Colonial Recipes
Colonial Recipes
There isn’t a history unit study in which we didn’t include historic or regional recipes as part of our learning. It’s one of my favorite ways to engage the student with one of the senses that is often overlooked in education: taste. Sometimes the students work together to create a meal, but more often than not, I am doing the majority of the work in the kitchen and presenting the meal ceremonially. Both have their value and are educational and engaging in their own way.
In the times that I have prepared the feast and presented it to my children, they have been overjoyed and delighted. It’s not always the case, sometimes a meal doesn’t go over as well or it’s not as theatrical and exciting because the recipes are familiar. What was especially enjoyable with our colonial times unit study was leaning into autumnal decor and recipes. Roasting a chicken on a rotisserie made it unique and exciting, making a pumpkin pie from scratch rather than from a can made it historic and including seasonal items made it relevant.
Colonial Recipes
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How to Make Old Fashioned Apple Cider
These two apples just didn’t get eaten. Once they turn soft, no one likes them. But that’s okay. There are many things you can do with soft apples: make applesauce, apple pie or apple cider.
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How to Make Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
It is timely that our unit study on the Colonial Times, the voyage of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving nestled perfectly with this time of year. Reservations about the actual events aside, this pumpkin pie was delicious, easy and ties in well with our unit study.
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Apple Pie Tartlet Dessert
I had the best of intentions when I bought pound after pound of fresh gala apples at the start of apples season. I wanted to make all kinds of apple deliciousness. We did manage an apple pie and some caramel apples, but then our apples rested at the bottom of the crisper for literally months....
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Tortilla Soup Recipe
Tortilla soup is a family fall and winter favorite because it's so warming, hearty and delicious. It's also super fast! Not only can you make the soup in about 30 minutes, while it's simmering, you can garnish the soup with cilantro, avocado, pepper jack cheese and fresh homemade tortilla chips.
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Vegetable soup in a Pumpkin
This is a show stopping centerpiece that tastes great and looks amazing! Add drama and intrigue to your dinner party with this perfect-for-fall vegetable soup served in a pumpkin. It's actually easier than you'd think to make, is the perfect meal or appetizer for large groups and warms you to the bone on cold autumn nights.
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How to Bake Bread
Baking bread is a quintessential kindergarten experience in a Waldorf school. We take this tradition and bring it home. In this video, I'll show you a quick and easy recipe for making bread.
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How to Make Candied Orange Peels
We are making our way through our Colonial Times unit study and finding a lot of inspiration from a few activity books we have. Today we are using a recipe from Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide To Life In The New World by Laurie Carlson.
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How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Butter
There's nothing quite like fresh butter and there's no better satisfaction than being able to make it from scratch. And when children are able to do this, the thrill of making something like butter, turning a thick liquid into a solid and a thinner liquid is pretty amazing.
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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds | EASY Recipe
Did you carve a pumpkin this fall? I hope you saved those pumpkin seeds because you can roast them with a bit of salt and olive oil for a fast, tasty and healthy snack. Don't forget to reverse a few seeds to plant them next spring/summer and hopefully you'll have your very own pumpkin next fall!
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Colonial Feast
Let me tell you about all the ways our colonial feast went wrong. If for nothing else to share how sometimes the best laid plans get derailed. Firstly, my mom has to cancel last minute because of an electrical issue at her home which required her to be present the entire time the electrician was there. This sent my 8-year-old daughter into such a melancholic mood she was disinterested in all I had planned going so far as calling the decorations that adorned the table “silly”. .
How to Make Old Fashioned Apple Cider
These two apples just didn’t get eaten. Once they turn soft, no one likes them. But that’s okay. There are many things you can do with soft apples: make applesauce, apple pie or apple cider.
Today these two apples will be turned into hot apple cider that none of us liked!
Did you know that during Colonial Times, fresh water was not so fresh or clean and often wasn’t good to drink. The solution to thirst was apple cider. Sometimes it was even hard apple cider or ale watered down a bit. This and more we learned from the book Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build by Kris Bordessa.
Directions:
Juice 4-6 apples (reserve pulp for apple sauce)
Heat on medium heat
Add a pinch of cinnamon
Enjoy hot!
