Super Simple Recipes for Children - A Great Series

We do a lot of baking at our house, this time of year. And yes, I know what you're thinking, we do a lot of baking all year. But trust me, from the first of November until Christmas, we do a LOT of baking.

I'm always looking for recipes the children can help with, or even take over, but that we might still enjoy eating or gifting. So, I was pretty happy when I received Nancy Tuminelly's Super Simple Desserts, Easy No-Bake Recipes for Kids in from the library, especially since I couldn't remember why I had put it on hold. I assume it must have come up in the catalogue when I was searching for cranberry related books, since it contains a recipe for "Maple Cranberry Drops", a sort of Thanksgiving themed, crispy rice type treat, pictured at the top of this page.

I gathered the ingredients for them yesterday, thinking the younger children might try taking on the recipe, with the help of their older siblings. But, E (age 6) took one look at the book, and asked if I would make a recipe with just her - alone. With six children, alone time with Mom can be hard to come by, so I decided since the recipe looked fast and easy, why not?

C (age 5) was not thrilled with the arrangement, but her sisters consoled her by helping her choose a recipe for her turn (and picking the ones for theirs as well). I might make them wait until we can check out another of the books from the author's series, because apart form being super yummy, and super simple, all of the recipes in this particular book are also super sweet. If you read this blog very often, then you know that means something coming from me. We are not your average everyday sugarphobes by any stretch of the imagination.

However the author has several other, and I can only imagine slightly healthier, titles in the series including Super Simple...Breakfasts...Lunches...Dinners...Holiday Treats...and Snacks. We now have the entire set on hold, as well as another series of "really cool" foods also by Nancy Tuminelly.


Working with E, I was very pleased with the layout of the book. The recipe was simply written, and accompanied by explanatory photographs. She could read, and follow most of it with minimal assistance.


I did measure out the sticky peanut butter...


...and placed the bowl with the peanut butter and white chocolate chips in the microwave for her.


But, she was able to set the timer in 30 seconds intervals herself, and to stir to mix the melting ingredients...


...and to add in the final three ingredients of maple syrup, which was really supposed to be maple extract (my only other complaint against the book might be that out of nine recipes, I only had all the ingredients on hand for one of them)...


...dried cranberries...


...and of course crispy rice cereal.


She was even able to handle the spooning of the "dough" into bite sized drops on wax paper to set up, but just barely - the recipe makes quite a few cookies for a six year old to have to spoon out.


All the work paid off though, when she got to serve up "her" dessert after dinner, and it was a huge hit, even if C did pick all the cranberries out.


I'd love to be able to share the recipe with you, because it really is very good, but I don't have permission, so I'll have to settle with recommending the book, which I definitely do. It does only contain nine recipes, but they are unique, tasty, and child-friendly.

If you're looking for a recipe right now, this very minute, head over to the Ramblings of a S.A.H.M.'s Watcha Making Wednesdays for more "in the kitchen with the kids" type fun - recipes generally included.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

World Map - Cookies and Puzzle

I pulled out a Ravensburger "Discover and Learn" Map of the World Puzzle to keep the children busy, while I was working on all the apples this week.

Although I noticed in the Amazon reviews there were a few complaints about the accuracy and the placement of the equator, we found it to be an excellent puzzle. Not only are the continents and oceans labeled, but individual countries too, shown with their flags, and capitals marked.

There is also a list of interesting world facts, only slightly out of date in reference to population, and a very nice full color poster to hang on the wall, once the puzzle is taken apart, and put back in the box.

At 200 pieces, D (age 8) found it a little daunting to attempt on his own, even though the puzzle is marked for ages 8 and up, but lucky for him, his older brother was willing to lend a hand.


While the boys worked away on the puzzle, the girls were inspired to make a cookie version of the map (I can't imagine where they'd get such an idea).


They used the enclosed poster to trace out the general outline of the continents on wax paper...


...for a template...


...to cut the dough around (click here for the recipe) into map shapes.


Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I mixed up a batch of butter cream frosting for them, and colored it to match the colors of the continents on the puzzle.


They did such a great job, I almost didn't have the heart to tell them they'd frosted the wrong side of Africa.



It's great to be a homeschooler.

Vocabulary Spelling City Review

I thought it was probably about time to share some thoughts about SpellingCity.com. Somewhere around three weeks ago I signed up for a free premium membership (normally $24.99/year for up to 5 students) in exchange for a review.

To be honest, I'm not sure where to begin. I like the website, but find it a little busy and disorientating, even with the "getting started" video clips. So, it's going to take me more than three weeks to really give a good evaluation.

A lot of SpellingCity.com is accessible for free already. You can check it out at any time, at the link above. There are games, printable worksheets, and tests for spelling lists. You can enter your own spelling lists, or take advantage of lists already on the website.

