The Berenstain Bears Country Cookbook

The Berenstain Bears Country Cookbook is a wonderful cookbook. It is has 40 recipes that are "Cub-Friendly cooking with an Adult." The cookbook offers a variety of breakfast, lunch, main dishes, desserts and snacks recipes. Most recipes need simple ingredients and items you would have on hand. The book is very colorful, printed on nice quality paper and the recipes are easy to follow. Boys or girls of a variety of ages could use this cookbook, there are recipes as complex as grilled chicken with carrots to banana and peanut butter sandwiches. Several recipes could be made for a special event. I especially like the Race Car Cookies, Bunny Biscuits and Turkey Shaped Sandwich recipes and look forward to making these with and for my grandchildren. There are some that may not be appealing to children such as spinach salad and Scotch eggs.  

Throughout the book there are one page stories about different recipes and nutrition. In the back there is a page with "Sweet Facts about Honey" and kitchen measurements.The book ends sweetly with all the Berenstain Bears cooking and the Bible verse, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

The Book Thief

This book was written by Markus Zusak and puts a different perspective on World War II. First the story is told by "death" and then it follows a German, non Jewish  girl and her adopted family. You see the side that isn't normally told. How did the people of Germany who were not Jewish feel, what trial, fears did they have. The book become a little slow in the middle but, the end is well written and you will need some tissues handy. The book was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 230 weeks.

The movie is well done and stars Geoffrey Rush. I found it to be close to the book and one I would watch again. 

Both the movie and the book are thought provoking and I feel would be suitable for a young teen. 

I always recommend for a parent to read a book/watch a movie before their children do. 

I will posting this to these blog parties:

For the Kids Fridays

Made by You Monday

Pollyanna-Book Report

Be glad. Be good. Be brave.-Eleanor H. Porter.

Pollyanna is a charming and heart warming  book written by Eleanor H. Porter. It was the 8th best-selling book in the United States  the year it was published 1913. Mrs. Porter lived from 1868 to 1920, even though she only lived 51 years she wrote several novels and short stories for children and adults. Pollyanna is the book she is best known for but she had success with several others. It may be a book  that girls enjoy more than boys. Some may find it to be too sweet but I consider it to positive and up-lifting and the "Glad" game is one more of us should try to play on a daily basis.

“Oh, yes; the game was to just find something about everything to be glad about—no matter what 'twas” 

We homeschooled for 18 years and had or was part of a book club for several of those years. I found it to be a great way to expose our children (and me) to literature they may have otherwise not have read. 

The ideas here are my own and could be done with a small or large group.

Movies and Television

There is a 1920's silent version starring Mary Pickford who also produced the movie. It was great success and grossed 1.1 million dollars. Quite a lot in 1920!

http://www.ovguide.com/video/pollyanna-full-movie-922ca39ce10036ba0e119892cfb29c1f

Disney's Pollyanna was released in 1960 and won Hayley Mills who portrayed Pollyanna won an Academy Juvenile Award. 

Masterpiece Theatre has a version of Pollyanna, which is set in England. Well made but not accurate.

The BBC presented a 6 part TV series in 1973 which ran on Sunday's during tea time.

If you are really adventurous I found a website where you can buy a script for the play. http://www.theaterscript.com/pollyanna

                                       Food and Drinks

Make Bread in a Bag while it is rising and baking watch one of the movies. Once it has finished baking serve with milk.
I have never made or eaten Calf's Foot Jelly and have to say I never will. But it was interesting to read how it is made, here is a recipe.
http://www.food.com/recipe/petchah-calfs-foot-jelly-307336
Make Chocolate Fudge or Fig Cake and serve while discussing the differences between the book and the Disney movie.

Merchandise

There were paper dolls, a comic book, a Little Golden book, a character dolls and a LP recording of Pollyanna, several of which I found for sell on ebay.

