Worms

The toddlers have been really excited about digging worms up in the digging bed. So I've put some worm books on hold from the library, and drew and painted a size grading, matching work for the language shelf.

Sound Exploration Wall

Last week, during my set-up time, I finally got to build the sound exploration wall that I've had in the back of my mind since finding this blog post on pinterest.
My son, Eamon, helped me pick out metal stuff at Goodwill. And my partner, Eric, helped me mount everything on the board.
Here they are testing it out.

Zucchini bread

Last week we picked a giant zucchini from the garden. So this week we made zucchini bread.

I chose a grain-free recipe because I find they are easier to get right than with a lot of gluten-free recipes where you need three kinds of flour, and everything in just the right balance. Besides then I could eat some too. ;)

 Izzy helped me measure and mix the dry ingredients.

 We used a whisk on the wet ingredients, rather than the stand up mixer suggested by the recipe. And mashed the banana w/ a fork.

 Baxter joined us in time for the whisking.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cup blanched almond flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup shredded, unpeeled zucchini

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Place the wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, then beat on medium for 1-2 minutes until frothy and fully combined. Add the zucchini and beat again just enough to incorporate.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients with the mixer running, until all of the flour mixture has been incorporated.
5. Spoon the batter into 2 mini loaf pans. You can also use this batter to make muffins.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

 mixing in the zucchini

 We had a regular sized pan, so it needed about 45 min to bake all the way through. It's a good idea to line the pan in parchment paper.

It turned out nicely moist (some of the blog comments had me worried it would be too wet, and it wouldn't have hurt to add a Tbsp of coconut flour. But if you give it enough time in the oven it's just fine.)

birthday brownies

So, this appears to be turning into a baking blog. But the kids went nuts over the grain free, mostly sugar free brownies I made for Mary, that I felt I had to share the recipe. And who doesn't like having healthy treat ideas for the kids (and ourselves).
So here's the recipe link. I'm not much for stevia, so I used 2 Tbs of honey to sweeten this batch. I have also used coconut palm sugar in the past. And this time around I happened to have peanut butter. They are tastey with or without the chocolate chips.
I just wish I had gotten a picture of them enjoying the brownies for this post, but there was a lot going on...

poop pie. good bye Zach

warning: this post looks gross but is really delicious

Friday morning Zach came to join us for a good-bye party. We surprised him with some poop pie (our little joke), complete w/ peanut butter and rice crispies dog turd topping. (if you work with toddlers long enough, your mind may warp, or vice versa...)

Mary made this raw, grainless, chocolate pie based on a favorite recipe of mine for raw strawberry pie. The variations seem to be endless depending on seasonal fruit, and it's a super healthy treat. The crust is made from dates, almonds, cinnamon and salt. I've found that adding a tablespoon or 2 of coconut oil helps hold it together.
The filling is made from raw cashews, water, coconut oil, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla extract. If you're making it with fruit, that'll sweeten it plenty, but in this case Mary added honey and raw cacao powder.

yum.

new works

Since coming back from the break the class room has several new works. I've realized that it must be difficult for parents to imagine what they are based on the short descriptions I write on the daily sheets. So I'm going to endeaver to blog about them whenever I change things up in the class room.

Firstly, we have the cow family work. Which is a set of Play Mobile cattle; a calf, a cow, and a bull. This is a language work.

To add interest, I may end up making cards to match, with photos of real cattle.

Next, we have the peg board work, a foam board with holes that the pegs can be inserted into. The pegs can also be stacked. This is great for hand-eye coordination, as well as color sorting.

This is the pom pom spooning transfer work.(Not that you can see the blurred spoon) For practice scooping with a spoon.

 And, not that this one is new, it occurred to me that truck building is rather vague. It's a sort of 3-d puzzle, with pieces you assemble to make a truck. (had to reach back for a decent picture of it)

the rainbow arch blocks

one of our new works this week is the rainbow arch blocks.

at some point somebody figured out they make a pretty funny hat or headband

 and soon everyone was trying it.