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How to Make Celtic Cakes -Recipe for Hands-on History

May 21, 2013 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Your kids will love making this Celtic cakes recipe.

Celtic Cakes Recipe

I finally started doing some spring cleaning around the house. I seem to have a longer list this year so I have a hodgepodge of things going on around here.

So we will be taking our time studying the Ancient Civilization Unit because we have been doing spring cleaning and have been spending time outside.

There are so many ancient civilizations to focus on but in going over this with Tiny and Mr. Awesome again, we have been focusing on Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Greece so far.

Even though we have covered this before, the older the kids get the more they appreciate about each civilization.

Also we didn’t really talk too much about the Celts when they were younger other than to appreciate their illuminated manuscripts because there is a lot of paganism associated with the culture.

To be completely objective though, the more in depth you study any civilization you realize that a lot of them have some pagan roots associated somewhere.

Don’t forget to check out Home School In the Woods for hands-on project.

You have to sort through and pick the things like art or influences on our language that made changes, good or otherwise and discard the other things about their culture that focused on pagan things.

We decided to make something in the kitchen this time to start off our study.

The boys looked up some recipes of what they wanted to make or should I say something they thought would taste good.

I love the way they sneak in baking something good to eat and call it history.

I could tell when Mr. Awesome showed me the recipe on Celtic cakes that it might taste a little flat and uninspiring but he was insistent on making them because he loves oatmeal cookies.

I think he thought he was making something similar. We have much drama in our house when the boys cook. Every step in the process has to be “attacked”.

Download recipe card here.

The Celtic cakes were much more like a flat bread that is well, flat.

The boys put some sugar and cinnamon in them too. A little sugar never hurts and after they were baked, they ate them with honey. T

he Celts believed in staying fit; if they ate this, they would.

The Celt influenced European art and history even though they are probably less talked about in ancient civilizations.

We like to read/talk about some civilizations that are not so well known. At the height of their civilization they stretched from the Atlantic to Asia Minor, from northern Europe to the Mediterranean Coast.

The Celts were a collection of tribes instead of just one group. The World Book says: The Celts expressed their artistic genius in such arts and crafts as metal work, sculpture, and ceramic pottery. Celtic artists excelled in decorating objects. They used beautiful combinations of curved lines and spirals that were based on natural forms such as plants, animals and birds. Irish monks used these patterns to illuminate (decorate) manuscripts.

I think what we found fascinating in reading about them was that not only did they have an imposing physique because of what they ate but they would mix chalk and water and add to their hair to make them ferocious looking. It was like plaster-cast hair.

Here is a statute of a dying Gaul where the warrior’s hair was replicated to look like that.

Interesting enough Hannibal enlisted their help because their appearance with long mustache and spiked hair struck fear into their enemies. I think we may have to include a minibook about them in our unit.

Today though I have included our minibook on Ancient Mesopotamia. I want to round out our study a little more about that area.

Download Mesopotamia minibook here.

You know how my brain works. I tend to think in terms of “projects” when we do our unit studies.

So I think instead of throwing the lapbook to you all at one time, I will back up and share a minibook or two as we do them or study about them. That way it gives you a chance to work on it if you are doing this unit too.

I know I feel comfortable doing a jillion things at once but I know that can get crazy overwhelming if you are trying to follow along as I do them.

Plus the fact that I just love sharing with you, slowing down the pace a bit allows time for studying this topic over a longer time. There is so much to cover about ancient civilizations.

. Be sure to download the Celtic Cakes Recipe and new minibook on Ancient Mesopotamia as we move along through spring in our study of Ancient Civilizations.

Are you working on some fun hands-on history projects?

Also, read some more fun hands-on history below:

Hugs and you know I love ya,

5 Days of Tina’s 7 Step DIY Curriculum Planner: Day 2 Academic School Year Pretty Calendars

May 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The real reason I didn’t want the academic school calendars on the front of the curriculum planner anymore is because now I can add lots more color and different designs since they are a separate page. Mix and match is so much more prettier and unique. Today, I have 3 academic school calendar pages. Too when these pages are not laminated but put close to the front of your planner like right behind the cover, it allows you to circle holidays you want to observe and important days to your family.

These are school calendars only not the school planning calendar pages. There is a big difference. The pages today are for reference and noting important dates. The pages coming tomorrow are for actual school planning.

