Homeschool Report Card Fall 2011

January 2, 2012 Rachel Tayse

One of my favorite tasks when I taught at the Jewish day school was grading and writing report cards. It has to do with my judgmental nature, I think. Of course I delighted in making this report of our first official quarter homeschooling. Dates: August 2011 - December 2011

Achievements: Reading fluency Writing complete sentences Spelling creatively but understandably Basic addition fluency Counting coins Butterfly life cycle Plant bulb life cycle Basic anatomy and dissection principles Acids and bases exploration Weight, distance, and volume measurement Basic American revolutionary war history Natural and Ohio history Finger knitting Hand sewing Digital photography Water color painting Making lardo and many other meals Literature - Thanksgiving picture books, Winter holiday picture books, Bone series, Saving the Griffin

Classes: Weekly Creative Movement class Weekly African studies Culture of Japan class (6 weeks) Homeschool gym (6 weeks)

Field Trips: Ohio Historical Society Franklin Park Conservatory Columbus Museum of Art Columbus Zoo The Wilds Urbana, Ohio - Johnny Appleseed Museum, Freshwater Fish Farm, Cedar Bog Serpent Mound and Murphin Ridge Inn in Southern Ohio Laura Ingalls Wilder Play Cuyahoga Valley National Park Nutcracker School Program Lawrence Orchards Branstool Peach Orchard Apple Hill Orchard

How to Fold a Booklet

January 27, 2011 Rachel Tayse

Two years ago at the Wild Goose Creative New Years celebration, Allison from Igloo Letterpress taught me an imminently useful skill: how to fold a four page booklet from a single piece of paper. Since then, I have transformed paper into books for Lil to make into dinner menus, sticker stories, and hand drawn comics. At one point she even labeled the bindings with letters like at the library to organize her homemade books.

Now I pass on the method to you. Create books for your kids to decorate, for a clever multi-page valentine card, or to display your next dinner party menu.

How to Fold a Book from Paper

First, make a hill fold in the center of the longest side of the paper. Fold the two short edges to meet the top of the hill, making two valley folds.

Unfold and bisect the short side with a fold. Now your paper should have eight even sections.

Re-fold the initial hill fold and cut the bisecting fold from the center through to the next valley fold.

Stand the paper up with the cut on top. Pinch together the ends to form three of the 'pages'.

Wrap the last page around the others and crease the binding well. Now you have four pages.

Decorate your book as you wish!

Pro Tips:

At age five, Lil can fold a book like this if I help her but her edges and folds are not even enough to make a perfect book. Your child may be more adept and/or less of a perfectionist than mine.
Lil figured out pretty quickly that if you make two books and glue the back of one to the front of the other, you have a bigger book.
An 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper makes a 2 3/4" x 4 1/4" inch book.
Paper thicker than card stock gets difficult to fold and manage. Plain copy paper works very well.
When you are sufficiently addicted to book making, head over to Igloo Letterpress in Worthington Ohio to learn how to make different kinds of books. Or maybe you'll want one to purchase one of their BIY (bind it yourself) or no sew refillable books from the Etsy store?

Added to Simple Lives Thursday.

Solstice Sun Bread

December 16, 2010 Rachel Tayse

This fall, Lillian happened upon the book Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven at one of our wonderful library branches. The story tells of a town of animals depressed by the winter cold. The baker, a long eared dog, creates a loaf of bright yellow rich and warm sun bread. The animals eat it to brighten their days and invite the Sun to share some too. With no direct mention of Winter Solstice, clearly this story celebrates what our family considers central to the holiday: the return of life-giving sunshine.

On the back of the book is a recipe for sun bread. Lil wanted to make it immediately and so we did. The bread is as luscious and sustaining as the story promised.

click for larger pictures

Lil had the idea to shape sun bread dough in the shape of a turkey for Thanksgiving. We added some lemon rind and made some other slight adjustments for better function and flavor.

This coming Tuesday, the shortest day of the year, we will mix flour, eggs, butter, and more to share sun bread with some of our friends. It just may become an annual tradition.

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Sun Bread adapted from Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven

2 tablespoons active dry yeast 3 tablespoons lukewarm milk 3 eggs, beaten 3 tablespoons sugar 2 - 2 1/2 cups bread flour 1 stick butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon salt zest of one lemon (optional)

1. Mix yeast and milk. Let stand until foamy. 2. Stir in eggs, sugar, 2 cups flour, butter, salt and lemon. Mix well, adding flour as necessary to form a dough. 3. Knead on a floured surface for 8 - 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. 4. Place dough in greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1-2 hours. 5. Punch down dough, knead gently, and divide into two portions. 6. With one portion, form a round flat ball to make the sun's face. Use a knife to carve eyes and a mouth. 7. Use a bit of dough from the second half to form a nose. 8. Divide the rest of the second half into six portions. 7. Shape three pieces into puffy triangles. 8. Roll the other three pieces into foot long lengths. Roll them to form snail shapes. 9. Alternate the puffy triangles and snails around the outside of the sun's face. Attach firmly with a bit of water or gently pressing. 10. Cover the sun and allow to rise again in a warm place for about an hour. 11. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the sun bread for about twenty minutes or until lightly brown. 12. Cool slightly before slicing. Enjoy with honey or jam on Solstice!

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Added to Simple Lives Thursday, 22nd edition.

Vote For Issue 4 to Keep CML Strong

November 1, 2010 Rachel Tayse

Voting is as critical as planning the garden to us at Hounds Central - both activities set the stage for life in the coming years. On Tuesday, we want you to vote, to express your voice in America's democracy, no matter your political leanings. If you are in Columbus like us, your ballot is lengthy with candidates and we would not dare use this platform to advocate for electing any one particular person.