I think if we try this again, we’ll drink it chilled. None of really cared for it warmed, in fact, we just didn’t like it at all! What about you?
How to Make Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
It is timely that our unit study on the Colonial Times, the voyage of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving nestled perfectly with this time of year. Reservations about the actual events aside, this pumpkin pie was delicious, easy and ties in well with our unit study.
I can’t believe I this is my first year making pumpkin pie…it’s so good! I got this recipe from my Martha Stewart cookbook edited by Roy Finamore 1995. The “Perfect Pie Crust” is on page 7 and the Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie is on page 490.
The ingredients for the Pie Crust:
2 cups flour
1.5 sticks of butter
1/4 tsp. salt
up to 1/4 cup of iced water
Directions:
Cut in butter into sifted flour. Use a pastry tool if needed, but don’t over incorporate or heat the butter. At salt if your butter is unsalted. I added a little bit of brown sugar. Add a bit of iced water to help mix the remaining flour into the mixture.
Roll out pie crust large enough for the pie tin. I found it easier to do this between two sheets of wax paper. You may need to chill the dough. Set the pie crust in the pie pan and put it in the fridge while you make your filling.
The ingredients for Pumpkin Pie:
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
(or 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Direction:
Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. Fill pie and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, then drop the temp to 375 and bake for about 30 minutes until a knife cuts clean.
Apple Pie Tartlet Dessert
I had the best of intentions when I bought pound after pound of fresh gala apples at the start of apples season. I wanted to make all kinds of apple deliciousness. We did manage an apple pie and some caramel apples, but then our apples rested at the bottom of the crisper for literally months….
Finally I remembered to add phyllo dough to our shopping list…then another long pause. Finally, and I’m not sure how, but we decided to make these delicious charming apple tartlets. Maybe I was needing to clean out the refrigerator, or maybe the apples were getting too soft, or maybe it was shopping day and I needed room. No one remembers, and no one cares, but these desserts were awesome! And…EASY!! Plus they’d make a stunning addition to your dessert table. Or, you could make them when the kids get home from school. Or, you could make them just to have your home smell of cinnamon and apples. Who doesn’t love that!?
Recipe:
4-5 peeled and dices apples
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Phyllo dough and butter
Cupcake tin and circle cookie cutter
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together (except butter and phyllo dough). Set aside. Cut large round circles of phyllo dough using a cookie cutter (ours was the Martha Stewart biscuit cutters size 4 inches), and set about 4-5 sheets of phyllo over each cupcake spot. Spoon in a generous amount into the phyllo dough. It was mold into the cupcake tin. Put a pat of butter (1/4 teaspoon) on top of each and sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Let cool before taking them out of the cupcake tin.
Tip: If your phyllo dough doesn’t hold up well and falls apart when you remove these mini apples tartlets, try using more sheets of phyllo dough or make your ‘batter’ less moist.
Tortilla Soup Recipe
Tortilla soup is a family fall and winter favorite because it's so warming, hearty and delicious. It's also super fast! Not only can you make the soup in about 30 minutes, while it's simmering, you can garnish the soup with cilantro, avocado, pepper jack cheese and fresh homemade tortilla chips.
Check out this super easy recipe:
Tortilla Soup
(Inspiration from the soup at El-Torito and my friend “L”)
Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
3-5 limes
1-2 oranges
1 bunch cilantro
1 head of garlic, crushed
Cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, turmeric all to taste
2 jalapeños
2 onions (quartered and sliced)
1 bag of carrots cut into thin slices
1 bag of frozen corn
4-6 medium sized russet potatoes
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (non-seasoned)
1 bag of corn tortillas
2 avocados
Pepper jack cheese
Corn oil (or canola)
Directions:
Directions: Marinate chicken by placing chicken pieces in a large shallow bowl. Add the juice of 4 limes and 2 oranges, crushed garlic, and all spices (enough to thoroughly coat chicken; you can always add more spices as the soup cooks). Let sit for no more than 30 minutes (the lime juice will ‘cook’ the chicken, so do not marinate overnight). In the meantime, brown the onions for about 10 minutes so they are translucent but not crispy. Next, over medium to high heat, add enough oil to coat bottom of a large bottom soup pot. Brown chicken by removing chicken from marinade and carefully placing into hot pot (reserve marinade for later). Add to the chicken the browned onions, remaining marinade, jalapeños, carrots and 10 cups of water. Bring water to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, then add potatoes and another 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil and add corn and can of tomatoes. Cook for about 20-30 minutes then check flavor and consistency, add more water if needed, or salt, etc. Add chopped cilantro (1⁄2 a bunch) in the last 5 minutes of cooking to retain a more vibrant green color). When you are ready to serve, cut up avocado, slice pepper jack cheese and slice limes. In a frying pan, add 1⁄2 inch of oil and bring to medium-high heat, add one layer of sliced tortilla and fry till golden on each side. Plate soup by ladling a large serving into a ‘pasta’ style bowl, top with sliced cheese, avocado slices, a sprig of cilantro. Lastly, add crisp tortilla chips vertically into soup (like a pyramid) and serve hot.
