Chemistry Links

Chemistry Links:

Next year we'll be using Real Science 4 Kids for all 3 levels.  This will be our spine but we'll also use Montessori-style materials and other resources (I'm sure you'll read about them in detail later!).  I went through all of the websites I had tagged for Chemistry and separated them into the appropriate RS4K chapters.  Now I'm sharing them with you.  As of this post all are working links.  I can't vouch for the future, though.  Aren't you glad I don't have my cottage industry website up or organized?  You get the fruits of my looong labor for free :).  Even if you aren't using RS4K this should be helpful because you can find the topic in the chapter title and still use the links. 

The first page is mainly notes for myself and will probably make NO sense to anyone else!  That's okay - just ignore or ask me if you want to know about something.

I uploaded the document to the dc's computer so they can just click on links and get straight to it.  It's on their desktop. That way they can spend time with the links for chapter such-and-such while I burn something in the kitchen am engaged elsewhere.

Here is the link for the document and you know the rules: no selling or otherwise profiting from other people's work.  Below are the direct links to Amazon for these books.  The student books are so good that my olders didn't want me sell the Pre-Level 1 when they were done.  Good thing - Now I need it for youngest dd!

http://tinyurl.com/2g3ko98

Here are the Student Textbooks:
















Here are the Student Workbooks:
















Here are the Teacher Manuals:

Mangoes, Figs, and Whatchagot stew

What's Gardenin'?

Not much but at least I've discovered my problem.  Actually I have 2 reasons for my poor garden production.  The beds and plants are doing well; but, except for the cucumbers, strawberries, some tomatoes, and a couple of banana peppers, I'm getting hardly any yield.  I've only gotten 1 yellow squash and 2 zucchinis.  ZERO cantaloupes, even though the plants look great and the flowers are there, somewhat hidden.

As I sat in the yard swatting mosquitoes one early evening and looking around it dawned on me... I was so focused on the veggies I wanted that I forgot to plant enough flowers!  The lantana was slow coming back, the flowers up the teepee are slow growing, we skipped the sunflowers this year, and there are just a few marigolds in the raised beds (and only 1 really blooming).  We simply haven't had many pollinators and I haven't had the umph to hand pollinate.  Another thing is that we usually have tons and tons of honey bees - they love the white weed flower that generally proliferates in our back yard.  Hardly any bees this year, and much to dh's delight, no white weed flowers so far.  I finally started seeing bees several weeks ago and put a hanging basket of flowers between the beds.  That helped bring them to that area.

I went to two area gardening centers and ended up with just some low-growing flowers.  I wish I would have held out and gone to another place to get some zinnias or something tall.  Maybe it's not a lost effort as this pretty little butterfly kept following me around while I was transplanting them, panting, and dripping with sweat (me - not the butterfly nor the plants!).

So, if you are not getting produce and your plants look fine, consider adding flowers or hand pollinating.

What's Cookin'?

Mangoes!  We dried, canned, and ate mangoes until we were orange in the face (literally).  When I was canning I started doing them like the peaches and had them in the simmering sugar water when I went to check online for the canning time.  Much to my chagrin I read that you cold-pack mangoes.  I quickly spooned them out, sliced some more up, and cold-packed some.  Then I put them in the water bath for the required amount of time. 

I was then left with some 1/2 cooked mangoes.  What on Earth could I do with them?  I saw the recipe for mango salsa and it cooks the mango and ingredients so I decided on that recipe. (sigh) But I didn't read the recipe very closely before starting- it calls for a whole cup of sugar (gag!).  Since I don't know much about canning (obviously) and it was nearly midnight I decided to just go with the recipe in case the amount of sugar was necessary for safety/preservation reasons.  Note:  I do NOT have a sweet tooth. 

To me it was horrible but dh had a brilliant idea.  He said, "Why don't you use it for a glaze when cooking meat?"  Aha!  The next day I poured it on some chicken I was cooking and it really gave it a nice flavor.  Best of all, the sweetness disappeared :).  It would be even better with pork, if you eat pork (I quit eating pork except for occasional bacon since I don't have a good local source).

Here are some mangoes ready for the dehydrator:

Here are some in the freezer.  Freeze in a single layer and then put in your containers so they don't freeze together. You can see some frozen peaches underneath.

Figs:  I got some figs at the farmer's market yesterday.  Pathetically, I had to call a friend and ask, "How do I eat these things??" When I called my friend she was in the act of turning on her dehydrator to dry out some figs and mangoes.  After hanging up I dug into the figs and loved them!  They are a mix of kiwi and guayaba.  Mmmmm.  Other than eating them fresh I don't know what I'll do - I don't have that many.  Any favorite fig recipes?  I should check to see if Nourishing Traditions has figs in any recipes...

