Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Author: Audrea

RamblingsResources

Closed Syllables

By AudreaLeave a comment

You know there’s a commercial I’ve seen many times and one of the tag lines is “….a little pill with a big story to tell…”  Closed syllables are rather like that.  They are almost the smallest words we have in our language.  Open syllables can actually be shorter, using a single letter.  But, closed syllables, which can be as short as two letters form over 50% of the words in our language.  If these syllables make up over half of our language, they are worth knowing and knowing well!

Let’s start with what a syllable is in general.  Simply put, and the definition I teach all of my students in my phonics catechism, “A syllable is a word or a part of a word with one sounded vowel.”  I teach that there are six main kinds of syllables.  Those are closed syllables, open syllables, silent e syllables, vowel team syllables, r-controlled syllables and final stable syllables.  Closed syllables are the first kind of syllable I teach students to read because they are the most common and they use short vowel sounds which are the common sound, the sound a letter makes most often, I teach for vowels.

So, then what is a closed syllable?  The definition I teach for closed syllables is “A closed syllable has one vowel, ends in a consonant and the vowel is short.”  This includes simple words like at and it.  So you can see that students can also start reading these syllables as soon as they are fluent in two letter sounds.  Starting students reading quickly AS they are learning sounds helps them to stay engaged in the learning process as they are actually practicing the skill that is the purpose of learning letter names and sounds in the first place.  Children love the feelings of pride they experience as they are able to piece together these bits of knowledge to make words to read on their own!  This feeling of pride and wonder of discovery helps to keep them engaged and moving forward in their acquisition of fluency with letter names and sounds.  Learning closed syllables and the rule(s) that govern them, as well as learning open syllables and the other types later on, keeps readers from having to try out and guess at which vowel sound to use when sounding out a word.  They learn to recognize that if a word ends in a consonant and has one vowel that they should read that vowel with its short sound.

One reason that closed syllables make up so much of our language is that although they are as simple as two letter words like an and am, but are also words like champ and strand.  Any word that has one vowel and ends in a consonant is truly a closed syllable.  But those closed syllables include digraphs (two letters that come together to make one new sound; ch, sh, th, ph, wh), blends (two letters whose individual sounds can be hear in the new blended sounds; sl, tr, str, etc.), the floss rule (“When a word has one syllable a short vowel sound and ends in /f/, /l/, /s/, or /z/, double the final consonant.”), and distorted vowel sounds as in an and am, as well as the broad sound for a (“A makes its broad sound when it comes after a w or qu, before an l or at the end of a syllable.)  

Before you despair and say or feel one more time that it is hopeless to master English because it is crazy and makes no sense, take a deep breath and look back at the last few sentences.  What may seem like exceptions to the simple definition of a closed syllable are actually just examples of additional rules and facts that truly govern our language.  The English language IS complex, but it IS also governed ALMOST in its entirety by rules.  While there are many rules, according to one expert, Denise Eide, in her book, Uncovering the Logic of English, there are 31, once you learn those rules there are very few true exceptions in our language. The exceptions according to Denise Eide are fewer than 20 words.  31 rules may seem like a lot to remember, but when compared to remembering how to read and spell the thousands of words in our language, 31 quickly shrinks to a manageable number of pieces of information to learn and remember in order to master a truly wonderful, expressive, impressive language.  Learning these rules will also open up a world of possibility for you and your little learners if you are a teacher in the traditional classroom or your own classroom at home, interventionist, or just a parent with a struggling reader.

So, before you give up for yourself or a little (or not so little) learner who has been entrusted to you, take a deep breath and rest in the fact that English IS understandable.  One of the littlest and easiest parts to understand is the closed syllable.  A little group of letters, governed by one simple rule, that unlocks over half of our beautifully, complex, BUT understandable language.

Want more on how to teach about closed syllables?

Coming soon: week long lesson plan packets that include plans, activities and resources.  A fully print and teach option.
You can find additional activities on my TpT store for closed syllables from reading to spelling here, though right now. Just click, purchase, download and start teaching and learning!!

RamblingsResourcesScience of ReadingUncategorized

How to Teach Phonics Based Reading

By AudreaLeave a comment

Just a bit ago, I was asked by a parent of one of the students I tutor, who is also a teacher, how I would teach reading.  Without hesitation I replied that I would start with the Six Syllable Types.

I read recently in an article by Keep Reading and Learning that “just under 50% of English Syllables are closed”.  50%!!  ANd that is just ONE syllable type.  When you teach children to decode the six syllable types, meaning whether the vowel is long or short or makes a special sound and what those special sounds are, you give them the tools to unlock the VAST majority of the words they will EVER encounter in reading. 

Within the syllable types there are a few additional rules and sounds to teach.  And outside of the syllable types there are things like broad vowel sounds, trigraphs, diphthongs and schwa to teach.  Although, some consider the schwa to be a 7th syllable type.

But, when you teach the six syllable types you are still unlocking almost all English words and you are doing it essentially by teaching 6 rules.  Once you teach these six rules to mastery you can sprinkle in a few more rules to help them with some “exceptions”.

Denise Eide, in her book, Uncovering the Logic of English, gives 31 rules that govern and explain all but less than 20 English words.  We are often told that English is so hard to read and write because it is full of exceptions.  And there are some exceptions.  But, when you realize that there are less than 20 true exceptions to the rules that govern our language it becomes a lot more manageable and it can give struggling readers and writers hope that they too can find success and enjoyment in our language!  31 rules may seem like a lot, but when you compare that to the alternative of memorizing thousands of words, 31 becomes a much more manageable number and makes so much more sense.

