Giggles, Girl Talk, and a Touch of Literature: Alex’s First American Girl Book Club
Books are an important part of our every day life. Seven-year-old Alexandria tears through books at lightening speed, reading a chapter book in a day or less (thank goodness for libraries!). The American Girls books are her favorite series. Not only does she have many of the American Girls books, but she also loves the dolls and learning about the historic time periods in which the girls lived. When we discovered an American Girl book club, we knew we were on to something great!
One of our favorite homeschool websites, http://www.currclick.com, offers a wide variety of live clubs and classes. We joined their American Girl Club for Homeschoolers this week and today was our first meeting. Alex reminded me all day. “Mom, don’t forget my club meeting at 4 o’clock!” It was hard to forget with 5, 552 reminders. 
We had a little drama get in our way right before her club began. My laptop is about to die and keeps overheating. I turned it off in the early afternoon so that it would be nice and cool and would stay on throughout Alex’s class. The problem arose around 3 when I tried to turn it back on. It wouldn’t turn on. I tried over and over and over again but to no avail. Finally, at 3:55, it rebooted. Alex was jumping for joy.
Alex’s club has its own webpage, complete with a large portion for the teacher’s power point, video messaging, and text messaging for her and all the other girls in the club. It was pretty darn cool! Her teacher led the group in discussion and the girls typed in their answers, thoughts, questions, etc. I was impressed!
This month the club read Meet Josephina. We were emailed study questions and related activities before the meeting. We’ll be studying Josephina through May. The Club meets once a month.
Alex had a complete blast. I had to remind her to keep on task and not chat with the other girls about horses and dolls when she was supposed to be participating in the book discussion. Oh, Alex. Their discussion was quite in depth! They learned all about bartering and life in 1800s New Mexico. They learned useful Spanish phrases and talked about the new Spanish words they came across in the book. They even planted flowers during class! If you read the book, you’ll understand the importance of that.
Alex’s American Girl Club took a bit of planning and preparation on my part, but it was totally worth it. Not to mention that the club is free! Alex was all giggles but also contemplated the book she finished just this afternoon. She worked on her typing skills and worked well in the group. She’s been talking up a storm and has already begun the next book in the series.
I was happy with our first experience with a CurrClick.com club and signed Little Miss up for a bunch more. We love to keep things fresh and interesting!
Planting flowers!
Watch Out for Erupting Volcano Potatoes!
Volcano Potatoes!
We checked out a new library after Homeschool Group today and Alex found a new treasure to bring home: “Molly’s Cook Book: A Peek at Dining in the Past with Meals You Can Cook Today.” She loves her American Girls and Molly is one of her favorites. On the drive home, she read to me excitedly about all the recipes she wanted to try. Since Hubby had to fly past dinner time tonight, we decided to try one of her recipes for our own little dinner party. Tonight’s menu: Volcano Potatoes. When Hubby’s away, we love trying quirky and fun new recipes. It’s always exciting.
Molly’s 1944 Volcano Potatoes-
First, I peeled and cut up potatoes. Alex placed them in a big pot and covered them with water and we let them boil for 20 minutes until the potatoes were soft.
Once the potatoes were cooked, I drained the pot and beat the potatoes until they were smooth, adding butter, salt, pepper, milk, and egg yolks. The oven preheated to 350 degrees and we greased two glass baking dishes, then spooned out 10 mounds of 3-inch tall mounds of mashed potatoes into two baking dishes. Alex smoothed them with a butter knife to shape them into volcanoes and we made craters with a spoon. We filled each volcano with a tablespoon of grated cheese and sprinkled them with paprika before baking them for 6 minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese.
Our volcanoes before baking
Watching the cheese "erupt" from the volcano potatoes
The Volcano Potatoes turned out so well! The kids loved their jungle-themed plates: an erupting volcano in the center surrounded by a forest of green beans and clementine orange slices. It was the ultimate mom-and-kid meal. Hubby would call it “Kid Food” and demand his steak. The Volcano Potatoes were actually really good and the children gobbled them right up. They even asked for seconds!
