Today I made Butter from scratch!

For the past week I have been learning about farming.  I have visited the local mart during a livestock auction, visited an open farm with a shop selling locally produced foods and I've studied a variety of topics related to farm life.  One of the topics was the production and processing of milk.  As an extension of this lesson, today I made butter from scratch.

My Dad grew up on a farm in the midlands and Nana used to make butter using a rotary churn like this one

I looked up how to make butter at home on the internet and found a tutorial that showed me how to do it using a Kitchen Aid (electrical mixer).

• I used 500ml of full cream and whisked it on full speed for about 3 minutes.  You can see the fat starting to separate at this point.  
• I drained off the 'buttermilk' (which I'm going to use to make pancakes tomorrow morning)
• Then I started the process of 'rinsing the butter' with ice cold water.  It took us 3 rinses to ensure that the water ran clear off the butter.  
• Once this was done, I squeezed any excess water out of the butter with my spatula.
• Then took it out of the bowl to shape it on a board.  
• I wrapped it in baking parchment and made a little label before sealing it in a container in the fridge.  
• My homemade butter will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. 

You can follow me making the butter on my instagram stories @kids_homeschool-life 

I really enjoyed this activity and will definitely make butter again.  I like understanding where my food comes from.  I'm going to melt some and have it on my pancakes with lemon and sugar tomorrow morning.   My next lesson is researching how to make cheese.  I think my grandad Dan (who was a farmer and died when Dad was my age) and my Nana would be proud of me.

My Dad, me and Nana having my first football birthday cake in Nana's farmhouse kitchen

My Homeschool Learning and Classroom

How do I learn every day and what does my homeschool classroom look like?

I do a combination of 'classroom' based homeschooling and out & about schooling.  We follow a timetable and typically work from 9.30am to 3pm with a lunch break.  We have at least one day or part day out and about each week - visiting somewhere or doing something educational.  If it's really sunny (rare in Ireland), we head out somewhere.  Every day, I learn English, Maths, Irish and depending on the day, I might be doing science, French, geography, history, life skills, business, P.E., Art, project work or an online course. 

My classroom is my parent's home office where I have my own desk and all my 'school' stuff.  Either my mum or my dad works alongside me depending on which one is working from home that day but it's mostly my mum.  My mum is the one who teaches me but when she is working, my Dad helps me with my work too.  Crosby, my dog, is also usually at my feet as I work.

My homeschool classroom set up

Here's a rundown of what I do for each subject...

Maths
For maths, I follow the same curriculum as any other 5th class student for Maths.  Every morning I do some mental maths either in Mata Meabhrach 5 (Mental Maths) or New Wave Mental Maths 5.  I learn new topics through Magic Maths 6 and Help Your  Kid with Maths by Carol Vorderman.  I also use different websites to practise maths such as IXL.com, mathisfun.com and smartlearningforall.com

English
I read a different novel every fortnight.  I just finished A Wrinkle in Time and we are just about to start The Diary of Anne Frank.  I also attend a Junior Book Club in the local library.  I love reading.
I do lots of different creative writing using storybird and a cool book called "Writing Prompts for the Creative Scribe" and LOTS of grammer worksheets because my Mom is obsessed with good grammer.  For National Poetry Day, we studied Digging by Seamus Heaney because last week we were on a 'Farm' theme.

Irish and French
I learn French using a workbook, activity sheets, vocab games and Duolingo.  I also have a penpal in Paris and we exchange postcards regularly.  For Irish, I use books Cliste and Gleasnotaí, Duolingo, TG4 and worksheets.  I also speak Irish with my brother who goes to school in a meánscoil.  I recently started going to an Irish language youth club locally.

Science, History, Geography
I learn these subjects through project work and depending on the theme of the week.  For example, last week was 'Farming' so we've watched RTÉ's Big Week on the Farm daily, visited the local Mart to watch a livestock auction, visited a local farm shop, learned about Milk and Cheese production, completed the Agri Kids farm safety programme, made butter at home and even my maths and poetry was farm themed.   This week is a Maritime theme so we visited Arklow Maritime Museum and I'm learning about the history of ship building, the life of the fisherman, sailing technology and the RNLI.
I've done projects on Barcelona and Berlin ahead of trips there.  I've studied the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks.  Next up is Russia.

P.E. and Art
I do a lot of sports so it's easy to cover P.E.  I do soccer training twice a week, badminton and swimming once a week.  For P.E. during 'school' hours, I sometimes go for a walk/run with my mum in a forest, on a beach or in a park.  Recently I used an obstacle course and go-kart track at a farm.

I do online courses through the library and free MOOCS.  I mostly use my iPad with a wireless keyboard and we use a shared Google Sheet to communicate the timetable and any links or instructions for each subject.

An 'Out and About' day homeschooling

I really like the flexibility of homeschooling.  Although we do follow a timetable and we learn in our 'homeschool' classroom, we can choose what to do any day depending on the weather or if something interesting has come up.  For example, I recently discovered a robin's nest and watched an egg hatch live.  We were able to research robins and learn about that instead of what was planned that day.  I like choosing my novels and having a say in what I learn.  My favourite part of the week is our outing day.  I think I'm a hands-on person and much prefer being active. 
I'd love to hear from other homeschoolers and how you learn.

Sea Life Bray

This month I've been learning about Oceans and Seas using various internet resources and this book and then I completed a quiz on Kahoot which my mum created based on the book. 
On our outing day, we drove to Bray to visit Sealife and as it was pouring rain it was the perfect day for it.  It was my first time to visit the marine sanctuary and education centre which is on Bray Seafront.  There is a scratch-quiz for children to do while touring the exhibits which is good for encouraging children to read the information posts.  I got to touch a Starfish in the touch pool which felt far more spikey than I imagined it would!  There is a great variety of sea creatures including jellyfish in a cool light display tank, turtles, squid, lobsters, stingray, sharks and some recognisable 'characters' from kids movies such as Nemo!  My favourite creatures were the seahorses which were so cute.  There are feedings on the hour and a tour guide explains some interesting facts about the fish she is feeding.  The guides were really friendly and available to answer any questions along the route.  I really enjoyed the visit and would definitely recommend a visit to Sealife.  We had a lovely coffee and a muffin in Fimbees café next door and Bray Seafront is perfect for a walk or beachcombing.  You can walk around to the harbour to see the swans or up Bray Head or along the Cliff Walk towards Greystones.  The DART station is a stone's throw away and the train journey to Bray in either direction is particularly scenic.