But we will use it to advise you on an issue near to our hearts and our homestead: Issue 4, the renewal levy to Keep Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) Strong.

We could share the facts about Issue 4, including the growing demand of the library's resources without a funding update since the 1980s. We could spout statistics of increasing visitors, circulation, and number 1s.

When it comes down to it, Hounds in the Kitchen supports Issue 4 for simpler reasons. We voted (early yay!) for Issue 4 because:

The library is an educational resource. When we impulsively decided to buy chickens, the library provided a wealth of co-op building and chicken books. When we impulsively bought a cider press, we reserved a book on making cider and picked it up two days later. The library supports our diverse crazy pursuits.

The library is an arts and culture venue. Lil and Rachel attended a performance of Lil's favorite band, the Shazzbots, at a CML branch in the summer. Alex's mother and father have participated in art shows at CML branches. The very buildings that house many branches are beautiful works of architecture.

The library is a point of pride for Columbus. Rachel shared on Travels with Pirates that it wasn't until moving away from Columbus that we realized the true value of the libraries here. For businesses and relocating citizens, the outstanding Columbus library system draws them in. We're not just a city with a great college football team.

The library builds community. By being free and accessible to all, the library is a place we always meet neighbors and friends from all walks of life. Indeed, baby storytimes at the library were some of Lillian's very first meetings of her peer group. Friendships, alliances and businesses are built at the library.

The library is as necessary to a community as soil to the garden. It is the foundation that nurtures the ideas that build our city. Keep CML Strong - Vote for Issue Four

Book Hounds: Keep CML Strong for Chicken Books

September 28, 2010 Rachel Tayse

Today's edition of Book Hounds is a political-video-chicken one.

Why political? Well, I would have precious few books to read or recommend if not for the Columbus Metro Library. Starting today, Columbus area voters can go to the polls and cast a ballot for Issue 4, the levy to Keep Columbus Metro Library Strong. This levy, the first levy brought to the public in ten years and first increase in twenty four years, will restore recently cut branch hours, reinstate the frozen materials budget, and allow the library to maintain aging buildings. I will vote FOR Issue 4 because the library is a foundation of our learned community, a resource for families like mine, and an asset to the economy of our fair city.

In addition to borrowing books and movies for pleasure, we use the library to educate ourselves about new plans for the homestead, most recently being backyard chicken rearing. Our hens are thriving in no small part due to inspiration and advice gleaned from books such as Extraordinary Chickens, Chicken Coops, and How To Raise Chickens.

Lillian is enthralled with all things chicken recently, which brings me to the video portion of this post:

If you couldn't see or hear the titles, the four chicken books Lil recommends borrowing from the library are Tillie Lays An Egg by Hen Cam blogger Terry Golson, Cheep! Cheep! by Julie Stiegemeyer and Carol Baicker-McKee, The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington and Shelley Jackson, and Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman.

These books are not available in local bookstores, so far as I could find from recent store browsing. What delight and education we would have missed without access to the vast catalog of the Columbus Metro Library? If not for the library, how else would I cater to my child's ever changing interests and unflagging consumption of books?

In the coming weeks, I will share a few more reasons why I pledge to Keep CML Strong by voting yes on issue 4. In the meantime, I would love to know: What you are reading? What library do you frequent?

Made by Hand, Blueberry Girl, Jamberry & Blueberries for Sal

August 13, 2010 Rachel Tayse

Publishers recently sent me a copy of Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World. Written by Mark Frauenfelder, founder of Make magazine, this quick read is an overview of one family's experience with making things by hand. Organized by the various objects they attempt to create, each chapter is both a tutorial and reflection. The themes are simple: waste not, want not; creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is fun; mistakes are how we learn; and quality beats quantity. While some chapters seem to come to pat conclusions, I always enjoy peering into another do-it-yourself-er's life. It's berry picking season in Ohio and we have three berry favorites in heavy rotation for reading to Lillian:

First is an old story I remember my mother reading to me, Blueberries for Sal. In it, a mother and cub bear and mother and child human both happen upon the same blueberry hill at the same time. Robert McClosky, author of other classics such as Make Way for Ducklings, spins a tale of what happens when the two children get mixed up in a daze of gobbling berries. A Caldecott Honor Book with indigo illustrations, Blueberries for Sal is a gentle cautionary tale, perfect for reading aloud to a young child about to pick blueberries for the first time.

Jamberry is a quick silly rhyming book about many kinds of berries, both real and fantastical. Packed with charming illustrations of a friendly bear and child, this is a favorite read aloud at my Kids Cook classes.

Blueberry Girl is by the poet and author Neil Gaiman. A gift from Alex and Lil to me for Mother's Day 2008, this poignant book is equally appropriate for adults and children. It's a love poem from parent to daughter detailing the hopes and dreams held in that relationship. Whimsical illustrations compliment Gaiman's well metered writing. Below is a trailer of sorts with Gaiman reading.

A month or so ago I also recommended a few books. I have an ever present stack of books from the library (you'll Keep CML Strong, right?) and regularly coming across material appropriate for Hounds in the Kitchen readers. I would like to start a little 'recommended reads' series but am struggling to come up with a catchy title.

So, how about a little giveaway contest? I'll mail a copy of Made by Hand and jar of my handmade jam to whomever suggests my favorite series moniker. It has to be relatively short so I can make a little icon and include it as a category. Something to do with the common subject matter - food - would be good too.

All you have to do is leave a comment with your suggestion(s). I'll leave the giveaway open for a week and choose a winner next Friday, August 20 at 9 PM.

FTC disclosure: I received Made by Hand for free. Title links are through the Amazon affiliate program. I really hope readers will use their libraries before buying!

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays