Practical Life & Culture: Kids Cooking Dumplings

Today we'll be attending the Peking Acrobats show! It is an amazing show with live music, acrobats and performers. The acrobats are fantastic and the color and use of Chinese cultural symbols such as the dragon are real treat for the children to see.

A while back my friend Josephine, who is a Catholic convert from China, invited me over tea and steamed dumplings. She taught me how to make the dumplings and since then it has become a favorite dish in our home! The kids thought it would be great to learn how to make the steamed dumplings themselves and brought up the fact that it would be perfect since we had been studying 3 part cards of Asian food and would be attending the Peking Acrobats show soon. Sure enough, it turned out to be a great dish for them to cook, along with instant white rice and stir fry consisting of mainly broccoli slaw, carrots and noodles. Check out the photos below!

Won ton Wraps

Mixing the ground pork and scallions

Seasoning the mixture with salt and pepper

Placing the filling on the won ton wraps

Folding the wraps to form the dumplings

Here's the wrapped dumpling!



My 7 year old perched on a chair stirring the stir fry.

The dumplings all steamed and ready to eat!

One happy 8 year old cook ready to eat!

I love sharing these photos of my children cooking, and hope they inspire you to help your children explore the art and joy of cooking too! Have blog pictures of your children cooking in the kitchen? I'd love to see them! Feel free to share the link to your blog post in the comments section below.

Superwoman Was Already Here

Montessori dad Daniel Petter-Lipstein, writes an insightful article on why he loves Montessori:
Superwoman Was Already Here

Welcome Catholic Child Catalog!

I am happy to announce a new sponsor at Montessori Candy! Catholic Child Catalog is celebrating their 15th year in business, providing quality books, cd's, movies and toys for children, with the convenience of one stop shopping! As we've seen with many great companies, Catholic Child Catalog also has connections in Montessori! Leanne's children have grown up attending Montessori school, so she is a seasoned Montessori parent who is very aware of the importance of providing children with well thought out and beautiful items.

One of the things I love about the website is how everything is categorized. With categories like Celebrating the Sacraments, Heroes with Halos, and Glad Tidings: Christmas and Easter, it is super easy to find what you are looking for.

First Holy Communion season is coming up! My 7 year old son will be making his First Holy Communion this May (God willing he passes his tests!), so I thought I'd share just a few of my favorite Catholic Child Catalog resources we use for preparation:

Living the 10 Commandments for Children

This very helpful book explains and gives examples on how to live out the 10 commandments

The King of the Golden City Audio CD

Absolutely beautiful allegory for children to learn about having a personal relationship with Jesus. This cd has brought tears to my eyes by making me reflect on my on relationship with Christ. This story is truly a gem to be enjoyed by the whole family.

Little Acts of Grace

Sweet little book encouraging children to do small things that are pleasing to God in a big way!

The Weight of a Mass: A Tale of Faith

This wonderful book is another allegory with beautiful illustrations that my children love to inspect closely. Each time we read it there is an "aha!" moment where the children understand more and more of the allegory. I just love it!

Glory Stories: Blessed Imelda Lambertini

Beautiful audio story about the patron Saint of First Communicants! This one will also bring a tear to your eye with the story of a young girls faith of love for Jesus.

There are so many wonderful items that Catholic Child Catalog carries, I could be here all day! I am so happy to recommend them to you. Check them out and discover a treasure for the child in your life!

Free Montessori Candy Planning Template!

Copyright Susana L. Click on picture to view larger.

Sometimes I come across a book I think will be great for the upcoming season, theme, etc. As a Montessori inspired homeschooler, I love to display books that have to do with the various themes and topics the children are working with. I created this template to use for my library book/media planning purposes.You can see how I use it in the example above, and I've also gone ahead and made a FREE one for you to print out and use too! The categories I list are:

Seasonal

For Fun

Math
Language

Religion
History

Geography (can include both cultural and physical)

Botany

Zoology

Science
Art
Music

What's great about this template is that you can use it for planning no matter what style of schooling or child care you use! Montessori, Charlotte Mason, preschool, daycare, etc. You can even print one out to plan for each grade if you like! Another thing you can include on this template is pdf's you'd like to purchase for your upcoming topics like this one from Montessori Print Shop:  Easter Cards and Booklet

I hope using this sheet will help you in your planning endeavors. Please feel free to print it out for your personal use only, and be sure to let your friends know about it as well!

Montessori Candy Planning Template

Did you enjoy this post? Are you using my free template to plan what books you check out? I love to hear from you, so be sure to leave a comment and let me know you've stopped by!

You can now follow me using Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Facebook, or by the various subscription options in the right hand sidebar.

NAMC Friendship Flower Freebie!

Copyright NAMC 3-6 Homeschool Program

NAMC (North American Montessori Center), is offering a wonderful cross curricular, character development activity as a FREE download! Check it out here: Friendship Flower Activity

Looking for the winners of the My Works Montessori giveaway? Find them HERE

My Works Montessori Giveaway Winners Announced!

Today, I am happy to announce the winners of the My Works Montessori Giveaway! Random.org has chosen... Drum roll please:
1. Kelly
2. M.D. Blessing
3. Leisure Treasure
4. dijlovers

Winners must contact me within 48 hours at montessoricandy at gmail.com to claim their FREE 1 month membership to My Works Montessori, otherwise another winner will be selected via Random.org

Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to everyone for entering. I hope to be hosting another awesome giveaway soon, so stay tuned!