Skunks, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Grocery Store Math

We are expecting a lot of snow overnight (so we are planning a very busy Snow Day. Especially since Daddy has the day off!) and we have had quite a busy week so I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our week a little early. 

We started out Tuesday with a cool surprise:

I had accidentally left the green bin open the night before (oops!) and we were greeted by some "mysterious" footprints (and one piece of stale bread left on the ground). K was very excited to figure out where it had come from and who it belonged to. He followed the tracks to the road and we lost them there, however across the street were a couple different tracks. K was able to determine that they probably belonged to a dog and cat. After talking about which animals like to get into people's garbage K decided it was probably a skunk or raccoon. We googled the different footprints and determined it most likely belonged to a skunk! (Science)

 Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to bake, but K wanted me to buy some chocolate chip cookies (crazy eh!?) I suggested we make some instead. K helped me measure out the ingredients and pour them into the mixing bowl. I suggested he write down the ingredients we used and we could compare them to store bought cookies when we went grocery shopping. (I'm also a "real food" advocate.) K recalled the ingredients and sounded them out as he listed them all. When we went to the grocery store he read out the ingredients as we compared them to the highly processed, chemical filled cookies that line the grocery store shelves. (He still really wanted the rainbow chips-a-hoy, but I think he understood when we counted the number of ingredients and additives in the bag compared to the 7 total in our cookies.)  (Math, Writing, Life Skills, Nutrition/ Health, Science)

I wanted to help K be involved when we went grocery shopping so I created his own shopping list for him to read and shop for. Prior to the shopping trip K sounded out and drew a picture beside each word. When we got to the grocery store K was excited to help! He located the apples and compared the prices between the different kinds. He figured out which ones were the least expensive. After picking out a few, he weighed them and I calculated how much (approximately) they were going to cost. He wrote the price on his list and as we weighed and added the items from his list to our cart he added the prices together. (I helped the first few, but he caught right on and did the majority on his own!) Periodically during the rest of our shopping trip I'd ask him to help me add some numbers together as I was tallying our items too. (Reading, Art, Life Skills, Math)

K enjoyed adding at the grocery store so much that after dinner he started creating and answering his own addition questions! (I got out his hundred board to help him visualize each question if he needed that little bit extra)

I'd say that's a success in itself!


A few more pictures from the week:

 (Making homemade chocolate pudding)

 (K's hotel that he designed first on paper and tried to recreate with blocks)

(Playing in Goop with T and Ky- 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water)

We are still getting into the home school groove, but The Daddy and I have noticed how much more at ease K already is, and I have noticed a huge improvement in his behaviour and manners.("Thank you for dinner Mommy." Like, Really!?!) And K's daily meltdowns have all but vanished.  I managed to take the 3 kids grocery shopping (for 3 HOURS!!!) on very little sleep (between T and Ky I was up EVERY hour between 8:30 and 7. Ugh!) and we're all still smiling!  :D We must be doing something right!


Kataky's Mama