The Sinister Scribe

Wheat free Dorayaki

We’re studying Japan this week and for a snack I found a recipe here that easily converted to wheat free. Mind you, I’ve never had the wheat version but found this very yummy and satisfying.

For the filling I followed the advise in the comment and only used 1 1/2 cups sugar. I think you could cut that down even more though.

Since I wanted it to be a smooth as possible, I put it in the food processor for a minute and then cooked it some more. I came out pretty smooth… for a bean paste.

For the pancakes, I replaced the wheat flower with the following combination:

• 1/4C buckwheat flour
• 2T potato flour
• 1/4C tapioca flour
• 1/4C white rice flour
• 1/4C brown rice flour

Basically it is the same ratio as I use in our regular pancakes. I followed the recipe as shown otherwise.

The result: very nice! Sam liked them but didn’t want seconds. Jessie was just not in a mood to try new foods that day. I ate 2 ’sandwiches’. O_O

Here is is Thursday of the first week of the last quarter of this school year. (lotta “of” in that sentence!) It is going very well and most importantly, the kids are having FUN! On the other hand, I am utterly exhausted staying up late to make sure I have everything printed and ready for the next day. It is clear to me that in order for me to survive the next 9 weeks, I will have to do planning in bigger chunks. Like prepping an entire week at a time over the weekend.

Why that title? That is what Jess said to me on Tuesday morning when I introduced her to subtraction. First time I’ve ever explained it to her. We used some dry kidney beans as counters. I briefly explained the concept then had to go help Sam with a math problem. while I was with Sam I heard her exclaim, “This is so easy. I love math!” And completed the remainder of the 21 problems on her own. Yeah, I’m a bit dumbfounded/elated/scared/confused/…

Sam on the other hand is picking up Latin like no body’s business. He definitely prefers the info from Judith’s lessons over Minimus. I think maybe it is just the age and hope that Jessie will like Minimus later on. I am also constantly amazed at his ability to remember his Japanese vocabulary. Ok, I am jealous too. LOL!

Aren't they cute?

Tuesday we spent some time at a friends alpaca and sheep farm (first pic). If we hadn’t been trying to get both kids there for weeks, I would have canceled trip. I am glad I did not even though we were there 2 hours longer than I’d planned.

Sam has such a way with these animals. I teased him that I’d make a farmer out of him yet. I’m only sort of kidding. He had sheep coming up to him that usually do not approach people. He loved holding the lambs as you can see in this picture. They were absolutely adorable.

We even got to herd the alpacas back into their pen. The three of us, Sam, Jess and I, just slowly walked toward them with our arms out. That was all it took. We’ll certainly be going back to help out. Such a beautiful farm and Nancy is just the sweetest person. Sam and Jess are so in love with her.

History reading

What was I talking about… Oh yeah…

History went well yesterday. Here’s a pic of Sam reading to us while I got the yuanxiao dumplings boiling. It was cute to hear Jess ooh and ahh of the pictures in the book and ask Sam questions about them. (which he answered very well)

The dumplings were fairly easy to make. I’d mixed up the dough and filling the day before. The dough needed a bit of kneeding to revive it but they worked just fine. Forming the balls takes a bit of dexterity to get the outer dough around the inner filling well enough to keep it in there during boiling. Refrigerating the filling before using it definitely is a must! Sam thought you could even use savory fillings instead if you wanted. He liked them as we made them but Jessie did not.

Oh, I used corn starch on the outside because the sweet rice dough is so incredibly sticky after boiling. If I had powdered sugar ready, I would have used that instead.

While Sam filled in the GeoScribe sheets for China, Jessie colored chinese motifs (free Dover pictures) .

We had art appreciation and drawing outside on the deck. Beautiful day! Did a few exercises from Barb’s Medieval studies pack and reviewed a Draw Squad lesson.

Today will be Earth Science, more Art Appreciation and maybe the Library again. As I was trying to get my crossing eyes and fuzzy brain to focus on the Science lessons I realized we had no books for it and I was not finding what I wanted online. My solution, introduce the concepts and take them to the library to find books on it. Have them help me find the books! Sounded good last night.

I hope this was all coherent. My brain is feeling fuzzy and sluggish but I did go to bed at a decent hour. And now my coffee cup is empty. Must remedy that.

Oh, anyone know what this is? Nancy has had it growing on her farmfor years. It looks vaguely mint like… square stems, leaves opposite and alternate. Not minty in smell…

What is this?

square stems...

yellow flower...

any ideas?

Yesterday went amazingly well! We got everything done and both kids were right on track all day.

Hopscotch counts as PE, right?

Jessie did 13 addition problems with me while Sam worked on addiding mixed numbers. She tried to tell Sam that he did his warm up drills wrong. They were a mix of multiplication and divistion and she was adding the numbers. Sam, bless him, patiently and politely explained the different operation. Jessie, bless her, even accepted his answer as if she understood. Maybe she did!

While Sam did the stationery bike, Jess and I headed outside for some hopscotch. I think this is the first time we’ve played. Shame on me, eh? I drew out the squares and she wrote in the numbers. I was pleased to see that her balance has much improved.