Remember too my pages are made for year around homeschooling. My pages start with July and end with June. Even if you don’t start school until August or September and end in May that is fine. This is the one you will use. Keeping the form from July to June allows greater flexibility if you decide to start later and end early or vice versa. Here are 3 color choices for the Academic Year School Calendar.

Download Green Chevron Luv Here.

Download Lemon Luv Here.

Download Red/Orange Luv here.

Here {excuse the font on my website-I am updating and my site goes a bit bonkers as I clean it up} is the calendar page if you want to grab the two page spread appointment keeper and a black/white page of a 2014 or 2015 calendar to use for long range planning purposes. The 2 page spread appointment keeper is toward the front with all of my pages under a tab Calendar. This way, my planning, my calendar for the school year and appointments are all kept together. Any black and white pages for long range planning or calendars for reference I put toward the back of my planner. That is just my preference because I tend to plan for next year at the end of the present year. So that is my planning preference. You may want all those types of pages up close to the front of your planner. You decide.

Tomorrow, I updated the Year Around Planning School Calendars and have those coming! Isn’t this fun? Hitting you with all the forms at one time instead of spreading it out all summer. Plus you never know when I get my wild hair day and have another form I need. It allows me all summer to simmer on it.

Hugs and love, simmering

If you missed Day 1: Free Covers of 5 Days of Tina’s 7 Step DIY Curriculum Planner - Click below

If you want to get started now on your curriculum planner for next year, click below to go the main website page.

How Not to Read my blog

May 21, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Blame Kelley for this post. Or, okay, maybe thank her for this. She thinks sharing with you how I organize and cope with the gazillion posts/emails I get each day may help some of you receive more benefit from the blogosphere. I agree. Also because my blog pace may not be so unhurried from now on because of all I will be sharing, I wanted to pass on a few tips on how to organize and still read all of your favorite blogs without looking for the unsubscribe button.

Before I share a few tips there are some things that are important for readers to understand when they join a blog.

- Understand that bloggers come in a variety of personalities AND this affects the layout of their blogs. From how they deliver their content to you, to when they do it, to what they blog about gives you a clear picture of their personality. You may say this is a given, but I promise I will give you an example real soon, but you’d be surprised at the people that don’t get this.
- Personality, experience and background affects the blogger when they speak whether it is in generalities or whether it is very detailed and specific. One guess where I am on this sliding scale? Obviously the longer that a blogger has been doing something and the more experience they have gives them a treasure trove of tidbits to draw from.
- Some bloggers only worry about numbers — that is the unsubscribe and new follower numbers. Those type of bloggers never make blogging a passionate hobby but only a business. They do not inspire a reader because their time is focused on pleasing folks instead of persuading them. Forget the numbers and foster a relationship with the reader is my mantra.

