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Christmas Around the World

It is hard to believe that it is almost Christmas already! It seems like the school year is just flying by.
This year I wanted to do something different with the kids, we have never done a Christmas around the world study, so I figured it was time to try it! We only have a week left so we are only doing five countries, my hope is to continue this next year with five new countries!

Below I am linking all the recipes, blogs, printables, and books we are using with our study.

My biggest inspiration for this week came from this blog. There is a lot of great ideas on it! I recommend checking it out.

We are doing this over the course of five days, studying five countries. Each day will have a recipe, craft, lesson, book, and video.

If you are unable to find books, several of these are available as read alouds on youtube.

AustraliaLesson from - Why Christmas

Recipe - Annettes Pudding

Books ( we will be taking a library trip to find as many of these as we can )
Santa's Aussie Holiday by Maria Farrer
An Aussie Night Before Christmas adapted by Yvonne Morrison
Christmas Wombat by Jackie French
Santa Koala by Colin Buchanan
Santa's Secret by Mike Dumbleton

Craft - Color Santa

Video - Christmas in Australia

France Lesson from - Why Christmas
Recipe - Parisian Hot Chocolate Books ( we will be taking a library trip to find as many of these as we can )

Christmas in France by Jack Manning
Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans ( this is an animated show as well )
Babar and Father Christmas by Jean De Bruhnhoff ( this is an animated show as well )

Craft - Yule logVideo - How is French Christmas different?

Russia
Lesson from - Why Christmas
Recipe - Slovak sweet bread

Books ( we will be taking a library trip to find as many of these as we can
Here is a link to one of them to read online - https://familychristmasonline.com/stories_other/baboushka/babouscka.htm )

The Tale of Baboushka by Elena Pasaquali
Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Rollins
The Miraculous Child : A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia by Alvin Aleski Currier
The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers

Craft - Russian bells
Video - Christmas in Russia

Germany Lesson from - Why Christmas

Recipe - Egg nog

Books - ( we will be taking a trip to the library to find as many of these as we can )
The Gingerbread boy by Paul Galdone
Cobweb Christmas by Shirley Climo
Waiting for Christmas by Kathleen Long Bostrom

Craft - Ginger bread man coloring page

Video - Christmas in Germany

Italy
Lesson from - Why Christmas

Recipe - Italian Ricotta Cookies

Books -  ( we will be taking a trip to the library to find as many of these as we can )
The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePeola
Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie de Peaola
Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing by Amy Welborn
Nonna, Tell Me a Story: Lidia's Christmas Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich

Craft - Book and craft

Video - Christmas in Italy

Teaching Our Children Old Skills - Foraging

Chris and I recently started teaching our children an old skill, something that really isn't taught anymore, foraging. We already have been teaching the kids how important healthy food is, organic gardening skills, and why what we put into our body has a life long influence, so foraging seemed like a natural step to take in their education.

It has been a really great experience so far. I myself have learned a lot, we have been able to connect with nature as a family, and made some really interesting things.

We started doing this in spring, our very first foraging experience was learning what all we could eat from a very common spring flower, the dandelion. We tried it raw first, the kids really were not a fan of them at that. Next we gathered as many as we could find and we made dandelion jelly. They were skeptical at first, once they tasted it ( think of jelly that tastes like honey ) however, they were hooked.

Next on our list of things to try was dandelion bread. Word of warning, this bread is very dense. We tried it fresh from the oven, I did not care for it at all. The next morning though, it made the perfect breakfast

After learning about some other yummy things we could make from dandelion, we moved on to other edibles we had growing  in our yard. Violet syrup was the next adventure! Which we added to sparkling water and made our own sodas, so tasty! We also made violet lemonade.






We made two other flower jellies as well. Lilac jelly and red clover jelly.




Next up in our new learning adventure was plantain. Wild plantain is an amazing plant, and it grows all over our yard. We made some into a medicinal salve and the other we ate in a soup ( it was a lot like eating spinach ).




I really enjoyed doing this class with my kids. We didn't get as much done as I wanted this year but I already have plans in the works for new things next year! Be watching for more posts.

Kairi's Story

Yesterday my nine year old daughter was the victim of what I considering bullying. Some may call this rough play, others may consider this kids will be kids, I do not.

This is something we have not personally had a lot of issues with throughout the years, mostly because we home school, but also because most of the people around us do not let their children behave in such a horrible manner.

My nine year old daughter, Kairi, had her arm broken yesterday because a child could not keep his hands to himself. We went to a pumpkin patch with our home school group. We had been having a great time, picking pumpkins, playing on the play equipment, going through the corn maze, and more.




It was a fun filled day, until Kairi was intentionally shoved down by another child. She had been bouncing on a bouncy pad, another child shoved her from behind, and now both bones in her forearm are broken. The moment I saw her arm, limp, bending in a place it should not bend, will forever be scorched into my memory. My sweet girl had to be sedated, have her bones set, has a cast up to her shoulder, all because someone else was a bully.

I reacted in the moment, and I did not stay to find the parents of the child responsible. My focus was on rushing my girl to the ER. She was in immense pain, and we had about a half an hour drive to get her to a good ER. I wish I would have found the child, and parents responsible, make them answer for hurting my girl.





Bullying does not always  happen by people you know. Sometimes it is a random stranger, at a pumpkin patch. Bullying needs to stop, no child should have to suffer the way my child has.

Feel free to share Kairi's story, put a face to bullying, even if your child has not been a victim to it.

Third Grade Reading List - Part Two

Kairi is breezing through the first part of her reading list, at her current pace she will finish the books we had picked for her by the time we start Christmas break! So here is part two of her reading list.


This year we have decided not to do unit studies with each book that the kids read off their required reading list. Instead they will be filling out this paper. 


Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nihm
Rasco and the Rats of Nihm
RT, Margaret and the Rats of Nihm
The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh ( I bought my copy at half price books )
The Wind in the Willows

Third grade Reading List - part one

This year we have decided not to do unit studies with each book that the kids read off their required reading list. Instead they will be filling out this paper. 

Below is the list of books that Kairi  will be reading for her third grade required reading, I am saying this is part one of her reading because I  need to see how she handles the reading. If she speeds through, more books will be added in a part two.


Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury
Adventures of Little Bear ( I have owned this book for years, I think I bought it half price books a long time ago. I would urge you to check there and ebay, amazon has it for a very high price. )
The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter ( I actually bought mine at half price for very little. )
The Giving Tree
The Trumpet of the Swan ( This is the kindle edition, that is all I saw on amazon. I actually bought my copy at half price )

Sixth Grade Reading List

This year we have decided not to do unit studies with each book that the kids read off their required reading list. Instead they will be filling out this paper.

Below is the list of books that Destiny will be reading for her sixth grade required reading.

Pippi Longstocking
Little Women
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
The Wind and the Willows
Anne of Green Gables Series