Hana’s Tip: When serving the soup, add the tortilla chips hot out of the frying pan for a dramatic ‘hisss’. To speed the process of making tortilla soup, heat water in a separate pot while the chicken is marinating. This soup keeps well for a few days, but the tortilla chips are best when they are freshly fried.
Vegetable soup in a Pumpkin
This is a show stopping center piece that tastes great and looks amazing! Add drama and intrigue to your dinner party with this perfect-for-fall vegetable soup served in a pumpkin. It’s actually easier than you’d think to make, is the perfect meal or appetizer for large groups and warms you to the bone on cold autumn nights.
You can make this recipe vegan friendly by omitting the chicken, and you’ll barely notice the loss because this soup is naturally flavorful. Adding chicken makes it a complete meal. Cooking your whole chicken in water gives you a flavorful broth that’s ready for the tender vegetables. It’s lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, cayenne and parsley, but you could add any variety of seasonings.
Recipe:
1-2 whole chickens
2 onions
4-5 medium organic potatoes
1 bag of organic onions
1 bunch of organic celery
1 bag of organic peas
1 bag of organic corn
1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper, cayenne and dried parsley.
Salt to taste
Directions:
In a large pot, simmer 1-2 whole chickens with skin on, in enough water to cover the chickens completely (the chicken will float to the top, but that’s okay, you can rotate it midway). Bring chicken broth to a high simmer and cook until the meat falls away easily (about 1 hour).
Meanwhile, cut the top off a medium or small pumpkin. Remove the seeds and fibers. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on the inside, rotating the pumpkin to coat the inside. Add some olive oil to the outside and rub over the pumpkin. Place in a pre-heated 450 degree oven and bake for 25-35 minutes. Don’t overcook the pumpkin or it won’t hold up to the soup.
Meanwhile, dice and sauté two medium onions. Lightly brown with olive oil and salt. Add sliced carrots and let cook for a few minutes. To that add sliced celery and continue to sauté for a few minutes. Lastly, add peeled and diced potatoes and cook for a few minutes.
Check on and remove pumpkin from oven if done.
Check on chicken. If it pulls from the bone easily, remove the chicken from the broth and let it cool in a strainer. To the broth, add all the vegetables, the bag of corn and peas and the seasonings. Let cook for about 10 minutes on a medium simmer.
Meanwhile, debone the chicken and add it to the soup.
Prepare pumpkin by placing it on a serving dish and spoon vegetable soup into the pumpkin.
Serve remaining soup in a separate dish. This is a perfect way to use up any uncarved pumpkins from Halloween!
Don’t toss those seeds, though! They can be easily roasted up with salt and olive oil for a tasty healthy snack.
This recipe perfectly accompanies our Colonial Times unit study.
How to Bake Bread
Baking bread is a quintessential kindergarten experience in a Waldorf school. We take this tradition and bring it home. In this video, I'll show you a quick and easy recipe for making bread: 1 tablespoon sugar (I use brown sugar) 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/4 teaspoon of yeast 2 cups of warm water 4 cups of flour Mix ingredients together in a non-metal bowl (ceramic or plastic) with a wooden spoon (don't use metal). Add a loose fitting lid (optional, add oil to dough so it doesn't dry out). After it has doubled in size (2-4 hours), shape it into medium-sized balls using your hand that have been oiled with olive oil to keep the dough from sticking. Bake for 12 minutes at 430 degrees on an oiled pan or in a pan lined with parchment paper. Serve piping hot with olive oil.
