Everyday Learning - Cooking

Check out the other posts in this Everyday Learning series: bullet journals, healthy eating, blogging, and the 2016 Presidential election!

Real Life
If you have never heard of meal swapping...this could very well change your life.  I have spent many an evening over the years trying to figure out what to make for dinner (see more on that here), and meal swapping has literally forced me to figure out this cooking thing (and meal planning/making a grocery list/shopping/eating leftovers).

Here's how it works for us.

On Monday evenings, my friend cooks dinner for her family and ours, ready at 6:00.  She lets us know what containers we should bring when we pick up our food.  We go pick it up, and then we bring it home to eat.

Tuesday is my night to cook, and she comes and picks up the food that I make to take home to her family for dinner.

So, here we are - Tuesday, our meal night.  Since there are so many things kids can learn from cooking (with an adult, of course) - literacy, math, science, etc. - Micah helped with the garlic bread and Asher helped with the chocolate chip cookies.  I kept the spaghetti, sauce, and sauteed veggies with Parmesan to myself.

Everyday Learning - 2016 Presidential Election

This post is part of a series on everyday learning.  Each post in the series contains 4 parts: Real Life, Kids' Actions, What They'll Learn, and Resources.  Previous posts include everyday learning through bullet journals, healthy eating, and blogging.

Real Life
I don't like this election.  Mudslinging.  Lying.  Scandal.  Emotions are running high as people scramble to endorse or not endorse, argue about incendiary issues, and attack the character of the candidates.  What must the rest of the world think as they watch our political process and the candidates we've chosen from afar?

This is such a ripe opportunity to help our children learn about political process and what it means to live in a free country.  There is much we can teach our children (and learn ourselves) as we go through this experience as a people.

The Importance of Being Little

DISCLAIMER:  My intent in posting the quotes below is not to cause offense in any way, but to offer a glimpse into what I found most interesting in a book that has transformed my teaching philosophy.  Also, to clarify, this is not an anti-preschool book.  It's a book about what kids need as preschoolers whether at home or at school.

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A few months ago, I heard an interview on NPR with Erika Christakis, a teacher and early childhood expert who, according to her bio, "has focused her career on the wellbeing of children and families."  During the interview, Christakis discussed her new book, The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need From Grownups.

After getting it from the library, I read through it, and I'm so glad that I did, especially just before my oldest started kindergarten this fall.

Here are some direct quotes from the book that I find especially interesting:

Everyday Learning - Blogging

One of the great things about homeschooling is the ability to take learning opportunities as they come and weave them in to whatever it is that I need to accomplish that day.  This post is part of a series on doing just that - integrating learning in to the everyday.  The two previous posts are on bullet journals for kids and healthy eating.

Real Life
When I was in college, one of my professors asked what seemed to be a very odd question: Why do we teach kids to read and write?  Answers ranged, but he was really trying to get to the simplest answer: to communicate.  When kids learn how to read and write, their ability to communicate grows exponentially.  And now, 15ish years later, I still believe he was right.  I would add, though, that digital literacy has also become integral to modern communication.  Most people text and talk on a smartphone.  The Internet is used for just about everything - research, finding contact information, and checking the weather.  I want my kids to be digitally literate without involving unnecessary screen time.  Writing a blog post (you can read it here) was on my list of things to do anyway, so...why not have Micah help?

Pictures - October 10, 2016

All pictures were selected by Micah for this post.  Here's a quick peek at what we've been up to at the White house!

 Asher clearly enjoyed his roasted marshmallow (pre-clean eating)  :)

Micah loved our backyard campfire

Literacy with a postcard from Alaska! 

Everyday Learning - Healthy Eating

Soon after Jeremy and I got married, I had a conversation with someone that went something like this:

        So, what do you guys usually do for dinner?

        Me: Um...we do ham and cheese sandwiches a lot.  And 
        Zatarains.  We really like their Jambalaya.  

        You don't cook or plan out what you're going to eat?

        Me: No...I don't have time for that.  Why, is that bad?

Well, a LOT has changed in the last 9+ years since we were married...including the addition of three little people that need to be fed!  These guys (including their dad) plus my own desire to be healthy have been the greatest motivators in overhauling what we feed ourselves.

Everyday Learning - Bullet Journals

Bullet Journal - a blank notebook used to organize everything you need to write down

Real Life

About a year ago, I figured out that I don't need a planner, an intense checklist, or an app to organize all of my tasks/lists/etc.  All I need is a blank notebook.

Here is what my bullet journal looks like:

Here is what's currently inside:

• ideas for the blog
• things to think about
• long term to-do list
• calendar for the week
• homeschool plans
• meal plan for the week
• list of what we have donated in 2016 (for taxes)
• today's to-do list

One of the main goals I have as a homeschooling mom is to prepare my kids for real life.  I love one of the points that author Jamie Martin makes on her blog: "Guess what prepares kids for real life?  Real life."  It was in that mindset yesterday that I gave my kids their own bullet journals.