So, to recap.  I would always start by teaching children the six syllable types in teaching them to read (decode) and write/spell (encode) words.  If you are asking yourself what the six syllable types are, here is a list of them.  Closed, Open, Vowel Team, Silent E, R Controlled and Final Stable or Consonant-le Syllables.  I would teach them in this order as well with the possible exception of switching Vowel Teams and Silent E.  I will give a brief description of each syllable type below.  You can also download my All About Syllables printable to give you a definition and examples at a glance.

Before we dive into each syllable type, I want to point out a few other things to keep in mind when teaching reading that may seem like things everyone knows, but are actually things that should be taught to learners prior to trying to read or spell words.  Learners should be taught foundational facts like how many letters are in the alphabet (26), what kinds of letters (consonants and vowels), which letters are which, what makes a letter a vowel, and what kinds of sounds vowels make before you even talk about syllables and words.

For a letter to be a vowel it has to follow three rules.  First, it has to have a sound that you have to open your mouth to make. Second, the sound must be able to be sung (made continually without stopping). And third, it must be able to be sung LOUDLY and quietly.  If the sound of a letter floors all three of these rules then the letter gets to be a vowel.  This is why I always call y a consonant.  Its own sound cannot be sung, so I call it a consonant that sometimes makes a vowel sound.

Having students name all of the consonants in alphabetical order and all of the vowels in the same way as well as play games like you say a letter and they tell you the letter that comes next as quickly as they can without looking if possible, help to strengthen their knowledge of the alphabet and build their phonemic awareness which if one of the National Reading Panels five pillars of reading.

Once students can identify how many letters are in the alphabet, their sounds and type, then you can move onto defining a syllable regardless of type.  I have my students work through a phonics catechism which is just a series of questions I ask and memorized answers they learn and provide.  In that catechism we learn that a syllable is “a word or a part of a word with one sounded vowel”.  Because you have to open your mouth to make a vowel sound you can place your hand under your chin.  Then count how many times your chin moves when you say the word naturally.  Your chin will move every time you make a vowel sound because you have to open your mouth and each vowel sound equals one syllable.  Accurately counting syllables will again strengthen that pillar of Phonemic Awareness.

Now that your learner knows their letter sounds and types and what a syllable is, you are ready to start teaching them and practicing with each syllable type.

I always start with closed syllables because they are the simplest, although once you add in blends and/or digraphs (two letters that come together to make a new sound; ch, sh, ph, wh and th) closed syllables can become quite complex.  You can give you emerging readers and writers practice with all of these using my Closed Syllable Picture Labeling Bundle.  Also, remember that closed syllables account for about 50% of English syllables.

Simply put, and included in my Phonics Catechism, a closed syllable has “one vowel, ends in a consonant, and the vowel is short.”  It does not matter what comes before the vowel ONLY what comes after it.  So, at is a closed syllable even though it begins with a vowel because it ends with a consonant.  So are cat, splat and splash!

The syllable type that I teach after closed is open.  These two syllables are the simplest and learning them one after the other allows early readers to master the skills needed to unlock SO MANY words as well as the biggest reasons for when to use a short and when to use a long vowel sound.

An open syllable has “one vowel, ends in a vowel and the vowel is long.  Words in this group are words like the, he, so, and go.

At this point, if you haven’t already, you should be separating your letter cards as you practice sounds into beginning sounds (letters like l, k, f and s that aren’t usually spelled by themselves as ending sounds), medial sounds (vowels), and ending sounds (letters like x, b, d, t, m, n that can be used at the end of words in by themselves) and practice blending.  Then practice moving your reader back and forth between open and closed syllables by completely removing the ending consonant stack from time to time.  This makes the syllable that is left open because it now ends in a vowel and the vowel has to be read with its long sound.

The next two syllable types are really interchangeable in my opinion.  At this point it is about whichever one will allow your reader to access the most text.  You can teach Silent E and then Vowel Teams or vice versa.

A Silent E Syllable has “two vowels, one is the e at the end that makes the other vowel long”.  These are words like slide, date, note.This one is most often taught third in schools as a lot of levelized text includes silent e words.  One activity I like to do when teaching this syllable type is to use a worksheet of words or notecards with closed syllable words like slid, cut, hat on them and then a card with an e on it and have students notice the difference in reading cut and cute, hid and hide, or rate and rate.  This helps them start to notice this pattern as they encounter it in reading.  One rule you may want to teach at this point if you haven’t already is that c says /s/ before an e, i or y.  This is necessary for learners to correctly sound out words like ice, rice, mice, etc.  

A Vowel Team Syllable has “two vowels TOGETHER; when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking and says its name”.  The letter combinations I teach as vowel teams are ai and ay, ee and ea, oa and oe.  The nice thing when helping learners spell these vowel teams is that with ai and ay as well as oa and oe is you can teach that USUALLY ai and oa are found in the initial and medial positions in words and ay and oe at the end.  For ee and ea, I tell learners that ee is used most often and that the reason for the two different spellings of this sound is for the many homophones (words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things) that have the long e in them like peak and peek, see and sea, meat and meet.  For these words I try to teach students clues that help with the spellings as they come to mind, for example you EAT mEAT, you use two eyes to sEE and pEEk, so they are spelled with two e’s.

The last two syllable types are the least seen, but still very helpful to learn about for both reading and spelling.  They are R Controlled Syllables and Final Stable Syllables (also called Consonant-le Syllables).

