Bread 101...the teacher has become the student

    Some days I try to figure out what our homeschooling style is.  My oldest two attended a public Montessori for a couple years so I do love to incorporate some of those ideas into our days.  I see benefits from Charlotte Mason and Classical styles of learning and I love the whimsy of Waldorf.  I want to give them the freedom to explore their own interests and to follow their hearts so I do understand the thought behind unschooling.  With all of my thoughts on how I wish to homeschool my children I feel so blessed that in our state I sign a form stating that I will be homeschooling and that is it...I am free to choose how, when, and where and I do not have to answer to anyone.

    The other day as we walked into the library I asked the kids what type of books they would be interested in.  Ajay, said that he was interested in books about Colonial America.  OK, his actual answer was "Mom, I want books about that place that we went and played with the buckets to put out the fire."  I said "Uh, can you tell me more about this place?  I am not quite sure I know what you are talking about."  He rolled his eyes and said "You know, that place where people dressed funny and you complained that they didn't even talk about fermenting."  Ha ha, I knew...he was describing a small historic park in Green Bay called Heritage Hills.  Since I am an east coast girl I always describe it as a tiny Williamsburg.

    So we set off to look for some books on the subject and we found some pretty great ones.  Our favorite out of the stack was Colonial Days by David C. King, it is from the American Kids in History series and it is pretty great as it follows a fictional family of 6 (like us) through all of the seasons and the book includes recipes, games and projects.

     As we were reading we found a bread recipe that the kids really wanted to make.  I have enough problems with my sourdough so it is rare that I let the little hands in there.  Just two days ago I decided to try a different flour for my bread and I wound up with another bread brick that was sliced up and handed to the kids so that they could feed all of the birds and squirrels in the yard.  Anyway, I opened the book and said "Go to it, I am here if you need me".  I watched as Zola read the ingredients, Ajay and Taj gathered, and Peylyn yelled orders at all of them.  I stood in the kitchen pretending to be playing on my phone but I was secretly watching in amazement as they dove into their first baking experience with mom on the side lines.

Peylyn stole some of our dough so she could play and nibble.

    I was impressed as there was only 1 little mistake, they forgot to add the sugar to the water and yeast but I had them add it later and everything seemed to be fine.  They did such a great job working together and guess what...there two loaves were so much better than all of the loaves that I have made over the past 2 years.  Seriously, I quit!  I am going to increase their small allowance and make them the official bread bakers of the house.

    This is our favorite part about homeschooling...it doesn't matter what time period or culture we are studying, we love to take what we learn into the kitchen and really connect to our lessons.  The home used to be completely centered around the kitchen and this family is thrilled to be getting back to that.