Littles Learning Link Up: August 15, 2017: Featuring Our Australian Meal

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

We have officially finished our My Father's World ECC year! We didn't quite get all the activities done that I hoped to, but we read lots of books (as usual), watched a couple of movies, and even had a "leaving the country" meal, complete with a Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen time. 

You can see a partial list of the books we read on Australia and Coral Reefs on my first Picture Book Saturday (on a Monday) post. I completely forgot to post this week's Picture Book Saturday as I am still trying to get into the routine, but I plan to share the rest of the books we read on Australia and Coral Reefs this coming weekend. 

The movies we watched were: The Rescuers Down Under and Blinky Bill the Movie (a never before heard of character for us). I was looking for a movie about kangaroo that I watched many years ago but couldn't remember the name. Found Kangaroo Jack thinking it was the right one. Started watching it, realized it wasn't the same movie, read reviews real quick, and promptly turned it off and searched for another movie. 

For our meal, I made four different dishes, utilizing three books. 

One of our curriculum books, A Trip Around the World, had a recipe for Australian Meat Pie. There was also a recipe for Damper Bread, but it called for self-rising flour which we don't have. So, I found a different recipe for the Damper Bread in Foods of Australia by Barbara Sheen. And in Cooking the Australian Way by Elizabeth Germaine & Ann L. Burckhardt, I found Sunshine Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing plus Glazed Kiwi Tart. 

As I was in a bit of a rush because daddy had to get to work, I made the Damper Bread and the Australian Meat Pie by myself. While the meat pie cooked, the children helped make the tart and the salad. 

Glazed Kiwi Tart

Ingredients:

1 9-inch unbaked refrigerated pie crust

1 8-oz package cream cheese (room temp)

2/3 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup Pyure)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbs heavy cream

3 ripe kiwis

1/4 cup apricot preserves

1 Tbs water

I followed the directions for baking the pie crust while the children were occupied in other activities. Then I let it cool. After the meat pie was in the oven, I called the children to help with the tart.

Tabitha and Hannah started getting the glaze cooking by combining the apricot preserves and water in a small saucepan. We heated it on low.

While that was heating, we worked on the filling. We mixed together the cream cheese, Pyure, vanilla extract, and heavy cream.

I love that Amelia helped pour while the others held the spoons.

Harold and Hannah helped mix the filling together with the electric mixer.

And Hannah sort of helped spread the filling. I ended up taking over because the crust kept sliding and I was afraid it was going to break.

While all this mixing and stirring was taking place, the older girls were in the dining room cutting kiwi.

Then Harold and Hannah helped arrange it on the tart.

And mommy poured the "glaze" on top. As you can see, it wasn't quite glaze consistency. I think it ended up cooking too long while I was moving back and forth between children.

Here is our Australian meal:

Let's take a look at that review schedule:

Last week I posted my review for Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! from Greek 'n' Stuff . Next week I will post my review of The Everyday Family Chore System from Everyday Homemaking. In September I will be posting reviews of the Charlotte's Web E-Guide from Progeny Press, four books by Carole P. Roman, a book from Barbour Publishing called Imagine. . . The Great Flood by Matt Koceich, and Let's Go Geography.

Some things I would like to share with you:

I recently started a new weekly feature called Fun Fiction Friday, where I share the books the older girls and I are reading, sharing their thoughts on the books, and possibly even a review of a Juvenile book I am reading. 

Last week I started Picture Book Saturday (though it posted on Monday). These posts feature the picture books we read during the week, with the children each sharing which one was their favorite. Last week I shared the books we had read about Australia and Coral Reefs.

Hoping to make both of these consistent, weekly features here on Tots and Me...Growing Up Together. 

The 2017 Back to Homeschool Blog Hop brought to you by the Homeschool Review Crew started yesterday. I posted Our 2017-2018 Curriculum Choices. Later today I will be sharing Homeschool Supplies I Can't Live Without.

Also, in case you are interested, this post is from last years Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.

Littles Learning Link Up : Back to Homeschool Blog Hop Day 2 - Back to School Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 13 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on post.  