Whatchagot Stew:  Every time it is original and different.  This time I browned some stew meat and then added water to the pan and let it simmer about 20-30 minutes to cook.  Meanwhile I cooked noodles.  In a separate pan I sauteed the following in some coconut oil: zucchini, garlic, onion, and several types of peppers.  When it was almost done I ran outside and cut some thyme, oregano, and basil (only because that's when I thought of it!).  Since I know even less about herbs than I do canning I just put all of them in the veggie mix and cooked a little more.  I dumped the veggie mix into the pan with cooked meat and then lightly sauteed some chopped tomato from the farmer's market (mmm).  I added that to the meat/veggie mix and also poured in some white gravy - Can you believe I actually made that first so it would be ready??

I can't tell you how much that lightly cooked fresh tomato added to the flavor party.  When I bit into a piece it was a burst of sweetness and flavor but not mushy.

What's Schoolin'?

I'm almost done with aligning the Chemistry sources for next year and I finally finished sorting out Chemistry links by chapter for Real Science 4 Kids. 

The dc have been reading the Patricia Polacco books that I won't be using for the writing class.  The olders have also been reading her books that go along with our slavery/Civil War studies.  Their assignment is to read them whenever they want; write the title/author in their Reading Response Logs; and respond however they want (and I gave some examples) [Yes, I'm really tough!].  They have been devouring them and I can't get them to stop reading!

Dd's eyes were red as she read January's Sparrow so I told her that at the end he survived and they only pretended to bury him.  She immediately cheered up and wanted more details (which I refused to give so she'll want to read more, he, he, he).

Peachy Keen ~ Algebra Schedules

Peachy Keen:

We were blessed last week with the opportunity to pick peaches at a friend's house (thanks, T!).  I'm so excited.  Unfortunately I didn't have time right away to deal with them all the way through at one time.  We peeled a whole bunch that night but it wasn't until later that I read to put lemon juice on them so they don't brown.  The next go-round I dipped them in a lemon juice/water mixture as I peeled them.  They still browned again (but much, much less) before I actually canned/froze them.  Mainly I plan on canning them but I may also freeze some and make some preserves. [Update:  I'm freezing more than canning because I can't get it done fast enough.  Plus, I can use frozen to make preserves or cobbler later if we want]

I can't tell you how many times throughout the peaches I've thought, "How would Ma Ingalls do it?"  "Oh yeah, she would have actually set aside a whole day for this and not try to cram it in while driving back and forth to commitments and a whole slew of other things.  Cut yourself some slack and just do your best!"

[Another update:  We opened a can of the peaches last night at dinner and they tasted like...canned peaches :).  I was so relieved, lol]

Algebra Schedules:

As part of our eclectic homeschooling we use Montessori presentations and materials; but we also use Math curricula.  In the younger grades (K-6) we use Excel Math and then switch to Teaching Textbooks for Pre-Algebra on up through.... (we'll see how it goes!).  Next school year will be our 3rd year with TT.  I asked oldest dd if she wanted to take a break from Algebra and do a semester of Geometry, then Algebra, and go back and forth.  She said she would rather just go straight through the Algebra [See? Montessori philosophy at work with olders even though following a math curr - get the child's input within parameters].  That should work since we're s-l-o-w-l-y going through R&D's Geometry manual so they are not *just* getting Algebra.  She also (wisely) pointed out that once she's done with Algebra and moves into Geometry she'll still need to be doing some Algebra so she doesn't forget.  I'm so glad I talk to my dc about plans because they usually have insight that I need to hear.  Throughout next year I can be thinking about how to approach Algebra practice during her Geometry year.

Yesterday I was working on my Chemistry plans and going through previously tagged Chemistry links.  This wonderful site has schedules already made for several popular curricula.  I couldn't use those for this year but I was thrilled to use her blank schedule template to put in their Math lessons.  If they do 4 lessons a week they'll have just enough time to finish by the end of the year.  4/week lets them have a bit of slack for those more difficult lessons that may take longer plus the tests (which I forgot to include in the schedule but it worked out anyway, lol).  I have it put in our online planner but since that can change I also wanted a 'fixed' schedule to refer back to throughout the year to make sure we're on track.  That's where her template helps.  Since we're STILL trying to finish up Math from last school year this appeals to all of us! 

