Syllables

Today, P and I reviewed number of syllables within words. We talked about its similarity to drum beats, which made it crystal-clear for him. We figured out the beats/syllables of everyone in our family's names, cats included. We ranged from 1 to 4 syllables, and then tried supercalifragilisticexpialidotious -- however it is spelled!

Color Mixing, Additive versus Subtractive Colors

Learning Coop Activity

To we learned about color: both additive and subtractive. We used tempera paints (red, blue, yellow) to create additional colors and painted on sheets of white newsprint as an example of subtractive color. We read the book Water Dance and also talked about additive colors with transparent color films I'd cut into pieces.

Whole Wheat Bagel Making

Today we learned about how to make bagels and whole wheat breads with our learning coop group. The kids had fun learning how to cut the dough and roll it into shapes, watched the bagels boil and bake, and then decorated them with seasonings and seeds afterwards. The best part was eating them after that.

Here is the recipe that was shared with us:

6 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 cups warm water
1 packet of yeast
1 Tablespoon of coarse salt, or 2 teaspoons regular salt
2 Tablespoons of molasses
2 Tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon xanthan gum, or extra gluten

dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water in a large bowl, add the rest of the water, the salt, molasses, and honey. Mix the xanthan gum into the 6 cups of flour. Add the flour to the liquid cup by cup until it's hard to stir. Knead the rest of the flour into the dough. Knead the dough until it loses most of it's tackiness and is smooth, about 10 minutes. Lightly oil the dough, and cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise till double in volume, about an hour or more.

Punch the dough down and divide it into about smooth 18 balls. Smash a flat spot in the middle of a ball with your thumb, then stick your finger through the dough there. Spin the dough on your finger till the whole is the size you want. Place on a cookie sheet lightly dusted with corn meal to rise for about 15 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 425 deg.

Get a large wide pot and bring about 4 inches of water to boil. Add a little sugar to the water ( it helps stuff stick and makes a nice crust). Drop the bagels in and boil them 2 minutes on the first side, and 1 minute on the other side. Don't overcrowd the pot. Place the boiled bagels on a heavily dusted cookie sheet. Top with whatever you like, and bake them 15-20 minutes or until brown.

You can also roll the dough into ropes and stick the ends together to make a bagel. I like spinning them better. Or you can make snails.

Farm Life, Silk Painting, Outdoor Exploration

Math Building/Exploration

First Percussion Concert

The Junior Drummers' performance of Frosty of the Snowman starts at 2:27 in the video below.

Birthday Cake Lesson

Another Learning Coop activity, the planned lesson was to talk about birthdays and celebrations, read the book __________, measure and bake a cake, and then decorate it afterwards.

P played but didn't participate in the actual baking activity, though he sang happy birthday, listened to the story and decorated/ate the cake. And LOVED playing with others in the backyard.

K listened to the story, peeked in through the passthrough at the baking, and finally warmed up more when it was time to decorate/eat the cake. After that, she was golden, and in the end left saying she loved the host-mom's daughter. And, this afternoon, she told me how much she liked two older girls in the group who wear skirts like her and have brown hair like her.