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's randomly selected post is:

Sara from A Mama's Story shared 3 Ways to Set Up Your Homeschool Space

And here is this week's top clicked on post.

Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog shared Educational Toddler Activities for Homeschoolers.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.

An InLinkz Link-up

Picture Book Saturday (on a Monday)

Picture Book Saturday Monday

Well, I've been mentioning for the past several weeks that I was going to start posting Picture Book Saturday. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been happening. Then I was all ready to do so this past Saturday, and we had to get going to a wedding and didn't get home til late. The plan is for this to become a weekly feature, where I share the picture books we have been reading as a family, focusing specifically on the books we are using for homeschooling, though sometimes I may add in some of the other fun books, especially if there is one that we really enjoyed. The chapter books the older girls and I are enjoying are shared about in my Fun Fiction Friday posts. 

We are finishing up our Exploring Countries and Cultures curriculum from My Father's World during our summer homeschool session. During this time we have been reading books featuring Australia and coral reefs. 

Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester was about Ernie going to Australia and writing letters to his friends about what it is like in Australia. Then at the end of the book they all send a letter back.

Waltzing Matilda by A.B. Paterson shares the lyrics to the popular song "Waltzing Matilda" and helps to demonstrate what those foreign words mean. 

Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester is about an Australian family that takes a trip all the way around Australia, sharing details about the various places they stop. 

Lizzie Nonsense: A Story of Pioneer Day by Jan Ormerod is about a girl names Lizzie who lives during the pioneer days in Australia. Everything Lizzie talks about, her mother says is nonsense as Lizzie uses her imagination quite a bit. 

The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg by Yvonne Morrison is about an Emu named Emma whose eggs resemble the things that she eats. If she eats gold, she lays a golden egg, if she eats cotton she lays a pillow egg. She was birdnapped by some critters who wanted her to lay golden eggs, not realizing she had to have gold to actually lay the golden egg.

Living in . . . Australia by Chloe Perkins is a book that shares simple information about Australia.

The Rescuers Down Under is the book adaptation of the movie of the same name. The mice from the original The Rescuers story are back. This time they need to save a young boy from a poacher who is after a golden eagle and her eggs. 

Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein is about a man who knew there was a big rain coming, but on each page it wasn't there yet. Finally it arrived. 

Wombat Goes Walkabout by Michael Morpurgo is about a wombat who is looking for his mother and meets up with a lot of other Australian creatures. All of the different animals bragged about the different talents they had, making it appear that poor little wombat's skill of digging wasn't important, that is until he helped save them from a fire by digging a hole for them to stay safe. 

In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails by Anthony D. Fredericks is about a girl finding a tide pool and discovering all the creatures that live there. 

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin shares about coral reefs in a fun way. As a girl reads a book from the library about coral reefs, the world around her turns into a coral reef.

A Coral Reef Tale: Old Shell, New Shell by Helen Ward is about a hermit crab in a coral reef who is looking for just the right new shell. 

In my Picture Book Saturday posts, there will also be a section where I share the children's favorite books from the past week(s).

Tabitha really enjoyed The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg and Wombat Goes Walkabout.

Amelia loved Lizzie Nonsense and The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg.

Hannah says she liked The Emu That Laid the Golden Egg and Are We There Yet?.

Harold's favorite books were Wombat Goes Walkabout and The Rescuers Down Under.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you can come back for a visit again soon. 

5 Days of International Studies for Young Children: Germany

Learning About Germany

Welcome back to the 5 Days of Homeschool... Blog Hop. In case you haven't heard, this is the week my fellow Homeschool Review Crew Crew Mates and I are taking the time to share different topics related to homeschooling. 

I have been sharing some of the fun things we have been learning about in our studies of Countries and Cultures from around the world. On our last stop I talked about France. Today I will share what we did while we were in Germany.  

I learned that Germans enjoy their afternoon coffee time, or Kaffeezeit. So, I purchased some little streusel cakes and strudels to serve to the children at our coffee table a few times during our stay in Germany.  

As I mentioned in the previous posts, most of our knowledge about the country came from the books we read:

In the Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Germany, we read only one story, Rapunzel.