Here is our Teaching Textbook schedule for next year.  If you happen to start on Labor Day like we do it's all set for you :).  Otherwise, you can just scratch out and change the dates (I only put Monday dates for the week).  Algebra 1 only has 129 lessons but I left 130 so I could use the same form for both olders.  Below that is the link for her blank template (scroll down just a bit).  If you click on her math tab at the top you will find a wonderful schedule already done for TT as well.  I just wanted it 4x/week instead.

http://tinyurl.com/2d4pg9t

http://corefoundations.wordpress.com/schedules/

What's Cookin'?

Aside from the peaches, I am canning/freezing/dehydrating like crazy every second I can.  If you see someone wandering around mumbling "Mangoes, must peel more mangoes; how many cantaloupe can I fit in the freezer?  Must cut up more..." it's probably me (especially if she's having a bad hair day). 

I got 6 cantaloupes that were on sale for $1.00 this week.  Those freeze really well.  Last year I thought, "Hmm.... They sell frozen melon balls - Let's give it a shot."  We just finished the last of the frozen melon from last season and it was still good (unless there is a bag somewhere hidden in the freezer that I missed).

The same store (in a  small town) had mangoes on sale  3 for $1.  I got 30!!  That'll be another post :).

Current Sales

Garden of Francis:

Okay, I haven't even gotten my first order yet and I'm already in love with Garden of Francis!  Support this wonderful Montessori Homeschooler if you can.  My favorites that fit my current needs are the laundry soap, the dish soap, and the bar soap. 

I think I'll end up getting the world felt map to replace my old tattered map.  At some point I'll have to accept that it's time to put up the plastic animals that go with the felt map to help push my children into more upper level work (sigh) but for now even the oldest likes to handle the animals.  Gee, I never even got around to marking the bottoms of the animals for the control and it's already time to move forward.  I have to remember that the toy animals are probably not in the 6-9 classes (right???).  Here is mine - Asia always drives me crazy because the seams pop open (I used peel and stick felt for Asia and MUCH prefer the regular felt pieces stuck on with Tacky Glue).  I also wish that I had made Antarctica in the actual shape of the continent.  In the meantime (and if I get around to it) I could just re-do Asia/Antarctica and run it through the dryer to get the lint and such off of the back.

Take a few minutes to browse through their Montessori and Educational items.  While you're there, be sure to look through the homemaking items as well.  They quickly answered any questions that I had (and I had many!!).  To make life even better they have free shipping right now for all orders over $50.00.  I went in with a few people to order before that particular sale started and by the time we had all of our ducks in a row and I completed the order we had such a pleasant surprise with the free shipping!  So, whether you can get in an order before the sale ends, or order after the sale ends on your own or with others, consider ordering from Garden of Francis.  By the way, they *always* have free shipping on books :).  She also has primary and elementary Montessori homeschool guides for sale!  No, I'm not affiliated with them - I just think they are great and wanted to pass that along to you!

http://www.gardenoffrancis.com/

Parts of Wonder:

I don't have a need for these right now but they are so beautiful that I thought I'd post the link.  They are 'parts of' cards but not in 3-part card fashion.  Rather, they are the 'label the picture' type of activity.  I have one of this type (but not even 1/2 as beautiful) in my insect box and the dc did well with it.  If the sale hasn't started yet then check back after July 15th.  I'm posting a picture below (with permission); isn't it beautiful?

http://www.etsy.com/shop/partsofwonder

Patricia Polacco ~ The Perfect Bread

What's Schoolin'?
I spent a lot of time last weekend buried in picture books. I was selecting stories to use as mini-lessons for a writing class I started teaching this week. I have appreciated some of Patricia Polacco's books for some time now but I got totally engrossed with her books and read book after book after book. January's Sparrow literally made me cry. The Butterfly moved me beyond words. We'll be using Chicken Sunday for the class and I'll also be reading several book back flaps to the students showing how they are based on real life experiences. Since the gist of this class is personal narrative, Polacco's books are perfect. Betty Doll is amazing. It's a letter that her mother wrote to her and wrapped in a box with the doll for Polacco to read after her mother's death. Heart gripping. On a lighter note there are the books John Phillip Duck and The Bee Tree. I'm *not* endorsing all of her books, but she has a wealth of excellent, enriching books.  Here are some that fit with the personal narrative study (please preview for appropriateness for your dc's age/maturity/content):

The Perfect (Sandwich/Breadmaker) Bread:

I've been fiddling with a couple of recipes and this is what works for our family. In a few weeks I will probably mess with the flour ratio to get more wheat but when it was flip-flopped from what is posted below dh didn't like it (although the dc liked it fine). So, I want a happy medium of just enough whole wheat but not too much. I can't see us eating pure whole wheat at this time in life, but you never know.

