Monday, September 29, 2008

Today in School


We have been studying Ancient Civilizations. Embree & Reeves both can actually locate on a Map the Nile & Egypt, the Tigris & Euphrates rivers & Mesopotamia, India & the Indus Valley, and the Yellow River Valley of Ancient China. They have been so excited to learn of all these civilizations...can tell you about nomads in the Fertile Crescent and how to make a mummy (we actually have a small chicken on the kitchen counter mummifying as we speak...6 weeks & counting...more on that in a week or so!)

Today we began a week of study on Ancient Africa (not including Egypt...it has so much to cover it is handled on its own). We talked about how the Sahara Desert used to be fertile and then became arid & dry, separating the villages in the north of Africa from those in the south. We began reading Anansi the spider tales and we made African paper beads.

Later this week we will be reading more myths, making African instruments, and making a African feast for dinner on Friday evening...chicken with figs, papaya rice, fried plantains. I'll let you know who eats and who goes to Subway after the kids go to bed!

While both kids are enjoying our history lessons, Reeves seems to really connect! There are lots of battles and tyrants. He's very good at map reading and wants to delve more deeply in many subjects than I originally plan. He's beginning to venture into reading on his own and has picked out books on warriors and myths...particularly interested in the Minotaur! Also, he's quite adept at math...whizzing through his own 1st grade work. I've noticed that if Embree asks a question about her own math, Reeves often shouts out the answer!

Next week we are back into Egypt for awhile and I'll be posting about or final preparations of the chicken mummy. Needless to say, Embree is thrilled!!!

Recipe

I found out this morning that we were having a student over for dinner. I had already been to the grocery store for the week and hadn't planned on baking any desserts. But, this morning I received an email with the following recipe also. It was EASY and turned out beautifully...used stuff I already had. It was rich, but a small batch so it was gone after dinner and there was no leftovers to tempt me later...everyone loved it and it made the whole house smell like autumn!

Credit: http://vscreationsonline.com/publications.html

Easy Apple Snack Cake
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter (she called for shortening, but I used butter)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups peeled, cored apple slices
.
Topping:
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
PREPARATION:
Into a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar. Add shortening, egg, and milk; beat with electric mixer until blended, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Spread this batter in a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan. Arrange apple slices over the batter, sharp inner edges down, overlapping as needed.
Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over apple slices. Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes, until apples are tender and topping is browned. Serve warm with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Friday, September 26, 2008

We have a reader!!!!

Embree has discovered a new series of novels. You might have seen them. They are THE WARRIORS...about clans of cats. I think her cousin, Gregory, might have introduced them to her. Anyway, she's still a bit leary of trying a novel, but we found a WARRIOR series in a genre called, manga. It's a genre of illustrated novel from Japan...sort of a comic book of a novel. It has the story and dialogue, but most of the decription that loses Embree is accomplished through the pictures...about 100 pages. She's finished three this week and, best of all, she's finally interested in reading alone. She's even planning to email the author and ask questions about one of the characters. Wonder of Wonders!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Pumpkins or Balls?







We visited Evans Orchard this week to buy apples & Brice thought he was in heaven...all the "balls" (pumpkins)!

Embree's Girl Scout Meeting


Embree has been a Brownie for the past three years, but today she "bridged" over to her new Junior troop. Because the old troop disbanded (her leader was too busy to continue...yes, that was me!) she joined a new troop that's all homeschooled girls like herself. She was very nervous and almost didn't go, but after encouragement she agreed to try it once...only once. She came out smiling, with an alien made from an Osage Orange and a variety of hardware supplies. Very cute! She's ready to buy her uniform!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

We have discovered letterboxing! (check it out atlasquest.com) We used our new GPS today to locate three destinations. We found 1 out of the 3! The kids love following the clues and it's like Christmas morning when we find a box!

First Post

SO, I am attempting to create a blog about our days in school. It's meant fo family and friends who'd like to follow the fun things the kids are doing. My challenge will be to get things posted, but they would like to share so we'll give it a go.

Check back soon for the fun!