The Carrot Seed - BFIAR

I home school Ellie, for those who aren't aware; and I love it! But her "Schooling" at this point in her life is anything but structured. We play, play, play and read all day! Her work is playing, exploring, moving, creating, and imagining! She LOVES books more than any other thing that we play with. Books are the best way to play and explore! The concept of Before Five In A Row per their own website is the following: 

"Dedicated to protecting and nurturing the early years of childhood, Before Five in a Row opens up the world of learning through great books and creative play, and builds a solid foundation for more formal education to come.

This important product has two sections: the first presenting 23 Five in a Row-style mini-units (plus an extra mini-unit) based on outstanding children’s books for ages 2-4+.  The second presents an entire treasury of learning readiness activities intended to be used in your every day life: things to do in the kitchen, at the store, at bedtime, bath time and more".

So, it instills in children the love of reading, classic stories, comprehension, and following a FUN theme! It is not a "curriculum" or "work". It is reading, bonding, and learning through playing. Which is exactly how a toddler should learn- not through worksheets...but through PLAY and hands on interaction!! I love it!

Our very first adventure in diving into the Before Five In A Row book list was "The Carrot Seed."

This was the perfect one for us to begin with as our family is currently also starting our own garden and we have sown many carrot seeds over the last couple of weeks which are now beautiful seedlings. 

Ellie and I began our adventure with first reading the classic story. Then, we baked carrot cake cupcakes!!

We made a very healthy recipe so they were guilt free! My favorite kind of food. Here is a link for the recipe we used: Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ellie got to measure, crack eggs, stir, divide, and ice the cupcakes! She loves baking with mommy in the kitchen and she is quite good at it!

We also cut the tops off all our carrots to attempt to regrow carrots! We simply cut the tops, placed them halfway deep in water, and sat them on the windowsill so they can soak up the sun! We will wait a few days and soon, God willing, see some regrowth begin!
After I had cut them, Ellie sorted them by counting each one and moving them to the side. We counted a total of 9, and therefore counted out 9 bowls to place them each in. Ellie found this a very interesting project and got so tickled at her responsibility of placing each carrot in a bowl and carting them to the window. It will be awesome to watch them grow!

We also used an egg carton and pretended it was a field. We sowed the field with our make believe carrot seeds! (toothpicks). This is a fine motor skill and wildly entertaining for a 2 year old. She on her own, when finished and satisfied, asked me to count them with her. That we did! More math!

We also made an art project with carrots! We painted using carrots. Oh, Ellie found this very fun!! We used baby carrots and rolled them in the paint and across the page. Great messy fun! We cut the carrots into circles and stuck toothpicks in them so they may be used as paint stamps! I think this was Ellie's favorite method. And we also used a large carrot like a pen or brush! We both made pictures...Ellie helped me with mine too! And at the end, she used the carrots to paint her hands and arms! 

And last but not least, to finish our carrot seed themed day, we observed our own growing carrot seedlings!! We have a large excess of seedlings, so I pulled a couple out to show Ellie how our planted seed had grown. We observed the root, stem, and leaves. We talked about how eventually that would become a carrot, which is a root vegetable that grows under ground! 

Our bible verse for this book is Romans 8:25 - "We must wait patiently." 

Above all the things I will ever teach Ellie as her teacher in home school, the most important thing is Jesus first. In everything we can see Jesus and He is the reason and purpose  of our lives. We want to glorify Him in all we do-even in school and gardening. It takes patience (a huge lesson for a 2 year old) to grow our plants and vegetables. What a great way to help steward that fruit of the spirit. No pun intended! Also, In the book of Mark, which we happen to be reading through during our bible reading every morning together, there are two parables Jesus uses to teach the crowds and His disciples that use sewing seeds and harvesting a crop. Of course these parables are to paint a picture of what it is to reap what we sow, and to follow Jesus and be "rooted" in Him.