How to Make Candied Orange Peels
We are making our way through our Colonial Times unit study and finding a lot of inspiration from a few activity books we have. Today we are using a recipe from Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide To Life In The New World by Laurie Carlson. The recipe calls for three oranges, but as weren’t sure we were going to like it, we reduced the recipe to one orange and used the single orange on our orange tree.
They turned out so good!! We’ll definitely be making this again.
Recipe:
1-3 oranges (we used 1 orange)
2 cups sugar (we used 1 cup sugar)
1 cup water (we used 1/2 cup water)
Carefully peel orange and slice the peel into stripes. Soak orange peels overnight with 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of salt. Rinse the peels with fresh water the next morning. Add orange peels to water and sugar in a pan. Heat on medium heat for about 20-30 minutes until the water is evaporated and the sugar is thick and syrupy. We left ours on for a bit too long and it became sugar and crumbly. If that happens, add a tablespoon of water.
Remove from heat and remove the orange peels. They are very hot! Be careful. Toss in sugar (optional). They were so delicious, we ate ours before they cooled down completely!
How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Butter
There’s nothing quite like fresh butter and there’s no better satisfaction than being able to make it from scratch. And when children are able to do this, the thrill of making something like butter, turning a thick liquid into a solid and a thinner liquid is pretty amazing.
A few years ago, I wanted to buy a butter churn. I searched online and found this antique looking butter churn that was common in the 1800’s. You can imagine my surprised when it arrive, wrapped in newspapers, with cobwebs and silverfish inside…I had unwittingly purchased an antique! After washing it thoroughly, several times, I tried it out. It worked!
If you are making butter with children, you can definitely show them how a butter churn works, but you can also make butter in a glass jar. All you need is heavy cream. In a small 16-ounce mason jar, add about 3 ounces of heavy cream. Secure the lid and begin shaking. After about five minutes, the contents will become heavy and frothy. Congrats! You’ve made whipped cream. Keep shaking for another 2-3 minutes until you hear liquid sloshing around inside and hear and feel the thud of butter knocking around against the sides and lid.
Remove the butter by straining it in cheese cloth or with a strainer. You can keep the butter milk and use it in lei of water when making bread, or make cultured buttermilk with it. You can salt the butter or leave it plain. Just store the way you would store store-bought butter.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Did you carve a pumpkin this fall? I hope you saved those pumpkin seeds because you can roast them with a bit of salt and olive oil for a fast, tasty and healthy snack. Don't forget to reserve a few seeds to plant them next spring/summer and hopefully you'll have your very own pumpkin next fall!
Recipe:
Pumpkin seeds, olive oil, salt and a pinch of cayenne.
Directions: Remove seeds from pumpkin and wash them in water. Let dry. Toss with olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper. Spread over a baking tray. Bake on 400 F for 15 minutes. Rotate midway. Remove from oven and let cool before enjoying this wonderful snack.
This recipe perfectly fits with our Colonial Times unit study.
Colonial Feast
Let me tell you about all the ways our colonial feast went wrong. If for nothing else to share how sometimes the best laid plans get derailed. .
Firstly, my mom has to cancel last minute because of an electrical issue at her home which required her to be present the entire time the electrician was there. This sent my 8-year-old daughter into such a melancholic mood she was disinterested in all I had planned going so far as calling the decorations that adorned the table “silly”.
As soon as my sister and her nephew arrived, my 13-year-old asked to play on the computer 🤦♀️ “No,” I said, slightly exasperated as this day was for him too! It was he who had requested this unit! And he who especially loves a feast. Now he was in a mood.
While I finished cooking, I got my daughter & my 7-year-old nephew started on an autumn craft: stitching a felt leaf. My son had cut the leaves out of wool felt & all the supplies were set. Both kids showed little interest and only stitched a few stitches before giving up. They both moped and left their project unfinished.
