Daze of Adventure

Magic Tree House

April 30, 2012 By jenn 6 Comments

I have a reader on my hands.

You would never know that she didn’t talk until she was 3. Nor did she start reading until she was almost 8.

She has bloomed in her own time.

What a blessing that homeschooling has allowed her to do so.

She is now 10.

As she began wanting to read – really wanting to read – she grasped onto Magic Tree House books.

She hasn’t put them down since.

She reads and re-reads them.

Before she was reading well, she struggled with not reading books that other kids her age were.

We encouraged her to start where she was. And that’s what she did.

Because she has been allowed to progress at her own pace, her self-confidence has soared.

As her confidence in herself has grown, she hasn’t felt pressured or the need to ‘do what everyone else is doing’ –

She has grown comfortable with just being who she is.

I love that.

What an example for all of us – regardless how old we are.

———–

Last night Maggie-Peyton was on The Magic Tree House site, catching up on her passport stamps.

She even emailed me her wish list from The Magic Tree House website. Convenient, huh? It consisted of the few readers she doesn’t have and a handful of Fact Trackers and Research Guides .

The Fact Trackers are full of current info, photos and fun tidbits from the corresponding reader. They are a great way to open the door to learn more about the topics introduced in The Magic Tree House books. Hello!! Can you say unit study??

After reading a book, she has the option of answering a few reading comprehension questions.

Upon answering all of the questions correctly, she earns a stamp in her ‘passport.’

If any of the questions are missed, she must take the quiz again.

There are also over 60 missions for her to complete on this site, which reward her with Mission Medallions.

These missions reinforce details of the events in history or geographical locations, as well as from the fictional story.

Upon answering questions correctly, she earns a clue to solving the mission.

When she has finished the entire round, she has all of the pieces to answer the final question.

(it seems to always be a fact from one of the readers or Fast Trackers)

When the mission is complete, she is rewarded with a bronze medal.

And of course there is a bonus question!
What’s a trivia game without a bonus question, right?

When the bonus question is answered correctly, the bronze medal that she had earned turns to silver.

The site also offers an opportunity to send Tree Mail to Mary Pope Osborne, the author of these award-winning books.

What a great way to encourage communication skills!

Are your kids fans of Magic Tree House books?

Did you know they have been around for 20 years??

@dazeofadventure

Find the Magic Tree House on Facebook

Filed Under: homeschooling Tagged With: books for homeschooling, encouraging reading, magic tree house, mary pope osborne, teaching history to children, unit study

Gluten free snacks on the go

April 27, 2012 By jenn 1 Comment

We love to travel.

We love the flexibility of jumping in the car – whether for a spontaneous weekend road trip or a month long adventure exploring our great country.

Over the years, we have been blessed to travel a lot with our children. It’s made for some of the best family memories.

We want to show them as much of the world as possible.

We want them to find freedom in exploring this great world as they grow older and know that there is much more to be discovered than what you can read in a textbook.

There is no education like a hands-on education – regardless how old you are.

When we travel, we plan a lot more than our hotel stays and tours.

We plan our meals – in detail.
Not only for budget purposes, but mainly for health reasons.

If we don’t plan our meals, we will blow our budget, whether we are traveling or not.

We have learned that lesson the hard way.

A number of times.

Planning and packing snacks not only helps on the budget, but having healthy foods within arms reach keeps everyone fed and happy.

When kids get hungry, they tend to get fussy and have bad attitudes.

So do mommas. <—- #askmehowiknow

Here are 20 of our top gluten free snacks-on-the-go that we throw in the cooler when we hit the road::

Water. Sometimes you aren’t hungry. You just think you are hungry. Keep your body well hydrated, while on the road and off. Need to add a twist to the good ole’ H2O? Add lemon, lime or Maggie-Peyton’s fave – cucumber to your water!

Frozen grapes

Carrot sticks

Celery

Edamame

Apples and peanut butter

Sunflower seeds – our family should own stock in these!

Rice cakes. The kids are huge fans of mochi, and we recently found these mochi flavored rice cakes. Makes for a yummy sweet treat – without all of the sugar!

Oranges. (my kiddos like these sliced and frozen. that’s one of the regulars i give the boys during half-time of football games. and it’s a regular snack around here)

Chex mix – rice chex, corn chex, peanuts, M&Ms, raisins, dried cranberries (or other fruits) – use your imagination! or any small snack from your pantry. The possible recipes are endless.

