Friday, May 4, 2012

Curds and Whey: April 28 - May 4



In My Life This Week
Closer and closer! Why does it seem like the last few weeks of the end of a school year drag? It's not that we don't WANT to school anymore, but we're certainly ready to enjoy summer-ish weather (I hope) and less structured days. (I can't say LESS BUSY because summer seems busier than the school year does!) T minus 5 days...maybe!

In Our Homeschool This Week
Blue Spruce and Balsam Fir spent the weekend being Wampanoag on Plimouth Plantation, Massachusetts with other Cub Scouts. They even ate a traditional Wampanoag dinner! But before they even arrived, they spent some time at the Museum of Science in Boston.  (I sent them along with my latest Bento creation for Balsam Fir's lunch and snacks. LOL) A FULL weekend of Daddy-Son fun!

Kozy Shack Apple-Cinnamon Bread Pudding Cup, Cocoa
Roasted Almonds, PB and J on Wheat Cubes, Hard-Boiled
Egg, Cheddar Cheese and Turkey Bites, Pineapple and
Apple, and Green Pepper, Celery and Carrot Sticks

Ms. P at the farm was nice enough to hold a 3 hour cheese-making class for "older kids" (i.e. 7+) on Tuesday. We requested this class back in February so a SPECIAL THANKS to Ms. P for doing this! We visited the cows and the farm creamery and learned about the SCIENCE behind making cheese...and then made cheese curd! Cheese curds = yumminess! And then watched a man catch fish from the pond - Balsam Fir had LOTS of questions for him, but he was very patient and showed Balsam Fir his FISH DINNER! ((wink)) - and found tadpoles with frog legs just peaking out by their tails. And finished the day with some Grammar and Math and "chicken chasin'" at home.

Separated Curds and Whey
Squeezing Out the Whey - Cheese Ball!
Cow Kisses!
The Pond

All 3 Saplings continued to prod through their remaining Language Arts and Math lessons. There's a pretty good chance that both White Pine and Sugar Maple won't be finishing up ALL their Math lessons this year. Does it REALLY matter?

In our "downtime", we watched "How Stuff Works: Food and Beverage", "How to Train Your Dragon" and (of course) "Surviviorman" from Netflix. "How Stuff Works" is pretty cool because it shows how our food is processed and changed into both food and non-food items, how it effects our bodies, where the food or drink is grown or produced, and why it's important in our culture.


Helpful Homeschool Hint
Oh, do you have kids in K-2? I found this NEAT website on Pinterest for educational games, videos and stories for Language Arts, Math, Science, and even keyboarding. Free! (Free is good, right? LOL) Check out Cookie here!

Linking Up
Weird Unsocialized HomeschoolersFavorite Resource This WeekThe Homeschool Mother's JournalHip Homeschool Hop Buttonabc button
Magical Mouse SchoolhouseChestnut Grove Academy

17 comments:

  1. I really would have enjoyed the cheese-making class! We've made mozzarella a few times at home.
    Looks like another fun-packed week :)
    Thanks for sharing the Cookie link at Favorite Resources.

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  2. That lunch looks awesome! I must try some of those ideas. I never thought of cutting the sandwich in cubes. my kiddo does not like the crust. :) Hope you have a great weekend!

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  3. A farm near us has a cheese making class offered on Saturdays. For some reason, I always pass it over (they have other fun classes too). We'll have to give it a try! That lunch looks cool! I am going to have to get on board with that Bento thing. My boys would love it. After seeing Survivor Man in your post, I hopped over to Netflix and ordered it. I have been meaning to for while.

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  4. Another great week! That Bento looks really good! I love Bento's but not in a crazy 'taking 4 hours to make them and eat them in 3 minutes' kinda way. :)

    The farm class sounds like so much fun. I would love to do something like that! Hang in there...the end of the tunnel is coming! :)

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  5. The bento looks great, I just don't ever take the time for things like that.

    The farm trip looks like it was a great success, I will have to look into something like that around here.

    Have a great weekend.

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  6. My children love farm trips! We went to a wheat farm where they grind their own wheat and make the flour. The kids were able to participate in the process. It was great. :)

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  7. I will have to check out the cookie link, I have a few at the K-2 range ;) You guys are always taking fun field trips! The lunch looks fabulous too.

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  8. I've always wanted to go to Plimoth planation. How fun!!!

    Love that last photo. I want to hang it on my wall.

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  9. How fun!! All that cheese learning.. educational AND yum! =)

    And the math? No, it doesn't really matter in my opinion! It's like laundry, it never ends, just keep going. ;)

    I like shows like How It's Made and How Stuff Works. Very cool.

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  10. We just got our van fixed so maybe we'll get to take a farm trip this week with the daycare kiddo's. Cheese making looks so fun! 2 of my 3 would love it, although one can't even stand the thought of cheese, much less being in proximity to it.

    Thanks for checking in on the kid's blogs. They're loving the comments. Amazing's last post though, I made her pull because she copied a picture from somewhere on the internet and didn't identify the source. Once we're done with official school they'll get back to blogging with a little more direction. Right now she's working on a "bug" post using her own photo's and research. Can't wait to see that one.

    And the math... honestly... don't worry about it! The goal is to raise well rounded thinking people, right? I think it's most important to teach a child how to learn. Everything else will follow.

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  11. oh i like the bento! the cheese class is a great idea! you're almost there! and no it doesn't really matter :)

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  12. Thanks for sharing the interest website!!! That will be very helpful to me next year! I hope you can get through your HS year quickly!!! Sounds like the boys had a great weekend!!

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  13. Love the looks of that lunch you packed!
    I am very interested in getting started with making cheese, although I'm not sure where I would find the time, LOL!

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  14. Wow! What a great week! Just love the lunch you packed and the field trip sounds great! I'd love to get my kids up to Plimouth Plantation someday. :-) Thanks so much for linking up!

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  15. Love cheese curds!! As usual, your post has left me inspired...and hungry:) Have a great week!

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  16. Looks like a great week!! Thanks for sharing at BTT! Cheese making is so fascinating!!

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