Bread! Yes, let’s get the dough started so we can feast on it later. My nephew did mix the dough with some enthusiasm, but my daughter didn’t want to. After several hours the dough still hasn’t risen enough for us to bake it 😏
The food was almost done, so I filled my antique butter churn with heavy cream so the kids could crank the handle and turn it into butter for our sweet potatoes & corn. After 20 minutes, and a lot of noisy cranking, we still didn’t have butter. And one by one each person opened the fridge and cut a piece of butter for themselves to have over their hot corn and potatoes. After chilling the whole churn with the cream inside while we ate, we took it out & churned and churned and only got as far as whipped cream 😐
See the Instagram post.
American Revolution
It’s time for a new unit! This one is for the American Revolution time period. Though we completed our Colonial Times unit study, there are two books that will trail into this unit. Some audio books/songs we had scheduled for this unit, just don’t want to make an appearance! We’re still really enjoying the audio CD Spirited Sounds of Colonial Times.
American Revolution | Resources & Projects
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Curriculum Haul | American Revolution
Of all the units we've put together, I think I've gotten the most supplies for this one! So much that I had to split it up into multiple units: Columbus, the Pilgrims, the American Revolution, the Civil War & Slavery, the Westward Movement, the Lewis & Clark Expedition and ending with California History and the Gold Rush.
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Barnes and Noble BOOK Haul
I love books. I love paper. I love pretty pictures and beautiful words. I love it when someone finds a great book and shares it. These books are mostly from recommendations from other YouTubers. Please take the time to check out these other fantastic channels and send some love their way.
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American History Books
Looking for a complete history of the US? I have five American History series that would be suitable for all elementary and high school. The History of US by Joy Hakim would work for students as young as 5th grade through high school. The books are sold separately or as a set and you can also purchase student workbooks and teaching guides to accompany each volume.
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US History Curriculum | High School
Finding high school material for a highschooler that wasn't a traditional textbook was not easy to find. This series of books by Joy Hakim covers US history from pre-history to 2008 in 10 well-written and illustrated volumes. The 11th volume is source book with original sources and documents to supplement the series or to be used on its own.
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How to do a Unit Study | American Revolution
It's time for a new unit! This one is for the American Revolution time period. Though we completed our Colonial Times unit study, there are two books that will trail into this unit. Some audio books/songs we had scheduled for this unit, just don't want to make an appearance
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American History Unit | Revolutionary War | Charlotte Mason Living Books
For a list of the materials we used for our various US History units, you can check out this blog post which lists all the books and resources as well as approximate ages and grades for each resource. I share a few thoughts on each resource as well
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Handmade Quill | Historical
I try a couple different ways to make a quill. Using a pair of scissors turns out the best. They are surprisingly easy to use, but it does take some time to to get used to the idea that you have to dip your quill in ink or you'll run out of ink!
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Famous Figures Paper Dolls | American Revolution
The book Famous Figures of the American Revolution is a paper doll activity book. What I love about this book and others in the series is that you get two identical dolls for each figure. One that's completely colored in and one that's completely blank.
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Excavation Kit | Discovering US Archaeological Relics
Dig Discover and Display kits come in all varieties. I mistaken called this one Indian Relics, when in fact it's Archaeology USA. We have been using these kits for years in our homeschool and my children enjoy them immensely.
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DIY Loom | Weave a Bag
Weaving is one of those projects you need to dedicate yourself to. It takes time, perseverance and mindfulness. Weaving engages your mind and hands, and unlike knitting for instances, you can’t easily take your eyes off your project. -
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American Revolution | Unit Study Review | Living Books
At the close of a unit, I reflect on the materials we used and share with you what worked, what didn't work and what we didn't get to. I often over plan my units and main lesson blocks, and often I am choosing material we've never used before.
Lewis & Clark
& the Western Movement
When I started planning our American History units, I quickly found myself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of materials available. Everything looked to inviting and inspiring and I did something I do often, I overbought and over planned. Then I had to read our way out of the massive pile of books I had purchased! We did…slowly and over years.
Lewis & Clark and The Western Movement
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Curriculum Haul | Lewis & Clark Expedition & Western Movement
Pulling together books for our American History Unit, I knew I wanted a substantial amount of material on the Lewis and Clark expedition. We did a the westward movement and Texas history back in 2012-2013 while living in Dallas for a year, and I really enjoyed learning about the Lewis and Clark expedition and wanted to expand on it this time around.
