This recipe came from Recipezaar, but since it called for one and a quarter cups of oil I altered it.
30 muffins
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce (or you can use more pumpkin, which I did & they came out great)
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.
Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Hoping every one has a safe and
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
It has been a good week on the homeschooling front, meaning that we actually followed my basic plans for education! So here's my Weekly Report (though I honestly never say I do this on a weekly basis)...
Language Arts
the Elf:
This week the Elf read a silly story aloud. He then answered 4 comprehension questions and wrote his own ending for the story. He also drew a picture and wrote about Paddy Muskrat (Oak Meadow) in his main lesson book. He continued reading from Ben & Meg. He also started (4 pages) another unit in ETC 3, which we are almost finished with. Then I need to decide if we want to do ETC 4 or just stop with ETC for now!
the Fairy:
This week was the letter "G", so we read The Golden Goose (Oak Meadow version) and the Fairy drew the goose letter G's in her main lesson book. We also read Three Billy Goats Gruff, which is one of her favorite stories. She did 4 pages in HWOT and 4 in Go For The Code this week. She colored the Gorse Fairy in the Flower Fairies coloring book.
We are continuing to read from Charlotte's Web at bedtime on the evenings I am home.
Math
the Elf:
Did 2 lessons from MathSteps (addition and subtraction with #'s 11-20) and a lesson from Saxon Math 2. I also taught him a game called Circles & Stars, which he begs to play every day now. I'll have to scan and post one of his pages full of circles and dots ("stars") and multiplication.
the Fairy:
Conquered another 2 lessons in Saxon Math 1. She also loves playing Circles and Stars. We read a book called Count Your Way through Brazil, which was okay but not as great as some of the counting books we have read.
Social Studies & Science
We started our journey through South America with Brazil. We read about Brazil in our Children's Atlas, colored a map & flag page, and watched Families of Brazil. We also read two versions of a Brazilian legend - version 1 and version 2 (our preferred version), and a couple of books about families/children in Brazil. Tomorrow we are having black beans and rice (a Brazilian staple food), along with roasted pork and veggies for dinner, and I might make a Brazilian coffee cake for breakfast. Craft-wise, see rainforests below.
They watched the Magic School Bus Rainforest episode this week. We are planning on making tissue paper collages of rainforest animals - the Elf wants to make an iguana and the Fairy is interested in a jaguar or quetzel. We may do a project in the next week or two on rainforest strata, in which I will print out the forest page (from Enchanted Learning), and print out the animals, have the kids watercolor everything, and then place the animals in their respective rainforest habitats. We did a similar project last year for temperate woodlands, and they really enoyed it.
Nature Studies
All about pumpkins this week! We read From Seed to Pumpkin (part of the great Let's Read & Find Out science series). the Fairy made a jack o'lantern out of construction paper, while the Elf made a paper scarecrow to go with it. Today we made delicious pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and we'll be carving our jack o'lanterns this afternoon when M is home.
Other than that
We made some paper ghosts for our front window. We read a few other stories, went to a fall festival at the charter school (where they made apple juice and corn husk dollies), and spent a lot of time playing. We had one day where the Elf did not want to do any lessons and so gave me a hard time, but the other 3 days, he did very well. the Fairy did very well all week. I volunteered in the Fairy's classroom (arts, crafts, stories, songs) on Monday and we painted paper-mache skulls for Dia de los Muertos. I have found I really love working with kindergarteners!
I also wanted to highly recommend the following Halloween books... The Soup Bone and The Witch's Hat, both by Tony Johnston. I thought they were charming, just funny/silly enough without being over the top, and not too scary. The kids really enjoyed them too!
We're not doing anything academic today. The kids have their costumes ready (one vampire, one fairy princess, and I promise to post pics). We were going to go to Best Park Day with pumpkin muffins in hand, but it's been very rainy. We already trick-or-treated my dad, and later will go see my mom, maybe going around her neighborhood a little if the rain lets up. I do have a fun evening at home planned though - pizza, both the Addams Family movies, popcorn, hot apple cider, etc. I think that'll be okay in place of going door-to-door for candy.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
It has been a good week on the homeschooling front, meaning that we actually followed my basic plans for education! So here's my Weekly Report (though I honestly never say I do this on a weekly basis)...
Language Arts
the Elf:
This week the Elf read a silly story aloud. He then answered 4 comprehension questions and wrote his own ending for the story. He also drew a picture and wrote about Paddy Muskrat (Oak Meadow) in his main lesson book. He continued reading from Ben & Meg. He also started (4 pages) another unit in ETC 3, which we are almost finished with. Then I need to decide if we want to do ETC 4 or just stop with ETC for now!
the Fairy:
This week was the letter "G", so we read The Golden Goose (Oak Meadow version) and the Fairy drew the goose letter G's in her main lesson book. We also read Three Billy Goats Gruff, which is one of her favorite stories. She did 4 pages in HWOT and 4 in Go For The Code this week. She colored the Gorse Fairy in the Flower Fairies coloring book.
