I did to help in this fun, since I was a complete failure at making animals, well I was the official balloon tie-er.

Today is Montessori Monday and I am linking up!

Homeschool Favorites--An Easy Beginning

I was asked by a friend, who is just getting started homeschooling, what books do I recommend that she read.  I responded with, "well what are you looking for?" and her response was, "I don't even know where to start."  So I thought I would share some of my favorite books, blogs and resources.  This list is by no means exhaustive but the tools I have come across that have either inspired me or I have returned to time and time again.  This is a  great review for me as I have a little one I will be starting Kindergarten with in the fall.  However, if you have older children you will find this information useful as well because it spans many ability levels.

I have read many homeschooling books and these are my top three encouraging and inspirational selections:

Real Learning: Education in the Heart of my Home by Elizabeth Foss

I read this book 2 years ago, I think when hubs and I were in Napa and it was like my heart had been written on the page by someone else.  I love, love, love this book.  It is full of life experience, methodology and book lists for you children on various topics.The bummer thing is this book is out of print but if you find one get it, read it and mark it up.  Here is Elizabeth's blog

I Saw the Angel in the Marble and I Carved and Angel in the Marble.

These books are a compilation of essays published by the Elijah Company catalog many years ago and were so inspiring to me. I want to add these books to my summer reading list, again, but there is so little time.

There are so many other books I have found helpful in our homeschooling but these are my favorites.

If you are starting with preschool, kindergarten or first grade here are my favorite blogs filled with ideas and free printables.  Between these 2 blogs and a public library you could be all set.

1+1+1=1

Confessions of a Homeschooler

These 2 blogs will supply you with all you need to learn the ABC's and 123's in a fun and hands on method.

Here at the Middle of Somewhere we plan lessons with 2 things in mind, hands on(Montessori) and the use of a lot of literature (Charlotte Mason).  Here are my top 2 sources for planning literature based studies:

Serendipity 
Home of the Alphabet Path and wonderful studies in history and geography.

Homeschool Share
A wonderful site to explore whether you know what topic you want to cover or if you just want to do lessons based on great stories.

Keeping in line with our hands on learning here are 2 resources I return to over and over again to teach basic skills for all of our children:

Take it to Your Seat Phonics
Take it to Your Seat Math

The above resources are produced by Evan Moore and are available in all grade levels beginning with preK to 6th grade, so be sure to search for the level that you need.  Phonics and math are just the beginning of what this company has to offer they also have Take it to Your Seat for science, geography and writing, to name a few. If you are going to invest in these books, think about getting a laminator to make your folders more durable, especially if you hope to use the material with more than one child.

File Folder Fun
This is a free website with many hands on games to download and print for a variety of ages and topics.

If all of this looking around wears you out and you want an "out of the box" curriculum to guide you look at;

My Father's World
or
Heart of Dakota

There could be so much more to include and research and purchase (like all the Montessori things I didn't mention) but this is just a look at an easy beginning.  Each family is different and finding what works for you and your children often involves a lot of trial and error, that's okay, that's normal.  The material we like and where we find inspiration also changes with our family's season of life, interests and ages so be free.  Don't make the same mistake I did and think you should be able to pick material once, and set up a routine once, because if you do you will find yourself frustrated and scratching your head, thinking "I must be doing something wrong."  Flexibility is very important when planning each course of study. Above all seek the Lord for what and how he wants you to teach your children.  He will lead you, just follow.

Playdough in 5 Minutes

Our playdough spontenaity all started with this coupon that the little ladies clipped from the paper

 and ended with this oh so cute cake creation from the Play Doh Cake Makin Station.

If you have been reading here for awhile you know we like play dough.  Some mom's don't because of the teeny tiny bits that are hard to clean up but give a child a hand vac and it is no problem.

We have several Play Doh sets like the one above and the latest set to join the ranks is the Candy Cyclone, seen below.  The children love the Cyclone because it makes Play Doh gumballs.

Well seeing as how the children had a Play Doh coupon and how I was not going to drive 45 minutes to the nearest Target, we made our own.  Our recipe comes from this book:

The Busy Book is a long forgotten gem in our household but when it comes to DIY playdough it is what I reach for every time.  Here is our favorite recipe from the book and it really does take 5 minutes.  The littles love to play with the final product and the older children love to work the stove and mix the ingredients.

Combine in a saucepan and heat until warm:
1 cup water
1 TBS. vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 TBS. cream of tartar
food coloring

Remove from the heat and stir in:
1 cup flour

Dump out the dough and knead until smooth.

See it is a very simple and quick recipe.

Now have fun with one of the sets I mentioned above or strike out on your own and make something like this:

Isn't that a cute face to start the week with?

I'm linking up with Living Montessori Now.

