Fruit Yogurt

Ingredients:
1. 4 TBS Greek yogurt 2%
2. 1 TBS frozen raspberries thawed and blended
3. 2 tsp maple syrup
4. Sprinkle of musli

Directions:
1. Stir raspberry sauce and maple syrup together.
2. Sprinkle with some musli and serve.

Additional Information:
The natural Greek yogurt always goes uneaten in our fridge, while my family keeps emptying the store-bought fruit yogurt. Store-bought fruit yogurt is actually not healthy at all, as it contains lots of sugar and not so much real fruit.

I have been wanting to find ways to make Greek yogurt more appealing to my family. Today, I finally got down to experiment. So glad to succeed in concocting this recipe which tastes equally sweet, smooth and thick like the commercial fruit yogurt sold in supermarket, but without loads of sugar and preservatives. It is super-easy to make and much much healthier. Got the taste-bud nods from Florian and Joshie. So goodbye store-bought fruit yogurt for good - finally :-)

I included a mini portion in small jar for our Little FECS' lunchbox. Just want to document the recipe down to remember it. Pardon the color of the pictures. Taken these pictures at night under poor lighting.

Mini portion ingredients:
1. 2 TBS Greek yogurt 2%
2. 2 tsp frozen raspberries thawed and blended
3. 1/2-3/4 tsp maple syrup

Danish Rye Bread Chips

Ingredients:

1. Rye bread
2. Olive oil
3. Salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree celsius.
2. Slice your rye bread into very thin slices about 4mm thick.
3. Brush with olive oil. Not too much olive oil, just a like touch and layer. Too much oil will not taste good.
4. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 175 degree celsius (or 200 degree celsius for 10-12 minutes)

If you want it faster, bake it at 250 degree celsius for 1-2 minutes, but I won't recommend it, if this is the first time you try it.

Additional Information:

Our Little FECS loves the rye bread chips. It is like eating potato chips to him, but much healthier, especially if you make it yourself. I have tried making it before, but not successful. I realized that it was because I added too much oil to the bread. The teachers at his kindergarten bake it often as a snack for the children. So today, he asked his teacher for the recipe, so that his mom can learn it. We tried it this evening, and it turned out fine and wonderful this time around :-)

20 April 2020:

We have tried to make this chips with thickness 5.5 mm - quite thick and it turned out fine :-)

References:

https://www.valdemarsro.dk/rugbroedschips/
https://www.alt.dk/mad/opskrift/rugbrodschips
https://nordicfoodliving.com/danish-rye-bread-chips/

13 Jan 2015 (5Y10M8D)

7 September 2016 (7Y6M2D): Danish rye chips made by Joshie. He learned to make them when he was near to 6 years old. At 7 years old, he has mastered it. I gave him a bowl of oil, a brush and the salt shaker. He cut the rye bread into bite-size pieces himself, brush oil and sprinkle salt on them. I helped to put it in and out of the oven and I helped to eat it :-) 

20 April 2020 (11Y1M15D)

 

Montessori Activity: Static Subtraction Without Golden Beads - Vertical Presentation

Age: From 5.5 years old

Materials:
1. Subtraction worksheets
2. Pencil and eraser

Directions:
1. Start with single digit subtraction questions.

2. Show your child how to read the question by reading it to your child. E.g.

                                                                    5
                                                                  - 3
                                                                 -----
                                                                     ?
                                                                 -----

(You could also show him the horizontal presentation first, and then write it in vertical presentation, for him to see the relation)

3. If your child could not derive the answer mentally without golden beads, teach him to draw "o's" to represent the quantity in place of the golden beads. For example, draw 5 "o's", then ask your child to use the pencil to cross out 2 "ø's"

4. Ask your child how many "o's" are there left. Your child should answer 3. Ask your child to write the answer down.

5. Ask your child to read the question and the answer again.

6. Let your child try with the next single digit question.

7. Move on to double digit subtraction questions.

8. Show your child how to read the question from left to right E.g.

                                                                   35
                                                                 - 14
                                                                 -----
                                                                    ?? <---
                                                                 -----

9. Put an arrow to the left of the space where the unit place value shall be and explain that when answering addition problems, start from the unit place value.

10. Starting from the unit place value, ask the child, what is 5-4=? Your child should say 1. If he has difficulties, encourage him to draw 5 "o's" and cross out 4 "ø's"to represent each quantity next to the number.

11. Ask your child to write the answer "1" onto the unit place value answer space:

                                                                   35
                                                                 - 14
                                                                 -----
                                                                   ?1 <---
                                                                 -----

12. Move to the ten place value, and ask your child what is 3-1=? Your child should say2. If not, encourage your child to draw 3 "o's" and cross out 1 "ø" next to the respective number.