The night before put the following in the bread machine and set it on dough cycle. Leave it in the breadmaker overnight. Alternative for those with no dough cycle: Mix the following in a bowl, leave soaking overnight, and put it in the breadmaker before the next step in the morning. The formatting on blogger doesn't always work the way I want so let's hope that this is readable:

-1 C water (does not have to be warm)

-1/4 C whey

[If I don't have whey I use about 3/4 C milk plus water to equal 1-1/4 C liquid; or water plus yogurt - it all depends on what I have in the house that particular day!]

-2-1/2 C unbleached white flour

-1 C whole wheat flour
-1 teaspoon rye flour
[The rye is to add more phytase to help break up the phytate in the wheat flour.]

The next morning add the following to the breadmaker:

-2 Tablespoons liquid oil or coconut oil (I'm low on coconut oil right now so I've done it half-and-half or all liquid oil; mine happens to be safflower right now - I don't recommend canola based on NT)

-1/2 Tablespoon demerara or rapadura (or honey or your preferred sweetener)
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten
-1-1/2 teaspoon yeast

For my breadmaker the perfect setting is "2-3 Cup Basic Bread" and the color "normal."
Here is a picture of the last loaf.  I tried to get a close-up to show the texture so hopefully it won't be blurry.  Right now with my eyes everything always looks blurry so I would have no idea!

Multipication Bead Board

Multiplication Bead Board:
I redid my Mult Bead Board. Here is a picture of my old bead board. It's been a few years so I don't remember exactly, but I *think* the printout and directions were from jmjpublishing.
http://family.webshots.com/photo/2654706870100452258VOOFML

Below I'll paste a photo of my new one. I cheated and used the blank side of a $0.99 hundred board (available at any teacher store but I got mine at Mardel). I trimmed off the border; rubber cemented it to white foam board; used a highlighter to make a yellow border at the top and left (because I didn't have yellow foam board) to match the yellow for the multiplication works; trimmed using a metal ruler and exacto blade; wrote the numbers on top with a sharpie; and finished the edges with clear strapping tape to hold down the edge of the chart and wrap around the edge of the foam board. This is smaller than the older board so it fits straight up in the cubby with about 1cm to spare.

There are 2 sets of materials to use with the board. Set one has the little flat beads I used with the olders (in the old picture above). I switched out the little green wooden milk jugs with velcro and the little chips with velcro that the olders used for little yellow fun foam tiles I cut up and wrote the numbers on with sharpie and just 1 red translucent chip to move across the top.
The other set has 100 units from the Base Ten Blocks, poker chips with the numbers on them, and 1 red translucent chip to move across the top numbers (my personal favorite because I can handle the little cubes easier; youngest dd likes the pretty flat beads best). The child can choose from either of these sets.

What's Cookin'?

[disclaimer: I started this post weeks ago so "tonight" doesn't necessarily mean "tonight"! So much has happened since starting this post - like blowing out my oven and attempting to make tomato sauce so I could can it.]

I made some macaroni and cheese using this recipe. I added a VERY non-NT ingredient: cut up Little Smokies that dh brought home the other day. It was delicious and I savored every bite :). I served it with a cantaloupe.
http://www.macaronicheeserecipes.com/StoveTop.htm

Tonight we had tacos. Sounds simple. I can make just about anything complicated. I used Kelly's fermented tortilla recipe but since I didn't have milk, I just used water and since I didn't plan ahead I just used white flour instead of wheat. Older dds helped me flip tortillas while I sauteed a mixture of onion, banana pepper, and zucchini slices in butter ("Wow, that's a lot of butter, Mommy!"). Then I reheated some browned ground beef that I miraculously precooked in the early afternoon. Then (I'm using the same pan, BTW, for each of these, lol) I heated up the black beans I had made the day before and left them simmering on the stovetop while I stuck the rest in the warm oven. Then I sat down with a cup of coffee and typed dd's 4-H paper for about 20 minutes because, well, just to help her out a little since she had already written it, and everyone else played outside (bliss!). Between the sweet sauteed mix, a diced tomato from a friend's garden (thanks, K!), and everything else it was a party to the taste buds.

Blueberries are in season! I LOVE blueberries. We picked almost 30 cups of blueberries at a blueberry farm. 15+ cups are in bags in the freezer. 10 Cups are waiting anxiously to see what becomes of them. The fate for some will be in a blueberry cobbler. The fate for others will be to be scarfed down unceremoniously by any and all. Others will be turned into blueberry jam and canned. Some have already mysteriously disappeared. I found this blueberry cobbler that I plan on making:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1837,152191-241197,00.html
[Update: the cobbler was delicious - just not quite enough for 2 servings for a family of 5 (over 2 days, not at one sitting!)][After all was said and done I saved at least $45 on blueberries and jam for the year (10 jars of jam) ... Not bad for a fun family outing!]

