Homeschooling Penny is not always such a structured event. I am always looking for little opportunities to build on her understanding of the world. One of my favorite forums to reinforce pre-math skills, provide sensory exploration, and conduct mini science lessons is to involve her in cooking. Whether it's helping me measure out flour and sugar for cookies, "chopping" salad for dinner, or pushing the button on the blender for fruit smoothies, Penny is usually at my side during food preparation times. The best childhood memories I have with my mom are when I was helping her in the kitchen, so I really looked forward to involving Penny with me in my kitchen exploits.
The pig-themed day was just too tempting, so we went all out and made pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch. Though some people would call me a health-food nut, I'm not above making classic kid food. I just tend to put a healthy twist on it. PBJ? Fine, but on whole-grain bread, 100% fruit jam, and natural peanut butter. Burgers, fries, and milkshakes? Ok, but let's do turkey/veggie burgers, baked potato wedges or roasted green bean "fries," and a yogurt fruit smoothie. We have pizza on a weekly basis...but it's homemade with lots of veggies. Ect...
So my healthy spin on pigs-in-a-blanket? Nitrate-free beef franks wrapped in homemade whole-wheat biscuits. I assure you these taste way better than the canned biscuit alternative. To her delight, Penny helped paint egg wash onto the piggies. Cooking is so much fun for kids!
The learning doesn't end with our main dish. While they bake away, we pass the time by making patterns out of cheese triangles, carrot coins, and square crackers. I make the beginning of the pattern, and Penny has to figure out what comes next.
Ramona isn't big enough to participate yet, but she grabs a snack and spectates from her throne (or high chair...whatever). Rest assured, as soon as she is big enough to stand at the counter and hold a big wooden spoon, she'll be in on the fun.
After lunch, we head outside for "recess." Funny how changing the name of a normal everyday activity can motivate Penny and make it more fun. We live in a rather dark basement apartment, but we have the blessing of having a monstrous backyard. We played the three little pigs (I was the wolf) and Ramona observed and squealed in delight from her favorite seat.
After about 20 minutes, however, we all realized we were grossly underdressed (it was a freezing cold day) and both girls began to have pre-nap meltdowns. So recess was cut short and we ran into the house to get ready for quiet time. Ramona was wrapped in her favorite blankie and tucked into her crib for a nap, and Penny and I climbed into my bed for snuggling and a story. Penny rarely sleeps anymore, but she has a quiet time where she listens to music, reads books, and plays with puzzles or other toys. In the meantime, I get a cup of tea and check my email, do some chores, or if I'm lucky, take a nap myself.
After quiet time, and six rousing versions of "This Little Piggy Went to Market," (one for each foot in the house) we pull out the main event: our library books about pigs. On this particular day, I found a fantastic book about swine: "Pig" by Jules Older. Penny loves learning about animals- it's definitely her favorite subject for school. She was particularly interested in the nipples on pigs- "Look at all the nipples! The pig is feeding all her babies with her nipples!" 3-year-olds are weird.
Next comes our final activity of the day: crafts. Penny can't wait for craft time and often wants to skip everything else to get to get at the scissors, glue, glitter, and create something fun to put on the fridge.
I usually keep it pretty simple; as long as we have construction paper, popsicle sticks, tp tubes, and googly eyes, the possibilities are limitless. However, I was feeling inspired on pig day, so we made a little handbag made out of felt. One of the best sites for simple crafts is familyfun.com This was an adorable craft- I think we will be be making the other animals in the future.
Homeschooling Penny doesn't just get her ready for kindergarden- it helps us bond together, creates memories, and gives me a creative outlet. I love the way having my own kids actually keeps me young. I have to remember how to play, explore, and wonder about the world around me- skills that I swore I would never let get rusty as I grew up. But as we grow, the world wears us down and I'll admit worry, stress, other icky grown-up stuff has dulled my delight in life at times. Thank God for my children. With their help, I'll never have to truly grow up.
