Chocolate

A few weeks ago, I noticed some burnout in the kiddos. They were grumping about school and lessons were dragging and seemed complicated when they should have been easy. So I decided to change it up on them. I was hiding in the bathroom (because you know it is the only place one can be alone), thinking about what to do with the little grumps. My own need for chocolate seemed to be the most coherent thought passing through my head so I decided to do a mini-unit study on chocolate. It is hard to complain about math when you get to eat the manipulatives at the end of the lesson, right? I commenced to collect all of the books in the house on chocolate. There were several of them.
There were books to cover history, math, and literature! With a touch of planning, we were off into the world of chocolate.





All of a sudden math was a blast!!!


History and literature came alive in a very sweet way ... and the kids found their motivation to continue on.

After 4 days of chocolate, the kids were ready to return to our normal schedule and studies. While on our little diversion, they learned about Milton Hershey, who was a remarkable American; did three virtual tours of chocolate factories and the making of chocolate; and got a great intro to fractions, as well as counted, weighed, and measured chocolate. They also learned the history of chocolate and lots of other tidbits and facts.

We were blessed to be able to go on a field trip to our local chocolate shop this week with our homeschool group. The kids learned just a bit more about chocolate. They learned about the melting process and then got to decorate dipped Oreos. They also learned about white chocolate. I don't like white chocolate so I had never mentioned it.






Yummy!  We really enjoyed this field trip!  After the tour, some of our group went to a funky little hot dog cafe around the corner. They have some safe (nitrate-free) hot dogs for my little boy and a million fixings. I just had to share mine. 
I had tomatoes, Chicago neon-green relish, roasted peppers, ketchup and mustard. The man asked me if I wanted plain relish or Chicago. Feeling adventurous, I said Chicago. Have you ever seen such GREEN relish?? I think I should go back and get some for St. Patrick's Day. LOL!

Blessings, Dawn