"C" Words in My Celery Prints

Thought up a fun learning activity while making dinner last night. Cutting celery and onion for baked chicken, I noticed my celery stalk was slicing in the shape of "C". Perfect!

I finished cutting the celery slices until I had a four inch perfect-for-a-five-year-old-sized-hand piece. Then I poured a small amount of paint in a shallow Styrofoam veggie tray (a plastic lid could also be used). Instructing my five year old in print technique, I showed her how to make a "C" print by dipping the end of the celery into the thin layer of paint and pushing gently onto a white piece of paper. Perfect! Prints! Yahoo! She was very impressed, and so was I.

While the paint dried, we (all of us in the kitchen) worked together to list "C words". When the paint was completely dry, my daughter copied the words onto her paper. Perfect! Prints! Great lesson on the letter C. Love impromptu fun learning. Perfect! Prints! Learning! Yahoo!

Learning and Life Collide: Making Yogurt

Dining at a friends home recently, the hostess inspired me as she began heating milk to make yogurt. As we visited, she told me she had been doing this for quite some time. Me, I had never tried. However, with a family of nine consuming a minimum of 3 quarts of yogurt a week, I was empowered to give the process a try. My friend shared her yogurt making wisdom--explaining the cooler method she found by trial and error to be easiest.

When I returned home, I began my first yogurt making attempt by placing "homemade cooler yogurt" into a search engine. I read. I compared. I gathered needed equipment, most of which I had. My first attempt was successful, very successful, and I realized this process was yet another example of how learning and life collide. I wanted to involve my children in the process.

The first attempt, a successful walk through for me, I decided I understood the process enough to involve my children for my second yogurt making event. I retrieved the candy thermometer (left over from our yummy lollipop making experiments) from safe storage and gave the children a quick review about the care, use, and purpose of a thermometer. They were, once again, intrigued. We attached the thermometer to the side of the pot, poured in the milk, and turned the burner on medium. Each took a turn stirring. We periodically checked the temperature of the milk, giving us repeated practice reading a thermometer. One of the children drew a thermometer with the current temperature of the milk. A great way to incorporate multiple learning modalities.

As the milk heated we prepared the canning jars and discussed the difference between pints and quarts. The oldest helpers reviewed how many pints and quarts were in a gallon. One of the children suggested we pour pints of water into our empty milk jug to see if our calculations were indeed accurate; an excellent visual for our younger learners to have a concrete experience in measurements. We followed the remaining instructions and placed our yogurt into a cooler to "culture". After eight hours of "culturing" in the cooler, we placed our fresh yogurt in the refrigerator. We were all very excited about what we had accomplished together. In fact, we were all so enthused we decided to calculate how much money we had saved by making our own yogurt. What a learning experience!

My third attempt produced yogurt which was just a tad thicker than milk. Still yummy, just runny. Trying to figure out what went wrong. However, with fresh fruit, it made great breakfast smoothies.

There are several recipes, some using milk, others using soy or powdered milk. Experiment and choose what works best for your family.

Helpful links for yogurt making:

http://thefrugalgirl.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/how-to-make-homemade-yogurt/

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/yogurt.htm

http://www.choosing-natural-health.com/make-yogurt.html

http://livelonger.hubpages.com/hub/How_to_make_your_own_yogurt_-_An_illustrated_guide

http://cookingsimplefood.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/making-homemade-yogurt-in-a-styrofoam-cooler/

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2010/11/how-i-am-making-yogurt-right-now-the-cooler-method/

http://www.mysisterskitchenonline.com/2006/10/10/homemade-yogurtcouldnt-be-easier/

Crockpot versions:

http://ourlifesimplified.com/kitchen/all-recipes/homemade-yogurt-in-a-crockpot/

This crockpot version has become my favorite, though my ancient crockpot takes six hours on high to reach 180 degrees! Still beats having to worry about stirring in between family needs. I simply put the milk in the crockpot at 9 AM and never open the lid until 3 PM when I check the temperature and begin the cooling process. When the milk lowers to 110degrees, I add the starter, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler overnight. BEST yogurt ever! It was worth the tweaking to figure out what process worked best for our family.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-can-make-yogurt-in-your-crockpot.html

Math in Our Lunch

We've encountered math in our lunch! Amazing how the best math lessons seem to happen spontaneously. How, you ask? Here are some examples (with some added extras for the adventurous):

• Cut deli-sliced cheese and meat into equal parts. Discuss halves, quarters, thirds. Write the fractions (to extend to the symbolic representation).
• Cut a sandwich in two equal pieces. Discuss equal and half. Write the fraction. Older children could cut sandwich into fourths. Discuss equal fractions and introduce adding fractions with like denominators.
  