13. Explain that the answer "2" is at the ten value place, and thus it represent "20".

14. Ask your child to write the answer "4" onto the ten place value answer space.

                                                                   35
                                                                 - 14
                                                                 -----
                                                                   21 <---
                                                                 -----

15. Ask your child to read the question and the answer again.

16. Let your child try with the next double digit question.

17. Do the same for the triple digit and quadruple digit addition questions.

Additional Information:

Our Little FECS (5Y10M8D) tried this for the first time today 13 Jan 2015. He could do the sum mentally and refuses to use the "o's". He could do it in Chinese, but he was not able to say the numbers in Danish and English. I will find opportunity to let him practise the hundred board using Danish and English.

The full curriculum and sequence of introduction is available from Brilliant Minds Montessori, which is available from Amazon:

20 Jan 2015 (5Y10M15D) - Montessori Static Subtraction Without Golden Beads - Thousand Place Value - Vertical Presentation

 

Chinese Fish Congee Made with Quinoa

Serves 4

Preparation & Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1. 1 can tuna fish in oil
2. 1 cup quinoa
3. 1 stalk spring onions chopped for garnish
4. A handful of lettuce sliced thin
5. 1-1.5 litre water
6. Salt & Pepper to taste
7. Garlic oil (optional)
8. 1 egg (optional)

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of water and quinoa to boil.

2. Add salt to taste and simmer under medium-low heat (no. 2.5 on my stove) for 45 minutes or until it is cooked and reaches the consistency that you desire. If you wish it to be softer, cook longer.

3. Add tuna fish, stir and mix well and cook for a minute.

4. Dish, garnish with spring onion, lettuce and garlic oil and serve

Tips:
1. You can crack an egg into the porridge.

2. You can also substitute tuna fish with chicken, prawns, pork, etc.

3. For adults, you can also add a bit of garlic oil as garnish for more fragrance and flavour.

4. For babies, you can blend the chicken in the baby blender, if baby is too young to eat bite size chicken pieces.

5. When you are making the Chinese Ginger Chicken Soup, why not use some of the soup and make Quinoa Congee Porridge :-)

Nutritional Value:
Quinoa is a highly nutritious food. Quinoa has been rated by the WHO as possessing protein of a quality similar to milk. It has been classified as a supercrop by the United Nations on account of its nutritional value and high protein content. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. The protein quality and quantity in quinoa seed is often superior to those of more common cereal grains. Quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. Quinoa is higher in lysine than wheat. Quinoa grain has a lower sodium content and is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley, or corn. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Quinoa is a very good source of manganese and a good source of copper, two minerals that serve as cofactors for the superoxide dismutase enzyme. Superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant that helps to protect the mitochondria from oxidative damage created during energy production as well as guard other cells, such as red blood cells, from injury caused by free radicals.

Quinoa also contains vitamins B6, Niacin and Thiamin. Quinoa is lower in carbohydrates than most other grains, but an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and cooks in about half the time of regular rice. Quinoa is low in fat.

Millet is tasty, with a mildly sweet, nut-like flavor and contains a myriad of beneficial nutrients. It is nearly 15% protein, contains high amounts of fiber, B-complex vitamins including niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin, the essential amino acid methionine, lecithin, and some vitamin E. It has the highest protein level of any cereal and is also excellent for potassium, phosphorous, iron and magnesium.

The seeds are also rich in phytochemicals, including Phytic acid, which is believed to lower cholesterol, and Phytate, which is associated with reduced cancer risk.

Millet is gluten-free and is not an acid forming food so is soothing and easy to digest. In fact, it is considered to be one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains available and it is a warming grain so will help to heat the body in cold or rainy seasons and climates.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Comments:
Using can tuna fish is a quick, easy and yet nutritious way to prepare porridge. Quinoa is a much more nutritious grain than rice, and it tastes great as congee.

Subtraction Domino Game

Age: From 5.5 years old

Players: 2-4

Objectives:
To teach subtraction in a fun way.

Materials:
Subtraction Dominos - each tile has subtraction problems on it (for example, 9- 5).

Directions:
1. Distribute the cards evenly among the players.
2. The youngest start by matching the answers of subtraction problems (for example, match 3-2 to 1-0, since they are both equal to 1).
3. The one who is first to get rid of all of his/her dominoes wins. But if no one can go out, then the person with the fewest dominos left is the winner.

Printables:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/dominoes/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/dominoes/subtraction/
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/addition/dominoes-matching-game-add_WNNFD.pdf

Additional Information:
We played this for the first time today during our WFMN. J (5Y10M6D) enjoyed it, can do the subtraction, but was overwhelmed with the number of cards he has on his hands. He needed help to find the right card. On hindsight, we each have too many cards.

