Give Thanks
Last week Thanksgiving became our topic for school. We read the book 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving, by Catherine O'Neil Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac, and did various crafts and activities related to Autumn and Thanksgiving.
I love the cute traditional crafts, and want to do them all, so I decided to set aside these two weeks for Thanksgiving. We have made hand-print turkeys, leaf rubbings and paintings. The kids made a mini book entitled Autumn about the colors of the changing leaves and we made a Thanksgiving tree, which we add leaves to every day.
We have also spent the last two Mondays making applesauce with Grandma. This is such a neat tie-in to our conversation about Thanksgiving, because each Monday, we have experienced the harvest and all that goes into making the most of it.
Also, I thought these two weeks would be a good time to do food science and nutrition. For hands-on science, we have focused on dairy foods. We made butter, attempted yogurt, and we are going to take on the challenge of ricotta cheese. The butter worked beautifully, however, the kids bored of rolling, shaking and kicking their baby bottles, before the butter fully formed. I helped a little and they were immensely proud of their grilled cheese made with their butter! The yogurt did not thicken; I think I let it get too hot during the first hour of sitting. Temperature is very important, that's basic microbiology. I'm excited to try cheese!
For math, we have still been counting using our number chart and working with money. I think we are ready to move on from the money. Tristan is growing in his understanding and able to apply his math skills more each day. It is good to see him gaining confidence and using his counting skills in applications other than school.
We've also been working on tying shoes and tying knots. Anastasia can tie a basic knot, while Tristan is working on tying a bow into his shoe laces.
Etiquette is another focus for us these two weeks. We have been highlighting table manners and general good manners during our circle time and then throughout the day.
Some supplemental books we read this week: A Thanksgiving Turkey, by Julian Scheer is a fun story about hunting wild turkeys. Weaves some animal science into a story about a boy and his grandfather. Little Bear's Thanksgiving by Janice. Not memorable, but a sweet book nonetheless. Madeline Says Merci by John Bemelmans Marciano. This one did not live up to expectation. Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is an amazing book about the real puppeteer of the Macy's day parade and the history of the parade. I got teary reading this one. Anastasia chose High as a Hawk by T. A. Baron. It is a story about the youngest person to reach the top of Longs Peak in Colorado. Though the details are fiction, the event actually happened and the illustrations are great! I was reminded of our trip out to YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park last spring and asked the children if they remembered when we saw Longs peak. Not surprisingly, they don't remember, they did, however, love this story.
I am anticipating another week of pre-holiday fun, reading another history book about the myth of "the first Thanksgiving" (you must read 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving). I am amazed to look at the history of Thanksgiving and to realize that what we celebrate today really has nothing to do with the first English settlement and the native people in New England. Though we have them to thank for inspiring us to take time out with family and friends, count our blessings and give thanks.
I love the cute traditional crafts, and want to do them all, so I decided to set aside these two weeks for Thanksgiving. We have made hand-print turkeys, leaf rubbings and paintings. The kids made a mini book entitled Autumn about the colors of the changing leaves and we made a Thanksgiving tree, which we add leaves to every day.
We have also spent the last two Mondays making applesauce with Grandma. This is such a neat tie-in to our conversation about Thanksgiving, because each Monday, we have experienced the harvest and all that goes into making the most of it.
Also, I thought these two weeks would be a good time to do food science and nutrition. For hands-on science, we have focused on dairy foods. We made butter, attempted yogurt, and we are going to take on the challenge of ricotta cheese. The butter worked beautifully, however, the kids bored of rolling, shaking and kicking their baby bottles, before the butter fully formed. I helped a little and they were immensely proud of their grilled cheese made with their butter! The yogurt did not thicken; I think I let it get too hot during the first hour of sitting. Temperature is very important, that's basic microbiology. I'm excited to try cheese!
For math, we have still been counting using our number chart and working with money. I think we are ready to move on from the money. Tristan is growing in his understanding and able to apply his math skills more each day. It is good to see him gaining confidence and using his counting skills in applications other than school.
We've also been working on tying shoes and tying knots. Anastasia can tie a basic knot, while Tristan is working on tying a bow into his shoe laces.
Etiquette is another focus for us these two weeks. We have been highlighting table manners and general good manners during our circle time and then throughout the day.
Some supplemental books we read this week: A Thanksgiving Turkey, by Julian Scheer is a fun story about hunting wild turkeys. Weaves some animal science into a story about a boy and his grandfather. Little Bear's Thanksgiving by Janice. Not memorable, but a sweet book nonetheless. Madeline Says Merci by John Bemelmans Marciano. This one did not live up to expectation. Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is an amazing book about the real puppeteer of the Macy's day parade and the history of the parade. I got teary reading this one. Anastasia chose High as a Hawk by T. A. Baron. It is a story about the youngest person to reach the top of Longs Peak in Colorado. Though the details are fiction, the event actually happened and the illustrations are great! I was reminded of our trip out to YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park last spring and asked the children if they remembered when we saw Longs peak. Not surprisingly, they don't remember, they did, however, love this story.
I am anticipating another week of pre-holiday fun, reading another history book about the myth of "the first Thanksgiving" (you must read 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving). I am amazed to look at the history of Thanksgiving and to realize that what we celebrate today really has nothing to do with the first English settlement and the native people in New England. Though we have them to thank for inspiring us to take time out with family and friends, count our blessings and give thanks.
We enjoyed our first snow last week. It is really feeling like the holidays.
Comments