Literary Mom Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 ...So we've spent the past few months going through Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (Apologia Young Explorers) and we're just wrapping up the last chapter on chemistry, but I don't feel ready to be done with it (also because we're nowhere near through the periodic table, though they've memorized it thanks to a 1000 piece puzzle of it they recently finished). At the same time, my grandiose plan to spend 1-2 hours a week on "life skills" hasn't panned out, so as I took delight in tasting the butter we made today (chemistry experiment), the idea popped into my head that maybe instead of going forward with physics (which we could save for next year), we ought to spend the rest of the year on chemistry, but make a hybrid of life skills by centering it on cooking and cleaning. We tend to be more bookish around here and neglect those practical, hands-on tasks, so I'm thinking this could be a means toward balance. My "curriculum" so far (for my kids ages 8, 10, 12), but I'd love to get other suggestions: Home Skills for Girls Home Skills for Boys Science Experiments You Can Eat Basher's Periodic Table The Elements (Visual Guide) This is intriguing but I'm not sure if the science is up to date and we don't want to use harsh chemicals. Anyone done anything like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Literary Mom Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Forgot to say my kids have been loving Masterchef Junior, so that's part of the inspiration. They are quite picky and don't know how to cook anything really, despite my husband and I being total foodies from ethnic cooking families (Filipino and Russian-Jewish mothers!). We have a really tiny kitchen (smallest room in the house besides laundry room/bathrooms) and I'm not a good multi-tasker, so mealtimes don't tend to be an ideal time for cooking instruction. I have no excuses about the cleaning (they do chores, but not actual scrubbing/cleaning type chores) - that and exercise are my least favorite activities :001_rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Look through the OCW kitchen chemistry for things you can adapt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Look through the OCW kitchen chemistry for things you can adapt. I am so excited about this!!!! We were planning to do Mr Q Advanced Chemistry, and this is the perfect match-up!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Literary Mom Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Funny, I was just browsing OCW and requested the textbook from the library, as well as another called What Einstein Told His Cook. I can tell, though, that I'm already veering over into overcomplicating things, so I will probably just read parts of those books for ideas, and stick mainly to the raw materials I already have (pun intended)...unless I can find an actual curriculum like "teaching chemistry through cooking (and cleaning) to elementary aged kids" but no such luck yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Literary Mom Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 I viewed the first assignment from OCW and was surprised at the spelling errors! Avocado. There, my eyes feel much better now ;) Editing to put guacamole on my quesadilla. Really, all those were misspelled. It gave me quite a fright :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Literary Mom Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Found Cooking and Science for Elementary Students, so I may order that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Found Cooking and Science for Elementary Students, so I may order that as well. I'm interested in this thread. I was wondering if you have read any reviews on this book? Can you please post if you find anything else interesting? I clicked on the link and it looks like other books were pulled up from the RR site so that's a good start. :) Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but have you heard of Ellen McHenry's The Elements or Carbon Chemistry? I was reading this post: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/138599-can-someone-compare-rso-chemistry-and-mchenrys-elements-for-me/ and the second to last post made me think of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 All the experiments in Mr Q advanced chem are cooking and baking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I think these Jon Eben Field books might be the ones I used, a couple years back, but I'm not sure. http://www.amazon.com/Jon-Eben-Field/e/B004APGCGW/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.