An R Controlled Syllable “has one vowel followed directly by an r which makes the vowel make a special sound”.  These are the combinations ar, er, ir, or and ur.  Similar to the vowel teams two of these have helpful sounds that set them apart from the others and they are ar and or.  Each of these have a unique sound that only they make.  They can each make the /er/ sound at the end of a word in an unaccented syllable, but they are the only ones that say their specific unique sound of: ar = /ar/ and or = /or/.  The tricky culprits within this syllable type are er, ir, and ur.  All three of these say /er/ and can be found in all positions of words.  Again as with the /ee/ sound, one of the reasons for the variant spellings of /er/ is for the purpose of differentiating between homophones like fur and fir as well as turn and tern.  

The last syllable type I teach is Final Stable Syllables.  A final stable syllable has “a consonant-le”.  These syllables are the only syllable type that cannot be a full word on their own.  They will always be the last syllable of a root word.  There may be a word like handling that does not actually end in the c-le, but that is just because there is a suffix added to the end of the root/main word.  Some of these syllables are fle, cle, dle, ble, gle.  These words can have a closed syllable as in the word humble or an open syllable as in able come before them.

Some curriculums also will teach the schwa as a syllable type.  I teach this more as a variant pronunciation of the vowel sounds than a separate syllable type.  One reason to teach it as a syllable type is because the schwa sound depends on the accent of the syllable containing the vowel.  So, these are the syllable types that I teach, the order I generally teach them and the main set of rules that I start with when teaching a child to read.  I hope you find this post helpful.  If you do, please share it with other parents and teachers who would enjoy and benefit from it as well.

Recipes

Easy, Simple Applesauce (Apple Butter) Recipe

By AudreaLeave a comment
It made more than this, but some went into a double batch of applesauce muffins!!

If you are like me, you are always looking for easy snacks that your children actually enjoy AND that are good for them. This recipe can help with that search! My youngest loves this recipe straight from the jar whether it is still warm from the crock pot or cold from the refrigerator. My oldest likes the muffins I make with the applesauce with the recipe that I got from Chocolate Covered Katie. I love that they are getting tons of yumminess with NO added sugar.

In addition to a snack with no added sugar you also benefit from the vitamins and minerals from the apples and spices. Apples have fiber, are sodium free, and also contain vitamin C and potassium. Cinnamon has manganese, calcium, iron and even a bit of Vitamin K. Cloves are purported to boost immunity and nutmeg can act as an anti-oxidant, boost kidney function and increase blood circulation.

This is a recipe that I made when we had been given a TON of apples and I had to find a way to use them before they went bad. It is super simple and easy. You end up with delicious spiced applesauce or apple butter depending simply on how long you let it cook. This applesauce is perfect to use in recipes like Applesauce Muffins. If you cook the apples long enough in the crockpot to cook out all the extra water then you end up with delicious apple butter which still works beautifully in applesauce muffins, but can also be used as a delicious and nutritious spread for toast and biscuits. Another idea I just got from my mom was to add it to the basket built around the Artisan Bread that I give my daughters’ teachers as their Christmas gifts. I may make up another batch just for gifting this Christmas season. You also end up with a decidedly Christmasy smell filling the house as the apples simmer in the spices!

Apple Sauce Recipe:

6 pounds Apples (I have used many different varieties)

2 tablespoons Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Cloves

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

Applesauce Directions:

  1. Quarter and core apples.
  2. Place all apple quarters in crock pot.
  3. Sprinkle seasonings over apples.
  4. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours*.
  5. Stir and mash the apples a few times as they are cooking.
  6. Spoon cooked apples into food processor.
  7. Puree apples to chop the skins finely enough to remove any lumps.
  8. Spoon into jars to can or serve.

*If you are wanting apple butter you want to cook the apples until all of the liquid is gone. It may be more like 6-8 hours for the apple butter. The processing is the same, it just produces a thicker consistency when the liquid is cooked away.

If you try this recipe be sure to comment below and tell us how it goes. If you try any substitutions, please share!

Recipes

A New DIY Hair Gel!

By AudreaLeave a comment
The girls’ hair after their first time plopping and using gelatin hair gel!!

I tried a new hair gel recently! It was SO incredibly easy to make!! I loved that fact immensely, I also loved the hold. The first gel I tried making on my own is made from flax seeds and water. I got that recipe from Mommypotumus. In her post about hair gel she gives three recipes. I tried the flax seed recipe because she said that it likely had the strongest hold. It’s super simple to mix up, but it can be a little tricky to get strained through the cheese cloth. So, one day when the girls expressed interest in plopping their hair (a simple drying technique for curly hair) and I was really low on gel and energy, I decided to try her gelatin recipe.

It was so, so much easier to make. I mean you don’t even have to heat water on the stovetop, let alone strain anything! The one caution she gives though is that eventually gelatin, although it strengthens hair can reduce your hair’s elasticity. I had noticed a HUGE increase in my hair’s elasticity since using the flax seed gel, so I figured even if this did reduce my elasticity I’d be okay for a while. I was good for a bit, but I did notice a loss of elasticity. So, I have decided to go back and forth between the two, which is what she suggests in her post on the three recipes.