Community Service

Pollyanna knew that there was great need in her own home town. In the book the Ladies Aid was concerned about helping children in other countries but had a blind eye to the suffering they saw every day. Community service projects are abundant in any town, large or small. Contact a Boys or Girls club, Salvation Army, a nursing home, a head-start school program, the possibilities are endless. The benefits of doing community service projects with your children are boundless and were always a big part of our lives.

Activities 

Aunt Polly was obsessed with flies and the diseases they carry. Do these worksheets or find your own.

http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrensimages/printable/diaryflywebdownloads2.pdf
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/44600/44692/44692_fly.htm

Prisms are so pretty but, can be hard to explain. I found a couple of  videos which may help.
http://www.ehow.com/video_12221904_describe-prism-kid.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_12221910_teach-children-prisms-pyramids.html

According to Pollyanna there are 800 glad verses in the Bible. Ask each child to find a verse with glad in it  to share.

Part of Pollyanna's day was learning how to sew and crochet. Have someone to teach a basic stitch in crochet or help construct a simple sewing project. A square could be sewn and stuffed for a pillow.

I will be sharing this post to these blog parties:

For the Kids Friday

Made by You Monday's

Wow Us Wednesday

Frugal Friday

Weekend Wander
Kid's Co-op
I Can Teach My Child
I Heart Nap Time
JDaniel 4's Mom

Helen Keller-Learning Activites

Mark Twain once said that the two most interesting characters of the nineteenth century were Napoleon and Helen Keller. I agree with  Mr. Twain, Miss Keller  is someone worth learning more about.  Having lived during both World Wars and the Depression, she traveled the world, wrote several books, graduated from college and was friends with not only Mark Twain but Alexander Graham Bell.

Miss Keller wrote several books about her life and  her political  views. Of course several  have been written by others, one I enjoyed was Helen Keller-Rebellious Spirit by Laurie Lawlor. 

You can find books for all ages and reading levels. 

Her life was diverse and learning about her will open up many doors for you to investigate.

 

 Activities:

Warning be careful with these activities and some may be messy!

Spend an hour with no talking, television, radio, computers etc...

Learn the American Sign Language Albhabet and simple words, for a day communicate only using

sign language

Blind-folded brush your teeth, dress yourself or any other simple tasks, no talking

Prepare a meal of spaghetti and meatballs, use paper plates, plastic forks and plastic cups of  water, eat Blind-Folded with no talking (you may want to do this one outside)

Contact a school for the blind or the deaf and see if you can do some type of community service

Have one child describe a never before seen painting to other children

Watch The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft, both actresses  won an Academy Award for the film, Miss Duke got to meet Miss Keller and described her as a "jolly grandma"

Miss Keller and her "Teacher" Anne Sullivan's remains are located in the National Cathedral in

Washington, D.C., her name plate is in Braille and has had to be replaced several times from so many visitors reading it, try to visit if ever in the area

Visit Miss Keller's birthplace and her home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, you can view the water pump and attend the play of The Miracle Worker

I will post this to these blog parties:

For the Kids Friday

Weekend Wander

Fun for Kids Friday

Made by You Monday

Frugal Friday

Are you NUTS?!?!

Have you ever wondered why pecans are so expensive?   There are several steps throughout the year  to get pecans to a buyer/processor and then to your store. My husband, son and I recently helped  with one part of the process, the "cleaning of the pecans." This is  tedious, back-breaking work, and one that myself, my daughters, son and husband have helped do for several years. It helps us to appreciate the tasty goodies we put in so many recipes.

Pecans aren't really a nut but a drupe, which is a fruit with a single stone or pit surrounded by a husk.

They are a good source of protein and unsaturated fats, they are also rich in omega 6 fatty acids.
It is also said that pecans can help lower cholesterol.
Pecans are native to North America and the United States is the largest pecan producer in the world.
Pecans are grown in the southern states, with Georgia being number one.
Okmulgee, Oklahoma holds a Pecan Festival every June and holds the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest pecan pie ever baked. It was 40 feet in diameter and weighed 35,000 pounds!                                  

Below is a trailer full of pecans ready for us to clean.