It is also available from Amazon, but for older children (grade 4-6):

 

Chess

My Mr. FECS told our Little FECS, that his cousin, K, who is a role model in the family, did very well, because he loved playing chess as a kid, according to his father. That inspired our Little FECS to play chess.

It seemed that all his friends from kindergarten are also very into chess right now. It seemed they were all inspired by this boy called Aksel. So it was just a very coincidental timing :-) Our Little FECS was playing chess all by himself, yesterday, when Daddy went to pick him up. And at home, all he wants to do, when he woke up in the morning, was to play chess.

My Mr. FECS went back to his childhood home and digged out this chess set, that he played with his father, when he was a child.

I actually don't know how to play chess at all, so I have to learn it from Daddy and J :-)

References:
http://www.chesskid.com/learn-how-to-play-chess.html

14 Jan 2015 (5Y10M9D) - J and Daddy playing chess, while waiting for Mommy to come home from work. Five minutes later, J was in tears, because he lost to Daddy big time.

J Summary (5Y10M3D) - More Aware of Symmetry

Our Little FECS is more aware and concerned about symmetry now. Today was Daddy's birthday, and he went downstairs this morning to decorate the table. He also put up flags at the stairway.

J Summary (5Y10D1D) - Organizing Playroom

It is the beginning of the new year, and a good time to try to get rid of the clutter. I organized our Little FECS playroom, and I was overcome with nostalgia, as I put away the toys that he has outgrown. That wasn't too long ago, when I had to put away his baby's toys, when I was overcome with the same emotions. 

And I imagine the day will come, when I will have to replace the low children's table and chair with a normal size study desk... sob, sob, sob. He is growing up fast. He is now 5 years old, and will soon be leaving the kindergarten and going to school this May... Time really flies fast.

I wanted to put away the red Lego toolbox, but he insisted that he still wanted to keep it. So it is stacked on top of the LEGO storage boxes, and blocking the calendar. It didn't look so good, but I guess it is hard to make a picture perfect playroom. I also didn't manage to fill in all the open shelves with toys for rotation - 1 tray is still empty. That's life. Well, it is at least authentic, I tell myself.

J Summary - Our First WFMN in 2015

We wanted to start our WFMN last week, but I was too tired, but J was really disappointed about it, and reminded me again. So we kicked off our first WFMN for 2015 today. 

Our Little FECS wanted to have tea time today, but we couldn't make it. We had the quinoa buns that he made and chocolate milk as "tea" for our WFMN instead.

We went through the plans and schedule for January 2015 and the first half of the year. Our Little FECS played the song Cuckoo for us on the piano. We played the Maths Domino game. We did not manage to read a book today.

Quinoa & Banana Buns

Ingredients:
1. 1/2 cup quinoa ground
2. 1 cup oats
3. 4 large bananas mashed
4. 1 tsp baking powder
5. 1 tsp wheat germ (optional, added for more nutritious value)
6. 3 tsp brewer's yeast (optional, added for more nutritious value)
7. A handful of raisins, dried fruits and cashew nuts as toppings (optional)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (390°F).
2. Mash the bananas, add all the other ingredients (except the ingredients for toppings) and mix well.
3. On a baking tray lay with baking paper, form into desired shapes, e.g. fish with a spoon.
4. Top with raisins, cashew nuts or dried fruit.
5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Additional Information:
Our Little FECS made this almost all by himself today, with my supervision. He mashed the banana, add the quinoa and oats (I measured the ingredients for him), We are trying to eat more quinoa, and apparently quinoa is very good for baking too. This is the first time we tried it, and it tasted really really sweet, and our Little FECS love it. I am really happy with the recipe we came up, and have to jot it down, before I forgot :-)

Chinese Quinoa Fried Rice with Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup quinoa cooked according to instructions here, or cooked according to the way you cook rice.
2. 1/3 large cucumber cut into cubes
3. 1 red pepper bell sliced into strips
4. 1 carrot chopped into cubes
5. 200g chicken breast sliced
6. 2 eggs
7. 1 clove garlic chopped
8. 2 TBS cookingoil
9. 1/2 TBS corn starch
10. Salt & pepper to taste
11. 2 stalks spring onion chopped for garnishing (optional)

Directions:

1. Marinade chicken breast with corn starch, salt and pepper.
2. Heat 1 TBS cooking oil on pan under medium fire (no. 7-8 on my stove).
3. Fry egg, dish out, cut into strips and set aside.
4. Add 1 TBS cooking oil into pan under medium fire again.
5. Fry garlic until golden.
6. Add 1/2 of the spring onions and fry for a few seconds until fragrant.
7. Add carrots and fry for a minute.
8. Add chicken and fry until almost just done.
9. Add red pepper bell and cucumber and stir-fry.
10. Add quinoa, fry and mix well.
11. Dish up, garnish with eggs and spring onions and serve.