So, this recipe gets a HUGE thumbs up for ease, hold and overall usefulness. It is worth noting that, at least at the strength I make it, when you keep it in the refrigerator it does turn into a pretty solid gel and can be a bit tricky at times to get worked into your hair. But, if you let it warm slightly it becomes easier to work with. It also gets softer as you use it up. I’m not sure if somehow some of the gelatin gets used up first and leaves a higher amount of water versus gelatin towards the end of the batch, but something like that seems to happen. For some reason, this last batch of flax seed gel that I made turned out easier to get through the cheese cloth (I think doing it with tongs while it is still hot helped A LOT). It also seems to have even stronger hold than my previous batches! I highly recommend both types and do plan to go back and forth between them. The gelatin is my favorite for ease and hold. The flax is my favorite for hair growth and increased elasticity. I love both for using natural ingredients in my hair that I am happy to let the girls use anytime they are interested. So, here is the gelatin recipe and directions.

Gelatin Hair Gel Recipe:

1/4-1/2 tsp gelatin (I use 1/2 tsp)

1/2 cup very warm water

up to 24 drops of essential oil (I’ve used peppermint and lavender)

Gelatin Hair Gel Directions:

  1. Stir the gelatin into the water until dissolved
  2. Add in the essential drops if you are using them and stir
  3. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator up to 10 days

That’s it! Super simple!! AND super useful! If you try it, please let us know how it goes in the comments below!

FaithRamblings

My Faith will Lead to His Grace

By AudreaLeave a comment

If this is still about you, you haven’t learned your lesson yet

Today has been a difficult day. It started with some of the same things that are always hard, staying focused while learning for the girls, complaining that there were things that had to be done. Then on top of that our plans for the day got pushed back by 3 hours and that was devastating to the girls! The fact that this push back also gave precedence to a person who is currently treating me with disdain made it even harder for me to take. Then there is the fact that all of this day is on top of the monumental concerns I have about school in the fall for myself and the girls. And, fear and wondering what the point of this blogging thing is when views took a big dip this month. And, my husband hearing and dealing with the fact that he was told that the job offer he was getting in March when Arkansas shut down for the pandemic will now likely be withheld until there is a vaccine. And, the loss of an uncle, a dear friend and the pending loss of the father of a high school friend.

As you might imagine, I did not take the set back of today’s plans and my daughters’ devastation well. There was definitely my own bitterness and temper at play. That led to my oldest being sent to her room until her daddy got home. Being in her room is something my daughter hates. After I worked on cleaning the house for a while, I would go in to talk to her as she requested. At first, she just kept asking to please have another chance and be let out of her room. I told her that this situation wasn’t about her. Then she changed to apologizing for all the things other people had done to me. I thanked her for her apology and reminded her that it was’t their actions that had landed her in her room, it was her own. And I told her that as long as this situation remained about her that she was not understanding the lesson. My point was that until she was willing to take responsibility for her own actions and put others’ needs above her own desires, she was not getting the point of this lesson and I could not remove her discipline.  

Then it hit me. This is likely what God has been saying to me. Our family is in this prolonged time of waiting and having no idea what God’s plan is. A time where everything feels off and we keep walking forward in faith, but can only see darkness. And we want it to end. We want light and answers. BUT, at least for myself, I have to admit, I just want my answers. I want my way. I am still making this about me. I wish I could also say that this revelation led to a time of repentance and prayer and a feeling of warmth, light and renewal. But to be honest, it hasn’t. I’m sure eventually it will because God loves me and because of that love He cannot remove my discipline until I learn my lesson. And although I know what is right and I see His lesson here, my pain is so big and so raw that I cannot get this whole lesson right now. Because I still want to change my actions and posture and obey SO THAT He’ll give me what I want. Just like my daughter changed enough to apologize for her behavior, but still just to get out of her room. I CAN go that far with God. I’ll put you first and others second and then you let me out of this.  

BUT, that’s not enough. That isn’t the higher calling He is calling me to. He’s calling me to take responsibility for my actions and put others’ needs above my own because that is what is right. He is calling me to wait on Him so I can walk and not grow weary. But, I’m still stuck because the truth that we don’t think about very often in those verses about the strength of youths and eagles is that God strengthens them so that they can go on, not because He’s going to make their way easier or grant them the desires of their heart. Don’t miss my point here. God does grant us the desires of our hearts when we are focused on Him because then we allow Him to teach AND prune us to desire what He has for us. And, what He has and plans IS best. But, it is rarely easy. Right now God is calling me to wait on Him not for a change in circumstances, but for strength to live in the ones I have. He is calling me to accept that His grace is sufficient for me, not to a release from my thorns. AND, I am finding this call hard. Not because what God asks is hard, who does’t want to fly with eagles? BUT, because I want my own way. I still don’t truly trust that His ways are higher (better) than mine. And so, I want my way. And, as long as I make this about me, He can’t take away my discipline. So, here I am.

I know this post doesn’t follow the rules for a good post. I’ve listened to webinars and read about blogging. I’m supposed to offer something actionable like 5 ways to freedom in Jesus. But today, I don’t have a neat tied up package. My daughter and I made it through her lesson and she’s playing with her sister and puppy. But, I’m admittedly still stuck in my stubborn, childish, fearful fit in my soul. My pain is real and raw and big and I can’t find my way to full repentance. I’m taking steps in that direction and feel God with me each step of the way. But, it hurts and I don’t know if I have the strength to get there. But, I will keep rehearsing His truths to guide my steps anyway. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has a plan and a hope and a future for me. All things work together for good for those who love Him. One step at a time will eventually lead me to full obedience and the ability truly and fully follow Jesus!

