Today was….umm…interesting! Bunny was tired and cranky. She didnt want to work and anything she did start, quickly ended with tears and yelling. *sigh*. She did manage to get some math problems done and some reading, but I dont know that it was productive in anyway. I asked her to choose a work and she wouldnt. So I told her if she couldnt choose a work, I would choose one for her to do. She wouldnt choose, so I pulled out the division board (Which she loved the other day). It was not good. Have you ever felt that moment where work was done, but under such resistance that it was probably a waste of time? Well today with Bunny that is how it went. Pup thankfully did great work while this was all going on! At lunch time (Bunny was still working), Pup and I made pancakes! She helped measure, mix, and sprinkle sprinkles on them while they baked! Let’s just say she LOVED it! 🙂 I always have such a hard time working cooking time in with dinner. But maybe lunch would be a good way to get some kitchen time in together. Those little moments seem to mean the most to them.
Bunny didnt finally recover her normal happy self! In fact this afternoon, she wanted to cook too. She asked if she could make her own bread. She wanted to create her own recipe to make one small loaf of bread. We talked for a moment about what she would put into it. She suggested water and flour. I asked if it would need salt or sugar. She said yes and that she wanted to let it rise. I asked her what she could add to make it rise and she said yeast. So I gave her the go ahead. She got everything out and I told her that she needed to add the yeast to warm water so that it would rise better. She added everything in, mix it, kneaded it, and let it rise! She decided to make a round loaf instead of putting in a pan! It was still cooling at bead time, so we are having bread for breakfast! She was SO PROUD of it!
After she finished making it, was in a really great mood! In fact she started to clean things in the house afterwards! It was amazing to see that deep contentment that Maria Montessori talks about when a child finished meaningful work. It has me thinking not only about cooking more together, but also about finding and having some practical life in the classroom for Bunny to do. I have been seeing a need for it for a while, but today really confirmed it. She seems to feel better, work harder, and stay more focused when she does things like that. So I am on a mission. A mission to cook more with the girls and to make some practical life work for Bunny!
All of you homeschoolers out there weigh in! Have you found that sometimes book work just doesnt cut it, and the simple moments prove more educational?
There is a TON more great Montessori posts over at the Montessori Monday Link up! Stop by there and Happy Schooling! :)
Since she loves cooking so much may be she could be in charge of one meal or a part of it including planning and shopping?! Lots of learning opportunities!
That’s a really good idea! I think I really need to do that! I just couldnt believe how much it seemed to mean to her to do that cooking. Thanks for the idea! 🙂
I been there my friend!! When I start reading your post, i said did she talk about us??lol, I have some of those days too… When she is cranky, don’t know what to choose, and tears coming, ok…. its time to do other thing… She just LOVE sweep and map!!! baking something, go to the garden…. I dont know but beleive me, what ever we do… there we learned and practice what she learned before!! Hope you enjoy your cooking times!!!! Big Hugs!!
Last week Mustang decided that she wanted to learn to cook. She found a Better Homes and Gardens Junior cookbook in my cabinet and announced she was going to make one recipe every week till she gets through it. First was pancakes. Might be something to suggest to Bunny? Also, we try and clean before we have school, and I can certainly see how the kids feel productive. It helps them be more focused during their school work.
It’s interesting that we typically think of physical labor and “outside the academics” stuff for boys, more often than we think of it for girls – but all kids (and adults!) need that real life meaningful hard work in order to be balanced.
Every time I am out of sorts, I clean. It feel so much better! My son gets cranky and he gets to clean his room; or scrub the balcony windows; or haul around heavy things from one place to another (even if I have to make up an excuse to move them!). He might grumble at first, but once he works some of it out, he’s a different kid! And so am I after cleaning the house 😉
It’s that real life application – and a connection with the real things of the earth. Making bread – it doesn’t get more “earthy” than that 😉 Living yeast, once living wheat, warm water, arm muscle work for the kneading – and feeding your family’s bodies and souls to boot.
Oh so true! Work does seem to really center a person and give them a sence of happiness! It is really amazing! I cant wait to see how I can make this a better part of our school time! Making bread was really great and Bunny got a loom for her birthday, so I see some weaving in the near future! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! If you made bread, I hope it turned out well! 🙂
We did make bread 😉 We’ve recently started using sourdough and it’s a whole new experience – Legoboy loves it, because we now officially have several varieties of living things in our refrigerator (homemade yogurt, cultured cheese, sourdough starter) – it’s been interesting how he explains THAT in public 😉
Ohhh…sourdough! Is it hard to do? I think that Bunny may love trying to something like that. I would to hear your Legboy telling about it. Happy Baking!