We are continuing to read from Charlotte's Web at bedtime on the evenings I am home.
Math
the Elf:
Did 2 lessons from MathSteps (addition and subtraction with #'s 11-20) and a lesson from Saxon Math 2. I also taught him a game called Circles & Stars, which he begs to play every day now. I'll have to scan and post one of his pages full of circles and dots ("stars") and multiplication.
the Fairy:
Conquered another 2 lessons in Saxon Math 1. She also loves playing Circles and Stars. We read a book called Count Your Way through Brazil, which was okay but not as great as some of the counting books we have read.
Social Studies & Science
We started our journey through South America with Brazil. We read about Brazil in our Children's Atlas, colored a map & flag page, and watched Families of Brazil. We also read two versions of a Brazilian legend - version 1 and version 2 (our preferred version), and a couple of books about families/children in Brazil. Tomorrow we are having black beans and rice (a Brazilian staple food), along with roasted pork and veggies for dinner, and I might make a Brazilian coffee cake for breakfast. Craft-wise, see rainforests below.
They watched the Magic School Bus Rainforest episode this week. We are planning on making tissue paper collages of rainforest animals - the Elf wants to make an iguana and the Fairy is interested in a jaguar or quetzel. We may do a project in the next week or two on rainforest strata, in which I will print out the forest page (from Enchanted Learning), and print out the animals, have the kids watercolor everything, and then place the animals in their respective rainforest habitats. We did a similar project last year for temperate woodlands, and they really enoyed it.
Nature Studies
All about pumpkins this week! We read From Seed to Pumpkin (part of the great Let's Read & Find Out science series). the Fairy made a jack o'lantern out of construction paper, while the Elf made a paper scarecrow to go with it. Today we made delicious pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and we'll be carving our jack o'lanterns this afternoon when M is home.
Other than that
We made some paper ghosts for our front window. We read a few other stories, went to a fall festival at the charter school (where they made apple juice and corn husk dollies), and spent a lot of time playing. We had one day where the Elf did not want to do any lessons and so gave me a hard time, but the other 3 days, he did very well. the Fairy did very well all week. I volunteered in the Fairy's classroom (arts, crafts, stories, songs) on Monday and we painted paper-mache skulls for Dia de los Muertos. I have found I really love working with kindergarteners!
I also wanted to highly recommend the following Halloween books... The Soup Bone and The Witch's Hat, both by Tony Johnston. I thought they were charming, just funny/silly enough without being over the top, and not too scary. The kids really enjoyed them too!
We're not doing anything academic today. The kids have their costumes ready (one vampire, one fairy princess, and I promise to post pics). We were going to go to Best Park Day with pumpkin muffins in hand, but it's been very rainy. We already trick-or-treated my dad, and later will go see my mom, maybe going around her neighborhood a little if the rain lets up. I do have a fun evening at home planned though - pizza, both the Addams Family movies, popcorn, hot apple cider, etc. I think that'll be okay in place of going door-to-door for candy.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Cruisin' along...
It hasn't been the busiest week here, but we're still not getting a lot done, school-wise that is. We've done a little math, a little reading, a couple of worksheets, a fun 4H cooking project (chips and "guacamoldy"). We did cook an African dinner, complete with injera and wat. We watched a couple of videos on Africa, and are getting ready to wrap up African studies, with the plan of visiting South America for the next 4 weeks.
Now that the week is coming to a close, I am getting ready for next week. I am trying to be more organized about homeschooling, in that I am making actual plans for the upcoming week, so here they are:
Language Arts
the Elf:
Read aloud another chapter (or two) from Ben and Meg (daily)
Do two drawings and corresponding copywork for The Tale of Paddy Muskrat (2x)
Two worksheet pages from HM Reading Anthologies (2x)
the Fairy:
Introduce story for letter "G" and do related drawings (1x)
Work in HWOT (1x)
Color page for G and read corresponding poem from Flower Fairies Alphabet (1x)
Do printouts on letter "G" (1x)
Math
the Elf:
Introduce the new unit on addition and subtraction (3x)
Saxon Math 2, lesson 104 (1x)
the Fairy:
Saxon Math 1, lessons 16-17 (4x)
Social Studies, both:
Introduce South America as a whole, and then introduce Brazil
Map and flag printout for Brazil
2-4 stories about Brazil
Watch "A Family in Brazil" educational film
Related art or cooking project
Science, both:
Introduce Chapter 3 in RS4K Chemistry (Molecules Meet)
For nature studies, we're focusing on pumpkins. I reserved this book at the library, we have to make jack o'lanterns, and I am planning on making (dairy-free) pumpkin muffins for a Halloween get-together on Friday. IF we have time, we may do an art project, like this one or this one.
