Preschool at Home: Week 17

Last week we learned about the letters "S" and "T." We also focused on the number 17, read The Tortoise and the Hare, sang The Itsy, Bitsy Spider, and kept practicing our color song in Spanish. There was not a particular Bible story last week. We just read a few different stories throughout the week from our children's Bible. 

Here's a look at our board:

 

We decorated an "S" with stars and squares.

 We made a turtle.

 We read The Tortoise and the Hare by Janet Stevens.

 We made a tree using the capital letter "T."

We also watched a you tube video about shearing a sheep and then sheared our own. We used a balloon as our sheep, a large Popsicle stick, and shaving cream to reenact our shearing.

 Then both boys played in the shaving cream for a while. 

We practiced writing some letters and numbers in amongst the playing.

 Of course, we also went strawberry pickin'.

It was a fun week. This week we're learning about the letters "U" and "V."

A Visit to Jennings Hollow Farm

After a morning of strawberry pickin', we headed to Monticello, KY to Jennings Hollow Farm. I found out about Jennings Hollow Farm from the Sustainable Kentucky website and was excited to learn the Community Farm Alliance was having a field day. We aren't farmers (yet) and happened to be one of the few families that attended that weren't, but we try to take every opportunity to learn as much as we can.

 Jennings Hollow Farm is a 300-acre diverse sustainable farm. Chase Campbell, the owner, grows a wide range of crops and raises many animals including pastured chickens, pastured pigs, sheep, and goats. He maintains all of this with the use of two draft horses and two mules. 

He doesn't even own a tractor. 

Our evening included:

scenic walks around the farm...

 

a visit to several garden plots...

a peek at the 150 inoculated mushroom logs...

 

a visit with the draft horses, Joel and Ann...

a glance at the chickens, the meat birds and layers...

and the hogs.

Then we enjoyed a lovely picnic dinner.

As the sun was setting,

 we headed inside Chase's beautiful farmhouse 

and enjoyed some music by the Meadowlarks.

It was an inspiring visit 

and well worth the two hour drive to visit this breathtakingly beautiful farm.

Strawberry Pickin' at Middle Bridge Farm

Saturday morning, after our regular trip to the market, we headed out to 

Middle Bridge Farm to do some strawberry pickin'.  This sweet 3 acre farm allows customers to come pick their own strawberries (new this year!) and blueberries. They also keep bees and can't keep up with the demand for local honey.

  

With a wagon, we headed toward the "Picking Path."

 

 

 The weather was beautiful. 

We couldn't have asked for a better morning of berry picking.

 After our five quart containers were full of beautiful strawberries, we headed back to say goodbye.

 We left the field of berries with our hearts a little happier and our dreams a little bit bigger. Maybe one day we can pick this many berries from our own backyard. Until that day comes we'll be sure to visit our friends at Middle Bridge Farm.

{Gratitude} Lately

 Today I'm grateful for...

beautiful birds on the feeder ...

 

 an adorable little boy in a cute hat...

 

 friends and fountains...

  afternoon jogs...

  and a blooming peony bush.

Preschool at Home: Week 16

Last week we learned about the letter "Q" and "R." We also talked about the number 16, read about Little Red Riding Hood and about Jesus feeding the 5000. Here's a look at our board:

We made a quail using the letter "Q."

 We also made a rabbit with a lower case "r."

"R" is for rocket! 

So we got Seth a small foam rocket (from Hobby Lobby) that he absolutely loved.

I have to admit it was pretty fun for all of us.

We acted out the story of Little Red Riding Hood with our finger puppets. It just so happened that I had this little set from some dollar bin a couple of years ago. It came in handy this week.

We also tried making rain. 

This experiment took three tries and a mechanical engineer to get it to work, 

but it actually did produce raindrops.

This week we are learning about the letters "S" and "T!"

Local Food This Week- 5/11-5/17

This week at the market we picked up...