A Volcano in the Jungle
Yummy!
Alex was pleased with her project!
Volcano Potatoes!
After dinner, Alex showed me half-a-dozen other recipes she wants to try. “We’re going to be really busy the next three weeks!” she exclaimed. Three-weeks is the length of time we can check out books from our library. She read every recipe over at least twice, her Molly doll in her lap. It’s so great to see her so enthusiastic. It’s fun to make such tasty memories together!
Alex and Molly!
Lil’ Miss Learns To Sew
While playing on the American Girl website this morning, my seven-year-old daughter managed to design a sewing “sampler” and print half a dozen colorful variants. She arranged them on the table, carefully analyzed each one, and stated, “This is it. Mom, I’m going to sew a sampler.”
Lil' Miss Computer Head
The Sampler
A sampler? Really? “Alex,” I reminded her, “You don’t know how to sew and that looks very complicated. How about we start with something easier?”
“Mom!” she replied with exasperation. “It’s not hard. All you do is pull some thread through fabric and you’re done! I saw it on Tinkerbell!”
After a bit of convincing, she agreed to start with something a tad easier for her very first sewing attempt. We raided the craft closet for a needle and thread as well as a random piece of felt. I showed her how to make a basic stitch and she eagerly took over, sewing all sorts of shapes. The challenge was getting her to pull the thread all the way through to avoid knotting. She had so much fun, she was completely absorbed in her project for most of the morning.
The “sampler” soon became a “pillow” stuffed with cotton balls. And, as no project is complete without hot glue and bright ribbons, the pillow was decked out in no time.
Alex was very proud of her “Doll Pillow” and couldn’t wait to show it off.
Voila!
Alex's First Sewing Project
Sewing is really a lost art among today’s girls. No, it’s not outdated or terribly old-fashioned. Sewing skills are useful. It’s handy to be able to mend your own torn clothes or sew on a fallen button. Taking torn clothes to a seamstress for even basic mending is really expensive! Sewing builds skills as well as self-confidence. Plus, it’s fun. I hope that when Alexandria leaves home, she has a whole variety of life skills at her disposal.
For her first sewing project, I think she did pretty awesome. I remember loving learning to sew when I was a little girl too, even if I rarely do it now. While it may not be a fancy sampler, it’s a start! She’s already begging to make something else. First she has to clean her room. Who know what other “masterpieces” may soon grace our house.
Happy Hanukkah! Learning About the Past Through Latkes, Literature, and Dreidel Matches for Chocolate Coins
Happy Hanukkah!
This is our second year learning about and celebrating Hanukkah as part of our holiday season. Michael is a quarter Jewish, and I think it’s neat to learn about Hanukkah for that reason. Not to mention it builds tolerance and respect for other cultures and customs if children learn about them. We light our Menorah just as proudly as we trim our tree. It’s a beautiful season to celebrate for everyone, no matter what religion.
American Girl Rebecca celebrates Hanukkah!
We began reading “Candlelight for Rebecca” from the American Girl Series at the start of Hanukkah last week. Rebecca is an immigrant Jew living in New York (in the early 1900s I believe). The story is a great tale of learning about a new culture while staying true to one’s own beliefs. Rebecca and her family celebrate Hanukkah in the book, and it was a perfect tie-in. Not to mention Little Miss had a Rebecca doll waiting for her under the tree for Christmas morning. We truly enjoyed the story and had some great conversations. I LOVE the American Girl book collections! Alex is learning so much about American history. I loved them as a young girl too.
Alex was excited to get to light the Menorah each night of Hanukkah. She doesn’t usually get to light candles! We also read lots of books about the holiday and its meaning from the library.
Tonight, I fried up some homemade Latkes for dinner and the family loved them. They turned out really good and were very authentic!
Homemade Latkes!