So there you have it, a full week of learning fun! Now let's see how well I stick to it....
Now that the week is coming to a close, I am getting ready for next week. I am trying to be more organized about homeschooling, in that I am making actual plans for the upcoming week, so here they are:
Language Arts
the Elf:
Read aloud another chapter (or two) from Ben and Meg (daily)
Do two drawings and corresponding copywork for The Tale of Paddy Muskrat (2x)
Two worksheet pages from HM Reading Anthologies (2x)
the Fairy:
Introduce story for letter "G" and do related drawings (1x)
Work in HWOT (1x)
Color page for G and read corresponding poem from Flower Fairies Alphabet (1x)
Do printouts on letter "G" (1x)
Math
the Elf:
Introduce the new unit on addition and subtraction (3x)
Saxon Math 2, lesson 104 (1x)
the Fairy:
Saxon Math 1, lessons 16-17 (4x)
Social Studies, both:
Introduce South America as a whole, and then introduce Brazil
Map and flag printout for Brazil
2-4 stories about Brazil
Watch "A Family in Brazil" educational film
Related art or cooking project
Science, both:
Introduce Chapter 3 in RS4K Chemistry (Molecules Meet)
For nature studies, we're focusing on pumpkins. I reserved this book at the library, we have to make jack o'lanterns, and I am planning on making (dairy-free) pumpkin muffins for a Halloween get-together on Friday. IF we have time, we may do an art project, like this one or this one.
So there you have it, a full week of learning fun! Now let's see how well I stick to it....
Monday, October 20, 2008
We made it to...
the new California Academy of Sciences last week. And WOW is the only word for it! M & I both took the day off to spend with our children, exploring everything from the animals of Africa, to the depths of the sea, to the wonders of a rainforest. So here are many pictures....
Waiting in the very, very long line outside, though it moved quickly at least.
Hanging out in front of T.Rex. the Elf loved the giant skeletons.
the Fairy checking out a Pine Marten. We spent a lot of time discussing endangered animals.
Really neat animal skulls (made me think of a friend's artwork).
Ahhh, the wonders of the underwater world....
A nice, bright fish!
Checking out the animals of Africa.
Standing before the lion display.
A giant flower model from the rainforest.
Under the rainforest in a "Flooded Forest" tank tunnel.
All in all, it was a very educational (and very fun) day. There is still a lot we haven't seen so we plan on heading back in a few months, when just maybe some of the extreme excitement has died down and there aren't giant crowds. Oh, and we recommend packing a picnic lunch to enjoy in Golden Gate Park, as the prices IN the Academy's dining hall are insane.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Just an update...
Let's see, what have we done this week?
Here is the Elf's, which he made all by himself. He chose "Halloween" colors (orange, black & purple)
We went to our first 4H project this week, where the kids made dream catchers and clay pinch pots (though the Elf's is more of a pinch tray/plate). Both kids had loads of fun doing this and the dream catchers are now proudly displayed above their beds, hopefully doing their job!
Here is the Elf's, which he made all by himself. He chose "Halloween" colors (orange, black & purple)
And this is the Fairy's. She had help with wrapping the outer edge and attaching feathers, but she did do all the center work herself.
the Fairy also got to hold a very adorable baby, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good she was at it. She was very calm and still, and she said the baby was "cuter than any doll ever". Now she says she wants maybe 5, no 6, or maybe 8 babies of her own someday. In between being a very busy "animal doctor" (her words) for her brother's farm...
Other than that, we have been busy with Oak Meadow, library trips, the beginnings of fall, and of course, cornstarch goo....
And just for fun, a couple of pics from another goo day, a year and a half or so ago...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Play dough recipe...
1 cup flour (plus more for kneading)
1 cup water
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Food coloring/unsweetened koolaid mix
Glitter if desired
Combine all ingredients except the coloring/koolaid & glitter in a pan. Whisk until fairly smooth and then heat over medium temperature, stirring constantly with a (wooden) spoon. When the dough becomes very hard to stir and starts coming away from the pan, pour/scrape out onto a sheet of floured wax paper, or onto a floured countertop. Allow to cool, then knead until smooth and elastic, adding in flour as needed. You can knead in a few drops of food coloring or the koolaid, and any glitter, at this point.