Hard-boiled eggs

Yogurt

Popcorn

Tomato and cucumber salad. <— we live on this through the summer

Pizza salad – spinach, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and Catalina dressing .

Cheese sticks

Cliff bars or Lara Bars. Or if I’ve felt Martha-like, I’ll whip up some granola bars.

Tuna fish and crackers - add a spoon of mayo and relish and a dash of salt and pepper to a can of tuna <— easiest tuna fish ever!

Hummus – eat with crackers , carrots or celery

Hershey candy bars. With almonds. Because they are gluten free. And we can.

Do you travel often with your children?
What are some other snacks you take with you when on the road?

@dazeofadventure

The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image below to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network. You’ll be blessed with tips on how to handle bad days, cultivating curiosity, teaching with Legos, and much much more!

Filed Under: in the kitchen, traveling

Gluten free cosmetics

April 26, 2012 By jenn 1 Comment

I am not a Style Guru. And even further from being the Cosmetic Queen.
If I wear anything these days, it’s eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss.

And most days, I skip the eye shadow and mascara and just wear my sunglasses. (only to hide the bags under my tired eyes)

But, here is what I can tell you:: the content of gluten is not only a concern of my food, but also my cosmetics. And everyday toiletries.

As sneaky as it can be hiding in some of our favorite foods – it can be even more surprising where else in the house you may find it.

Shampoos. Lotions. Hair spray. Lip gloss. Sunscreen. Deodorant. Toothpaste. Shaving cream.

These are some of the products at the top of my gluten-free radar.

And the list goes on.

I have read that this is a controversial topic among the community. There are some who don’t believe that the brand of shampoo used can have lasting effects on one’s organs, mood swings, or infertility.

I, on the other hand, don’t want anything that may contain an ingredient that I wouldn’t ingest touching my body, much less my scalp!

Hello! I have enough problems thinking straight on a good day.

These are a few of the brands that we most commonly purchase::

Make-up:: Bare Escentuals
Lip balms:: Blistex, Burt’s Bees
Toothpaste/mouthwash:: Crest
Sunscreen:: Coppertone
Shampoo:: V05, Neutrogena, Burt’s Bees, Savonnerie
Soap:: Dove, Dr. Bronner’s
Shaving cream:: Colgate White Non-Mentholated

This list is by no means meant to be exhaustive. It is to offer you a few safe options for (what we believe to be) great products that are celiac-safe.

I can not express enough:: read every label.

For a list of ingredients to avoid, I have a free download for you.

click here to download hidden sources of wheat & gluten

Again, my disclaimer >> I am not a doctor.

@dazeofadventure

**As of today, the FDA is not required to provide gluten free labeling on cosmetics. To write a letter expressing your concern of this matter, contact them at the address below::

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Outreach and Information Center
5100 Paint Branch Parkway HFS-555
College Park, MD 20740-3835

Filed Under: homeschooling

Gluten free pasta

April 25, 2012 By jenn 2 Comments

Other than cakes and cookies, I thought spaghetti would be the one dish I would miss most when I went gluten free.

Nan used to make killer spaghetti. I was spoiled.
Nicholas would eat plates upon plates of her spaghetti.

I encountered many user-errors in our early days of cooking gluten free pasta.

My spaghetti was either crunchy or gummy.

Yeah. It tasted worse than it sounds.

Trust me.

Here are tips {I learned the hard way} for cooking gluten free pasta::

Add a dash of oil to the boiling water. It will coat the noodles and ensure they don’t stick together.
Read the directions. Sounds simple, right?? Every brand is different. No two brands’ cooking directions are exactly alike.
Do not cook too much. Gluten free pasta is not freeze-friendly. Trust me.
Don’t over cook the gluten free pasta. It will turn mushy and fall apart. Wanna guess how I know??
Drain the pasta immediately and rinse in cold water. (Bryan taught me this trick) Seriously. Makes all the difference in the world!

**********

Here is my all-time fave recipe for gluten free lasagna::
(I altered it from Pioneer Woman’s recipe)

1lg onion, diced
1C diced bell peppers (we used a variety)
16oz fresh mushrooms, diced (this makes the dish!)
10oz gluten free lasagna noodles (we used De Boles )
4 zucchini squash, diced
1 can whole tomatoes
1tsp red pepper flakes
1/2C white wine
2 eggs
4C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2C parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
salt and pepper to taste