The premium paid membership adds an element of tracking and record keeping. Students are given their own log-in, and teachers can view their logs to see how often they've played games, or taken tests and which words need more work. There is also more of a vocabulary component to the paid membership, which is nice for older students. To the right is a checklist from the site, comparing the memberships.

My oldest (age 14) protested that it is a "baby site". I think that's mainly due to the slow but upbeat voice used to spell out the letters, and the cute animated mouse used in many of the games. He has however, been passing the tests. And G (age 12), the only one of my children who has been using a workbook for spelling help, says she likes the website's "play to learn" approach better than what she was doing before.

The games alone don't work for everyone. D (age 8) has been faithfully playing two games a day using the same spelling list, but has yet to learn how to spell the words. However, there are printable worksheets, and flashcards to bridge the gap.

All in all, I'd say it's a worthwhile website to check out, if you're looking for additional spelling resources for your children. Let them experiment with the free games and printables for a while, and then if they find them helpful, you might consider upgrading to a paid membership for the score keeping, and organizational benefits.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Another Trial Membership - Vocabulary And SpellingCity

Earlier this summer, I gave a quick review of our experiences and impressions of Time4Learning.com, an online curriculum supplement. While the website did not turn out to be quite right for us, I was intrigued with a few of the other learning sites linked to the site, such as Time4Writing.com, or VocabularySpellingCity.com.

So, when I received an offer to try a premium membership for up to five children in the family, at VocabularySpelling.com, in exchange for another review, I certainly wasn't going to turn it down.

Below is the disclosure provided with the offer, and a link to the site, where you might be able to check it out, with a similar offer, yourself.

Disclosure:

I've been given a premium membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.

VocabularySpellingCity.com helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Crossword Puzzle, HangMan, and Handwriting Worksheets. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of free teaching resources such as sound-alike words, and contractions. Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Time4Learning - Review

Time4Learning.com offers bloggers a free month long trial, of their educational supplement website, in exchange for an honest review. As a homeschooling mother, free use an educational website is too good to turn down, so I happily signed up, this summer, while we didn't have much else going on.

The trial was limited to four children. I registered C (age 5), E (age 6), D (age 8), and G (age 12), so we could check out the Kindergarten through Junior High levels of the site. The sign-up, and log in process was easy, and the lesson instructions were simple enough, even my youngest could follow them on her own. Which was good, because I found the "cartoony" voices of the instructors, a bit grating.

To begin with, C and E were quite excited to have new "school" work, and spent several hours a day working through lessons, and playing games (parents set the amount of lesson time, that must be completed, before games can be played). While we working through our space theme, D was happy enough to work on a few, space themed, lessons in the 3rd grade science section, as long as I let him stay up from nap, to do them. G spent one afternoon, at my request, exploring, and working through lessons. Her opinion was that it was "okay", but she was not willing to try it out more than once.

After a week, in fact, all the children had lost interest, and even the younger girls had stopped asking if they could log in. In fairness, I should say, I don't think this was necessarily the fault of the website, but rather a testimony to how many excellent, educational, websites and software there are available for children.

While the children, the younger children especially, found Time4Learning educational, fun, and easy to use, they did not find it superior to their JumpStart, PBSkids, or BrainPop experiences.

I could go on, giving a breakdown of all of the features of the program, but you can find that on the Time4Learning website. In my opinion, they present their program accurately.

But, my advice, before jumping into a subscription service, is to check out what you can find for less, or for free. This is one case where paying less, does not necessarily mean getting less.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

3D Sidewalk Chalk - Review

I picked up a "Disney Princess, 3D Chalk Set", on one of those super, end of summer, clearance sales, this weekend. I didn't really expect it to work, but thought the girls might enjoy the stencils, that came with the set. And, since it was practically free - why not?

The set comes with one pair of 3D glasses, 10 pieces of standard, sidewalk chalk, a couple of sheets of princess-like stencils, and some very simple instructions.

Things colored in cool colors will recede, while things colored in warm colors will pop forward when viewed through the 3D glasses. You can almost see it, even without the glasses. But, to my great surprise, the effect is really stunning, when you put the glasses on.


The girls played with the stencils for a while...


...but discovered it was easier to just scribble out a cool colored background, and then draw in yellow, or red, on top of it. With the 3D glasses, yellow things seem to float well above a blue background.


The set turned out to be a lot of fun, and a great way to review cool, and warm colors, as well.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

Studying The Human Skeletal System With Children

For most of the week, we've been reading slowly through The Magic School Bus, The Search for the Missing Bones. It's a beginning chapter book, that could normally be read in one sitting, especially by older children, but we've stretched it out, by reading it as a family, and working through accompanying activities, like drawing our own hand "x-rays", with chalk, on black construction paper, as a follow-up to our bones of the hand cookies.