Onions: I picked a bunch of onions and am cutting up and freezing them. They may last 1/2 year of cooking/seasoning. I'm going to try making onion rings. Here are a few recipes:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1650,147189-248197,00.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,166,147188-248197,00.html
I find myself at cooks.com often. I like their recipes because they're simple :)

[Update: I used the second recipe and they were delicious. Here's a picture]

Then I fried some zucchini and some eggplant with the same batter. Not nearly as good as the onion rings but okay.

Since I broke my oven (sigh) I tried making yogurt in a water bath in the crockpot. The 3rd try I heated the milk up in an electric skillet, poured it in a quart jar (spilling a bunch on the counter!) and was able to keep the temperature at 110F from the beginning. We won't talk about the first 2 tries... (Ignore the ugly stains in my crockpot from cooking black beans) I put a washcloth under the jar so it wouldn't sit directly on the bottom and I preheated the water to the right temp. I also waited until the milk was the right temp before putting it in the jar.I got a bunch of tomatoes to make some canned tomato sauce. By the time I spent hours washing, parboiling, seeding them (the dc peeled them), and cooking the sauce I only had 5 cups of sauce. I'll try it again with Roma tomatoes but without more yield it's hardly worth it for me.

Stamp Game

What's Schoolin'?

The addition strip board has been a big hit with youngest dd and also with a visiting dc the same age. Youngest is now also doing the fish bowl with Finger Chart 3. Oh, and setting up a pet shop in her room with stuffed animals for sale and leaving advertisements around the house like solicitors leave ads. Her ads even have a business phone number and website listed :). Too cute.

Youngest needed 1/2 inch grid paper to do maths but the only 'paper' I've found is 1/4 inch, which is what the olders use for math notebooks and math reference folders. I did a search and printed off the following grid to put in a 3-prong folder for youngest to use. Today I'll be showing her the problem cards and Stamp Game. Soon after I'll demo the Dot Game. She has been doing addition with regrouping using the Base Ten Blocks for a month or so in her regular Math Curriculum (Excel Math - It's excellent). She can also do the dynamic addition without manipulatives but giving her the option of more abstract support like the Dot Game will help her, I think. So, although I didn't exactly follow the right order (she jumped straight to abstract from the Base 10 Blocks) I'll offer these to her now.

http://www.printaruler.com/download/paper/printaruler_paper_letter_grid_1-2inch.pdf

Here is a picture of my homemade Stamp Game using printed stamps stuck on self-adhesive fun foam. The foam backing makes it much easier to grasp and manipulate. I keep the cards in a little plastic drawer in one of the math cubbies so that they can use the cards with different materials.

http://family.webshots.com/photo/2560125330100452258fBasST

What's Gardenin'?

We harvested our very first crop of potatoes! Not really enough to store but we'll certainly enjoy potatoes for a week or so. Last night I just washed off and boiled some of the red potatoes. The dc and I decided that we'll definitely plant potatoes again next season. This was my third and last try but it worked in both the raised bed and the big planter on the back porch. We worked really hard but it was fun.

As soon as we dug up all of the potatoes we planted the sweet potato slips. I put the dill that was growing with the potatoes in the planter in a smaller planter with some thyme already in it. It's in bloom but the cucumbers aren't ready yet for me to use the dill. That happened last year also - the timing was off so I let the blue swallowtails eat the dill.

My zukes don't seem to be getting pollinated. The peas and cukes in the same general area are and those flowers are so big and beautiful - I don't see why they're not. After 3 tiny zukes shriveled up I cut a tiny one when it was only about 4 inches long to eat.

What's Cookin'?


Last night was a strange dinner, but one of my favorites lately. It was just what I needed and I felt great afterward. The best part was that the onion, pepper, potatoes, tiny zucchini, and a handful of peas were from our garden; the butter was good Amish butter (we're almost out -sniff!); the bread was homemade sourdough; and the eggs were wonderful eggs from a friend.

I sauteed chopped onion, pepper, zuke, and some diced ham in coconut oil. Then I added eggs which dh whipped up for me while I sauteed. Meanwhile middle dd made the toast and oldest dd shredded some extra sharp cheddar to sprinkle over the eggs or potatoes. That's it. Simple dinner. Scrambled eggs with veggies/ham in it served with boiled potatoes, peas, and sourdough toast.

