Beyond FIAR Co-op: Cricket in Times Square 2

More fun with Cricket in Times Square.  We started with a devotion.  We often use the devotions that are in the Bible supplement.  I know that I used this as a springboard for discussion when its my turn to teach.  I love that this is an easy way to relate what is happening in the story with something that God is teaching us in the Bible.

 The focus of our lesson to day was on China.  The children learned so many interesting things from one of our moms who has Chinese heritage.  The history of the Emperors was told while the children looked at a picture of the Emperor.  Each child was given a card to hold and they made a visual timeline with them.

A cricket cage.

And a cricket found by one of the students.

As part of their lesson on China, they took time to practice writing some Chinese words/symbols using calligraphy.

From learning how to wet the ink and use just a small amount in the dish to how to hold the pens correctly, there was a lot to learn.

Each student was given a paper with numbers on it and also their "name".

Joshua wetting the ink in preparation for writing.

It was a lovely day and this was a fun activity to do outside.

I love seeing them all engaged and having fun.

Some were more familiar and comfortable with the writing, but all enjoyed trying.

A shot of the whole group that I forget to take the first time that we met.

While waiting for their snack, we had an impromptu lesson on how to use chopsticks.

Our table represented two different foods - one side was Chinese food.

The other Italian food.

All of it was delicious and it was all devoured!

What a fun way to explore other countries and cultures.  I love learning with friends and remain thankful for this opportunity!

Blessings
Leslie

How to Make an Apple Pie - FIAR and an Apple Orchard

I love this book!  Its just so much fun.  I'm not sure I could ever get tired of it.  Daniel had a great time with it too.  We did a few new things this time around that added to our fun!

We started our salt evaporation experiment on the first day.  We've had some trouble with this in the past and I wanted to get a good start.  Keep reading and you will see more of our results.

Each day we read the book and focused a little on the country or food that was represented.  Daniel has been wanting to do more cooking and this looked like a great book to incorporate some of that into our snack time!  For the bananas - we made smoothies.  That is a hit with everyone in our family!

Eggs were made into deviled eggs.  Not a hit with the chef, but the rest of us appreciated them.  Eliana loves them!

Our field trip this week was to an apple orchard!  We found one close to our home a couple of years ago and it was fun to go back again this year.  The season ended earlier this year due to weather.  It was fun being there with friends.

We listened to a demonstration and then sampled 3 different kinds of apples.

Eliana was excited to try this one, but found she didn't like the tart taste.

Then it was time to see how they make cider.  They use a blend of several different types of apples to get just the right flavor.  IT was delicious!!!

Several of the children and even some of the parents got into turning the crank.  It was hard work!

We saw the machine that washes the apples.

We were at the end so most of the apples had already passed through this part.

This is the end of the line.

Next we went out into the fields to pick some.  As part of the tour, each person picked 3 apples.  You could pick and buy more if you wanted to.

Daniel got some help getting to the hard to reach apples by a friendly Grandpa with our group.

Part of our group.  :-)

I just love the peaceful setting.  Isn't it lovely?

When Eliana saw someone else posing for a picture, she had to get in on the action too!

Next, we went on a hayride tour of the farm.

This one was calm relative to some of our more "adventure-filled" rides in the past.  It was nice and we enjoyed it.

We were split into 2 wagons for this trip.

After the ride, we stayed for a picnic lunch and then the children played on the swings and just ran around the property.  It was a beautiful day and a fun place to play!

We couldn't leave without trying the apple cider slushies.  Oh, were these good!!!

Two of my favorite cuties!

Part of the group at the end of our visit.

Another day, we learned about wheat, but instead used other ingredients for our crust.  We cook completely gluten free and so this is our GF pizza!

It seems to take a lot longer to cook GF pizza (the crust) than it did to make them with wheat so we don't do it nearly as often as we used to.  I need to do it more often as we all love it - and miss it.

The water is definitely evaporating - and this is after about 4 days of being outside in the sun.

We then brought it inside to get a closer look at salt.

We tried first using the hand-held microscope.

Then switched to a larger one.  (It helps to have older siblings who need a good microscope for science labs.)

These are some of the books that we read to go along with our study of apples.

And of course, our week would not be complete without making our own apple pie.  Again, gluten free.  This is a crust made from scratch with Daddy's help.

Daniel is loving to cook - and I love when my children enjoy it!

Doesn't it look yummy?!

We were all excited to taste it.

And were not disappointed!

What a delightful time with our book!  Off now to more fun adventures!

Blessings
Leslie