Jammies School: Power Foods Lab

Luke and Nina sure love to cook and bake, and while I try to include them in our daily food preparation as regularly as possible, I sometimes opt for the convenience of expedited solo cooking over the inherit learning opportunities of cooking together. No longer! As part of my quest for Order in Our Home this year, I plan to make more conscience choices regarding our family menu planning. That includes a commitment to adding at least one new “power food” recipe to our diet each week. And, since “power foods” dovetail so readily into equally powerful learning experiences, I intend to extend my commitment to providing Luke and Nina more frequent forays into one of our natural laboratories for learning – our kitchen.

This week, our lesson will be Crock Pot Yogurt, with thanks to the recipe I found on this site, adapted slightly to make it a morning (and, truthfully, all-day) project for the kids, rather than an overnight one, as we usually enjoy Jammies School time in the morning.

And, how, one might ask, can Crock Pot Yogurt lend itself to pre-K learning? Well, let me put my educator’s cap on for a moment to detail:

- By expanding vocabulary and language through reviewing the recipe together and talking about the words in it, such as “whisk”, “refrigerate”, “recipe” and “ingredients”.
- By developing knowledge of print, letters and words through reading a recipe chart together, listing ingredients we need to get (milk and yogurt) and searching for these ingredients at the store.
- By making comparisons through comparing the quart, half-gallon and gallon containers of milk at the store and the ½ to a full cup of starter yogurt when we are making our own yogurt.
- By making the kids aware of technology through talking about what a crock pot is and how it helps us with our cooking, as well as by comparing “tools” like spoons and whisks and how they serve us differently.
- By encouraging social and emotional well being through working cooperatively to make the yogurt and taking a sense of pride in successfully (We hope!) doing so.
- By developing small muscle control and eye-hand coordination through pouring the milk, measuring out the starter yogurt, whisking the ingredients together, etc.
- By recognizing numerals and becoming aware of time concepts as we wait different increments of time during the yogurt making process.
- By making predictions and estimations about what part of our day it might be when the timer goes off at different points in our yogurt-making process, for example, might it be snack time, after lunch time or dinner time?
- By exploring scientific concepts through comparing the texture of what’s in the crock pot at different stages of our yogurt making trial. Is it runny or thick? Why? What might have made it change?
- By solving problems through asking the kids how we might fit our big batch of yogurt into our smaller containers for the fridge.

- By practicing one-to-one correspondence through having the children set out as many bowls for the yogurt as we have people trying it the first time we eat it.

- By encouraging data collection, organization and representation through starting a chart of which recipes we liked and did not like, which are successful and which are not, etc.

- By forming healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime as we talk about how the yogurt might contribute to our health and well-being.

- By practicing the virtue of patience as we wait for our yogurt to be done.

Whew! Now, that’s a lot of learning in one simple project. And, I didn’t even mention the bonus of having fun while creating more budget-friendly, healthy yogurt for our family!

So, let the Power Foods Lab begin!

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Note: For the record, this is how I adapted the recipe to make to a morning-start project:

1. Upon waking up, turn the crock pot onto low and pour in ½ gallon of milk.
2. Set our timer for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
3. When the timer goes off, turn off the crock pot and unplug it. Let the milk cool in the pot with the lid on for 3 hours. (Set the timer!)
4. When the timer goes off, remove 1-2 cups of milk and place it into a bowl. Add ½ cup of yogurt (with live cultures) to it and mix well.
5. Pour the yogurt-milk mixture back into the milk and whisk thoroughly.
6. Place the cover back on the crock pot and wrap the entire crock pot in several thick towels.
7. Put the crock pot in a sage place and let it sit for 8-12 hours. (Set the timer.)
8. After 8-12 hours, stir the yogurt, taste it and, then, store it in glass jars in the fridge.
9. Try it again the following day and note changes in texture.

This Mommy’s Perspective: A Review of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

Oh my! My two year old screams for more attention and my four year old tells me that I am not challenging him enough by creating his own – uh, shall we say, mildly dangerous, but creative – projects while I am busy theorizing about (as opposed to attending to) their developing skills. So, I need something tried and true... pragmatic, but pleasing... with enough guidance to keep me on track when my mind wanders, while still offering enough flexibility to allow me to tweak it to suit my own interests as well as those of my kiddos. More importantly, I need something straightforward. My “Mommy brain” simply cannot handle anything complicated these days... Where to turn? The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education!

Now, this 800+ page tome might seem a bit meaty for the lean time that two young children allow me for dedicated reading and research. But, its friendly tone, excellent index and well-designed organization, as well as its concise, yet practical, explanations and resource lists, allow me to feast on it as occasions allows. Indeed, I find that the guide is divided into bite-size chunks that are easily digested – satiating my hunger for both a “how-to” and a “you’re doing just fine” as I approach educating my young ones. (And, this is something I cannot echo in regards to some other resources I have tried to sink my teeth into!) Indeed, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education, offers a banquet ideas that can last 12+ years, but does so without causing any expected indigestion. For, rather than bloat one with unnecessary side bits, the volume lays out the main courses of a well-rounded education in an engaging, palatable way.

Now, as my children are but in their preschool years, I have browsed the entire book, but have only really chewed on the portions that pertain to pre-k and kindergarten education. In doing so, I have delighted in the simple pleasure of knowing how little is actually needed to nourish my young children’s minds. For, where many early childhood education curriculums, philosophies and programs seem to continually add new components and “necessary” subjects or interest areas, the classical education distills early ed. down to a few hearty portions – a very manageable amount for a busy mom like me!

What are these portions? Why, “the three R’s”, of course: Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic (plus a good dose of every day natural learning thrown in for sustenance). And, as The Well-Trained Mind lays out these portions, proposing a simple daily 30-minute-or-under menu for preparing a child for first grade work, it also makes clear that a formal academic Kindergarten program is unnecessary for many under fives. With the 30-minute menu in mind, plus the informal teaching that happens as a family goes about its everyday life, the book (correctly, in my opinion) maintains that children in their first four or five years can learn all they need to without ever picking up workbooks or following teacher’s manuals. They can learn what is necessary for first grade success in the same way they learn speak, tie their shoes, dress or clean up -- simply by parents demonstrating basic skills, practicing them for a few minutes each day and talking about what’s happening while attending to the routines of life. What a relief! The seemingly grandiose “grammar stage” of the classical education’s trivium (the first of the three classical education stages and the one where students collect, memorize and categorize information at incredible rates) can be entered into with utmost success and simplicity! No expensive materials to scrounge for. No complicated curriculums to follow. Simply, common sense, communication and focus on the basics: Reading, Writing and Math. (For the record, The Well-Trained Mind does mention that using workbooks and other curriculum resources is not completely taboo. Some children, especially those with older siblings that are immersed in “book work”, crave such materials. Thus, in keeping with the book’s aim to help parents guide their children through an effective classical education, a brief, but useful list of such materials is provided.)

With the simple ingredients of the three ‘R’s and everyday life in mind, I feel less like a novice and more like a master chef when it comes to setting the table for my kids’ education. The Well-Trained Mind confirms that the recipe for success lies in a time tested rule: Simple is best! It also makes a statement that rings ever so true to me: “Young children are...sponges because they soak up knowledge... Squeeze a dry sponge, and nothing comes out...the sponge must be filled.” Oh, how I want to soak my youngsters’ minds and imaginations with a plethora of pictures, stories and facts so that they might later use these as the basis for their own creative and analytical thought! But, how can I do this – especially when trying to balance home organization and housekeeping, a new pregnancy and three part-time job commitments with my efforts towards home education? Simple! By setting priorities and keeping the The Well-Trained Mind’s easy-to-follow suggestions always at hand.

What priorities? Well, in addition to our family’s personal ones of putting faith first, closely followed by family needs and wants, I recognize the merit of focusing on the three ‘R’s. Yes, although my personality tends to lean towards creative pursuits – drama, music and movement, art, personal expression and the like, all of which I know I can incorporate as time allows – common sense and The Well-Trained Mind sharpen my focus on literacy (including math literacy!) Of all the possible early childhood education subjects and interest areas, literacy is, undoubtedly, the most essential. For, as most educators agree: the first years of education are about learning to read, and the remainder about reading to learn. So, as long as I focus on the main courses of Reading, Writing and Math in my children’s early years, I know I will be satisfying their hunger for learning and, just as importantly, teaching them how to learn. As such, I will be providing them with what they need in order to grow into happy, well-rounded, well-equipped adults. What could be more satisfying than that?

Menu set then, I commit to preparing my children for Reading, Writing and Math by spending 10-30 minutes of focused time each day this new year on each of these “subjects”.

As classical education relies heavily on the written word, my main goal will be to help my children become fluent readers by first grade, if possible. This may seem a difficult aim, but, as The Well-Trained Mind emphasizes, “reading is simple.” Through a commitment to immersing young children in language, any reasonably literate adult can teach a child to read. No magic formulas, nor expensive curriculums, are required. A dozen or so simple procedures, most of which I am thankfully already employing, will do the trick!

What are these?

- Limiting screen time to ½ hour or less a day and taking the time to talk, talk, talk, in order to lay and build upon the verbal foundation in my children’s minds.
- Repeating quality read alouds time and time again, as repetition builds literacy.
- Maintaining (multiple, in our home) reading nooks throughout the house where the kids can “read” books on their own.
- Reading picture books during laptime, while pointing to the words I am reading.
- Reading longer books without pictures as the children snuggle or play.
- Listening to quality audio books together.
- Simply enjoying reading on my own and letting the children see me do this.
- Encouraging my young ones to ask and answer questions about the content of books. Also, guiding them to make predictions and enjoy discoveries.
- Singing the alphabet song, reading alphabet rhymes and enjoying alphabet books.
- Exploring letter sounds and phonics.
- Noting “real world” print on signs, grocery store packaging, bumper stickers – you name it!
- As my children show readiness, as Luke is, beginning and systematically moving through a phonics primer for five, then ten, then fifteen minutes a day.

Yum! After digesting The Well-Trained Mind’s suggestions on teaching Reading for pre-K and kindergarteners, I am feeling full of can-do! None of the procedures proposed in the book are overly complicated. Rather, they involve the tired and true, and, better still, simplify the plans I already have in mind. Now that’s a spread I can handle!

And how about for Writing? The same thing goes. Simple is best and a few easy procedures can set the table for success!

- Teaching the kids the proper way to hold a writing utensil.
- Drawing lots of circles and loops in a counterclockwise direction, as this is how most printed letters are made.
- Having fun making letters by writing in rice, sand and other tactile mediums.
- Enjoying writing large letter shapes with chalk and crayons.
- Using regular diameter short pencils, rather than fat “preschool” pencils for writing.
- Teaching toddlers who can comfortably control a writing utensil how to do basic dot-to-dots.
- Once control and comfort in holding a writing utensil are noted, moving onto formal instruction of writing letters and numbers, one at a time, keeping a close watch on letter formation so bad habits are not formed.
- Copying familiar words (such as family names) and short sentences (think “I love you,”) in order to naturally learn beginning conventions of written language (such as capitals, spacing, punctuation, etc.).

Nothing demanding, and all at a child’s pace. Writing can be both swallowed and enjoyed!

And how about Math? Once again, the suggestions are easy to follow:
- Surrounding the kids with mathematical processes and language continually in order to promote math literacy by doing such things as counting toes, fingers, toys and treasures.
- Playing games that include counting and skip counting. (Think hide and go seek!)
- Counting backwards for “take offs”.
- Working on simple math sums, especially in the context of everyday life, such as figuring out how many plates to put out when setting the table.
- Cooking together, to introduce fractions and measurements.
- Playing games with numbers, such as Go Fish and War.
- Doing lots of addition and subtraction with manipulatives, like beans, blocks, buttons or chocolate chips.
- Learning about money, telling time, naming geometric figures (at least basic ones, such as circles, squares, triangles and rectangles).
- Reading math-related picture books. (We love Anno!)