The farm where we worked has over 3,000 trees which covers hundreds of acres!    

The pecans are dumped in a pit, it takes several times of filling the pit to empty one trailer.

The pecans take a trip up a conveyor belt. 

The pecans are dropped on a continuously moving table and the cleaning begins. We pick out limbs, rocks, pecans with holes, cracks or husks still attached.                                        
       
                                     

At the end of the table the pecans drop into a bag that holds 1500 pounds. A wholesaler will buy the whole crop. The pecans will be graded and the cleaner the pecans the higher the price for our grower. 

After approximately 480 man hours of cleaning our grower had 18,000 pounds of pecans!

This covers one part of the process of harvesting pecans. I didn't cover what happens in the groves before, during or after the pecans are harvested. The cleaning of the pecans is a tedious job and helps to explain the cost of pecans.

I will be posting this to Gold Star Wednesday's, Foodie Friday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday,
Full Plate Thursday's, Tuesday's at the Table, Mouthwatering Monday's

Little Women -Book Report

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is the perfect book for this time of year. The story is about  the  four March  sisters, Meg, Jo Beth and Amy, and the joys and struggles they have while growing up. The book is set in Massachusetts during the 1800's and Christmas is the focus several times. Miss Alcott describes Christmas from this time period, sharing food and traditions. It is very loosely based on Miss Alcott's life, she did have three sisters but life was very difficult for her.  I have to admit my daughters enjoyed the book a lot more than my son. It is a book I try to read every couple  of years and is a true Classic.

Miss Alcott had a very interesting life, she and her family were friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. She began writing to help support her family and received money and fame in her lifetime.  I recommend reading a biography to help you to understand her motivation for writing. The Louisa May Alcott Cookbook written by Gretchen Anderson has several recipes from Little Women and Little Men. The recipes are how the Alcott's would have prepared them during the 1800's. It includes recipes such as Molasses Candy, Plum Pudding and Buckwheat Cakes. The cookbook can be purchased used from www.half.com 

Movies:

There are several movies to watch starting with the 1933  version with Katharine Hepburn as Jo,

1949 with June Allyson as Jo, Elizabeth Taylor as Amy and Janet Leigh as Meg and

1994 with Winona Ryder as Jo, Claire Danes as Beth and Susan Sarandan as Marmee. All three are good and worth the watch. 

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May Alcott

Plays:

In the book sister Jo March spent her time writing plays and having her sisters help to perform them for thier own amusement. A play could be written and performed in front of family, a homeschool group or even at a nursing home. Miss Alcott also wrote several plays, I haven't read any but they would be worth investigating. You can also find plays already written for you online.

http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/l/little-women-script.html http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=271 

Community Service:

Acts of Kindness are performed several times in the book. Meals can be taken to a homebound person or family. Can food can be donated or donate you time to a Salvation Army. Select a child from an Angel Tree and purchase items for that child.  My family and I participate in community service projects on a regular basis, they are very rewarding and  a wonderful learning experience.

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo,  Little Women

Learning Events:

Visit Miss Alcott's home in Massachusettshttp://www.louisamayalcott.org/

I found this blog about having a Little Women picnic, great idea. http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com/2010/11/little-women-picnic.html

Miss Alcott's wrote several books and short stores some that I have read and liked are  A Long Fatal Love Chase, Little Men, Jo's Boys and Part 2nd of Little Women also known as Good Wives.

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott

Miss Alcotts's obituary from the New York Times, March 6th, 1888:http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1129.html

This will be posted to Gold Star Wednesday's

Charlie and Chocolate Factory with Homemade Tootsie Rolls

I had planned to do a child's book every month for my  "R is for Reading"  book club. But time has gotten away from me, I hope to make it a part of my blog every month.

 My husband and I are starting our 17th year of homeschooling this year and reading has been a big part of our schooling. It is something we have all enjoyed. My book for this month is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is a very entertaining read that inspires your imagination to go wild. It was written by British author Roald Dahl in 1964.  It is set in a candy factory and involves 4 children and their parent/grandparents. It shows gluttony, greed, deceit and dishonesty but it also shows love, honesty and true kindness.

