Hi! Come on in and let’s talk about hummus and growing healthy children.
As you may know from reading my blog, I’m currently homeschooling but perhaps for not much longer since it looks like the Province and the Teachers may have struck a deal. Only a vote away will tell whether I’m a home-school mama much longer.
It’s been a lot of fun. Overwhelming at times managing different age groups and certainly challenging to stay a step ahead of everyone but rewarding to see the kids light up as they learn. I’ve decided to shift my perspective with regards to education. Yes, the teachers have our children for 6 to 61/2 hours everyday, but they are all mine after school and on the weekends. We can continue working on things they have shown an interest in and continue our homeschooling in that fashion. So while the school bus may be coming next week, (Will is excited about that) I will look at the time they are gone as prep time for when they come home.
In the meantime, we have been working on all the major subjects with our older children but with the little ones, we have been practicing following a simple set of instructions and accomplishing small projects. Sitting still and keeping their hands on their own work is a journey unto itself but we are making progress. I try to have some baroque music on while they work, to stimulate their brains.
Of course we are doing lots of reading and sounding out words while remembering our sight words. We count all the time, from the moment they wake up from how many buckets it will take to rinse the shampoo out of their hair, to how many apple pieces are on the plate and calculating how many each child receives.
I found a great web site I wanted to share with my blog friends, who have young children and want to print off simple sheets for their little ones to colour, perhaps cut out and paste.There are also many activities and even a Whiz kid math program if you have older children. (This is a U.K. site…waving Hi to my oldest daughter Alyssa teaching in the U.K.)
Here is the cool web site, “Activity Village” I have found and these are the sheets that I have printed off for the kids. Every day we do a new letter and when completed we put it their own individual books to look at throughout the day.
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| I found these under printable alphabet sheets….on the Activity Village web site |
And while the kids are happily colouring, cutting out and pasting their pictures, I like to take a few moments and make one of our favourite snacks. Hummus.
A few of my friends have asked how we encourage our children to eat their vegetables since their children won’t touch anything in the veggie category. This is so simple that I don’t know why other parents haven’t figured it out. “We” are the ones who do the shopping and prepare the food. If the kids want to stay alive, and they do believe me, they will eat anything you put in front of them, EVENTUALLY!
Having your children help you in the garden, growing food inspires them to try all sorts of vegetables.
There have been studies done on healthy eating showing children who have been given a wide range of vegetables from early age develop a desire to eat those same foods later into what would normally be their picky years. Plus, here is another benefit; they achieve higher IQ’s.
Now I have to tell you we have had our fair share of picky eaters out of our 8 children. It was frustrating at times but we just kept offering them healthy choices and encouraged them to try a little bit of everything. Sure, there was a time when they resisted foods that mixed together, like soups and casseroles but those same (older children) are food cultured now.
So be persistent and positive with your little ones and I hope you try my hummus recipe
.Here’s what you need to make hummus.
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| Do you have chick peas, garlic, olive oil, tahini and lemon juice?..you have the makings for hummus |
Hope’s Hummus recipe
1- 19 ounce chick peas drained and rinsed
2 tbsp tahini
1 or 2 garlic cloves….I prefer my hummus really garlicky
2 tbsp of virgin olive oil….maybe more if you like your hummus really smooth
4 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
Now, for the easy peasy instructions. Into your food processor, put your chick peas, tahini, garlic and lemon juice and mix it really well, then slowly add your olive oil until the hummus is the texture you desire.
Well that’s it…now decide what you want to eat your hummus with. Today I cut up some vegetables and served them for snack time. My oldest daughter likes to put her hummus on a piece of celery and put a line of raisins in a row…yes she is 24 but some of us never truly grow up.
The old ants on a log is great with hummus
The cool thing about making it today is I have some hummus for the twins preschool snack tomorrow
.BONUS!
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| Come and get it! |
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| Dig in girls |
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| Will has loved hummus since he was a toddler |
And on the topic of growing healthy children, if our children are going to watch T.V. or videos, I like the message they are receiving to continue with the theme we are trying to teach at home. Like the following as it just emphasizes my thoughts about junk food.