In general, by treating math as a game and as a part of everyday living in the pre-k and kindergarten years, rather than as an academic pursuit, a parent can ensure a balanced diet of math literacy. And, in our house, we love games!

And so it is that The Well-Trained Mind, has done something for me and my homeschool planning that I never expected it would. It has simplified it. Indeed, when I first picked up the heavy volume I expected it to weigh me down. Instead, it has lightened my load. By distilling early childhood education expectations down to their tried and true classical roots – Reading, Writing and Math - The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education has outlined a manageable menu for me. This streamlined plan is one I know I will be able to manage in the coming year, even when life’s demands mandate fix it-and-run meals. Yes, stocked with the ideas in The Well-Trained Mind, I know I can pull together a diet of early home education that my family can bite into and enjoy!

Bon appetit! And, thank you, Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise for making a classical education so accessible and appetizing!

A (Former Professional) Educator’s Review of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

A mom in the early seventies is unhappy with how schools are serving her children and pulls them out to do what others at the time say is both insane and maybe not altogether legal – homeschool them! By default, she follows a pattern of education, called the trivium, she eventually realizes is known as “Classical Education.”

Years later, one of the mother’s children, now a literature professor at the College of William and Mary, notes a disturbing lack of skills and analytical thinking among her students. She wonders if their academic deficiencies can be attributed to their lack of Classical Education. She seeks to improve the standard of learning among them and other young academics.

Together, the two women recognize that Classical Education is an ideal way of training individuals to know how to read, to think, to understand and to be well-rounded and curious about learning. Thus, they set out to share their knowledge and experience in a comprehensive volume that provides step-by-step information on how to homeschool -- or simply to supplement the traditional schooling of -- children from preschool through grade twelve. This tome, both pragmatic at times and entertaining at others, is a valuable resource for any parent who fears their child might be lost “in the system”, becoming bored and losing a natural eagerness to learn. It’s detailed, yet concise, explanations and suggestions, provide a sound resource for taking charge of a child’s education, guiding students through the “grammar” stage, where the building blocks of information are absorbed through memorization and rules, to the “logic stage”, where analytical thinking is developed, and, finally, through the “rhetoric stage”, where students learn to think and write with originality and strength.

With The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education in hand, almost any parent will be able to instruct children in all levels of reading, writing, history, geography, mathematics, science, foreign language, rhetoric, logic, art and music, regardless of the parent’s personal aptitude in these subjects. By using the book’s theory and as a model and suggested resources as materials, a sound curriculum for superior, in-depth learning can be both accessible and uncomplicated. Any parent seeking to strengthen a child’s yearning for knowledge and ability to demonstrate academic prowess would do well to pick up this volume regularly.

On the Shelves - October

Once again, I meant to take a tidy set of pictures to post this month to show what's been on our chelves, and, once again, I find myself with very time left before turning the calendar page and no grand “What’s on the Shelves This Month” post ready to go. Thus, instead of taking some of the precious few moments I have awake without chidlren awake with me, I will simply, once again, record what’s been on the shelves (and all over the floor!) for the past month as the kids continue to explore and enjoy, learning as they go.

Montessori-Inspired Shelves
- Sensorial: Color and Shape Block Sorting – a muffin tin with red, yellow and blue colored labels on the bottom to help sort corresponding cylinder, square, half-circle and triangular blocks
- Religion: Mini-Altar for Home Catechesis
- Religion: Various Bible Stories and Saints Stories with Accompanying Dramatic Play Materials
- Religion: Basket of Home Catechesis Altar Work Materials
- Practical Life: Cleaning Caddy (Spray Bottle, Cloths)
- Language (Pre-Writing)/Mathematics: Basket of Clothespins with Various Extensions throughout the Month
- Language (Phonics): I Spy Books and Cards
- Mathematics: Apple Counting Trees and Crab Apple Counters
- Language/Mathematics: “Big” and “Small” Cards with Large and Small Apple Counters
- Science: Basket of Natural “Treasures” and Magnifying Glass
- Language (Pre-Writing)/Mathematics: Pegged Puzzle
- Language: Visual Discrimination Train Matching Cards
- Mathematics: Construction Theme Floor Puzzle
- Practical Life: A Hammering Activity (that we took outside, as it gets so messy!)