I share this as an example for how real food doesn't have to be gourmet. It's just real.

Quote of the Day:

~ Youngest was reading Farmer Boy out loud last night (usually I read it to her but she asked and did fine). "What does sedate mean?" (I answer) What does placidly mean?" (I answer). "Why can't they just say calm and peaceful?"

~ "I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short."
Blaise Pascal (I'm not necessarily endorsing him but I love the quote)

Sunscreen again???

How many posts will I have about sunscreen?

When I obsess about something I REALLY obsess! Hopefully this will be the last post! Until next summer that is :).

I was bypassing Badger unscented SPF 30 because it has 'micronized zinc oxide' as the active ingredient. After reading the explanation on their website I'm sort of almost sold (that is, unless I find something else)(sounds a bit wishy-washy, eh?). Better yet - they list 2 stores in the area that sell it. Read about it here:

http://www.badgerbalm.com/t-sunscreen_zinc_oxide_nanoparticles.aspx

Their anti-bug spray looks good. Both are about $16.00 for 2.9 ounces.
-------
However...
-------

The winning sunscreen is.... (drum roll)

Loving Naturals Sunscreen.

Why? Because, even though the Badger brand had me (almost) convinced regarding their zinc oxide use, Loving Naturals has non-nano particles zinc oxide AND it specifically addresses the chemical coating that Badger uses. In the following link click on product info on the top tool bar and then active ingredient on the bottom.

http://www.lovingnaturals.com/

The cost is $10 for 2.7 ounces (different than I found originally); $19 for 5 ounces. Funny, this price sounded outrageous a few weeks ago yet now I'm more than willing to pay it for a year of safe sun protection. If you know me locally and want to know where to get some, let me know.

They also have a natural bug spray or lotion ($13 for 4 ounces). I used a natural bug spray today to go out to our thrip-infested peas in the garden and the citronella-based spray kept them at bay. Their product looks good.

What's Cookin'?

Cabbage, cabbage, glorious cabbage: Kroger has cabbage on sale for $0.50/pound. I got 4 to use for sauerkraut. I just accidentally ran across an old recipe (that I've never tried) to use cabbage in lieu of spaghetti noodles. That should be interesting. The recipe is on my counter waiting for tomorrow. [Update: We made 3-1/2 quarts of kraut today but I completely forgot until we were done and cleaning up that I wanted to hold some back for that recipe - argh! 2 quarts are plain; 1 qt has pickling spices like dill, mustard seed, and coriander seed in it; and the pint has a pepper from our little garden (sort of like a banana pepper)] Alyss' instructions are easy to follow. I don't really measure but I always refer back to her instructions:

http://realfoodmyway.blogspot.com/2009/01/kraut-101.html

Roasted peanuts: I've soaked and dehydrated some peanuts but I'm trying to make them more palatable to dh by tweaking a spiced nuts recipe. I plan to roast them with just oil and salt. Dc and I just eat them plain or use them for peanut butter (very occasionally). [Update: the nuts were a hit with dh. I ended up mixing the roasted peanuts with the plain ones once in the jar and it's just enough of a salt coating flavor. I mixed 2 Cups soaked/dehydrated peanuts with 2 teaspoons oil and almost 1 teaspoon salt. Then I put them on parchment paper and roasted for 10 minutes at 350F. I should have done a lower temp because I think I killed my enzymes - That's what I get for not checking NT and doing it on the fly. At least 1/2 the nuts in the mix still have live enzymes.

Sourdough Bread: I made 2 loaves of sourdough bread (one is baking while I type). Last Sunday I started a new starter and used water from boiling potatoes for most of the water. It took off and ended up being the best starter I've made yet. The first loaf rose beautifully in the bread maker on dough cycle (then I put it in a pan, let it sit, and cook in the oven so it can finish the 8 hour rise/soak). Unfortunately, I don't bake bread in the oven in the summer, so I just used up all the starter in this first batch (sniff, sniff!). I need to figure out which recipe will be my summer recipe for bread. I cook it in the bread maker on the back porch to create less heat in the house.

Bananas were on sale for $0.39/lb this week so youngest dd has been busy dehydrating banana chips. The dehydrator is on the back porch right now with batch #2.

What's Gardenin'?

I went to the local farmer's market today in search of I didn't really know what. I almost jumped up and down when I saw a lady selling sweet potato slips. I got 4 and went back for 2 more for a pot where I have potatoes right now. She said the potatoes need to be harvested so we'll get to play in the dirt this weekend :). Then I'll plant the sweet potato slips in the potato section of the raised bed and in the big planter on the back porch. She was the only organic grower there today. Now to google potato harvesting...

