Picking This Year's Curriculum

Having 4 (soon to be 5) kids, I took on finding the perfect curriculum this year with slightly different than normal standards.  I have high-risk pregnancies, and I know that I will have a c-section which will put me in the hospital for at least a week, maybe more.  To top that off, I anticipate the delivery to be sometime around the week of Christmas and I know that my recovery time is long, probably around 4 weeks.  So, I expect that when I bring the baby home we will be in the midst of a chaotic mess, my husband has already used almost all of his vacation for the year, and I will be breastfeeding a new infant; so I expect that we will take at least a month off in the winter from our general studies… at least those that mom is a huge part of.  With this in mind I was looking for curriculum that was versatile, that the older kids could take on a little faster or alone if they wanted or needed to, something that my friends could jump in and help with or could be done a little at a time.  I wanted to make sure that the kids did not lose momentum and that they were challenged and enjoyed school.  I have to say, as of right now I am feeling like I chose the absolute most perfect curriculum to fit our families needs that I could have!

Life of Fred - Curriculum review

First off I should explain that I could not find this book anywhere local to look at it and decide what I thought up front about whether it was at the level that I wanted, but I made the choice to start with Apples for three reasons:  1.  I have three younger children that will certainly be using this book.  2.  My older children have been taught math in the traditional since with very little application tied in.  3.  To build on a consistent wave length.  

My older daughter has struggled with math forever, maybe struggled is a bit harsh; but when compared to my son she was just not getting it the same way.  She often compares herself to her peers, and she seemed so frustrated that her younger brother was advanced two years past her grade level and was working on more advanced third grade math than she was.  She seemed to just be memorizing a little bit here and a little bit there.  She HATED drill work.  We had tried using an online math curriculum with her which she enjoyed, but if she got just one answer wrong it would set her back a specific amount on her skill test and she had even more work to do.  Last year was hard because we had signed up for that program for a year and she wound up in tears on a regular basis.  

My oldest son is a math whiz, at 6 years old he is working on multiplication; yet I really do not think he understood why he needed all of the information, he processes math like a calculator and just spits out the facts (much like I did).  I realized that while he had a strong understanding of math, I really would have preferred to have a reasoning that made since for why I wanted (not just needed) to learn math.  I believe if I had had a stronger foundation in why I wanted to learn math I would not have lost all interest when I reached math analysis in high school.  

(Both children tested out of theheadoftheclass.com curriculum in September for their grade levels).

So, when I found a little information on Life of Fred books there were many things I saw that I loved about the curriculum.  First, I really liked the idea of the story being told.  It seems like an easy way to interpret how math skills will apply to daily life.  I ordered these books from ztwistbooks.com.  The cost was $16 per elementary book, free shipping!  The books are hardback with sewn in binding and will last for generations!  There are no workbooks to buy, you will not need them.  I would suggest a notebook with loose leaf paper, because at about 4 problems per chapter, it will not take that much paper.  

One could look at the cost of $16 per book and 10 elementary books ($160 for the entire elementary collection) and argue that for one child that is high; however, there are a number of reasons I would argue this.  First of all, these can be used with each of your children, so in my family it will cost me less than $4 per child per book.  Additionally, I do not have any workbook to buy as I would with nearly all other math programs.  This program addresses more than just math, it talks about manners, spelling, times of the year, weather, dressing for the weather, responsibilities, social development, some history, some science, and many other life lessons.  The value of blending all of these lessons into a book is great, and to top it off the books are written in a way that allows the children to read from them themselves and are interesting and entertaining enough that my children frequently choose to read the book on their own schedule.  Yesterday, my daughter pulled it out and was reading it to the kids while in the van running errands and today she brought it to me and asked for me to read it while they folded laundry!  So, while my big kids (6 and 8) are having class and learning, my little ones (2 and 4) are already benefiting from hearing all of these math and life facts.  They will be reading apples for a couple of years yet, but those principles of math and life are already starting to form in their little brains and they will have a very strong foundation to start on!  Having the kids so enthralled in the book has to be a sign that they are enjoying it and definitely going to have it be a strongly remembered part of their education.

In my opinion, I do not want to spend a ton of money on curriculum, especially at the elementary level; but when there is a program like Life of Fred, that will be such a strong asset to my children I would certainly say it is worth every penny.  

**If you buy these books on Ebay, even if they are used, you will probably pay way more than if you buy them used from Ztwist.  I watched them and looked for them everywhere before I made my purchase and the Ztwist site offers the best deal, they are brand new, and they are sent out quickly.  Ztwist is most likely to have the book in stock and has the advantage of selling them for a lower cost because they are the direct sale company :)  I have no affiliation with them.  I ordered on a Friday afternoon and had my books by Wednesday with their free shipping. 