Since that last post, we have perfected crepes, pancakes, bread, rolls, dumplings, english muffins (turned out great – far too sour because I waited too long between feedings on it).
There is SO much information out there! And it looks overwhelming but it’s actually REALLY easy once you get the hang of it. And I found a way I can even dry it out and send dry samples to people to get started. I find that fascinating – that it will COME BACK TO LIFE after being thoroughly dehydrated… Amazing.
What I want to do is compile a children’s book in the form of our Montessori stories of where things come from (economic geography and the like), with some straight-forward guidelines. Legoboy has it mostly organized already – we just need to do some more research and actually PUBLISH it 😉
January 22, 2013 @ 2:46 am
Since she loves cooking so much may be she could be in charge of one meal or a part of it including planning and shopping?! Lots of learning opportunities!
January 22, 2013 @ 3:13 am
That’s a really good idea! I think I really need to do that! I just couldnt believe how much it seemed to mean to her to do that cooking. Thanks for the idea! 🙂
January 22, 2013 @ 8:22 pm
I been there my friend!! When I start reading your post, i said did she talk about us??lol, I have some of those days too… When she is cranky, don’t know what to choose, and tears coming, ok…. its time to do other thing… She just LOVE sweep and map!!! baking something, go to the garden…. I dont know but beleive me, what ever we do… there we learned and practice what she learned before!! Hope you enjoy your cooking times!!!! Big Hugs!!
January 24, 2013 @ 4:59 am
Last week Mustang decided that she wanted to learn to cook. She found a Better Homes and Gardens Junior cookbook in my cabinet and announced she was going to make one recipe every week till she gets through it. First was pancakes. Might be something to suggest to Bunny? Also, we try and clean before we have school, and I can certainly see how the kids feel productive. It helps them be more focused during their school work.
January 28, 2013 @ 12:36 am
It’s interesting that we typically think of physical labor and “outside the academics” stuff for boys, more often than we think of it for girls – but all kids (and adults!) need that real life meaningful hard work in order to be balanced.
Every time I am out of sorts, I clean. It feel so much better! My son gets cranky and he gets to clean his room; or scrub the balcony windows; or haul around heavy things from one place to another (even if I have to make up an excuse to move them!). He might grumble at first, but once he works some of it out, he’s a different kid! And so am I after cleaning the house 😉
It’s that real life application – and a connection with the real things of the earth. Making bread – it doesn’t get more “earthy” than that 😉 Living yeast, once living wheat, warm water, arm muscle work for the kneading – and feeding your family’s bodies and souls to boot.
Now, I’m hungry for home-made bread! 😉
January 30, 2013 @ 2:31 am
Oh so true! Work does seem to really center a person and give them a sence of happiness! It is really amazing! I cant wait to see how I can make this a better part of our school time! Making bread was really great and Bunny got a loom for her birthday, so I see some weaving in the near future! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! If you made bread, I hope it turned out well! 🙂
January 30, 2013 @ 2:42 am
We did make bread 😉 We’ve recently started using sourdough and it’s a whole new experience – Legoboy loves it, because we now officially have several varieties of living things in our refrigerator (homemade yogurt, cultured cheese, sourdough starter) – it’s been interesting how he explains THAT in public 😉
January 30, 2013 @ 3:34 am
Ohhh…sourdough! Is it hard to do? I think that Bunny may love trying to something like that. I would to hear your Legboy telling about it. Happy Baking!
January 30, 2013 @ 4:06 am
Stephanie – here are two of my past posts on the sourdough: http://acatholicmommy.stblogs.com/?s=sourdough
Since that last post, we have perfected crepes, pancakes, bread, rolls, dumplings, english muffins (turned out great – far too sour because I waited too long between feedings on it).
There is SO much information out there! And it looks overwhelming but it’s actually REALLY easy once you get the hang of it. And I found a way I can even dry it out and send dry samples to people to get started. I find that fascinating – that it will COME BACK TO LIFE after being thoroughly dehydrated… Amazing.
What I want to do is compile a children’s book in the form of our Montessori stories of where things come from (economic geography and the like), with some straight-forward guidelines. Legoboy has it mostly organized already – we just need to do some more research and actually PUBLISH it 😉