• Cut rectangle slices off the end of a rectangular prism of cheese. Find other rectangular prisms in the kitchen (boxes of crackers, cereal, tea bags, etc.).
• Identify additional solid figures (cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders). Compare to geometric shapes: circle, rectangle, square, triangle, and oval.
  
• Cut each rectangle slices of cheese into two squares and placed on a circular cracker. Find other squares and circles around the house. Look for right angles. Discuss straight and curved lines. Estimate the circumference of the cracker. Write the number to represent the estimate. Measure circumference of the cracker with a string and then measure the string with a ruler. Write the actual length and find the difference between the estimate and the actual.
  
• Measured the height, length, and width of the faces of the cheese block. Older children could calculate the volume.
• Discussed right angles, sides, angles, faces, length, width, height, circumference, diameter, and radius.

These an other kitchen math adventures are available in my Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula book.

Helpful resources:
http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/cuboids-rectangular-prisms.html (concept explanations)
http://www.tcpl.lib.in.us/youth/mathconcepts.htm (book lists for related math topics)
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/grocerymath.html (math in the grocery store)

Bring Math to Life, Add Life to Math

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William A. Ward

Math is one of those subjects that, for some, brings panic, fear, and anxiety -- angst at the very mention of multiply, sum, percent, or ratio. How do the emotions come to be? My guess is somewhere between the coins in a child's piggy bank and the black and white symbols of a textbook.

We love math when it applies to life and it makes a difference. Not a week goes by that one of my children doesn't climb upon a shelf to retrieve a bank and count the contents. For the older ones, math makes a difference when the stock market dips or real estate stagnates. Life is full of math.

Lately, life has dished us plenty of math. Is the birthday cake big enough to feed the guests at the table? How M&Ms can I pull from the bag before I get a red one? How much did each individual hanger cost in the BONUS pack of 20? How many mission trip support letters could be mailed for $10.25? When math makes a difference, it is understood. When math is understood, it makes a difference. This cycle inspires further learning.

Over sixteen years of homeschooling, we've brought math to life and we've added life to our math. Math for our children is real -- concrete -- part of everyday life. There is no panic, no fear, no anxiety. We live it. We get it.

How can you bring math to life, add life to math? I've included some of our favorite math activities in Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula. But there is more than math. There's language arts, science, social studies, and art. To bring math to life, it most be woven into living. For example, a child could create clay spheres or they could help mom make meatballs. Then a spherical orange can be cut into equal parts and then squeezed to make orange juice. Reading Each Orange Has Eight Slices by Paul Giganti reinforces fractional concepts. That's flipping three pancakes with one spatula, and that's bringing math to life.

Sites to help bring math to life:
http://www.mathcats.com/grownupcats/ideabankfractions.html


http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/mathhome.html


http://letsplaymath.net/


http://www.mathsisfun.com/fractions.html


http://www.abcteach.com/free/m/measurementsinmyhome.pdf

Taking Math on the Road

I am ecstatic about my newest resource, Taking Math on the Road! It is the first, of what I hope will be many, activity folders in my new Do, Learn, & Remember series. As children create an activity folder, they pull math off flat paper and apply concepts—numeration, graphing, measurement, computation, money, estimation, and more— to life experiences.

This series was conceived as I answered questions from parents: "How do you teach math?" or "Do you have a template for that activity?" The Taking Math on the Road CD contains instructions and templates for the games we play in our home to learn math. The CD can be purchased at my website and inserted in the CD drive of your computer. Print the pages you need and begin a thematic math adventure.

Want to know more? I am posting the introduction to Taking Math on the Road here so you can become more acquainted with the ideas behind the Do, Learn, & Remember series.

"The contents of this activity folder are intentionally written to help you teach your child math concepts. Working through this seven day study, your child will create a folder packed with high-interest activities. Unlike worksheets which teach math on a one-dimensional surface, Do, Learn, & Remember actively involves your child. The games are intended to provide stand-alone math instruction but can be easily adapted or incorporated into existing home studies.

Do, Learn, & Remember encourages mastery through repetition, an essential element for teaching math concepts. The completed folder’s compact, pocket-design keeps supplies and pieces safely inside and invites your child to carry learning through the day, playing and practicing again and again. This study is not a once-and-done-creation.

Do, Learn, & Remember activities offer flexibility. The unit was written for varied developmental stages and educational philosophies. Simply choose appropriate activities from the selections provided. Feel free to shorten, lengthen, substitute, or omit activities to accommodate your child’s learning needs. Web resources (marked with a computer symbol) and book suggestions are included for extended study. It is even possible to use the games and resources without constructing the activity folder.

Each lesson includes practical application experiences and related book titles (a library visit enhances study, but is not required) in an effort to make learning relevant to life. Additional supplemental activities and templates are available on this CD. Create, teach, and learn by the means which best encourage learning in your home.