Now, since I have spent such a long time going off on a tangent of all of the wonderful things I have to say about LOF books, I would also love to share my opinions on the things I would have been more intense in looking at if I were going to buy for an older child and not pass the books down…

First, on Ztwist you can review a full chapter from any book that you are interested in.  I would do this.  My older children are far beyond the Apples grade level (though they are still able to listen to and enjoy the material and it is a way to build their confidence and reinforce), if I were only buying the materials for the older children I would have strongly considered looking at a more advanced level.  Secondly, I was really unsure of how long to consider each book to take.   Just yesterday I did find someone who said that each elementary book could take between 6 weeks to more than a year depending on the child.  After seeing my children with the book, I would say we could easily get through a number of the books in 2 weeks at a time, at least until they get caught up to the level of multiplication; however, I would also say that Apples does tie into multiplication some, so it is laying the groundwork and may be more about getting into the style of math education that they are in.  I do love that LOF offers not too much drill and kill at the end of each chapter; however, I would really love to see the option of several different sets of problems so that they could have different questions if they re-read the chapter at a later date.  I may actually create those for my children :)  

Saving for Family Fun, and Giving My Children the Responsibility

I must say that this is unusual, probably border lining on bribing my children, but I am exhausted and I can use every little bit of help I can get with anticipating a baby this winter.  Not to mention, I cannot figure out how this is, but my husband's clothes seem the leak change constantly to the floor, the couch, the laundry... you name it and I will find a few cents there.  Anyhow, yesterday I came up with this simple idea to keep the change picked up, keep the kids engaged in school and chores, and teach our children about money and how saving the little pieces adds up.

So it started with a small bowl of change that I had collected that day and change from my purse.  Anytime the kids complete a large task like rotating laundry, doing a load of dishes, completing their homework, or any worthy random act of kindness they get to close their eyes and choose a piece of change from the bowl and choose whether they want to pocket it for themselves or place it in a tupperware container that goes towards a family activity.

So far it has become a competition in this house to see how many pieces of change they can earn, and to my surprise only my 4-year-old has decided to keep the quarter he drew "because I wanted to buy gum for everyone" while my 8-year-old, 6-year-old, and 2-year-old have all thought it was much neater to watch the money grow faster towards a family activity!  In two days they have already managed to earn and save $5.48 for our family activity of their choice!

I have already noticed the two little ones realizing the difference between the different pieces of money and hoping to pull out the pieces with the larger value :)

What I really like about this is the idea of using change that frequently is overlooked and just given to the kids and letting them earn it.  We did a similar program awhile ago where they could earn things like lipgloss, earrings, matchbox cars, and super heroes; but that got expensive and did not seem to keep them engaged for very long.  With this idea I have heard the kids brainstorming about what they might save the money for and what we could do as a family.  I think they are really interested in the unknown and this just might keep them going for awhile!

Quick and Healthy Apple Preservation

I love to have lunches pre made to where I can just pull them out and put them on the table.  I have seen many tricks to keeping your apples nice and fresh after cutting them from putting them back together and tying them with a rubber band to soaking them in lemon-lime soda.  Honestly I think tying them back together would be time consuming and leave very little you could have pre made and I really don't like the idea of taking something nice and healthy and covering it in artificial ingredients to preserve it :(  

So, for years now I have been using a technique that one of my aunts uses and it is super simple, healthy, and gives NO waste :)  Pineapple juice!  Simply wash your apples (by the way remember apples are on the list of the dirty 12 so try to purchase them organic), slice them to your specifications, and pour pineapple juice over them.  When your done it is super easy to pop the pineapple juice in the blender with some other fruits and veggies and make smoothie pops for later! 

Apple Sandwich

I love to have lunches pre made to where I can just pull them out and put them on the table.  I have seen many tricks to keeping your apples nice and fresh after cutting them from putting them back together and tying them with a rubber band to soaking them in lemon-lime soda.  Honestly I think tying them back together would be time consuming and leave very little you could have pre made and I really don't like the idea of taking something nice and healthy and covering it in artificial ingredients to preserve it :(

So, for years now I have been using a technique that one of my aunts uses and it is super simple, healthy, and gives NO waste :)  Pineapple juice!  Simply wash your apples (by the way remember apples are on the list of the dirty 12 so try to purchase them organic), slice them to your specifications, and pour pineapple juice over them.  When your done it is super easy to pop the pineapple juice in the blender with some other fruits and veggies and make smoothie pops for later!

Back to the topic at hand though, apple sandwiches.  I actually saw got this idea off of interest; but they were made using peanut butter and oatmeal :(  I swapped that peanut butter out with some almond butter and the oatmeal with some flax seed.  I had also considered using sunflower seeds and raisins, but I decided to stick with what I had on hand, chocolate chips.  Anyway, these were certainly loved!

Above are the apples after I finished creating the sandwiches, and below are the sandwiches two days later when I served them for lunch, nice and crispy cold :)  They were a huge hit and really kept the kids full until dinner!