• our CSA basket which contained carrots, onions, spinach, strawberries, swiss chard, lettuce mix, kale, and radishes (from Sunny Point Gardens)
• 2 lbs. of mild sausage (from Stoneycreek Farm)
• 1 whole chicken (from Crooked Creek Farms)
• asparagus (from Peggy Gray)
• lettuce and tomatoes (from Caneyville Gardens)
• Meg's black bean cookies and a harvest bag of turnip greens, scallions, spinach, and lettuce (from Festina Lente) 

Using those local ingredients, along with some we already had in the fridge and freezer and some non-local ingredients, we made the following meals throughout the week...

 

 {ground beef from Stoneycreek mixed with Hillbilly Grillers barbeque sauce 

and organic pineapple, organic broccoli, and carrots from Sunny Point}

{grilled porkchops from Crooked Creek, organic sweet potatoes, 

and a harvest bag of turnip greens, spinach, and scallions from Festina Lente}

 
 {tuna fish patties, sliced potatoes from the O'Daniels', strawberries from Sunny Point, salad- lettuce, radishes, and carrots from Sunny Point}
a few notes about this meal: tuna fish patties were a childhood favorite of mine, they have been modified to be Paleo, they are made with coconut flour, sustainable canned tuna, parsley, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and an egg, I forgot the egg in these, that is why they look crumbly, they were, sometimes that happens
 

 
{stuffed organic peppers filled with gluten free rice, sausage from Stoneycreek, spinach from Sunny Point, home canned tomatoes from Need More Acres, and garlic, organic broccoli, organic apple slices}

Tuesday's trip to the markets provided us with...

• potatoes and parsnips from the O'Daniels, 
• strawberries from Sunny Point
• zucchini from J & J Produce
• garlic

The rest of the week...
 
 {whole roasted chicken from Crooked Creek, mashed parsnips from the O'Daniels', asparagus from Peggy Gray}


{a picnic lunch- salad- lettuce from Caneyville Gardens, shredded chicken from Crooked Creek, carrots and radishes from Sunny Point, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, dressing- maples syrup and olive oil from River Cottage, lemon juice, and onion powder, strawberries from Sunny Point, organic apple slices}

 
{ham roast from Crooked Creek, mashed potatoes from the O'Daniels, asparagus from Peggy Gray, and strawberries from Sunny Point}


{a snack- dehydrated zucchini chips from J & J Produce, seasoned with salt and pepper, these are still in the dehydrator, but from some preliminary tasting they are really good}


{pork burgers from Crooked Creek, sliced potatoes from the O'Daniels', harvest bag mix of turnip greens, scallions, and spinach from Festina Lente}

Preschool at Home: Week 15

Last week we learned about the letters "O" and "P." (We're focusing on two letters a week until we finish the alphabet.) We also practiced counting up to 30, we learned "This Old Man" and we read the story of the Three Little Pigs. We also practiced singing the color song that we are learning in the Spanish class we have been attending at the local library. Here's a look at our board:

New this week, we practiced identifying beginning sounds. We focused on three sounds and Seth would place the object next to the beginning sound he heard. We practiced identifying the /O/, /P/, and /D/ sounds with the following plastic toys: octopus, dog, ostrich, dolphin, and pig.

 We made a pig.

 

We played with our Melissa and Doug pizza.

  

We made an owl.

 

We read a lot of books each week. We actually read so many that there is no way that I could keep up with them all, but one interesting one that emphasized P was Roly Poly Pangolin. A pangolin is not an animal that I generally think of for the letter P, so I'm glad we read it.

 

 We read about the three little pigs. 

Seth already knew this story but enjoyed listening to it several times this week.

 

 This little book came with a CD and we listened to the story on the computer 

and Seth was able to play a few related games.

  

We made a craft where Seth put "straw," "sticks," and "bricks" on three houses.

 

We also learned "This Old Man."

 

We also read about the events leading up to the ascension of Christ in our children's Bible. On Thursday, we celebrated the ascension (which is calculated by counting 40 days after Easter) during our nightly family time. Next year we hope to add to this family celebration more. 

This week we will learn about the letters "Q" and "R" as well as some other things.