Mr. Dahl wrote a sequel  Charlie and Chocolate Factory titled  Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He also wrote James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Matilda.


I recommend you first read any book you are going to have your children read. I did and sometimes would underline words to start a vocabulary list. When they came to a word I had underlined, they would write the word down in a notebook, look up the word and write the meaning down.

Activities for a book club or for a small group or even a single child:

Make Homemade Tootsie Rolls (recipe below)
Have a Bubble Gum blowing contest
Have each child write a report, making up their own candy or candy making invention
Make and serve cabbage soup
Make a house similar to a gingerbread house but using Hershey candy bars
Watch one or both of the Willy Wonka movies.

  Projects can be done with one child or with several. Being set in a candy factory Homemade Tootsie Rolls was the perfect activity. The dough can be made ahead of time, the students can roll it out themselves. They can make any shape.

Ingredients

3 cups powered sugar

3/4 cup powered milk

1/2 cup corn syrup

2 squares melted chocolate

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients, stir well.

Knead well

Form into rolls and cut in to sections for Tootsie Rolls


I will be posting this to Foodie Friday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Gold Star Wednesdays.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

The "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder are my favorites, even now I can pick up any one of them and read it as if for the first time.  So it seemed only fitting that they would be my first pick for the "Book Club".  They are wholesome, historic and easy to read.

I would like to share how I discovered the "Little House" books. From 1966-1974 my family and I lived in a teacherage in rural Oklahoma, my dad was the principal/ teacher and my mom was a teacher. It was only a community with a school and one church,  population to small to be counted. Living on the school grounds had it's perks. One being the "Bookmobile", it came to the school for the community to check out books. I loved it. It was big, red, full of books, and when it came in the summer it was cold inside, I was fascinated. I happened to find the "Little House" books when I was in 3rd or 4th grade and read them all. Even though I know I read others they are the only books I remember checking out.

Here is a link to read  and see pictures about Bookmobiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmobile

One suggestion is to check out tapes of the "Little House" books and listen to them  while in the car. An interesting story can sometimes keep young minds on something else other then what a sibling may be doing. 

You can also read the books on the computer.

http://books.google.com/books?id=KO0tMOWl5AEC&dq=little+house+on+the+prairie+cast&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=VPaOS7LCB8mztgesrq2bCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12&ved=0CEMQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Activities:

Laura writes about freshly made cheese and butter. Research for a dairy in your area, even a small private dairy may give you a tour.

I have owned this cookbook for years and it is worth buying or checking out from the library. You will find recipes for making butter, cheese, pies and many recipes from all of Laura's books.
http://www.christianbook.com/the-little-house-cookbook/barbara-walker/9780064460903/pd/60908

Make Bread, here is an easy recipe to use with small children. I have used this for small and large groups and the children always enjoy it.
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/02/16/making-bread-in-a-bag/

Plan  a picnic where each family brings a dish from one of the books.

Try to spend a whole day without the tv, computer, radio or using lights.

Plan an old fashioned party using the food and games from Little Town on the Prairie.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2044544_play-blind-mans-bluff.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4481209_play-drop-handkerchief.html


Grow a garden, even if you don't have garden space, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes etc can be grown in pots or 5 gallon 
buckets. (I have been given buckets from Wal Mart's bakery section) You could even try Alamanzo's plan for growing a prize winning pumpkin. Enter your produce in the county fair, if you are not in 4-H there should be an Open Class 
Area.


Use the Ingall's travel to study geography. Laura speaks of many different animals, if you have someone interested in
animals study how their habitats have changed.

Visit one or all of the Ingall's/Wilder homesites. Many of them have celebrations each year to attend.
http://www.littlehouseontheprairie.com/
http://www.pepinwisconsin.com/
http://www.walnutgrove.org/
http://www.ingallshomestead.com/

Hope you find some of these activities useful.
Happy Reading, Rhonda