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Homeschool Haul | Western Movement
The Westward Movement spans over 100 years in American History, so within this unit, there are other subunits: American Civil War, Lewis & Clark Expedition and California History & Gold Rush. Even so, I still have a lot of material, and may choose to split this unit up further.
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Curriculum Material for Native American Unit Study
I debated whether I should have a separate unit for Native American because the stories and history of the Native Americans spans the whole history of the US. This is a small compilation of supplies that would stand alone as a unit, but what would be more authentic is to distribute these materials over all our other American History unit, as currently each unit only has a little bit of relevant Native American material.
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
How do you build a unit study out of books? How do you feel confident putting the curriculum aside and diving into living books and hands on projects without feeling the pressure to hit state standards or succumb to peer pressure when you try something different? How do you make books the curriculum?!
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Western Movement
While preparing for our next main lesson block, I came across materials I had pulled for a project to use during our Lewis and Clark Expedition and Western Movement Unit Study.
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Excavation Kit | Discovering US Archaeological Relics
Dig Discover and Display kits come in all varieties. I mistaken called this one Indian Relics, when in fact it's Archaeology USA. We have been using these kits for years in our homeschool and my children enjoy them immensely.
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DIY Loom | Weave a Bag
Weaving is one of those projects you need to dedicate yourself to. It takes time, perseverance and mindfulness. Weaving engages your mind and hands, and unlike knitting for instances, you can't easily take your eyes off your project.
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How to Make a Pine Needle Basket
his is a great activity for a nature unit study or for an Indigenous People. It's fairly simple, but does take some practice or skill. What I did was get the project started out for my 10-year-old son who continued making it until the end, when I finished it off.
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Leather Journal Tutorial
Making a journal can be easy and simple or spectacular and somewhat difficult. This is the easy version. It's the version where you don't need to fold or stitch. What this means is you can find more affordable options to make a journal.
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Excavation Kit | Native American Relics
I'm guessing that by now, these kits by Krystal are hard to come by. Dig, Discover and Display Indian Relics is an excavation kit in which you excavate a frame of 'Native American Relics' that you paint once the frame is cleaned of dust and plaster.
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Lewis and Clark Expedition and Western Movement Review
One of my favorite stories about the Western Movement is the story of Lewis and Clark. But in all honesty I'm less interested in Lewis and Clark and completely fascinated by Sacagawea. On multiple occasions she not only saved the expedition but saved the lives of the men of the expedition and throughout it all she was just a teenager!
Alaska
While most of our units include far more diversity in the types of books and topics we cover, this unit is simply a collection of books that we plan to read. There are many projects and hands on activities you could do with a winter unit or Alaska unit, but we are currently keeping it simple with just read alouds I’ll read to my 9-year-old daughter and my 14-year-old son. One project you could do is some handwork. Handwork and knitting especially lend themselves well to winter units and wintertime in general.
Alaska Unit Study
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Alaska Unit Study
Our exploration of Alaska came about because my sister, Samiah and her family, moved up to Alaska in the fall of 2020. Once there, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and after surgery, it was discovered that it was an aggressive and fast growing brain cancer.
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Unit Study Books
This unit started out book heavy, but we managed to squeeze in a couple projects for which I’m very happy. I scheduled this unit for a single week. Let’s see how much we can get through. So far we’ve done really well diving into the picture books and starting both the biography and the novel.
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Chalk Drawing Northern Lights
For this chalk drawing, I used the book In Search of the Northern Lights as inspiration. I used a few pages from this book which depict a brilliantly colored sky and landscape and I was eager to include it in our unit.
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Chalk Drawing
Here’s the chalk drawing we did for our Alaska and Arctic unit. You can see a longer tutorial on the blog post for this unit and on YouTube. First let me tell you about the chalkboard. It’s awesome!!
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Live Teaching Vlog
Join me for this live lesson in which my 9-year-old daughter and I draw illustrations inspired by the book Raven and the Tide Lady. This lesson lasted 45 minutes and only included drawing. We did no written work. We used Faber Castell pastels and then switched to Sargent Art Chalk Pastels.