What lessons is God working with you on today? Please share so we can pray each other through this.

Recipes

Applesauce Muffins

By AudreaLeave a comment
A double batch of applesauce goodness!

As we try to gear up to return to school, after-school snacks automatically come to mind. I don’t know about you, but both of my daughters and most other kids their age, that I know, are positively starving after school. That means it is up to me to have tasty and healthy snacks for them to consume or they will fill up on convenient junk. One of the recipes I have tried this summer will be a great addition to our after school snack repertoire. This summer, I was gifted a huge amount of various produce. Some of that produce was apples. At one point I had at least 15 pounds in the house. Although, my husband loves to have an apple a day in his lunch box, there was no way we would make it through 15 pounds of apples before they spoiled. So, I made applesauce. My girls will eat applesauce sometimes, especially my youngest. But they will not eat it often or for a prolonged period of time. So, I knew that I was making applesauce for baking. I think their lack of love of applesauce stems from when they would be required to eat a snack sized applesauce every day in order to get their essential mineral drops. We have changed to them taking them in juice and that seems to work the best out of all the things we have tried.

 I have a recipe I saved in my little notebook of recipes for applesauce cake. This applesauce cake is super delicious!! It also has 3 cups of sugar. That is not the kind of snack I really want to be feeding the ladies for an after-school snack or a convenient breakfast. So, I looked on Chocolate Covered Katie’s website for an applesauce cake recipe. She is known for low sugar sweets and treats that are still delectable and that keep people coming back for more. Luckily for me and for my family’s health, she had one. Fortunately, her recipe keeps with the promise of her treats and sweets of being delicious and healthy. I’ve actually even been asked for the recipe and if it was on my website a couple of times by my mom and sister who both had some when I made them the first time. I loved how little sugar this recipe called for and the fact that it was the only sugar in the recipe since my applesauce did not have any sugar in it. My applesauce was just apples, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Since I added these spices to my applesauce I did not add any additional spices to the muffins. I have made this recipe as muffins and small loaves of applesauce bread (that you see in the picture at the top). It works well as both! The bread does take some additional cooking time, though. I am including the spices in the recipe on here in case your applesauce is not spiced as mine was.

Our little Bear proving me wrong by eating applesauce straight from the jar!!

Applesauce Muffins Recipe:

1 cup Applesauce

3 tbsp Oil OR additional Applesauce (I used additional applesauce and they did NOT take on too much of that chewy texture that there sometimes is when you use fruit instead of oil)

2 tbsp Milk of choice

2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 tsp Apple Cider or White Vinegar

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour (there are other flour options listed on the original recipe)

¼ cup Sugar

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Baking Soda

¼ tsp Cinnamon (omit if you have spiced applesauce)

Optional handful of raisins, walnuts, etc. (I included chopped walnuts in mine since a bunch of those have been given to me as well)

Applesauce Muffin Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) ingredients together

3. Add applesauce, oil (if using), vinegar, milk and vanilla

4. Whisk together until completely combined (the original recipe calls for all of the wet ingredients to be combined before adding to dry ingredients. I did not read through that direction prior to mixing mine up and found that it worked just fine this way as well.)

5. Fill lined or greased muffin or bread tins 2/3 full

6. Bake muffins for 20 minutes, the mini loaves may take up to 10 minutes longer. The middles should dome and a knife or cake tester should come out cleanly. Take out and let cool completely, if you can, without eating them. These are delicious warm from the oven. However, like mentioned on Chocolate Covered Katie’s website, they have even more flavor after a day or two in the refrigerator.

Try these for a snack or easy breakfast and let me know what you and your family think of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did!! Now, for those who have been asking this recipe finally is up on this website!! What are your go to after-school snacks for your family?

Ramblings

Running, Friend or Foe!?!

By Audrea2 Comments
We made it over 2 miles!!

I love running. AND, I hate running. Lately, the love is winning over the hate. Running is SUPER hard for me. I am far from a natural runner. I am slow and lumbering in my gate. However, I owe much to running. It was integral in helping reach my lowest weight prior to marriage. It helped me accomplish crazy things that I would never have thought I could do, like running in many 5K’s, 1 10 K, and 3 half-marathons! It has also helped me manage the stress of teaching. I have only picked it back up on and off again (mostly off again) in the years since becoming a mother. But before I got married, it was not uncommon for me to run 3-4 miles, 4-5 times a week.  

After I got married, it wained as I spent more time with my husband, who, although he did run one half-marathon with me, despises running! Once I got pregnant with our first daughter, I kissed running goodbye! I was incredibly sick with “morning” sickness for the majority of my pregnancy. Running was so far from anything I could consider while working full time teaching kindergarten and trying not to throw up too often. I did however dream about running during both of my pregnancies. After our oldest daughter was born, I spent most of time surviving my return to full time teaching while taking care of a baby who did not really like to sleep. Then, before she really got the hang of sleeping (she still struggles a lot with it sometimes as an eight year old), we were expecting her sister. This time the sickness lasted all of my pregnancy and I threw up so much that my oldest would fake throwing up to copy me.

Now, my girls are 6 and 8 and we have had extra time at home. So, for the first time in these past 9+ years I have run somewhat regularly. The regularity is still more of an ebb and flow as I figure out how to make it work with the other, more important, responsibilities I have. Unfortunately, my dislike of running still rears its head and pulls me off track. BUT, now I also have an adorable 6 year old who has certainly caught the health and fitness bug! Just tonight as I was finishing dinner, she came out dressed to run and reminded me that we needed to get our run in. We were supposed to go yesterday, but I got caught up sewing a project for my sister-in-law’s online shop. I told her yesterday that we would go today. Then we got busy with dentist appointments for myself and our oldest, and a breakfast and shopping adventure for my little running partner and her Grammie to celebrate her birthday.  