Sweetetti

So, this is going to be pretty short and to the point.  The local Natural Foods had organic sweet potatoes super cheap the other day and my family just loves sweet potatoes.  Ever since about 2 months ago I have been craving everything with tomato sauce on it, ew... I know.  Anyway, I came across the idea of making sweet potato noodles and using with spaghetti sauce.  These sweet potatoes I bought were HUGE by the way.  They were MONSTERS.  I shredded one-third of the sweet potato (using my handy dandy KitchenAid shredder) and called it good.  Then I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil on top with some garlic and onion powder and covered my nice pyrex container with a lid.  I microwaved them to steam them for about 5 minutes and viola, sweet potato noodles.  We topped them with spaghetti sauce and a pinch of parmesan cheese.
 

Remember how I said that the sweet potatoes were HUGE?  That one-third of the sweet potato was enough for dinner last night and tonight.

So, I topped the leftovers of the sauce and cheese on the shredded potatoes for a fast and easy lasagna inspired dish!

Squashetti

Oh the lengths we go to to make sure that we are staying primal and still fulfilling our love of food.  When we first began the primal lifestyle the cost of food was scary and at times felt boring.  The food made us feel trapped and tied down, but if there is one thing we learned fast it was the more creative you are the more money you can save while still eating healthy.

The love of noodles and breads that were a fundamental part of our childhoods make us think of comfortable and fun times in life.  They are greatly missed so one of the most important things for us was to find ways to continue eating some of our favorites... though they are still a little different, they are some of our children's favorite, and ours too.

Zucchini noodles are super easy to make and when you top them with delicious spaghetti or alfredo sauce, they are certainly delicious!

Zucchini:

1 medium zucchini serves three of my kiddos.  All you have to do is julienne the outsides of the zucchini, not the seeded part (it doesn't cook to the same consistency so I throw it in some smoothies :) ).  Boil some water and toss in the zucchini noodles for about 5 to 10 seconds (blanch).  They should be al dente.


Sauce:

1.  1 jar of italian juice
2.  About 1/4 cup of dried squash (you could add almond meal instead)
3.  2 tablespoons of flax seeds (can omit)
4.  1/2 pound of burger (browned)
5.  2 cans of tomato paste


All you do warm the sauce, place the zucchini on plates, and top with the sauce.  We also like to top with asiago or parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Good Morning Biscuits

Alright, in our house eggs are used a lot... and then forgotten for awhile and gone back to.  I really think that our least favorite thing about eggs has to do with the cleanup.  It seems like no matter what eggs make a skillet unhappy.  The first few come out well and then the pan starts getting egg stuck to it and before you know it I don't want eggs used... period.  

Firstly, we do not buy eggs at the store.  Farm fresh eggs at the store tend to run close to $5 per dozen.  When we started to purchase them I was disgusted; and I am allergic to them so not having them around was A-OK.  Anyhow, now that I have been on the primal diet for long enough, my allergies to eggs and many other primal foods should be cleared up!!! :)  So, my SIL, Anna, lives in a small town and started bringing us eggs (she stays with us two to three nights a week when she comes here for her job).  She even found a second egg farmer this winter as the farmer she was using couldn't keep up :)  


Farm fresh organic eggs now run here just $1.50 a dozen, a huge savings.  If you ask around you probably have local connections to an egg farmer too :)

Anyway, tonight I was going to make a sweet potato and zucchini noodle dish; however, I got exhausted and decided to whip up this simple, quick, minimal cleanup dish instead.


Ingredients -
12 strips of bacon
12 eggs
12 cubes of cheese


Kitchen Supplies - 
1 muffin pan
whisk
mixing bowl
oven


First you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Then, put the bacon in the muffin pan in little circles of the muffin pan.  My muffin pan is pretty shallow but it shouldn't make a big difference.  After all 12 holes are filled by circling one strip of bacon per muffin cup, place it in the oven.  I did this so that the grease could line the bottom of the cups and the bacon would get more crisp (which always makes me feel like it is more done).  While the bacon is beginning to bake, I crack and whisk 12 eggs in a mixing bowl.  Once the eggs are whisked I cut the cubes of cheese (about 1/4 inch cubes but you can adjust for how much you like).  Then, I pull out the muffin pan, pour in the eggs, drop in the cheese, and bake at 400 degrees for another 25 minutes.  


You may want to adjust your cook times a little depending on how you like your eggs, and keep in mind that eggs continue to cook for about 2 minutes or so after you pull them out, if you leave them in too long they may get too dry! Sometimes we add spinach or green onions, peppers, etc. 


The best part about these eggs are they just fall right out of the pan... look how clean it was after dumping them out!  

This is what the pan looked like right after rinsing!  No scrubbing at all.  I call that primally perfect!

The boys call these Good Morning Biscuits :)