Then, we moved onto making hinged joints, by connecting strips of construction paper, with paper fasteners...




...and ball and socket joints, by taping paper tube "bones" to ping pong balls, to fit into sockets, or our case, halved rubber balls, and cup shaped plastic molds.


We even learned about synovial fluid, by applying a coating of cooking oil to the socket, so the ball could move more freely within the "joint".


The supplies, and ideas for these activities came from two pre-packaged kits, The Young Scientists Club Kit 19, Bones and Muscles, and The Magic School Bus: Journey Into The Human Body - which coincidentally, is also put out by The Young Scientists Club. In fact, I didn't realize until I had ordered, and opened the Magic School Bus kit, that it is just a copy of the a couple of The Young Scientists Club kits, but with a Magic School Bus theme, a lot of distracting business, and a higher price tag.


I've sung the praises of The Young Scientists Club kits before, click here to read all about it. Working through one of our old kits, this week, with my younger three children (ages 4-8), I remembered why I like them so well. They are really well put together, and nicely supplied, kits, with good parent/teacher instructions, and scientific notebook-style pages for the children to work through, encouraging reading, and writing, as well as science skills.


As much as we love The Magic School Bus series, I found the plain old Young Scientists Club kit, was superior, and a better match to The Magic School Bus chapter book, than The Magic School Bus themed kit. Since the original kits cost less, even in a three kit pack from Amazon, we'll steer clear of the theme versions in the future.

So, to recap:

The Young Scientist Club Kit #19, Bones and Muscles? Yes. It's probably best for ages 6-10, but we found something for the entire family to learn, and enjoy, this time around.

The Young Scientist Club's The Magic School Bus: Journey Into The Human Body? Probably not. It's not that well stocked, not all the experiments are original, or interesting, and the accompanying booklet is even busier than The Magic School Bus picture books.

The Magic School Bus chapter books, and animated television episodes? Always winners in our house, even if The Search for the Missing Bones does have a Halloween theme, which we usually avoid. Read in the summer, it's not nearly as bothersome, or creepy. And, as usual for The Magic School Bus series, it is packed with facts.

Find out what other families are reading this week at the What My Child Is Reading link-up hosted by Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Or, for more fun with science for children, be sure to check out the Science Sunday link-up, over at Adventures in Mommydom.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Electric Playdough and More Thoughts on Kits

It was cold, and raining again this morning, but we barely noticed. We were busy playing with playdough - playdough and electricity - bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!


It's not quite as shocking as it sounds. I saw the forecast for today, last night, and decided to have the playdough standing by, as a boredom buster. But, knowing the older children would need something more exciting, I did a quick Internet search for playdough science projects, on the off chance there would be something interesting.

That, led us to the University of St. Thomas' Squishy Circuit project page, where we learned that playdough, especially the homemade, cooked with salt and cream of tarter type, can conduct electricity.


On the page, they have a recipe for playdough that will conduct electricity, and one (using sugar instead of salt), that won't, to use as an insulator.

After reviewing a few of their videos, I decided, we might have all the supplies for the experiments already on hand, and went in search of them.

Playdough, of course, was not a problem, we always have playdough.

And, I found the rest of the items in one of our old science kits - All About Electricity from Brighter Child:

• insulated copper wires



• a battery holder



• alligator clips



• a small buzzer



• a tiny light bulb



• and even a small motor, with a removable propeller.

Actually, I think the little motor was something we picked up at Radio shack back when we were doing wind power experiments, but everything else was in the kit.

You might have noticed the layer of dust on the kit. It's one that's been sitting unused for a number of years. And, if you'd ask me last week, I'd probably have said it was a dud. The book, and accompanying experiments, never sparked the children's interest.

However, when combined with play dough, and freedom to experiment, it all became very interesting, and exciting.

We did find, that the battery pack we had, that held two, triple A batteries, did not provide enough power, to pass through the play dough. The battery pack from our Leapster though, which holds four, double A batteries, provided enough power to make the buzzer sound, but not to light the tiny light bulb, or run the motor.

Without the playdough, in the circuit, there was plenty of power for everything.


The children found other uses for the playdough - experimenting with inertia, and centrifugal force.




They also made paper pinwheels, and discovered changing the direction of flow of power through our motor, changed the direction of the rotation, which meant, with the plastic propeller, they could make a fan, or a vacuum.


All in all, it was a pretty satisfying morning. And, with the addition of The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip...


...and "The Magic School Bus Gets Charged" (an animated episode, you can view here), it proved to be an educational afternoon, as well.

So, to recap - Brighter Child All About Electricity Kit? Probably not.

The components are good, but can be purchased inexpensively at a Radio Shack, or hobby stores. And, the book is lackluster, when compared with experiments, like the squishy circuits, that can be found online.

It's great to be a homeschooler.