So, we headed out for a run after dinner. As I was getting changed, I asked her if she wanted to go for a long run or just run until she wanted to turn around. I admit being super relieved when she said we’d just run until she wanted to turn around. My heart dropped when she changed her answer before I finished getting ready to wanting to use my phone and C25K app to go on a long run. I accidentally started her on this last week when I invited her to run with me instead of ride her bike, like she normally does, and pushed the button to re-start my C25K app back at Week 1, Day 1. Or so I thought. After running for what was definitely longer than 90 seconds, or whatever the Day 1 run duration is, I checked to make sure the app was still working. Good news, it was! Bad news, it had picked up where I left off about a month ago and we were doing Week 6, Day 2 instead. And, that amazing little girl of mine kept up with all but the last few minutes of the runs. Tonight we did Week 6, Day 3 and she took one 45 second to 1 minute break. We covered just over 2 miles in total distance and ran for 20 minutes total. She is amazing and I told her several times thank you for getting me out there to run! Also, as I have run with her, I have perhaps caught the running bug again. There is something refreshing about making it through a run that you don’t think you can. It is phenomenal for me to make it through a super hard work out and be covered in the sweat of that hard work. Most importantly, I am giving my daughter a habit that will serve her well for her whole life. If she falls in love with running or any exercise activities at 6 years old then she is being set up for success. And, it does seem that she is a natural runner. That can take her places. Places like good health, good habits, the development of perseverance, stress relief, camaraderie from possible future track teammates, and even college scholarships. She may not always love it, but this is one preference of hers that I certainly want to feed and facilitate.

So, my love/hate relationship with running continues. And as I receive more and more gifts from running, I admit the hate part is waning and the love part is growing! What kinds of activities do you love and hate? What things are your children helping you grow in? Please share below so that we can grow together!

RamblingsResources

The Foundational Skills Your Child Needs by the End of Kindergarten

By AudreaLeave a comment
My own kindergarten graduate!!

There are many ideas on this subject and there are certainly more intelligent people than I am that have information on this. Your child is your child and your intuition is important and good enough for this too! If you feel your child is missing something, they likely are. If you think they are doing well, they likely are. But sometimes, I know it is helpful for me to have a baseline to look at. I also know that in the institution of education it can get pretty overwhelming looking at ALL the standards students are supposed to learn and master and trying to decide between curriculums if you are schooling your child yourself. This list is NOT an exhaustive list of all that should be taught or covered in kindergarten AT ALL. Instead it is simply a list of what I see as the foundational MUSTS. These are the skills that I believe are integral to the success of students later on regardless of their future plans or careers based on what I have seen in my years teaching a variety of grades.

The longer I teach, the more I feel like the basics are getting lost in all the hype of different or new educational bandwagons. In the thirteen years I have taught, I have been through the initial switch to state standards based teaching (we used to just follow a curriculum, but this shift meant a focus on standards of learning instead of just going through a book) to Common Core standards and back to state standards. I have been through a switch to standards based grading from traditional grades, then back to traditional grading, and now back to standards based grading. In an attempt to better understand student needs when students struggle has caused educators to break learning down into specific skills and sub-skills. This can be helpful when remediating a learning gap. However, I feel it is much less effective or helpful on the educating side of things. While I believe it is helpful to look at all the pieces of data from a struggling students’ assessments, I do not believe that same piecing should happen when we are planning the teaching of those skills to students.  

The components of comprehension for example, I believe are best taught together as a whole instead of piece meal. Reading a classic novel and discussing the events, predicting what will come next, reviewing the characters, making moral applications to current events and ordering events is so much more effective in building learners comprehension skills. I highly recommend this approach because it also teaches children the necessity of paying attention and engaging with text. Instead often students may be taught comprehension with a lesson on main idea here and cause and effect there. This may help them, but since all of these skills are a part of comprehension I believe they are best served and more easily learned in an integrated lesson and experience. Experiences like reading rich literary texts, both fiction and non-fiction, current and classic and discussing all aspects of comprehension as you go. If we have students reading these same rich texts and talking or writing about what they are reading, I think we would be amazed at what they learn and the depths of comprehension they would achieve! This is just one example of how I believe students will benefit more from integrative education (the teaching of multiple skills/standards/topics at once) than specific standard targeted lessons. I believe integrative education naturally includes the supports (often called scaffolds in education circles) as well as a natural deepening of understanding and learning (think Bloom’s taxonomy or DOK levels). As I have learned more about how readers map words (place them in their permanent memory) based on meaning through orthographic mapping and read about educators like Marva Collins, I just feel more and more strongly that there are only a few necessary skills that children need to master and all of the other things just need to be integrated with those foundational skills. The list below is of those necessary foundational skills that a child should master in Kindergarten. I planned to make this post about what students need in all grades Kindergarten through Second Grade. However, I think I will instead post on each grade individually.

Necessary Skills from Kindergarten

Accurate and automatic ability to identify and produce rhyming words

Awareness of syllables in words

Ability to accurately and automatically manipulate sounds within words (say cat, now say cat and instead of /c/ say /b/, and the correct answer is bat, or say slump, instead of /s/ say /c/, and the correct answer is clump, or say mast, now say mast without ast, and the correct answer is /m/) – These skills and the rhyming and syllable counting are called Phonemic Awareness and you can read more about that here.

