Our first two weeks have been slow and getting used to our new routine for the year. With a new 2nd grader, 5th grader, and an almost 2 year old, it's been quite a challenge, but one we met with excitement and wonder. Summer was filled with a couple weeks of boredom as all the activities had calmed down for us.
The weather in Alabama during early August is quite hot, more like scorching hot with all that humidity mixed in, and we do not enjoy outside unless we are in a pool or at the beach!
But we started our first enrichment for 2nd grade (which you can learn more about here) with an apple study and the Johnny Appleseed book. You can purchase the book on any Amazon or Thriftbooks online store or at Memoria Press.
While there are so many beautiful downloads and unit studies on apples, not to mention wonderful books, I decided to just work with what we had and add a little of my creativity to our study which I'd like to share with you all. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen our busy day making apple pies, apple flowers, and a felt apple. If you are wanting to try a pie like we did, here is the recipe! It was easy and turned out really delicious.
Pie Crust:
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
2/3 cup Butter
1/3 cup ice cold water
Filling:
6 -8 red apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I added a lot more than this because we
love cinnamon!)
1/2 cup sugar
How To Make an Easy Apple Pie
Measure all your ingredients and have all of them on the table including your baking supplies. This makes it easy for your children to jump in and help and keep chaos at a minimum. I mixed the flour and the salt together in a bowl, the cinnamon and sugar in another small bowl, and the apples in a basket. I had the pie dish and the cold water and the rolling pin out with the butter as well. This prep makes it possible for a successful pie baking with little ones at your feet, as you can see, little hands coming here and there for a few bites and be curious :)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the 2 cups flour and 1 Teaspoon salt in a bowl.
Using a grater, grate the cold butter into small pieces and mix it into the flour as much as you can.
Sprinkle the ice cold water 3/4 cups of it into the flour and mix with hands until you can form a ball with it. I would add more water if it feels too dry, but in little increments.
Sprinkle some flour on your table, or wooden tray, and set the ball down. Cut this ball in half.
Roll out 1/2 of the ball until it spreads thin to about 12 inches across, and 1/8 inch thick (or thinner if you need it to spread out more. This one will be on the bottom so if you're not able to get it perfect, I wouldn't stress about it)
Gently place it in your pie dish.
Roll the other 1/2 ball out the same way and put a towel over it. You will use it to cover the pie once the filling is done.
Make the filling anytime while someone is rolling out the dough. Peel, core, and chop the apples.
Put the slices in the pie dish and sprinkle one layer with the cinnamon and sugar mix. Add another layer of apple slices and sprinkle generously another cinnamon and sugar mix. Continue this way until all the apple slices are in the pie dish.
Cover the pie with the dough under the towel, pinch the dough together with the bottom one and cut off remaining dough.
Make patterns and designs but make sure there are a few holes so the steam can escape.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. Serve and eat warm!
The next day I decided to make some felt apple flowers because the 2nd Grade Enrichment book asked for the student to identify the flowers. This was a lot of fun for me. The dishes and chores definitely waited on me while I spent time on this. It was one of those projects that fill your cup.
I'm working on the template for the flowers and will add it to this blog post once it's finished. Make sure you're subscribed to my blog so that you can be updated of it!
To make the flower an apple, I used this amazing felt package from Amazon that had the right kinds of colors I was looking for. You obviously do not have to buy this specific one, but I found that this felt also did well in friction! It gave a feathered look I was going for when making the pollen.
Here are a few step by step pictures I made of the blossom. You can make it all white petals or all pink,
or mix them!
Can you identify the:
1. Sepals
2. Ovary
3. Stem
4. Petals
5. Stamen
6. Pistils
7. Pollen
And here is my apple I made that the children will enjoy making. I will once again, let you know when
I've updated the templates for them.
Well, that is all I had energy and time for. To visit an orchard near us would be a 3 hour drive. Apples cannot really grow well where there are no winters. They need frigid cold to make delicious apples believe it or not, so we won't be visiting one soon. Hopefully you may be able to, but if you can't, you can always make a pie and some felt apples and blossoms!
Thank you for reading this far and following me here on this journey! I hope you will find these posts helpful and encouraging. Homeschooling takes a lot of work and sacrifice. If you would like a download of ways to homeschool successfully in your home, you can subscribe to our blog and receive it for free!
This was a great way to start fall! Now to prepare for Latin and Math, the most grueling subjects this year for my 5th grader!
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