Store in plastic bags or in a tub with a tight-closing lid.
1 cup water
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Food coloring/unsweetened koolaid mix
Glitter if desired
Combine all ingredients except the coloring/koolaid & glitter in a pan. Whisk until fairly smooth and then heat over medium temperature, stirring constantly with a (wooden) spoon. When the dough becomes very hard to stir and starts coming away from the pan, pour/scrape out onto a sheet of floured wax paper, or onto a floured countertop. Allow to cool, then knead until smooth and elastic, adding in flour as needed. You can knead in a few drops of food coloring or the koolaid, and any glitter, at this point.
Store in plastic bags or in a tub with a tight-closing lid.
Simple joys...
Homemade play dough. I made a batch the other day, using this recipe, and it is a complete success with the kids! I have never actually made play dough before, as my MIL usually keeps us in stock, but since it's been a good 6 months or so since they had any, I decided to give it a go. At first I was worried - it looked lumpy and disgusting, but when it cooled enough for kneading, it became smooth and pliable quickly. I even bought (unsweetened) koolaid for the first time in my life, which added a lovely color and fragrance, though I would think I could add more natural colors and a drop or two of essential oils next time.
Watching the two of them play with the dough shows such a difference in their personalities. the Elf carefully scuplts cars and people, and the occasional animal, while the Fairy pretends it is food that she is cutting and preparing. All sorts of imaginative play! We also spent some time making their names with long "snakes" of play dough, and I can see how to work this in as part of the Fairy's letter learning. Right now they have each made a "gingerbread" person and are chanting "Pattycake, pattycake, baker man" while dancing their people together.
Watching the two of them play with the dough shows such a difference in their personalities. the Elf carefully scuplts cars and people, and the occasional animal, while the Fairy pretends it is food that she is cutting and preparing. All sorts of imaginative play! We also spent some time making their names with long "snakes" of play dough, and I can see how to work this in as part of the Fairy's letter learning. Right now they have each made a "gingerbread" person and are chanting "Pattycake, pattycake, baker man" while dancing their people together.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I think I'm crazy...
I have had an idea. And yes, it is crazy, at least a little. What if I were to go on after my bachelor's degree, and my teacher credentialing, to get a Master's Degree in Fine Arts? With that, I could teach art just about anywhere, including at the community college level, which would be awesome. And with the number of units I already have in art, I can get a Master's in a relatively short amount of time. At the rate I am going, this would mean that I will turn 42 (not 41 as I originally thought/posted) the year I finish. Not too bad. ;) Teaching art would make me happier than teaching in a regular school. Teaching art even in a regular school wouldn't be too bad, plus they pay significantly more for people who have both a B.A. and a M.F.A. I have always loved art. I sketch incessantly these days and dream of taking up painting. This way, I could have a steady income for something I love.
So there's my insane plan for you. M thinks it is a great idea. He thinks I would be very content teaching art part-time at the local community/junior college, which is my eventual goal. Of course, I have to now find a college that offers the M.F.A. and good financial aid (though I have one idea)....
In other news, the kids are over their colds! And we are now in the midst of studying Africa. I found a great book of short stories, Behind the Back of the Mountain, which the kids are really enjoying. We read A Family from South Africa, and they kids were impressed by two things: first, how little they owned, and how long the children spent in school (8 hours a day, 5 days a week). the Elf said he was especially glad not to be in school that much.
We haven't gotten much "school" work done this week though. My brother closed on the house he bought, so we are once again helping him, and my mom, move. Since my mom is somewhat disabled (back injuries from a car accident several years ago), my brother and I are doing all the work while my mom watches the kids, which can be a difficult job in itself!
And now I am off to read another lecture by Freud for this month's (college) workshop. Ah, the excitement!
So there's my insane plan for you. M thinks it is a great idea. He thinks I would be very content teaching art part-time at the local community/junior college, which is my eventual goal. Of course, I have to now find a college that offers the M.F.A. and good financial aid (though I have one idea)....
In other news, the kids are over their colds! And we are now in the midst of studying Africa. I found a great book of short stories, Behind the Back of the Mountain, which the kids are really enjoying. We read A Family from South Africa, and they kids were impressed by two things: first, how little they owned, and how long the children spent in school (8 hours a day, 5 days a week). the Elf said he was especially glad not to be in school that much.
We haven't gotten much "school" work done this week though. My brother closed on the house he bought, so we are once again helping him, and my mom, move. Since my mom is somewhat disabled (back injuries from a car accident several years ago), my brother and I are doing all the work while my mom watches the kids, which can be a difficult job in itself!
And now I am off to read another lecture by Freud for this month's (college) workshop. Ah, the excitement!