Tag Archives: Positive Parental Participation

Make-A-Meal Mondays: Child-Friendly Sweet Raisin Irish Soda Bread

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Some of the bakers with some newly baked bread

Image by National Library of Scotland via Flickr

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day…here’s a simple Irish Soda Bread recipe that your child can help prepare.

You will need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 4 Tb margarine
  • 1 beaten egg (reserve 1 Tb)
  • ¾ cup buttermilk or sour milk
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • 2 Tb honey
  • Large bowl
  • Medium bowl
  • Greased baking sheet

The bread is supposed to serve 16, but it will probably be less, because everyone will want seconds and thirds. 🙂

1.   In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.   Cut in margarine until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

3.   Combine raisins, beaten egg (minus the 1 Tb) and buttermilk.

4.   Add this to the flour mixture and stir until moistened.

5.   On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently for 1 minute.

6.   On a greased baking sheet, shape dough into a 6-inch round loaf.

7.   Cut a 4-inch cross, ¼ inch deep, on the top.

8.   Brush with reserved tablespoon of egg.

9.   Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes until golden and cool on rack.

Important tip: When I made bread with my own children and the children in my daycare group, we always made enough dough so that EACH child could make his or her OWN small bread.  The families of the daycare children definitely looked forward to our bread-making day each week…and how proud each child was, clutching his wrapped bread loaf as he made his way home!

Why do I always encourage parents to invite their young children into the kitchen to help cook and bake?

When your children help measure and mix the ingredients, they are gaining a sense of competence and confidence, two of the building blocks of high self-esteem.

When you spend time with your children, participating joyfully in an activity, your children understand that they are worthy of your precious time and they are people of value…these are also important factors in acquiring a positive self-image.

Would you like 99 other simple child-friendly cooking activities?

Just visit my website and buy a copy of SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING…still on sale for 50% off the cover price!  This is a unique resource for parents, daycare providers and preschool teachers.   It also provides 100 easy eco-friendly craft projects and 100 summaries of picture books your young child needs to hear.

Oh, and don’t forget…we are awarding a CRAFTY EASTER BASKET, filled with craft supplies for your preschooler, to ONE LUCKY WINNER!  If you purchase a copy of the book, you will be automatically entered to win…otherwise, you can fill out the contact form on my website for a free entry.

Please stop by tomorrow for Quotable Timeless Tuesdays.

Cinema Sundays: My Picks of Great Flicks: VIVA CUBA

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Mass-produced colour photolithography on paper...

Image via Wikipedia

Most countries and communities have emergency plans in place, but the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and their far-reaching effects on the rest of the world are natural disasters on such a large scale that they were impossible to plan for.  Japan, and the other areas affected, will have to accept help from many different countries and organizations in order to provide what is needed for the survivors and to make the cities habitable again.

Perhaps that is the silver lining in this cloud of disaster…perhaps, as Dr. Robert Schuller used to say, this is an opportunity for heroes to step up to turn “scars into stars”…a chance for neighbor to help neighbor and people who don’t know each other to become friends.

Friendship is my theme for this coming week…and my movie pick today is “VIVA CUBA”…a past winner of the Cannes Film Festival.

In VIVA CUBA, we have a modern-day Romeo and Juliet.  Filmed in Cuba, the 2005 movie is in Spanish, with English subtitles.  It tells the story of Malu, a young girl from an upper-class family and Jorgito, a boy whose parents are poor socialists, but proud of their family’s social standing.

When her mother decides to leave Cuba, Malu and Jorgita run away, trying to reach the other side of the island where Malu’s father lives.  They hope that he will refuse to grant permission for Malu and her mother to leave Cuba, therefore enabling Malu and Jorgito to remain friends.  When the children and all the parents are finally together however, the parents use the opportunity to continue arguing and fighting, ignoring the children and their concerns.

The film won 34 national and international awards and explores the question of emigration and the effects on children who have to leave friends and extended family behind.   I don’t think this is a “family” movie…but it is definitely a movie for parents.  In my opinion, this was the ultimate movie about friendship…but I think it is also a film with a wake-up call to parents who are separated, divorced or just not getting along.  When children are involved, we need to make them aware of what is going on (they already know much more than you think) and give them the opportunity to voice their questions and concerns.

We need to encourage our children are to offer their opinions and voice their questions and concerns without the fear of being judged or yelled at.  This builds their self-esteem and enables them to feel comfortable coming to us with their problems.  For 99 other gentle parenting tips like this one, please check out my new book, now on sale for HALF-PRICE on my website.  When you purchase a copy of the book, you are automatically entered in the drawing for a CRAFTY EASTER BASKET filled with craft supplies for your preschooler.  If you’d like to enter to win with purchasing, just fill out the contact form on my website.

Please stop by tomorrow for MAKE-A-MEAL MONDAYS.

Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian?

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Work with schools : a librarian's assistant te...

Image by New York Public Library via Flickr

Yesterday was a GREAT day!

Taylor School in Colorado Springs is a tucked away in a lovely residential neighborhood. 

As you enter the school, you hear the low hum of children, busy at their appointed tasks.

Smiling faces greet you in the office…these days security is an issue for every school, so visitors need to sign in and get a badge to wear.

I made my way to the first kindergarten class…actually 1½ classes…the teachers split up one of the classes so that every student in the three kindergarten classes can take part in the 2 back-to-back presentations.

  

The children were excited to hear about KATY AND THE BIG SNOW by Virginia Lee Burton.  Several of the children had already heard the story…some of them had the book at home.  But these classic picture books were written to be enjoyed over and over again.

It always amazes me how perceptive young children are.  I’ll share what one little girl said.  “Katy must have a really big gas tank because she plowed all day and still kept going.”  And one of the boys observed that the burning house was right in the path of a bunch of skiers and he hoped Katy would clear the road for the fire department really quickly.  How many adults would have seen that amidst the busy illustrations on that page?

The craft project consisted of drawing a picture of a street scene and then adding features like houses, trees, clouds, sun, people, and, of course, cotton-ball snow.  Watching young children work on a picture is a revelation in creativity.  Each child used the cotton balls in a different way…spread out, cut in little pieces, piled up on the sidewalk…some even put some on the house roofs.

I’m looking forward to next Thursday, when I visit with the kindergarteners at Taylor School again.

If you or anyone you know is looking for great picture book recommendations, please stop by my website: www.positiveparentalparticipation.com and take advantage of the wonderful half-price sale going on right now.  You can also qualify for a BONUS PRIZE of a Crafty Easter Basket filled with craft supplies for your preschoolers.  Purchasers of the book are automatically entered to win, but you can get a free entry by filling out the contact form on the website.