Schooling in the Kitchen–Pizza with Homemade Whole Wheat Crust!

DAY 2

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway this week, and visit some of the other TOS blogs linked below!

First off let me say the SECRET to successfully cooking in the kitchen with kids is BE PREPARED!!  Have all the ingredients and supplies out.  We like to use our kitchen table (since our kitchen is so small), I pull out everything that we will be using and put it on the table so I have it all right there.  Tragedy strikes if ever I have to turn my back to grab something! 
Making Pizza dough is a great science experiment as well as a yummy snack!
Here is what you’ll need:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 T sugar
1 pkg yeast (or 2 1/4 t)
3 T olive or vegetable oil
1 c very warm water
I use my bread maker….but here are the instructions to make it by hand:
Mix 1 c of the flour, the sugar, salt  and yeast in large bowl.  Add 3 T oil and the warm water.  Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 min, scraping bowl frequently.  Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of bowl.  Place dough on lightly floured surface.  Kneed 5 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30min.
Heat oven to 425F.  Divide the dough and let the kids form their pizza shapes.  Partially bake for  7-8mins or until crust just begins to brown.  Add toppings and bake for 8-10 mins or until cheese is melted.  (this makes a thinner crust pizza).
I provide little bowls with the toppings in them and spoons for my kids to put their own pizzas together.  The possibilities are endless…you could make Hawaiian style pizzas with BBQ sauce, ham and pineapple.  Traditional pepperoni pizzas, the works, etc….  Make faces, or other themes.  Or just provide a variety of choices and let your kids imaginations run wild! 
For the science portion – Talk about the changes that take place in the dough, Check out this neat experiment that blows up a balloon with yeast!  They can hypothesize or make observations on a science journal page. 
For more fun BREAD TYPE projects, check out BOUNTIFUL BREADS Unit Study by Amanda Bennett.   She has lots of YUMMY Kitchen units like Chocolate Challenge, Crunchy Cookies, Hoppin’ Popcorn and Pizza Party!

Titanic Unit Study Resources - Delight Directed Teaching

It only makes sense, kids learn best when they are interested! So, first figure out what your child is interested in – then build on it!

This is how we made our lessons plans when I taught preschool, it was so much fun and the kids enjoyed it so much.  Learning becomes so much more fun when it’s hand’s on and something they are interested in! 

My son is really into Titanic, so I have been piecing together a unit study that embraces his interests and builds on them!

Here is the book that started it all -




With the internet so readily available, building unit studies on a particular topic are so easy!  It just takes a little bit of time, google searching and Pinterest (are you not on Pinterest?  I highly suggest it, it’s a homeschoolers best friend! It’s great for all the different ideas you find for different units)

FIRST -  gather a wide variety of reading materials. 
In this case I found books about Titanic.  (you can choose to get these from your library, or buy them.  I prefer to buy them, because I know my son will revisit them again and again). 
Where to buy books?  I have many go to places for books, the first place I always check is paperbackswap.com, even if you don’t have credit’s you can purchase them for a reasonable price, and shipping is FREE!  I also frequent Amazon, Ebay and of course, Usborne Books.  I found a wide variety of literature and other items available – here are a few:



both of these are available through Usborne Books


Okay, you probably do not need so many, but I have a book addiction…can you tell? 

SECOND – find video resources online via youtube, netflix, hulu or DVDs.
My son is also really into Lego’s and has been wanting to build a Lego Titanic.  I found this video on youtube that if slowed down…..gives a great step by step to a fairly simple build.  I also found this FREE ipad app called Building the Titanic

THIRD – find printable materials or guides available online.  It’s nice to make your own too, but it can save you a lot of time if you see what is out there already to use!  A lot of these resources are FREE, which is twice as nice!

This is where Pinterest comes in!  Make a folder to pin all the great things you find! 
Check out my SUMMER FUN UNITS Board. In addition to Titanic items, you’ll also find Pearl Harbor here.  I plan to do two extended unit studies (one of each) this summer.

FOURTH – Find hands on projects.   Chances are you will have come across some in steps 2 and 3, but just in case…make a point of finding at least a few projects to go with your theme.  I found this one on Amazon for just under $5. 

FIFTH – make sure as many subjects are covered as possible!  If you are doing a unit study you want to cover a wide range of subjects, particularly Science, History, Language Arts - (Spelling, Writing),Geography, etc..  If you can throw Math in there to, do it!   I like to make a list by subject and write in what we are doing for each one, to make sure it’s all covered.
Here are a few premade unit study planners you can print off -

The Homeschool Mom
Donna Young
Mobile Secular Homeschoolers
Successful Homeschooling

The hardest part is weeding through all the finds to see what you like (and what your kids will like) best! 

Use your child’s interests to your advantage!

Of course there are many great already made unit studies you can find on the web, particularly those by Amanda Bennett!  (we use those too!)  But, with just a little bit of leg work, you can come up with one of your own, tailored for your own children to their delight! 

*(This post contains affiliate links)

READS Parent/Child Reading Comprehension System–TOS Review

Ever wonder if there was a curriculum out there to help with COMPREHENSION?  How can you measure whether or not your child is understanding what they are reading? 

EGM Educational Systems, LLC has a great program called READS Parent/Child Reading Comprehension System that can help in just that!

This product includes:

• READS Parent’s Manual – Easy to follow step by step instructions for parents
• Question Cards and ring – Includes30 question cards
• Rewards Chart & Stickers – includes suggestions for appropriate rewards when reading goals are met
• Magic Finger and Reading Guide Strip – Makes keeping your place as you read fun!
• Speedy Speller – A small book with words listed in ABC order to use as a quick reference when writing

• Reusable Storage Pouch

The cost of this product is $19.95 and is designed for children grades 1-4.

How we used the product and what we think:

I put the question cards in his reading workbox with a variety of books for him to choose from to read.  He picked a question card, showed me his card, then went to read for a minimum of 15 minutes (sometimes he read longer).  Then he would come back and we would discuss the question in regards to what he just read. 

Some examples of the question cards he picked are:

Why did you pick this book to read?
Tell me something you read that was interesting.
Describe your favorite character.
Tell or draw about what you pictured in your mind while you were reading.

The Speedy Speller also came in handy for writing assignments, he did not have to ask me how to spell every word (like he usually does, which also discourages him from writing).  He could look up the words he did not know how to spell very easily!

My son did not enjoy using the other items, they were more of a distraction to him; though they could be great tools. The finger and reading guide strip are great for helping your reader keep track of where they are reading.

The parent guide is a very useful resource as well.  It gives explanations for the questions included in the kit, just in case you or your child are not clear exactly what the question is asking.

The READS program helped to give my son some independence in his reading assignments, which helped to free me up for work with my other children.  It helped to open up conversation about the book he was reading.  It helped to give him independence in his writing (and confidence). 

I highly recommend this product!  It’s not just a homeschool product; It’s great for public school children too.  You can use any book with it, so it is very versatile.  You can limit which cards you want your child to choose from or let them pick from them all.  For $19.95, this product is very affordable and a great addition to your reading program.  We will continue to use this product for sure!