I decided it was time for another ‘lesson’ in our Country Day Home school.  Seeing as it is fall in Michigan, I would be a fool to pass up all of the autumn-related activities around. Actually, it’s probably stuff we would do anyway, but I’m going to hunt around for a few coloring pages and call it a lesson plan   

This weekend we hit my favorite orchard, Schwallier’s.  It’s always a little bittersweet for me because it reminds me of the good old days when 3inunder3 lived here.  This is a kind of mid-sized orchard as far as activities go.  It’s not overwhelming, but there is a corn silo sand box (except it’s dried corn), a big slide, animals to pet and feed, a fake cow to milk and the Cow Train. 

That’s the best.  It’s made of old barrels flipped on their sides with wheels added and the top cut out.  It’s then painted to look like a cow.  There is a seat in each ‘car’ and they’re chained together, then pulled by a little tractor.  The farm dog runs along side on every trip, and the kids came back screaming with laughter.  I bought them each a ticket ($2), but will pass along the info I myself got too late that if your kids share a cow, they only need one ticket for both of them.  

Tonight we took the apples from our orchard outing and made an apple pie.  I don’t do pie crusts, so I just sliced the apples, let the kids add the rest of the ingredients (I consulted Betty Crocker), rolled out the freshly thawed crust, and let them dump it all together.  I just took the pie out of the oven and it smells wonderful. The kids went to bed before it was done baking, so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how it tastes. 

I think I did something kind of stupid though.  I love to cook, and I try and teach my kids cooking terms.  A.P. asked me why the apples were getting soft when we let them sit with the other ingredients, and I told him they were macerating.  Have you ever heard a 5 year old with a speech dis fluency say ‘macerating’?  I am just waiting for a call from his teacher on that one.

I realized that my lesson plans had left out dramatic play.  At this point it is probably painfully obvious that I have never even stumbled into an education class in my life. Good thing I don’t home-school for real.  Fortunately, my kids saved the day with this one.  They put on a play in the bathtub (after all that messy maceration).  They used washcloths which the kids can slip their hands into that look like a dog and a bunny that  Grandma Nonnie gave them for Christmas last year.  This is the first time they have become puppets.

I had to shut my eyes while they ‘got ready’; which involved pulling the shower curtain shut and crouching down below the edge of the tub.  I took my front row seat and watched a brilliant play in which the puppets ‘Lover’ (the bunny) and ‘Lover Bunny’ (the dog) went to an orchard and picked apples.  It turns out that Lover and Lover Bunny were husband and wife.  Then the husband died, so the wife found another husband.  Then they all died.  Then they lived happily ever after. The puppeteers then engaged in a very long ‘bowing’ ceremony which took longer than the actual play.  

This lesson plan continues, so stay tuned for a few more activities we have lined up for the next week (or so) here at Country Day Homeschool!