Additional Information:
Quinoa is very nutritious, more so than rice. We are trying to find more ways of preparing quinoa, so that we will eat more quinoa. This is "quinoa" fried rice done according to Chinese fried rice method. I tried it today and it is very tasty and both my Mr. FECS and our Little FECS like it.

There is another post on Quinoa Fried Rice here.

How to Motivate Your Child to Love Learning?

One way to motivate our child to learn, is to provide the reason why. And one effective way is to provide this reason in tangible and concrete way is by making a small experiment, showing the difference between our brain when we are young (like a sponge) and when we are old (like a hard rubber ball).

Materials:
1. 1 bowl with water (representing knowledge)
2. 1 hard rubber ball (representing the adult's brain)
3. 1 sponge (representing the child's brain)
4. 2 empty plates (representing the storage in the brain for knowledge and skills)
5. 1 tray (optional)

Directions:
1. Get the material ready as shown in picture.
2. Soak the sponge in the bowl of water.
3. Squeeze the water out of the sponge into 1 plate and explain that the sponge is like  the brain of a young child, it can absorb and learn a lot, as seen by the large amount of water collected in the plate
4. Soak the hard rubber ball into the bowl of water.
5. Squeeze the water out from the rubber ball into the other plate and explain that the hard rubber ball is like the brain of an adult, it cannot absorb and learn so much, as seen by the little bit of water collected in the plate.

Additional Information:

Our Little FECS sometimes asked, why do we have to need to learn so many things, when his friends don't need to learn anything? Why can't we just play? It takes effort to learn to write the Chinese characters. It takes effort to practise the piano. And why can't we just learn one thing, instead of so many things?

We need to explain to our child the reason why, but I am not very good at it. My Mr. FECS came up with this idea and came to my rescue. He made an experiment with our Little FECS and explain to him why it is important to love learning, especially when one is young.

1. Daddy explained that the reason why we should start young and learn is because our brain is like a sponge when we are young. We can absorb more when we learn things as a child. When we only start to learn things, when we are old, our brain is like a hard rubber ball, it does not absorb as much. So it is important that we spend our time on learning a skill, when we are young. It is much easier to learn things when we are young.

For example, at this age, our Little FECS learns Chinese relatively easily, compared to Daddy. When Daddy learns Chinese, we do not see the results very much.

2. Daddy explained that another reason why we need to learn many different things, and it is because it helps us to learn other things. For example, when we learn to play the piano, it helps in our learning of Maths as well. When we learn to play football, it helps our brain to be ready to learn other things as well.

Our Little FECS has a better understanding on the purpose of learning now, though it will definitely takes repetition :-)

Weekly Family Meeting Agenda Template

It is the start of the year, and we are going to have our first Weekly Family Meeting Night (WFMN) tomorrow. Sometimes, it is useful to make an agenda for your WFMN.

I have been wanting to make an agenda template for quite sometime now, but I only got to do it a couple of weeks ago. It was too late for 2014, but it would be useful for our WFMN in 2015. Better late than never :-)

It can be a simple sheet pinned on your family notice board. During the week, if any family member has something to suggest or raise for the family meeting, it comes in handy for he/she to jot it down on the Agenda:

Click here for a WFMN agenda template that I have created that may help you. It is really a super simple template.

J Summary (5Y9M28D) - Taking Down Christmas Decoration

J helped to take down the decorations from the Christmas tree today.

Halfway through... he said, "Mom, it is a lot of work to take down the decorations. It is not worth the effort, since we only have the Christmas tree for such a short period."

Mommy: "That's true. Maybe we should not have a Christmas tree next year?"

Our Little FECS: "Ok. We should only have a Christmas tree, if there are people coming to our place."

Mommy: Our pragmatic son's talking, so less work for me for Christmas next year :-)

Sayonara to our Christmas storage box :-)

Montessori Activity: Cutting Red Pepper Bell with Knife

Age: From 5 years old

Activity Duration: 5 minutes

Objective(s):

1. To train the child’s fine motor skills
2. To encourage your child to help out in the kitchen

Materials:

1. 1 bowl of red pepper bell cut ready for your child to cut into smaller pieces
2. 1 empty bowl
3. 1 small knife
4. 1 chopping board

Directions:

1. Demonstrate to your child by cutting the mushrooms slice-by-slice.

2. Then assist your child to hold the knife correctly.

3. Encourage your child to try.

Video Demonstration:

Additional Information:

Inspired by A, our Little FECS (5Y9M28D) helped me to cut the red pepper bell today for dinner :-)