Afterwards, we all went to the back deck and did some exercises. Jessie did a bit of each and then “scampered off” as she likes to put it while Sam worked on Karate. Man! I really want to take that class myself.

Sam making a Chinese seal

History went so smoothly that we did more than I had planned. Always nice!

We used styrofoam vegetable trays to make “seals”. Sam did the Chinese characters by pressing a pencil into the foam. So the characters themselves are the color of the paper and the area around them is what prints. Makes sense? Jessie did a drawing of a frog.

Then it was time to try the Red Bean Soup which looks amazingly like chocolate pudding. Both kids said it tasted okay but neither finished their little bowels. I think if you used honey instead of granulated sugar and added carob or cocoa powder, you’d have a really nice dairy free pudding. My preference is to have it room temp to slightly warm. I also found it to be very filling and satisfying.

After lunch, I read the legend of shadow puppetry to Jessie (she picked it out) and found this amazing website that lets you set up a shadow puppet stage, choose your characters, props and music and press play!

After quiet time it was on to Latin! We went through the worksheete I made from the class pdf and then I set up Anki on his desktop. Pretty simple. He says he likes this better than Minimus. Sad. I liked Minimus but then this is not just for me.

Copywork was in Latin too! “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck…” just isn’t as fun to say in Latin but it is funny just to be able to say it. Sam got a kick out of it and did a great job of writing it in cursive. His legibility has really improved! Hmmm… wonder if I should have him do some in print. His printing is not so legible.

Today we visit the alpaca farm. I have to remember the camera and battery! The rest of the day will be the usual subjects.

I think the week is planned out. Still need to do some print outs but I can thankfully go to bed at a decent hour tonight. {yawns}

First frog of the season... a cricket frog

Easter Eggs

These were fun to make. Directions found here.

Wrens nesting again

We’re taking part in Nestwatch with this and the next nest.

New Phoebe nest in the old location

Shearing time again

Jessie didn’t get to go because she was so, so sick.

One sick little girl

104+ fever takes all the wind out of your sails.

Sunflowers

Free seeds! Taking part in The Great Sunflower Project too.
Seedlings are now too big for the greenhouse and need to go outside as soon as it quits raining.

That’s all for now!

a rare moment

that I’m not quite sure where to begin! I can’t believe it has been a month since I last posted. I started several posts along the way but just couldn’t seem to get them wrapped up before they became stale.

Soo…. I guess I’ll start with where we are now… behind on our homeschooling hours. Between burnout (mine), illness (Jessie’s) and spring fever (everyone’s) we haven’t logged many hours in the last month. So I’ve created an “emergency week” in Tracker that will get Sam to where he needs to be as well as keeping Jessie in the loop too. Not an easy task! But my fingers are crossed it will be fun.

For Ancient History, we’re studying China this week. Both kids have specifically said they like the new format that combines ancient history with current information. So here’s how this week is shaping up:

1. Sam: Read aloud from Usborne Book of World History
2. Both: Find on globe/atlas; Sam: draw on GeoScribe worksheet; Jessie: this coloring sheet or these images or her own drawings
3. Both: Make styrofoam tray stamps using Chinese characters
4. Sam: add Marco Polo to the timeline
5. Sam’s independent reading: Great Civilizations of the East, The Travels of Marco Polo and The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient China
6. Both: Food: Yuanxiao Dumplings and Red Bean soup
   

Ack! I just realized I have nothing to read to Jessie specifically related to history. A quick Google search turned up this page. I think I’ll have her choose one for me to read to her.

To kind of make up for my lack of planning last month, I’m going to go ahead and start teaching back what I’ve been learning in the Latin class I’ve been taking at Edufire. Sam’s dying to dig into it and yes, I really feel guilty. I’m even going to use Latin phrases from Latin for All Occasions for copywork. Just to warn ya if you decide to try this, not all phrases in this book are appropriate for kids.

Science is going to be Lesson 4 in Discovering Earth’s Landforms & Surface Features. I’m not sure which of the additional activities we will do. I may let Sam pick one and I pick one. With the other lessons, I’ve had my lapbook done to show what we’re going to do. Sam does his own and I help Jess with hers. This lesson has a clay activity so that should be fun for both of them.

For Art & Music appreciation, we’ll be starting the second month of Barb’s Medieval & Renaissance Art and Music Appreciation: Fra Angelico and Bach. I’ve blocked out 2 sessions per week for it this quarter (3 hours total). We typically do the listening portions over a lunch break or two so we’ll spend a little more time than that. It is so nice to have this all planned out already. Even after our extended break, I can just pick up and go for it!

What else is there… Math is continuing with Math Mammoth’s Fractions 1. He’s been doing fabulous on the timed practices… up to 100 problems ( mult or div) in 5 minutes. At the beginning of this year he couldn’t do half that. Vocabulary Vine is behind but finishable this year. I’ve been considering creating a deck in Anki rather than the file cards. Just can’t seem to get the games going regularly and Anki sure makes review easier. Japanese is going to be a bit on the back burner but we’ll still keep working on the decks at Smart.fm. Remembering the Kanji will have to wait until next school year!

And now that Monday is here, I think I’ll head off to bed. More soon… no really!