- Maintain a separate email JUST for blog posts. I have an email account that is just for reading blog posts and yep I love it. It is an account that nobody has the email to and is used to receive only blog posts. Some readers unsubscribe from a blog claiming “too many updates”, but are they really? Or are they just filling up your personal or main inbox to the point that you can’t enjoy them? Besides your main inbox not being cluttered up, you can read on your own timetable AND read them all in one setting. It is so nifty to look at a whole page or 20 blog posts at one time for the day and read the ones that interest me. With the abundance of phones, tablets and iPads, having a free email account which is just for blogs makes it very enjoyable for me to check when I am in the mood.
- Subject lines matter to me a LOT. Not all bloggers feel this way but you should help them along if their subject lines are not specific because it can waste your valuable time. Give them feedback, help them grow and improve as a blogger. I know I value your comments and always welcome them. To show you how much I do not want to waste your time, I use Feed Blitz email dispersal, which is not free, because I want you to get blog posts with a SPECIFIC subject in each blog post. When I see blog posts that say “Here is what So and So had to say today” I cringe because I am forced to open it up before I know what it contains. Having the option to delete the blog post or browse until you find one that interests you is a huge time saving tip. So read my subject lines as I take much care to be sure you know exactly what I have for you each day. This is the example of what I was talking about when I say “personality comes into layout”.
- Where is the fire? Take your time reading. If you have a separate email account, then there is no rush to reading your blog emails for the day and it’s a breeze to look at all of them at one time. Look to see if there are any time sensitive posts like a giveaway and read those first, otherwise read on your time table.
- Understand the blogging cycle. Not all bloggers give specifics on what they blog about, but I do. If a blog failed to give you specifics, the very name of the blog should give you a hint of what is the mainstay or common weave of blogging topics. Not all bloggers have a variety of topics to blog about either, but if they do, most of them follow a sort of cycle. For example: Look at my blogging description: Dynamic 2 Moms Homeschooling Adventures: Our blogging pace is unhurried as we share our free printables first on our blog. Unit studies, lapbooks, notebooking pages, Free 7 Step Curriculum Planner, Free Student Planners, Free Home Management Binder, organizing tips for homeschool, homeschool curriculum review and some education for the educator are all things we like to share. Because I homeschool, mothering and homeschool always comes first above my love for curriculum, home management binders, curriculum planners and anything else I blog about. I feel that my topics are like a blogging cycle and I address each one as I plod along. When I read an email that says “content no longer” it only tells me that the person did not read carefully what I blog about. That is all, it is not a personal affront and my life is blessed by each person that comes here.
- Personalities Differ. One night, I had a nightmare thinking I blogged about how my toddler {when I had one} did poo for the day and all were to hail him and rejoice. Thankfully I have never done that and feel over sharing about personal things makes for drudgery. Who cares about my toddler’s potty habits besides me and his dad? Okay– maybe grandma. However, when I do talk about topics I am talkative passionate and tend to be the “detailed and like to give a lot of information” person. At times I prefer to send one or more posts at one time instead of each day. Overwhelmed people may think they need to scroll and read all the posts in that long rolling scroll. They do not. Again, bloggers do this so that you have choices. If you are interested, read them all, if not, use the subject line and delete that post. Like I explained above, give yourself time to go through a cycle on a blog by doing your part as a reader by organizing all the content you get.

Every blogger has a style whether it’s general and all over the place or being finely tuned to details. I appreciate both kinds of personalities as the blogosphere needs all of them to round us out. Appreciating that helps to make a better fit for you.

Take your time poring over all the blogs you enjoy, organize them and read them when it’s good for you. Reading your favorite blogs will be something you eagerly look forward to each day.

Hugs and love ya,

Free Homeschool Editable Progress Report Card for Teen

May 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have an editable progress report card for a teen. Also look at my page Homeschool Planner and my 7 Step Curriculum Planner for more homeschool planning forms.

I had planned to share all my graduation ideas with you by now too. But, I cave, I am totally a sobbing wimp. I have embraced the full meaning of homeschooling with heart.

Free Homeschool Editable Progress Report Card for Teen

You just can’t homeschool and teach your son from his first tiny baby step, to his first hold of a pencil, to his first feel of a car steering wheel and come away unscathed.

I need to look at all of this project graduation objectively instead of how I feel now.

Too, you know how up/down this past year was with the hubby.

So I savor every precious moment of life and I get spikes and shots of overflowing feelings when I get ready to write.

Stay tuned as I know I will eventually share but I keep myself reined in about project graduation lest I sound like I have totally lost it and possible unsound words make their indelible marks on the world wide web.

Enough of that. So what does this have to do with what I am sharing today?

Well I did want to share this picture with though it’s a tad bit out of focus. Tiny was on the other end but I do kid friendly pictures.

But, this was the day Mr. Senior 2013 finally got his driver’s license. What a patient kid when all of that stuff hit us while I was in the middle of teaching him to drive.

After that jubilant day, the fun day came for insurance.

The insurance company gives a discount for good grades in school and needed a current progress report.

Oh yippee, I needed another form and figured you would need one like this too sometime or the other.

Since I need something a little more official looking than the pretty progress report (Option 16)

I already have on the site which is basically used to satisfy reporting for those that live in countries/states like this, I put this report together. It really acts as our final report card too.

The sample above is what eventually will go on the site. I left what I could on it from when I used it last year and added a few notes to explain how it is set up.

It is editable and I am in love with it. It worked just perfectly when I sent it to our insurance guy.

The only parts not editable are the comments and the signature which are normally done hand written.

Now that I have confessed all about Mr. Senior 2013, if you have a senior this year give him or her a hug today. You he or she needs it.

Still in the homeschooling trenches with you as I have two more sweet sons to go.