Special Interest Shelves
-Read Alouds: The Little Engine that Could, Down by the Station, Johny Appleseed, various construction picture books and a rotation of Halloween books
-Train Tracks and Trains
-A Melissa and Doug Take-Along Tool Kit
-A Firefighter’s Costume and Accessories
-Little People Firehouse, Vehicles and People, along with Lowe’s Build and Grow Clinic Fire Trucks
-A Construction Costume and Accessories
-Drawing and Coloring Items

A Halo for Jesus

“This can be his halo,” Luke proclaimed as he balanced a gold metal lid atop a small crucifix.”

Ah ha! I thought. Improvisation. Ownership. Success. We were in the middle of our first exploration of a homeschool version of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), and I couldn’t have been happier to see Luke so involved.

Only a few minutes later, when the kids’ friend, Francesca, took her turn with the little home altar that was our “work” of the day, she carefully opened the book of Bible stories that Luke had insisted on adding to our materials, and, in the cutest voice, began a reading, “Lord...”

Not long after that, as Francesca’s mom and I chatted, Nina went over to where we had put the altar away and quickly, with huge smiles, set to work putting all the pieces together just so.

What a joy for each of us! The kids each brought their own understanding and interest to the lesson and we moms beamed, thankful to God for helping us provide an opportunity for our children to come to know Him better. Indeed, I offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving and praise. It was with a bit of hesitation that I had jumped into our first “official” CGS-inspired lesson last Wednesday, wondering if I was prepared with sufficient knowledge and materials at hand to make it worthwhile. However, as the lesson unfolded, all uncertainty disappeared. God’s grace took over where my preparation may have lacked. He made perfect my imperfect attempt to finally begin the CGS journey with Luke, Nina and their friend.

On the Shelves - September

I have been meaning all month to take close-up, tidy pictures of what's on the shelves in our learning area. Well, there are but a few hours left of the month, and I have yet to do it. So, instead of taking the time to take and upload such photos, I am simply going to record what's been on the shelves for the past few weeks for the kids to explore.

Mind you, when I say explore, I mean it. For although the items and activities were put out with Montesorri-inspired intentions, over the course of the month, they have been used in a much "free-er" way, being combined and transformed into all manner of things - from clothespin unicycles to elaborate structures to circus train set ups. Also, there have been occassional additions and substitutions of items, and, of course, much learning not tied to this area (everything from a picture study of Mary Cassatt works, to an introduction to the composer Vivaldi, to lots of outdoor exploration and adventure, to cooking and cleaning, to free play and what it brings about...) The beauty of homeschooling is that it is limitless in many ways. All of life is a learning opportunity!



What a joy it has been to witness Luke and Nina create their own learning this past month throughout the course of our days. And, how intriguing it has been to witness them create such unique learning experiences with such simple things as were found on our learning shelves in recent weeks, such as the following:

Montessori-Inspired Shelves

- Sensorial: Stacking Cups
- Mathematics: Two-Piece Puzzles
- Religion: Various Library Books about Saints
- Practical Life: Cleaning Caddy (Spray Bottle, Cloths)
- Practical Life: Button Jar
- Practical Life: Basket of Purses, Small Bags, Etc. with Various Closures
- Practical Life: Basket of Matching Fabric Squares, Clothespins and Clotheslin

- Language (Pre-Writing)/Mathematics: Cubes and Cards
- Mathematics: Melissa and Doug Pattern Block Puzzle
- Language: Leap Frog Spell & Match
- Sensorial: Color Matching Cards
- Practical Life: Wooden Bowls, Puff Balls and Nutcracker for Tonging/Transferring
- Mathematics/Practical Life: Clothespins and Number Cards
- Language: Foam Letters and Letter Mat
- Practical Life: Star-Punched Cards and Chenille Strings for Lacing
- Sensorial/Mathematics: Blocks


Special Interest Shelves

Read Alouds: The Little Engine that Could, Down by the Station, Farmyard Tales ABC Book, Eric Carle Number Book

Train Tracks and Trains

Coloring, etc.

