Shoo Fly Shoo!

Have you ever had shoo fly pie? We hadn't, but it is a popular Pennsylvania Dutch recipe so I figured we should try it while we are studying Pennsylvania. C and R helped me make the pie using this recipe. Before you comment about the recipe, I realize that it is a tiny bit different from the traditional recipe. The traditional recipe includes shortening (I don't typically buy or use shortening so I purposely searched for a recipe that left it out) and was a bit more complicated than I had patience for, so I was happy to find a simpler version. The pie was a bit too sweet for me, but I'm glad I tried it.

Supposedly, the pie earned it's name because the aroma of the molasses as the pie cooled on the window sill would draw flies to the sweetness. Shoo fly!

After placing the pie in the oven, we read Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth. This book is an alphabet book about a fly that drives a family crazy by buzzing and landing on anything and everything in the house. That annoying fly lands on objects in alphabetical order starting with apple pie. On every other page, the text reads, "Shoo fly! Shoo fly! Shooo."

C and R drew their own flies on paper and then tried to make them shoo with a spray bottle splatter painting activity. I put washable paint and water in each of the spray bottles, and they sprayed the flies. This was a risky activity to do in the kitchen but we have had so much rain lately that I finally just gave in. I figured the washable paint mixed with water couldn't make too much of a mess. They did spray each other a few times, but they had fun and cleaned up quickly.

Eating the Liberty Bell

I'm not sure if you can tell, but we used toothpicks to make a crack in our Liberty Bell cookies. They were delicious.

Philly Food

We ate some good food in Philly, but I cannot resist telling you about our favorite restaurant experience. El Vez is a Mexican restaurant on 13th & Sansom Street. The atmosphere was nice, the bathrooms were clean and decorated in a funky fashion, and the service was excellent. But, I would not be mentioning this restaurant at all if the food wasn't so incredibly delicious that I would jump back on an airplane just to eat there again! Everything we ordered was superb - fresh and delicious. The guacamole was the best I have ever had! If you find yourself in Philadelphia, go to El Vez; you won't regret it. I almost forgot to mention that there is a great gelato place across the street, so save room for dessert!

An Amish Year

I think this book is interesting and beautifully illustrated. C and R are a bit young for the book so I summarized each page and just gave them the details they would understand and appreciate. I want them to have some knowledge of the Amish since we are learning about Pennsylvania. It was difficult for them to understand why the Amish do not have electricity, say the pledge of allegiance, or drive cars but they both asked if they could be Amish.

I often modify books for C and R, and I think it works. There are so many great books that they can learn from, even if they don't have the attention span for every word.

While we were reading this book C was particularly interested in the fact that the Amish people dress alike because they do not believe anyone should feel superior with nicer clothing. He then explained to me that he remembered that the bible says all people are equal. C is listening, comprehending, and analyzing and he isn't even five yet.

Tot school - Philly style

My husband is amazing. We have been studying the state of Pennsylvania as part of our fifty states project, and so my husband said, "Let's celebrate Independence Day in Philadelphia!" How great is that? I can't wait to study Hawaii in the middle of the winter (ha ha)!

So, some of our Tot School happened in Philadelphia. Before our trip, however, we made our own Liberty Bell.
We also made Liberty Bell sugar cookies and read a little about the Liberty Bell, William Penn, Betsy Ross, and Ben Franklin. R can now find Pennsylvania on a map of the United States too.

Here are some of our photos from Philadelphia:

R loved the colonial dresses.
C, T, and R in front of Independence Hall.
We especially enjoyed our horse and buggy educational tour of the city. (That's Grandma with us, and we loved sharing this trip with her. It's a great photo of her so I hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing it with the world.)

The Philadelphia 4th of July parade.
Look at those soldiers!

Here we are in front of the real Liberty Bell.

Philadelphia fireworks. We also got to listen to a free concert by The Roots and Sheryl Crow.
We loved Philadelphia, and we are so blessed to be able to travel to different states as part of our fifty states project!
Be sure to head on over to 1+1+1=1 to read about what other tot schoolers are doing.

Banana Split

Did you know that the banana split was invented in Pennsylvania? That's how we learn geography around here, with yummy, unforgettable treats.

The Liberty Bell

We are learning about Pennsylvania, so of course we spent some time talking about The Liberty Bell and the meaning of the word "liberty". This craft required a lot of help from me, but C and R enjoyed wrapping paper cups in foil and using black marker to draw a crack on the "bell". You can find the complete directions to make your own Liberty Bell here.

Comparing and contrasting American flags

Legend has it that Betsy Ross was secretly commissioned to create the first American flag in Pennsylvania. The first flag had thirteen stripes (seven red and six white) and thirteen stars in a field of blue.

C and R counted out seven red stripes and six white stripes andthen counted them all together to discover that 7+6=13. They counted the stripes on both flags (the Betsy Ross flag and the current American flag) and discovered that they have the same pattern of stripes.

We then counted thirteen white stars and placed them in a circle on a blue piece of paper. C and R quickly pointed out that the flags were different because our current flag has stars in rows while the Betsy Ross flag had a circle of stars. After thinking for a minute, C recognized that the stars are white on a blue background on both flags, and all of the stars have five points.

So, learning about Pennsylvania has also provided us with a great opportunity to learn about our flag with a bonus mathematics lesson.

Q is for Quakers and quilts

The fifty states project has landed us in the state of Pennsylvania to learn about the birth of our country in this week leading up to Independence Day. After finding the state on our maps and placing our Pennsylvania quarter in our collector map, we talked briefly about William Penn and that "Pennsylvania" translates to "Penn's woods". William Penn was a Quaker and Quakers made beautiful quilts so C and R designed their own quilts. C used stencils to create his design while R made a patchwork quilt featuring the letter "Q".