Blog

Making Memories: How to Make An Apple Pie and See the World

 We created so many wonderful memories with the Five in a Row curriculum. 

A particularly memorable book we rowed was "How to Bake An Apple Pie and See the World".

The premise is this: The child in the story goes to the market to get the ingredients to make an apple pie. But, the market is closed. She embarks on a journey around the world to gather her ingredients. Brilliant!

Little did I know we would have a week of magical learning that would create beautiful memories for my children and me. I pray you can create those memories, too!

*Enjoy this Homegrown Learners throwback post -- I want to show you the spectacular memories we created through homeschooling! And it's just such fun to see these pics of my kids when they were little! 

 

A Week with Five in a Row & How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

I love the plan for a week of learning that is the premise for each Five in a Row book.  It is just enough to keep children engaged, but not too much to bore them. 

Monday

We began the book by reading it once through on Monday - we sat by our world map  (to this day we still have this same map in our school room - it has lasted a long time and issimple and effective) and I pointed to all of the places visited in the book: Italy, France, England, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Vermont . Then, my children took turns pointing when I read the book again.

Tuesday

Tuesday we read the book again made Apple Pie Playdoh.  The recipe was so easy and smelled so good. (My kids STILL talk about this Playdoh and they are now teens!)   Each day during the week we brought it out and my youngest would play with it while I completed our read-alouds. I'm thinking a different batch of homemade playdoh each week may be in our future.

Wednesday:

We began a lapbook which I found at Five In a Row Circle and Homeschool Share. I must say the favorite activity was the geography matching game. My son played this numerous times, and it has reinforced many of the concepts in the book.

We also enjoyed one of the minibooks, which was a saltwater evaporation experiment. My son was amazed that after three days of letting our saltwater sit out on the counter all the water evaporated and we were left with salt. One of the lapbook elements was coloring the flags of places visited in the story. Grant has a real eye for detail and loves coloring, so this was another one of his favorite activities this week. All in all, the lapbook was a success, so if you row this book, just follow the links I gave above and have your child complete the lapbook.

*Note:  The original lapbook has been removed from Homeschool Share, but using the links above you can put together quite a nice lapbook of your own. There are some examples at Five in a Row Circle, too - that might inspire you.

 

Thursday:

We read the book again and did more lapbooking and playing with Play Doh.... what I love about rowing a book is that kids are EXCITED to visit the book again and again. It makes school FUN! 

 

Friday:

To culminate our book adventure, we visited a local produce stand and picked out four different types of apples.

We baked an apple pie . Here's a photo my hubby took of the three of us before we ate the pie - I realized I forgot to take pictures while we were baking. Oh well! We had a long afternoon at the park and produce stand, then baking a pie and cooking dinner... we all look a little wiped out! 

We read the book to daddy during dinner and then enjoyed the pie for dessert. And oh my goodness --- look how small my kiddos were -- what a memory!  

Every time we make an apple pie we think about this sweet time in our homeschool. My kids ask to go pick apples each fall so that we can recreate this time. 

THIS is why we homeschool.  THIS is what it's all about.

Recommended Resources:

 

 

As you can see, Five in a Row is a favorite curriculum in our home.  Check out other titles we rowed and start making great memories with your kids, too! 

Have you created a beautiful memory with a book?  Do you use Five in a Row?

Leave me a comment below and tell me about it!

 

 

Learn About Martin Luther and the Reformation

October 31, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 

Whether you decide to have an enormous celebration, or just touch on the life of Martin Luther, it is a subject that is important to share with our children. The Reformation shaped the landscape of Christianity and civilization for the next 500 years - and the Reformation continues to this day. 

Martin Luther was ANYTHING but boring - he was fiery, humorous, and shocking. His personal quirks were interesting to say the least. Because of this, kids always enjoy learning about him!

(I also just finished a wonderful Martin Luther biography - well worth your time to read!)

This subject can be HUGE, however, so I like to break it down for kids.

Luther was known for three things: 

  • The doctrine of salvation by faith alone

  • The belief that Scripture should be translated into the people's language

  • The birth of congregational singing. He felt that music was of God, not of man. He was determined to restore congregational singing in the German language to the Church.

I've put together this list of resources and also a special free gift for you to help you celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  Enjoy! 

Learn About the Reformation
“You are the worst rascal of all the rascals on the earth!”
— from Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil (Martin Luther)

Martin Luther was NOT meek or mild. He could sometimes be offensive. He challenged the religious order of the day.

When I began teaching my children about him, I turned (as I always do) to good books. And remember, I always keeps things SIMPLE.  Less is more.

Once we discovered a subject through a book I could then tell if my children wanted to explore further - I would add in notebooking, lapbooking, projects, field trips - as their interest continued. 

 

Books About Martin Luther For Kids

When my children were young we read Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World over a span of two weeks during our Morning Time. I then used the book with my 4th-6th grade Sunday School class.  It's a fabulous read aloud and accurate depiction of Martin Luther's life. 

Movies About Martin Luther

Another simple way to get an overview of a subject is through a good documentary or movie.  

The Torchlighters video (if you haven't watched these they are GREAT - and included with an Amazon Prime membership) is perfect for all ages, and the other two videos I recommend are better for upper elementary and older. 

 

This video is EXCELLENT! The Story of Luther & The Reformation -- great for the entire family.

 

 

Notebooking & Martin Luther

Notebooking is the perfect way to delve a bit deeper into a subject. Take the knowledge from those books and movies and have your children document what they are learning. (We love to look back at our notebooks now that my children are older!)

We always turn to Notebooking Pages - they have a beautiful set about Martin Luther and other famous people of the Reformation.  

Martin Luther & Music

 Luther's first hymnal was published in 1524. It contained eight hymns, four written by himself. Later hymnals were also published for congregational use. He urged people to use the hymns at home and encouraged parochial schools to teach them to their students.

Working with skilled musicians, Luther also created new music for church choirs, organ, and other instruments during his life. And after his death in 1546, the first line of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" was inscribed on his tomb.

Here's a simple organ arrangement of the hymn:

Another hymn by Martin Luther - done in a more contemporary style: 

 

For a full listing of Martin Luther's hymns, visit Hymnary.org.

 

Other Activities to Learn About the Reformation

 

Free Reformation Unit Study & Lapbook from Homeschool Share

Teach Children a Reformation Hymn -- practical ideas to get your kids singing!

Make a Diet of Worms Cake!

Art Activities and Craft Ideas for Reformation Day

Luther Rose Coloring Sheet and The Meaning of the Luther Rose

Free Printable Martin Luther coloring book (for littles)

The Reformation in LEGOS  (kids can build while you read aloud about Martin Luther!)

Make a Luther Rose Snowflake Cut Out

 

 

 

 

The Words of Martin Luther Copywork

I've created a FREE download to help you teach your children about Martin Luther.

There are print and cursive downloads available.  Each download contains 10 quotes from Martin Luther.

Combine this copywork with an engaging read aloud, a craft, and some hymn study and you have a simple celebration of Martin Luther for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!

Do your children know who Martin Luther is?  Have I missed a resource that you'd like to suggest?  

Let me know in the comments below!

Learn About Martin Luther - including free copywork download