After supper, we played a fun-filled game of Dreidel! We re-read the rules and got out the Chocolate Gelt (money) from the Harry and David store. Alex and Ethan were both excited to play for candy! We played for quite some time and had a blast. In the end, I had 7 pieces, Ethan had 2, and Alex had 1. I gave Alex one of mine to even things out between her and Ethan and saved most of the rest for tomorrow. So fun!
Dreidel! Dreidel! Dreidel
Alex loves to play too!
Ethan was very good at the game
We learned about the past through latkes, literature, and dreidel matches for chocolate coins and had so much fun doing so. The kids learned a lot about Hanukkah, as well as about Christmas and holidays in other religions and cultures around the world. It was a brilliant light in our holiday celebrations and one we look forward to again next year.
How do you teach your kids about holidays and Christmas celebrations around the world?
Related articles
- Five reasons for celebrating Hanukkah (omniumgatherumblog.wordpress.com)
- 12 Most Festive Chanukah Favorites By Lily Zajc (12most.com)
- Hanukkah Celebrations (elementsofelliott.wordpress.com)
God Jul! Celebrating the Holidays Swedish Style!
God Jul! That’s “Merry Christmas” in Swedish. Our journey through Christmas Around the World continues this week with a stop in Sweden. The kids have had such a blast so far and this Christmas has been more fun than ever. We now have a British Christingle next to our Jewish Menorah, Christian Nativity Set, and now Swedish St. Lucia’s Crown on our counter top. Tis the season to be merry, no matter your faith or country!
We began our day by creating a St. Lucia‘s Crown from garland and candles. St.Lucia’s Day marks the beginning of Christmas celebrations in Sweden on December 13th. Traditionally, the eldest daughter wears a crown of candles and brings her parents breakfast (coffee and St. Lucia rolls) in bed early in the morning, inviting them and everyone else in the house to breakfast. Lucia bears light, representing hope and warmth during the long, dark Swedish winter. It’s a neat tradition, and one that’s taken very seriously in Sweden. Did you know there is intense competition to be a town Lucia, and even more competition to be the national Lucia? That’s pretty intense.
Alex was thrilled to be our family’s Lucia and was eager to get dressed up. She thought it was pretty awesome to wear a crown of candles, even though I only let her wear it for about 10 seconds while I took a picture. She can wear the garland all she wants but the candles make me nervous. We made our Lucia crown into a lovely table centerpiece and enjoyed the festive spirit all day long.
My Beautiful Lucia
Our St. Lucia Crown now graces our table
We love the American Girl book series, and they had the perfect book for our celebration. “Kirsten’s Surprise” is about a Swedish immigrant girl who brightens her family’s first American Christmas with a St. Lucia procession. I remember reading this book and loving it as a young girl and couldn’t wait to share it with my own daughter. She loved it too and we finished the entire novel in one afternoon! It was a great way to put all we’ve learned into perspective!
One can’t possibly study Christmas in Sweden without making St. Lucia’s rolls. We spent our afternoon mixing ingredients, kneading dough, allowing said dough to rise several times, and creating adorable curly rolls sprinkled with sugar. We read as they baked and couldn’t wait to try one! The house smelled heavenly. The St. Lucia’s rolls took a long time to make, but they’re so good! I remember eating them as a young girl… memories!
My helper
Alex sprinkles sugar on our rolls before baking
St. Lucia's Rolls ready to bake
A platter of rolls
When it comes to learning and having fun, today was a definite success. We watched several short videos on Christmas in Sweden and listened to Swedish Christmas carols. We researched Swedish Christmas traditions online and watched several St. Lucia’s Day celebrations too. We read a novel on the topic, created a St. Lucia’s crown, and tried out a traditional Swedish recipe. Our “Christmas Around the World” lap book is coming along splendidly. The kids are having such a great time and going to bed mentally exhausted, yet rearing to go again the next day. What kind of Christmas fun can Mom come up with next? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Alex's Christmas Lap Book is Coming Along Nicely!
Our St. Lucia
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