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How to Knit A Hat
For this project, I used handmade knitting needles I made during the Handwork Conference. You can find more information about the conference by visiting Waldorf Handwork Educators I used bulky weight yarn by Lamb's Pride in various neutrals. You can find Lamb's Pride at many online vendors, but I frequent A Child's Dream for most of our Waldorf needs.
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How to Knit Scarf | Tutorial
This was one easy but lengthy project! It did get a bit tedious, but it worked well with all the reading we did with our Alaska and Arctic unit. While I read, my 14-year-old son knit and sometimes, we would switch. I did cast on and bind off for him, though he is capable of doing that one his own and actually retaught his older 22-year-old brother when he made a scarf recently. I also added fringe to the end.
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How To Make Metallic Snowflakes
In all my years of homeschooling this past year is the first time we made snowflakes. Living in southern California where it never snows (where we live), we've never done winter projects that involve cold weather and snow.
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Winter Snowflakes
This is one simple yet beautiful project you can complete in no time, especially if you do the stitching like my 11-year-old son and not like me! We used gold and metallic DMC thread to stitch designs on the wool blend die cut snowflakes using two simple stitches: the running stitch and the back stitch.
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How to Pan for Gold | Gold Rush
I bought this kit when we did our American history units when I put together our unit on California history. We ended up not quite reaching that California history when those history units were over (they'll be revisited again), but I had all the kits.
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Snowflake Project DIY Trivia Cards
Opening activities which include games are a family favorite in our homeschool and one of our favorite trivia games is the Professor Noggin's Trivia Cards. Over the years, we started making our own. First with Astronomy Trivia Cards, then Bird Trivia Cards and most recently Bee Trivia Cards.
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Alaska Unit Study Review
This is the quickest I've ever decided to put together a unit. I sourced books, put together the unit and did it all within about a month. Part of doing it so quickly or rather being able to complete it in just one week was the fact that we didn't include any projects officially.
US History
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Age of Discovery
In a Waldorf setting, the Age of Discovery is presented in Grade 7 along with the Age of Exploration, Renaissance Biographies, Reformation Biographies, and European Geography. The Age of Discovery covers the explorers, such as Christopher Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and the Hernan Cortez and Francisco Pizarro (who conquered parts of central and South America)
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Colonial Times
The Colonial Times along with the American Revolution and Civil War are covered in the US history block for grade 8, while Western Expansion is taught in a local history block in Grade 5. However, I brought this unit to elementary school as a unit study rather than a Waldorf inspired main lesson block.
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Revolution
Our American Revolution Unit Study was completed a few times with unique projects each time. While some books (especially picture books) may be used again when a unit comes around again, often I collect some fresh books to inspire all of us. This unit was small and was a companion to the Colonial Times unit. Many of the projects may be used with either unit.
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Civil War
Upon entering adolescence, the Grade 8 student has a desire for stronger critical thinking and refined moral capacities. The ability to engage in critical thinking is a milestone marker of puberty. The Civil War provides a rich opportunity for student to discuss, examine conflict, freedom, justice, and human rights. By this age, students can understand social upheaval and national transformation.
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Western Expansion & Lewis & Clark
When I started planning our American History units, I quickly found myself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of materials available. Everything looked to inviting and inspiring and I did something I do often, I overbought and over planned. Then I had to read our way out of the massive pile of books I had purchased! We did…slowly and over years.
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California History
California history including the gold rush make up this unit. It's a mix of biographies, historical fiction, resource books, kits and a 'how to draw' book. I think I'm most looking forward to the kit we got for panning for gold. We also really like the 'Who Was..." books for their simplicity, content and illustrations. No unit of mine would be complete without a hands-on activity and this unit includes a 'gold' excavation kit.
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Alaska Unit Study
Our exploration of Alaska came about because my sister, Samiah and her family, moved up to Alaska in the fall of 2020. Once there, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and after surgery, it was discovered that it was an aggressive and fast growing brain cancer. As a family, we decided to visit her after she recovered from brain surgery but before she began her cancer treatment which included chemotherapy and radiation.
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US Geography
Ever learned the fifty states and capitals only to forget them? Try adding some games like Fast Track States and Capitals or, my favorite 10 Days Across the USA. If songs are your thing, you can try the states and capitals CD by Audio Memory. These catchy tunes will get you memorizing the states and capitals in no time!