With the Colors of Germany, Countries of the World: Germany, and Country Topics: Germany, we read a page or two a day.

I wanted to read a lot of different fairy tales during our stay in Germany, as so many of these beloved tales come from Germany. 

We then were able to watch the movies. We watched the Disney versions of:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 

Cinderella (live action version)

Tangled

We didn't watch the Princess and the Frog, seeing as it is set in the United States and doesn't really follow the original story. 

In my post on Norway, I mentioned our use of ArtAchieve, and how it is working so nicely with these studies on countries and cultures. There is a art project for Germany as well, The Nutcracker.

No, these are not complete. I didn't share the completed projects for the Swedish Dala Horse either. I thought I should keep the completed project pictures for the review that will be posting at the beginning of May.

Another fun craft we did was Framed Pressed Flowers. We learned, in the Global Art book, that "Germany has a long history of creating beautiful artwork with flowers." We decided to use the flowers from the baby shower we threw for our newest granddaughter. I figured it would be a lovely way to preserve the memories.

We didn't really do a End of Visit feast for Germany, though I vaguely remember making a recipe from my Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook called Saus and Cabb Skillet. The children also remember making Potato Cakes to go with the Saus and Cabb Skillet, however, I'm not finding any pictures, which is really weird as I always take pictures of my meals. I guess if I find them, I will update the post.

As with our stay in other countries, we learned some of the language. During calendar time we said the days of the week and counted in German. We learned some common phrases and the colors. 

We sang/listened to the following song with our WeeSing Around the World CD:

Alle Meine Entchen (All My Little Ducklings)

And that was what we did when we were "visiting" Germany.

I did want to mention that for all of the different countries we have learned about, we have had geography lessons. We look at the big world map, our little placemat-sized world map, and the globe, to find the countries on the map, plus the bordering countries and bodies of water. We also learn facts about all these countries using the following books:

Classroom Atlas

Children's Atlas of God's World

A Trip Around the World

and

Another Trip Around the World

I hope you have enjoyed this little look into our studies of different countries and cultures. I am going to try very hard to post about each country we have yet to visit as a "Week in Review" post, though they will be posted every other week, as we are in each country for two weeks. I am linking up as a part of this Blog Hop. Don't miss the other wonderful posts!

5 Days of International Studies for Young Children: France

Learning About France

Welcome back to the 5 Days of Homeschool... Blog Hop. In case you haven't heard, this is the week my fellow Homeschool Review Crew Crew Mates and I are taking the time to share different topics related to homeschooling. 

I have been sharing some of the fun things we have been learning about in our studies of Countries and Cultures from around the world. On our last stop I talked about Norway. Today I will share what we did while we were in France.  

I knew what I wanted to give the children for a snack when we were in France. Croissants. The snack consisted of half a croissant with cheese and half a croissant with melted chocolate chips, plus some fruit. 

Again, most of our knowledge about France came from the books we read:

Our art project centered on the impressionist style of art. These are the books we read:

And then the children tried their hand at painting in the impressionist style.

For our End of Visit Feast we had a breakfast-for-dinner type meal. We made crepes and a crustless quiche plus had a fruit platter.

I found the recipe for the crepes at Taste of Home: Chocolate-Hazelnut Banana Crepes.

And I found a Trim Healthy Mama friendly recipe for Crustless Quiche over at Mrs. Criddle's Kitchen.

They sort of helped with the quiche, but daddy had to work that night, so I was in a rush and didn't get pictures taken.

As with our stay in other countries, we learned some of the language. During calendar time we said the days of the week and counted in French. We learned some common phrases and the colors. 

We watched three movies that are set in France:

Madeline (live action movie)

Ratatouille 

Beauty and the Beast

We sang the following songs with our WeeSing Around the World CD:

Wee Falorie Man
Coulter's Candy
Lavender's Blue
All the Ducklings
Frere Jacques

And that was what we did when we were "visiting" France. Stay tuned for a look at our trip to Germany, coming up tonight. I am linking up as a part of this Blog Hop. Don't miss the other wonderful posts!