No Longer a Tourist

Wow! Is September nearly over? Did I really begin a new effort at more consistent and intentional homeschooling this month? If so, why didn’t I share more about the passage here? Well, I guess it was because I was too busy taking part in our journey to stop and journal about it... It seems I was taking the kids lead by casting away my tendency to be a homeschool “tourist”, becoming a “traveler” instead.

What do I mean? Well, Luke and Nina are toddlers. By their very nature, they explore each moment with great gusto and every experience with a keen sense of detail and wonder. They look about at what surrounds them and choose to observe or participate as the spirit moves them. They immerse themselves in whatever is happening, unsure of where they are going, but happy to see whatever they are seeing.


And me? Well, I am an adult. Jaded, I might say, by “supposed to’s” and “could do’s” Swayed by “you should really do’s”. Tempted by teasing pictures of perfect moments and lists of “what’s hot”. Too often, seeking elusive “best of’s”, instead of simply seeing – and enjoying – “what is’s”

Someone named Gilbert K. Chesterson once said, that “the traveler sees what he sees, (while) the tourist sees what he has come to see.” I admit it: My children see what they see. I, on the other hand, often am hampered by more narrow vision...

For nearly three years now, my husband Mike and I have felt called to homeschool our children. In that time, I have been reluctant to heed the call and to fully immerse myself into the Land of Homeschooling. Instead, at first, I sat safely at the sidelines as a bit of an armchair traveler, reading books, researching homeschool curriculums and styles, thinking and praying, talking with those who currently homeschool, who wished to homeschool and who had given up homeschooling... I collected maps of ideas, compiled hit lists of things to do, even went on fanciful trips in my mind, imagining what the true adventure would be like.


Then, somewhat prepared, I became a true tourist. I made quick, planned jaunts to take in a site or two. A yahoogroup discussion here, a local homeschool group there. I even dabbled, now and again, at actually getting lost in Homeschool Land on occassion, crossing over the line of what most folks would call mere “active parenting” into purposefully providing “provocations” for learning and exploration that echoed of Reggio-inspiration, or “following my children” by providing Montessori-based learning experiences for them, and even knocking off a curriculum map by dabbling in literature-based unit studies. In short, I “did” a lot but remained a bit unsure of where I’d truly been. And, yet, somehow, I still thought I knew where I was going... Indeed, I became a classic tourist as defined by a man named Paul Theroux, who is oft quoted when folks abroad (folks like I once literally was in my pre-marriage-and-kids days) debate the difference between “traveler” and “tourist”. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”


Fast forward to today... Well, I hardly feel that I have crossed all the t’s on our packing lists, nor dotted all the i’s on our itinerary, and, yet, I have been traveling mostly happily in Homeschool Land with my children for the past few weeks. Please note, here, I did, indeed say “traveling”, not “touristing”. For, it seems, without meaning to, I cast aside my lists and plans for the most part and simply became absorbed in each day. I made the crossover from being a homeschooling “tourist”, who simply buzzes through a fistful of earmarked activities, to being a homeschool “traveler”, who makes a slower journey, embracing opportunities that come up along the way, which add depth and flavor -- experience. Yes, I have pushed aside the armchair and tossed aside the tips that were narrowing my vision. And, in doing so, I have discovered a great journey is underway.

Can I promise that I will keep traveling with the children each day from here on out? I’d like to. But, I cannot. Undoubtedly, I will sometimes retreat to the comfort of well-trod paths and carefully planned whirlwind tours. Yet, for the most part, I hope I will remain a traveler, enjoying the gift my children give me – the gift of learning to travel with them, seeing what they see.