Taking Math on the Road was tested in our home. If it didn’t work, I didn’t include it. In fact, only activities which earned a “Dad, look what we did!” made their way into this unit. Most of the activities were completed at multiple levels (ages 4-8) and some were selected as review activities for children who needed extra practice. Generally, we all played together. Our activity folder and the memories we made creating it, are treasured. We hope yours will be, too!"

Math concepts taught and reinforced in Taking Math on the Road:

• Shape and color recognition
• Counting to 100 by twos, fives, and tens
• Greater than and less than to 100
• Ordering numbers 1-100
• Ordering numbers 100-1000
• Graphing and tallying
• Comparison
• Addition facts and their corresponding subtraction facts (addends 0-6, sums less than 12)
• Foundational fraction concepts

Content area skills integrated and applied to life skills:

• Roman roads
• Road construction
• Shapes, colors, and meanings of common road signs
• History and significance of traffic signals
• Inventors who contributed to automotive history
• Car manufacturing
• Auto mechanics
• Buses
• Drawing vehicles

Bonus! activities and templates for Place Value Pasta, Add the Wheels, Traffic Sign Criss-Cross, and Roman Road Dessert.

When God Provides Three Pounds of Apples....

When God provides three pounds of apples for $1.00, make...applesauce, and apple pie. That's just what we did!

This weekend, Saturday to be exact, I happened upon an amazing sale: a three pound bag of apples for $1.00. I purchased several, tossed them in the backseat and drove home, proud as a peacock. My husband was somewhat astonished.

Bright and early this morning (no the internal clocks of my children did not automatically reset) my oldest daughter asked to make pie. That request led to applesauce. And so, by mid-morning the house smells of sweet scents of fall. I'm convinced if I look out the window, hues of brown, orange, yellow and red will paint the countryside. Though some of you may have that delight, we in the sunny south are blessed with palm trees and evergreens. Nonetheless, my house smells of fall.

Baking the apple pie reminded me of the several recipes and activities from Flip Three Pancakes With One Spatula. Out came the books and poof, we spent the morning with apples instead of starting the moon study I had intended. Oh well, that was my plan, not THE PLAN.

Here are some ideas (in case you find an apple bargain):

• Use an apple slicer to slice an apple into eight equal parts. Discuss how many slices make up half an apple and a quarter of the apple. Divide the slices evenly among the people at the table. Add peanut butter for a yummy snack.
• Cut an apple in half length-wise and width-wise. Discuss the differences. Talk about symmetry. Count the seeds.
• Purchase three or four types of apples. How do they taste? Do some taste differently? Some sweet? some sour? Make a graph of the family favorites.
• Arrange whole apples (preferably different types) on the table and draw an apple still life. Discuss shading and light source.
• Visit an apple orchard and pick apples.
• Make an apple pie.
• Make applesauce.

Read some good books:

• Apples! by Ken Robbins
• The Apple Orchard by Patricia J. Murphy
• Apples! Apples! by Gail Gibbons
• From Apples to Applesauce by Kristen Thoennes Keller
• How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
• Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta

Sew Sweet!

This weekend found my daughter and I in stitches! My daughter's sewing skills amaze me, as does her ambition. Beginning this summer she began sewing aprons to accompany my Flip Three Pancakes math/cooking curriculum and has been quite busy. I love the colors and patterns she chooses! She has an eye for design.

This weekend I pitched in to help her fill a large order, 5 adult reversible holiday aprons (one side Thanksgiving and the other Christmas) and 1 Gator apron (which she gave her aunt as a birthday present). And so, together, we were in stitches. I loved it! Working along side my sweet daughter on a shared project. Treasured memories!

This is the peppermint pattern she finished last week.

More patterns are are available at the bookstore page of my website http://www.cherylbastian.com/bookstore. She also takes custom orders. Wonder what pattern she will be sewing today?

Flip Three Pancakes Reviewed in Take Root and Write

Meredith Curtis reviewed my book, Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula, this week in Take Root and Write.

Flip Three Pancakes is a math curriculum and a cookbook packed with ideas to teach math while preparing meals with children ages 3-8. The activities included in the book are based on grade level skills taught in K-2nd grade and have been used in our life learning adventures.

Check out the review at:
http://issuu.com/noellemena/docs/trwdm-issue25-2009-august10-14?mode=a_p (scroll down to page 26)

The same review was posted at Joyful and Successful Homeschooling Reviews:
http://www.takerootandwrite.com/2009/08/flip-3-pancakes-with-1-spatula-review.html#more

Need an apron or chef's hat for your cooking adventures? Check out this week's fabric colors at http://www.cherylbastian.com/bookstore. The aprons make great gifts, too.

Happy cooking!