Accurate AND Automatic knowledge of all 26 letter names for both upper and lowercase letters

Accurate AND Automatic knowledge of all letter sounds for each letter

Awareness (exposure to and some knowledge of) of digraphs (ch, sh, ph, th, wh)

Accurate and Automatic knowledge of the names of all numbers 0-20

Ability to quickly and accurately (placed correctly on handwriting lined paper) write all 26 letters and numbers 0-20

Accurate and automatic counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s

Accurate and automatic counting to 20 by 2’s

Ability to count groups of objects up to 20

Ability to add and subtract up to 10, using manipulatives (counting bears, tokens, etc.) if necessary

Ability to cut on line to cut out shapes as small as a 1/2 sheet of paper

Extended Skills from Kindergarten

If your child is ready for more before the end of kindergarten then these are some skills your child would benefit from.

Accurate and automatic fluency with Math facts (addition and subtraction) to 20

Blending consonant vowel consonant words

Accurate and automatic counting of syllables in words (up to four syllables)

Begin writing on wide ruled notebook paper

Cutting out smaller objects

Begin writing complete sentences (focusing on capitalization at the beginning of the sentence, names and the pronoun I and including punctuation at the end of the sentence)

Again, this list is not exhaustive. Especially in regards to all the information that should be taught in kindergarten. This is instead a thoughtful consideration of all that information and a look at it with the end in mind. That end being first grade, sixth grade, high school or college. Then thinking about, what, if they had nothing else, MUST they have. This list, especially, the necessary skills list will NOT match with public school expectations. It will however match most age based ideas on reading development which tend to run about a grade slower than the expectations of state and Common Core standards. The most unique thing about education is that we are teaching unique individuals. Some children will be ready for more, even beyond the Extended Skills list above. This list is what I would use though to gauge if there is going to be a long term deficit in learning leaving kindergarten. And, if all of the necessary skills are firmly in place and some of the extended skills have been explored, your child will do well in the long run. ESPECIALLY, if for reading they are thoroughly skilled in phonemic awareness and in math if they have a really strong understanding of numbers 1-20 and the patterns within that group (1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s).

Please let me know if you find this list helpful. If your child is in public school and they have only mastered the Necessary list I would consider some tutoring because they will struggle to keep up in first grade. If you are homeschooling these skills are so important that they deserve as much time as your child needs to deeply and completely master them. Also, if you are homeschooling and are doing a grade 0 (starting school early, but not pushing things really hard) I would strongly consider using the list of necessary skills as a guideline for what to focus on. Having that firm foundation will allow them to gain other skills more quickly, thereby alleviating any deficit there may appear to be early on. Just as when you are building a house or any other building, the stronger and more accurate the foundation, the more quickly the rest of the construction will go and the higher the quality of the WHOLE thing!! That is why when you start something you should keep the end in mind. It’s also why the question, “Is my child behind?” can have different answers. It depends on what your child needs to be ready for.

Let me know if you find this list helpful! Do you have any other specific skills you would include or that you are wondering about? I would love to hear your thoughts, questions or concerns!!

Recipes

Meatloaf Recipe

By AudreaLeave a comment
Making one meatloaf for now and one for the freezer!

My husband, Adam, used to own a restaurant. The restaurant he owned was the restaurant he worked at all through high school and his first time at college. He’s since gone back a couple of different times to earn multiple degrees. And his favorite meatloaf recipe comes from the owners of that restaurant. He remembers it from when he was just a high schooler learning the ropes. After we got married and I had made meatloaf a few times, he called his friend who happens to be the son of those restaurant owners, and now has his own restaurant in town, to get this recipe. It’s the one I have used ever since. The only adjustment I make to this recipe is that I triple the Worcestershire Sauce it calls for, at my husband’s request. It’s a big deal for him to request a change to a recipe! Especially one from his beloved Martinez family!! So, when he does, I make it. Tonight I tried this recipe as meatballs.

 

We generally buy pre-made meatballs and then I just warm them in the cast iron skillet and cover them with BBQ sauce and a little water. I serve those with a vegetable of choice and mashed potatoes. You could also serve either the meatloaf itself or the meatballs with a loaf of Artisan Bread. My whole family really likes our pre-made meatballs, including me. I don’t however like the soy that is in the pre-made meatballs. I have made meatballs from scratch a few times before, but they have always seemed too dense. I got the idea of trying this meatloaf recipe as meatballs the last time I was mixing it up and my daughter was helping mash all the ingredients together and then just started rolling the mixture into balls. We went ahead and made the traditional loaf and froze another that time, but the idea to try it as meatballs stayed with me. My husband was less than excited tonight when he got home as I was finishing dinner and heard I was experimenting. BUT, he said the meatballs were pretty good.  

I really liked how much lighter they were than the times I had made them with just meat. I did have trouble keeping them together during cooking. I’m wondering if it is best to make them up ahead of time and freeze them first to help with keeping them together. I am also thinking as I type this that it might be helpful to use a cookie scoop to get the meat into the balls because that would press the meat together more tightly. If you have any insights or suggestions please share them in the comments below.

Now on to the recipe of this hearty, home cooked dinner!

Meatloaf Recipe:

1 1/2 pounds Ground Beef

1 large Egg

1 8 ounce can Tomato Sauce (I have used ketchup multiple times when I haven’t had tomato sauce on hand.  Okay, so maybe two changes to the recipe sometimes!!)

