Harvest Time Week One - Tops and Bottoms

Our Week with Tops and Bottoms

Here are some highlights from our week with Tops and Bottoms. It has been hot and hardly fall-like this past week but everyone was excited to get started. Pixie was thrilled to have her own school work and the older kiddos were very enthusiastic about the books and projects they remember so fondly. I was actually surprised how into it Bug got... he was the one insistent about completing the salt dough project, we couldn’t get to it fast enough.

And then while picking raspberries we had one of those precious moments that reaffirms that this is right where my family belongs right now. At our favorite U-Pick farm we had the raspberry fields to ourselves. The weather must have scared off most and the few other brave souls there were picking the early apples. In the berry patch, the children had spread out and where happily filling their buckets, Pixie in manner that couldn’t help but bring to mind Blueberries for Sal, Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Although it was hot a lovely breeze was keeping us comfortable and Bug looks up at me from a few yards down the row, with his container half full, and says, "It is so peaceful out here. This is the best day." Yes it is sweetie.

If you have been working on Tops and Bottoms and would like to share your adventures with us, remember to add you blog links in the comments below (if you have blogged about this week more than once you are welcome to add multiple links).

This week we are starting our Harvest Time unit. I will be posting a weekly introduction every Monday to give everyone a space to chat about the program. If you would like more information about the program you can learn more and download the free homeschooling curriculum on our Harvest Time page. All of the directions for the art projects, recipes and activities are included in the curriculum guide. If your family is participating in the Harvest Time curriculum either for homeschooling or after school enrichment we would love to hear about it! Please leave a comment in this post in regards to your experiences with Harvest Time’s Week One activities. You are welcome, and highly encouraged to leave links to your Harvest Time’s Week One blog posts or pictures in the comment section of this post.

Harvest Time Week One
Primary Book: Tops & Bottoms,
Enrichment Book: The Vegetables We Eat,
Activities: Salt Dough Veggies,
Field Trip Idea: Grocery Store Produce,
Art: Bull Vaulting,
Poem: Little Boy Blue,
Flower Fairies: Bugle Fairy & Coloring Page

Links from Our first time completing the Unit...
Salt Dough Veggies
Farmer's Market Field Trip

Basic Salt Dough Recipe
1 Cup Salt
2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Room Temp Water
1 TBSP Vegtable Oil.
Bake at 200 F for several hours until dried through. Paint when dry. .

For a realistic touch, we used small twigs for stems. We also used toothpicks for adding details. I was surprised how well the Salt Dough retained its modeled shape. .

Note: Both puppies and almost 2 year olds like to eat the finished veggies! Keep a close eye on the little ones if you have 'em.

If your family is working on the Harvest Time curriculum either full time or just for some family fun enrichment, you are welcome to add the Harvest Time button on your website. You can save the button to you computer and upload as a photo to your site (you may want to link it back to the Main Harvest Time Page http://weefolkart.com/content/harvest-time-preschoolkindergarten-curriculum) or just copy the green text below and add it to you site.