Saturdays & Free Time

I always feel so bad that our younger children do not receive as much creative arts time as our older children did in their primary years.  Well I figured out how to add it in---Saturdays.  Saturday is the perfect day for  us to enjoy some creative time that is not available during the week.  Now, I know Saturdays are a day off so to speak, not another day of education, and I whole heartedley agree.  I just keep a mental (and sometimes on paper) list of quick creative activities that might engage the children.  So I thought I would share a few of their recent endeavors:

K painting a flower.  I picked up several small wooden shapes for the children to paint at Michael's, I think they were $.25 each.  These shapes were stocking stuffers but would also be great for Easter hunts or baskets.

Sensory play with shaving cream.  I think next time I will add a bit of food coloring for some color mixing fun.  I can hear B's excitement now.

This was an idea I saw last summer on Pinterest.  It is baking soda on a sheet pan then a dropper is used to drop vinegar mixed with food coloring.  Fun.

Painting with watercolors.

More watercolors.



Picture book reading is also another wonderful Saturday activity to pull out.  The younger set also have been read to far less than our older children.  Saturday reading makes me stop my tasks and focus on time with my children to enjoy quiet moments of togetherness.  You can see below that I like to mix our reading up with some classics, some seasonal stories and some stories in areas of interests, trains for example.

 All of the above activities were things I suggested when the children came to me needing something to do.  Now here is a look at the creative things they come up with on there own during free time.

I know it is winter around here when our stairs become cluttered with race track and cars.  This track is a darda track that we have loved to death.  The cars are long since broken but it is still a great create your own set with lots of options and fun. And yes that is a giant pile of cars at the bottom of the stairs, many we have bought and many more have been passed down to us from friends and family.

Playdough! Here you see the playdough cake set and candy shop.

Perler beads.

And somedays even if it is cold we go and enjoy our neighborhood school and play for awhile.

If you need some activity ideas check out our Kid Crafts and Concoctions board on pinterest. Also the blog Let's Explore has a monthly play list that I keep in my planner to stimulate ideas.

What do your children do with their at home free time and weekends?

It's Montessori Monday, go have a look!

Learning with Centers and File Folder Games

I have been a long time fan of File Folder Games and Take It To Your Seat Centers and over the years I have made and collected quite a number of books, folder sets and websites.  Yet, I found myself not being able to fit them into our schedule but this year I decided to dedicate one morning a week to these great learning tools.  I think Centers and Folders are great tools for learning both new material and reviewing old lessons.

The children know that Wednesday mornings are folder and center mornings.  Each child has their own box full of appropriate materials to work on.  The children are required to pick one folder or center from each of these subject areas: Language Arts, Math, Geography and Science.  They are to complete their selections and call me over to check them before they clean-up.  At this point, all the children have to do is complete the folders but in our winter term I am going to ask them to also record in their learning journals what they have worked on.  For Example, in this picture E is working on a Science Layers of the Earth Folder and I would ask her to make a  notebook page for her journal.

I also think having a folders and centers morning breaks up our week, so we don't get bored or run down in our daily lesson routine.  The folders and centers also meets my goal for providing as many hands on learning experiences as possible and cultivates independent learning.

Here are a couple Math examples of folders:

Martian Multiplication

Turkey Feather Addition with an added number line. (It has been so long but I think both this folder and the one above are from File Folder Fun, a site full of free folder games.)

And a couple of Geography Examples:

World Continents from Take it To your Seat Geography Centers.

Land Forms--also from Take It To You Seat Geography Centers.

Here are a few of the Take it to Your Seat Centers we use:

Take it to Your Seat Phonics Centers
Take it to Your Seat Science Centers
Take it to Your Seat Geography Centers
Take it to Your Seat Math Centers
Take it to Your Seat Writing Centers

The Take it to Your Seats come in many grade levels so I did not include them all so be sure to look for the level that is appropriate for you child.

We also use a variety of folder games from Lakeshore Learning:


Science File Folder Fun
Fractions, Decimals and Percents Elementary Folder Games
Puzzle Fun Math Cards

Again, a lot of these folder kits come in a variety of age and subject areas, so be sure to take some time and see if what you are looking for is available.

It is Monday so I am linking up with Montessori Monday.

Have a great week!

Practical Life--Cake Decorating

B recently turned 4 and Birthday cakes are a big part of the celebration here at The Middle of Somewhere. 

It always seems that the birthday child has a fantasy cake in mind that I am to reproduce from their brain to the plate.  I use to make the cake in private and keep it all a secret but over time I have started letting the birthday child take part in the cake making and decorating.  So a few afternoons ago when B was complaining that there was "nofing to do," I suggested that he help me make his cake.  This year his main request was that the cake be chocolate with red frosting.  In 10 years of parenting this was my first ever request for a chocolate cake, I know amazing!  Last year green was the demanded icing color, so I can't wait until next year's color of choice.

 I was so glad B helped because him with frosting all of his face was adorable and we found a new practical life activity.

Do you have a cake decorating set of tips and such hiding in the dark corner of a cabinet?

 Well, pull it out and put it on a tray and watch the fine motor practice happen as your little one removes, explores and puts back the tips or twists and turns the couplers.

 So much fun and interest was right under our noses and I didn't even know it.

Today is Montessori Monday, stop over for a visit to see more Montessori in action.