1/2 cup chopped Onion

1/2 tbsp garlic powder or minced garlic (I’ve used both)

3/4 cup Quick Oats

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (I use 3 tbsp in ours)

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Meatloaf Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mash together until VERY well incorporated. 

3. Place in a 2 quart casserole dish shaped into a loaf in the center of the dish

4. Bake for 45-60 minutes

5. Serve with mashed potatoes, favorite vegetable, artisan bread (or your family’s favorite sides)

Let me know how your family enjoys this dinner!  What are the recipes your spouse remembered form growing up that you make for them now?

Recipes

Mug Cake Recipes, Keto Friendly

By Audrea2 Comments

Recently, I have decided to try Keto eating with a focus on vegetables. I really like how I feel when I eat Whole 30, but I REALLY miss the dairy. And, I feel that if I am conscious of how much I of it I am eating that I can manage it. So, Keto seems to perhaps hold a balance of these ideas for me. Currently, I am missing the fruit that I can have on Whole 30, but have to REALLY limit or avoid on Keto. But, other than that and realizing that I am going to have to be more conscious about my dairy intake and focus on upping my fiber intake, it’s been okay. I honestly don’t like any restrictions and although I have been pushing and exceeding the upper limits of my comfortable weight since before we closed school for Covid, I have been avoiding doing anything about it.

However, as the start of school approaches (it’s been pushed back 2 weeks, but is still supposed to start between August 24-26 for our state) I feel like I have to get a handle on my eating and my weight now. Also, I have finally reached a more balanced mindset of trusting God and resting in the peace that He is in charge of all of this. There really aren’t any more answers than before, in fact there feels like there is WAY more to worry about. The girls are still slated to return to school with a daunting amount of restrictions. My oldest is acting out because of her concerns about all of the changes to school for the fall. But for whatever reason, I am certain that it is likely God’s gracious love for me, I can finally trust Him to work it all out and show us what to do. It is certainly a case of peace that surpasses all understanding! And I am eternally grateful for it. So, back to the Keto thing. That is what I am trying in order to get ahold of my eating habits and my weight before in-service and the stress of a new school year hit!

In our house, bedtime snacks are a big habit! So, my go-to snack has become mug cakes. I have been eating the chocolate one from Chocolate Covered Katie. Then, once I got tired of chocolate (yes, I am shocked that happened!), I tried a cinnamon roll mug cake from Kirbie Cravings. My daughters of course have been wanting to try them as I have been eating them. I am grateful that there are no ingredients that they can’t have. But, I am also being kind of stingy with them because they do have more expensive ingredients in them. I haven’t thought to take any pictures of them yet, so, I’ll have to update this post with pictures once I do! Also, I have enjoyed it when I take the time to make a baggie of all the dry ingredients for a second mug cake while I am making one to eat. That way the next time I can just pour my baggie into my mug, add the liquids and have dessert that much quicker! Here are the recipes for what have become my two favorite snacks so you can try them too!

Keto Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe:

6 tbsp Almond Flour (Chocolate Covered Katie also lists option for using nuts instead of nut flour)

1 tbsp + 2 tsp Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp Monk Fruit/Erythritol Sweetener (any granulated sweetener will work according to the original recipe)

Pinch of Stevia (or additional 2 tsp of sweetener, this is what I use and it really does need at least 1 additional tsp to not be bitter from the cocoa powder)

1/8 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 tbsp Milk of choice (I’ve been using heavy whipping cream because of the carbs in regular milk, but I am thinking of trying regular because some of my cakes have gotten dry)

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

Keto Chocolate Mug Cake Directions:

  1. Place all dry ingredients in mug and whisk together
  2. Add vanilla and milk and whisk until smooth
  3. Microwave for 30 seconds
  4. Microwave for addition 15 second intervals if necessary to get to desired doneness (be careful not to overcook as it gets REALLY dry). It is better under baked than over. And it will firm up some as it cools
  5. Top with whipped cream and peanut butter if desired

Cinnamon Roll Keto Mug Cake Recipe:

1 tbsp Coconut Oil (melted, the original recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I have only used coconut oil)

1 large Egg

3 tbsp Almond Flour (I really like that this recipe uses less Almond Flour since it is expensive)

1 tbsp Erythritol Sweetener (I use a monk fruit/erythritol blend)

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Cinnamon (I usually make mine a heaping tsp because I really like spice and especially cinnamon)

Topping Recipe:

3/4 tsp Erythritol Sweetener

1/8 tsp Cinnamon

This is supposed to make enough for two cakes, but I often just use it all on my one cake. There is also a recipe for cream cheese icing in the original recipe, but I haven’t tried it with this yet. I just put a little whipped cream on mine!

Cinnamon Roll Keto Mug Cake Directions:

  1. Put all dry ingredients in mug and whisk together
  2. Add egg, melted coconut oil and vanilla and whisk until smooth
  3. Sprinkle topping on batter
  4. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds, add 15 second intervals to achieve desired doneness (I usually end up needing 1 minute and 45-50 seconds with my microwave)
  5. Add a little whipped cream if desired or choose fancy and make the icing from the original recipe!

These are my two favorite Keto desserts right now. Although, my mom just gave me a coconut and dried cranberry cookie that was absolutely delicious. I may have to get that recipe next to try making and sharing it with you! If you try these cakes, let me know if you love them as well! What are your favorite Keto snacks?