How the textbook helps

Not all children are going to enjoy textbook learning, but the textbook doesn't have to be just for the children!
Recently I bought a geography textbook to use with the boys. The first topic that we are covering is a chapter on volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms. Part of the chapter addresses the impact of these events on human populations, how people prepare for and manage their response when events like this happen.When I heard about the supertyphoon Megi hitting the Phillipines I got the boys to go onto news websites and read the reports.
As I read the page myself I realised how the description of the Phillipino disater management effort was such a good illustration of the issues the textbook had described. As a result of looking through the textbook I was able to start a discussion with the boys and get them to understand the difference between advance preparedness in case of disaster, and emergency response at the time through the examples given in one short news report.
I have to admit that without having read that textbook through previously I would not have thought to analyse the event in this way. I would have mainly focussed on the physical geography, the phenomenon of the storm itself and the material damage it may have caused.
So, that was how the textbook helped.

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These are U's cinnamon cookies. Of course she needed lots of help, but she feels like she made these all by herself, maashAllah.

In response to Umm Ahmad's request for the receipe for Ia's shortbreads:

Make a batch of plain shortbread dough, and a batch of chocolate shortbread dough.

Plain:

125g butter

50g sugar

175g plain flour

3 tablespoonsmilk.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the milk and form the dough into a firm ball using your hands.

To make the chocolate dough, follow the same procedure substituting 15g cocoa powder for 15g of the flour.

Cut each dough ball into three equal pieces.

To make the spiral shapes roll out a chocolate doughball into a square, then roll out a plain dough ball to the same shape. Place one on top of the other and roll them up together into a sausage shape. Then cut the roll into slices.

To make the squares shapes make dough into cuboids, two of each colour. Lay them side by side and on top of each other to make a block. Slice.

A third shape can be made with a sausage of plain dough wrapped up with a chocolate piece, like wrapping a gift. Then slice.

Bake for 15-25mins at 350F/180C/Gas4

Anyone who doesn't like baking will have surely left this blog by now!!!

Another bake!

This time it was Ia's turn to bake and she chose to make some biscuits maashAllah. I needed to help a little here and there, but mostly she could do it herself, especially as she used a receipe from a kid's cookery book.

The plan is that U will get her turn next, inshAllah, and then it will be back to R's turn again. I'm not sheduling which days to do this on, I'm just going to fit it in wherever I can. Ia decided to bake at 7:30pm yesterday, but as I was making a pie and some bread anyway I thought she might as well, even though it did make bed time a little later than usual.

Food Groups Lapbook

We have slowed down a lot with the lapbooks! There seems to be much more to do this year and I find myself having less time to devise my own projects unfortunately. U is working on a lapbook but she makes the mini books occasionally, so I don't know when we'll complete that!
This is Ia's first lapbook of this year. A simple food groups project.


She made mini books for protein, carbohydrates and sweet and fatty foods.
I printed out a food pyramid fact sheet to stick in the middle.

To make the sections on fruit and vegetables and dairy I printed off coloring sheets, so the information is immediate and visual.

You can find colouring sheets on almost anything these days!

To consolidate this topic I hope to do a food group treasure hunt in the kitchen, inshAllah. (You know, hunt for as many protein foods as you can find and bring them to the table)!

Make or Bake II

This time it was J's turn to make or bake and he chose to make buns. When I make buns I do not follow the receipe exactly, so I needed to stay nearby to tell him what to do. He also needed help with the kneading. His kneading was a little slow, so the dough got cool and did not rise as well as it should. They tasted fine though, maashAllah. (We don't ice buns, the kids prefer them not to be sticky.)

Make or Bake

As the autumal days of rain, rain, rain are keeping us in I thought of giving the children a make and bake challenge. R went first. (I can't have everyone making or baking on the same day...we wouldn't be able to eat it all.)
The challenge is to choose a receipe from our cookery books, then make it with as little supervision from me as possible. (I did supervise the frying!)
R chose doughnuts. I've never tried to make these before so I couldn't advise much. They turned out very well, maashAllah, and tasted just right, depite their irregular shapes! You can see the texture inside was as it should be. There was jam, just not in this photo!
Actually J said he'd prefer them without jam and sugar. Maybe he'd prefer Chinese doughnuts.

These doughnuts are no more! As R commented, you do feel fat afterwards!!!!

Testing Gases

Yesterday we did the tests for three invisible gases, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Earlier in the week the boys had studied a chapter on this in their textbook. We also all viewed this demonstration on YouTube. (Video has background music)
Above we are testing for oxygen. We used a wooden skewer to show the oxygen relighting the flame.
Below is the test for carbon dioxide using limewater. Our chemistry set has limited equipment, so improvisation with a drinking staw was required!
I also demonstrated the presence of cabon dioxide in exhaled breath by blowing into some limewater through a straw.

I don't have a photo of the test for the test hydrogen, but we did the experiment quite a few times and got several "pop"s.We found that you need to be pretty quick getting the flame into the hydrogen to get a pop.
Below is another test for carbon dioxide we watched here.
The carbon dioxide is being made by a reaction between vinegar and baking powder. You pour the foam around, but NOT ON the lighted candle.


As more is poured in the candle dims,

then it goes out, because of the carbon dioxide now in the jar.

today, inshAllah they'll be writing up.