Week 16 - Food

As suspected, our food project has been a big hit!  Big K has been super interested in everything we've been learning and has even been spending his free time reading more about the food groups and exploring several food related websites.

This week most of our time was spent learning about fruits and vegetables.  We talked about the different ways they can grow (on vines, in trees, underground, etc) and learned about the different categories of vegetables.   We also spent a lot of time in the kitchen trying out some new recipes.  One of the things we made was homemade fingerpaint!  It wasn't exactly food, but still involved mixing things you would normally find in your kitchen (corn starch, water, sugar, salt, and food coloring).  Then the kids used celery stalks to paint with.  Of course, in true kid fashion the celery was quickly tasted and exchanged for using fingers/arms/legs/bodies to paint with.  That lesson ended up with a bubble bath....

  

This week we also had our first measurable snow of the season.  Big K woke up that morning, put on clothes as fast as he could, and headed out to play.  Even Little E was excited about this snow (which was huge considering last year she SCREAMED if the snow got on her boots).  But I think the most excited member of our family was Charlie, our dog.  He was out playing in the snow before the sun came up!  We also thought the first snow day of the year was the perfect excuse for hot chocolate and watching The Polar Express - one of our favorite Christmas movies!

Even though it was cold out, we still attended the Nature Basket program scheduled for this week at one of our local parks.  This month the kids met inside a log cabin from the 1800s (which, thankfully, is complete with a working fireplace that was lit!).  We learned about wild turkeys and then talked about what life was like in the pioneer days.  We learned how they made butter, how they cooked their food, and Big K even got to model some pioneer style clothing.  By the time we left, Big K was NOT impressed with life.  He said there was no way he was living like that ever because "there isn't even an XBOX!!!".









This week we also tried a new way of writing our spelling words.  We called it "Upside Down Spelling."  We taped a piece of paper on the bottom of our little table and the kids had to lay down under the table and write their words.   We try to keep things new and exciting for the boring subjects like spelling!





One thing we have done almost every day this month is graph the high temperature for the day on a line graph.   It has been a crazy weather month! Typical Ohio.....  Big K has also been interested in seeing what the weather is like in other parts of the world so I think for December we may do some comparison graphing!  As much as I love the idea of a White Christmas, I think I still prefer those 60-70 degree days!

Happy Learning!  It's almost Turkey Day!

Momma C