She was generously giving away some purple bean plants so I'll put those where I was *going* to plant watermelon. We missed the watermelon window because things were very hectic - in a good way - during April and May.

My camera died or I would try to upload some pictures of the kraut, etc.

Call it Courage ~ Garden ~ Noeo Chemistry ~ More Sunscreen

Call it Courage by A. Sperry

Today was our official last day of school but I can't wait to start doing more lessons with the dc! I just finished putting together an independent study for Call it Courage. I'll upload it to googledocs but first let me give credit where credit is due. Below are my sources. The maps that I printed aren't in my doc but I mention how we used them. It won't be 100% independent, because they'll need help researching, but they did so well with the slavery independent study that I thought I would try to do that more often.

http://www.create.cett.msstate.edu/create/classroom/lplan_view.asp?articleID=29

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading36/call_it_courage.htm

scroll waaay down for the plates - I used this to make a magnetic puzzle http://www2.ocean.washington.edu/oc540/lec01-1/

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8q_1.html

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/small_world_outline_map.htm

http://www.mapsnworld.com/pacific-ocean-map.html

http://www.wall-maps.com/Continents/NGPACIFIC-over.jpg

Here is the paper that I'm giving to the olders. I may do this book as a read-aloud, but having it written out for independent work makes that option ready to go. The pictures of the book covers at the end are for them to glue in their Literature Logs. Our youngest will do the maps and geography as she's interested but I don't think I'll read the book to her. It's a little intense for her age. This also begins their formal Geography course for high school, which includes cultural studies.

http://tinyurl.com/2dnke6a

What's Cookin'?



Chili. Purists may cringe but I made it with beans. I sure wouldn't win at a chili cook-off but it was okay. Basically I put cooked pinto beans, cooked ground beef, tomato sauce, and onion in the crockpot with some seasonings. I didn't have bell pepper or celery and dh doesn't like cooked tomatoes in recipes so I left those items out. One recipe I found online said garlic salt, pepper, and chili powder. Garlic, salt, and pepper are IN chili powder so I just used some chili powder (homemade so no msg) and just added that for seasoning. We ate it with tortilla chips instead of cornbread.

For Memorial Day we had BBQ (a pre-cooked roast cut up and put in the crock pot with homemade msg-free BBQ sauce), mashed potatoes (I mash 'em good with lots of butter and milk), fresh boiled corn on the cob, and rolls. We're finishing up our last bit of Amish butter and it was heavenly on the corn. Then we went out to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor for our traditional end-of-school outing.



What's Gardenin'?

The lettuce has bolted except for some tiny ones that I planted from seed. The peas are starting to flower. The cukes are starting to flower but they are still really, really short so it may be too early. The strawberries are bearing fruit but I have to beat the roly-polies to them. I thought the slugs were getting them but I find lot of rolies in the stawberry bed. A week ago I put a bunch of DE all in the bed and it helped a LOT. I've gotten a few tomatoes but I think it's still a bit early for those. The fire ants are busy harvesting aphids in the peach tree. Very interesting to watch, actually! The potatoes look like they probably have blight, what a plight - I'm very dissappointed about that. I haven't been able to spend much time outside but hopefully will next week [update: I cut off the infected leaves, sprayed with neem oil, and piled the dirt/mulch higher around them. They are doing much better].

I got a nice surprise this week - the peas are out! I had seen a few flowers here and there and didn't realize how well they were doing. We can start picking now. There's a fungus on the bottom part. That happened last year also, but in a totally different bed (this is a new raised bed). I didn't spray neem oil ahead of time like I planned - waited until it was too yucky. The top part of the plants look good though and are busy with the pea pods.

Another surprise: There was a dead potato plant in the planter so I pulled it out. Then I thought, "I wonder..." and dug around in the dirt without disturbing the other plants. I pulled out a perfect little new potato. Then I found another in the raised bed. So I have 2 pretty red potatoes.

I think I have chiggers (ewww). When we got home from watering the Children's Community Garden I had the dc take off their socks and shoes immediately and take a 'toe bath' while rubbing their legs roughly with their hands to swipe any off. What did I do? Walked in and got lunch ready and piddled around for about an hour until I finally got around to doing that myself. Result: bites around my sock line that itch like crazy. I put a baking soda paste on it yesterday to help relieve the itching.

What's Schoolin'?

Chemistry, again. This curriculum looks fantastic and uses trade books for its core intruction. I haven't seen the teacher guide in person and the sample pages don't take you through a full lesson cycle (tsk, tsk) but the bit it shows seems good. My heart is set on Real Science 4 Kids and I've already spent a lot of time on it (I'll upload the file when I'm done). Otherwise this would be in the running. I'm considering it for biology and physics though.

http://www.noeoscience.com/index.html

We're in the middle of writing up our Record Books for 4-H. That'll be the gist of school (or at least writing class time) for this week [another update: now that the school year is "officially" over we'll just be doing it in our spare time, lol. Either way they are due in 2 weeks!]. Youngest dd is doing the Memory Book. It's fun looking back through the academic year at all that they did and accomplished. I got several new gray hairs last year during record book time and probably will again this year but they're worth it!

Sunscreen Update:

I found ewg's recommended list here:http://www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/sunscreen09/Beach-Sunscreens

Some I like so far:

California Baby: Titatinium Dioxide is the active ingredient but it says "non-nanoparticles" and that ingredient gets a rating of 1 (okay). Other ingredients have no identified concerns. Overall score was 0 (recommended). Downside: really expensive :(

Badger: Zinc Oxide is active ingredient at 22%. That ingredient got a 3; still got an overall 1 (recommended). Upside: More affordable [I ran across their Anti-Bug pushup in Amazon - looks good]. $9 or $13 for 3.5 oz.

Loving Naturals Organic: Non-nano particle zinc oxide. $10/1 oz.

Thinkbaby: non-nano particles, zinc oxide, no titanium dioxide. Downside: argine for fragrance and I can't find a good ingredient list from the company to see if it has another product without it. They say what it doesn't have but not what it has. $17/3 oz.



This was not on their list but the ingredients look good: Elemental Herbs sunscreen. Non-nanoparticle zinc oxide. Other ingredients look fine. $9 for 1 oz.

From their site regarding zinc oxide:

"About ZINC OXIDE (sunscreen grade > 100nm): Sunscreens with micronized zinc oxide may contain nanoparticles. Micronized zinc offers improved sun protection compared to larger particles. Micronized zinc particles do not penetrate healthy skin to a large degree, but may be more toxic to living cells and the environment. Inhalation of powders and sprays is a concern."

Addition and Subtraction Booklets ~ Sunscreen

What's Cookin'?

Not much, lately! Right now, as I type, I'm browning 2 pounds of grass-fed ground beef and have a meatloaf and meat balls in the oven. From the ground beef I hope to get 4 meals: spaghetti, tacos, chili, and, uh, something else.

Otherwise it's just been the bare basics: yogurt, almond milk, bread (barely!), pancake crackers, and bone broth.

What's Schoolin'?

The olders are giving reports at a nature camp on ponds this week and leading a small group of youngsters in a lesson on wildlife next week.

They had a wonderful language and culture immersion experience when family came up to visit from Central America a few weekends ago. Not to mention the wonderful culture of food! :)

We've been getting a lot more out of the binomial cube now that I've presented it properly after watching the video I posted. Just for fun we did (a+b)squared (I don't know how to do the 2 superscript on the blog!) with bead bars and mathematically and it was cool how they matched and it worked!

Addition and Subtraction Booklets for the Montessori Strip Board:

I am so excited to have found a used Nienhuis addition/subtraction strip board. I was postponing presenting it to dd because, frankly, I didn't like my homemade one and it didn't appeal to me (so I didn't think it would appeal to her either). Now we're both ready and rearing to go but life has been busy every day since we got it. The good thing is that it gave me more time to get the booklets ready. I uploaded the addition and subtraction booklets to google docs. I redid the ones I had gotten online because I wanted the constant number first in the addition booklet and (it may be weird or not authentically Montessori) in the subtraction booklets as well. I also wanted to include all of them in the subtraction booklet.

Here is the addition booklet:
http://tinyurl.com/2cpnzfh

Here is the subtraction booklet:
http://tinyurl.com/24e95pd

The olders will be taking the SAT this week. We try to downplay it as much as possible. Apparently I didn't talk about it enough because one dd had some wrong ideas about it (that it meant passing or failing the grade, for example - I NEVER told them that!).

Sunscreen:

I am currently in a quandary about sunscreen. If titanium dioxide is bad, then why is it so prominent in natural sunscreens as well as conventional sunscreens? I've snatched a few moments here and there to search online for sunscreens with just the zinc oxide (but they may need to block both types of rays to be beneficially balanced - I would need to know which zinc oxide blocks if I get one with only that). On the other hand, the titanium dioxide is really bad when it is in nanoparticle form. I found one that actually says "non-nanoparticles." The search continues. Let me know of any favorite sunscreens. By the way, we use it sparingly but soccer is 2 hours and horse camp is 5 hours, so there are times that the dc need it.