Beautiful Apple Picture Books & Seasonal Baked Apples
September is “Apple Fall” and Apple Fall means: apple crafts, apple sensory bins, and beautiful apple picture books! Even though Miss Mouse is bigger and we don’t do themed months quite the same way we did for preschool, we still honor the rhythms of the seasons in our daily life. And beautiful books are one of my favorite ways to do so. And I mean I really do love beautiful books. The cover, design, style, illustrations — those things draw me in before anything else. So of course we will start there. {This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only share books and resources I genuinely think are worth sharing.} Beautiful “Apple” Picture Books I love keeping good, lovely, beautiful books on our shelves — books with a good story, lovely language, beautiful pictures, and a heartfelt message. These are the backbone of our personal library. But I also enjoy books that make you think, wonder or learn something new. So we also have books that help you learn about things: directly or indirectly. So we also have books that teach us about the apples themselves, their life cycle, their uses. Learning through stories is so much nicer than learning strictly through textbooks. Lovely Books for Learning About Apples But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the third type of lovely books we have on our shelf: the fun books. The silly books we read for fun because everything doesn’t have to be turned into a lesson. The enjoyable books that maybe sneak in a little learning with rhyming or counting, but aren’t expected to teach a lesson. I’ve been that mom who tried to make every fun thing teach a lesson as if we couldn’t have fun just for fun’s sake. But I don’t follow that line of thinking anymore. I still love living books, and I’m still not a fan of “twaddle,” but there are plenty of fun reads that are worth our time. Simply Fun Apple-Themed Stories And now that we’ve talked about apples, learned about apples, and looked at even more apples — we have to wrap up with a simple baked apple recipe your kids can almost make by themselves (because that’s how we do things here.) So make a cup of apple cinnamon or Winter Spice tea and light your apple-pie-scented candle because I have just the recipe you’re looking for. Easy Baked Apples for Kids Before you begin, choose six firm small apples, wash them, and core them. (I’m using Pink Lady.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and grab your supplies: Directions: Let your child arrange the apples in the baking dish in a tight formation. Ask your child to press a small chunk of cold butter into the core of each apple. Have them next add a small spoon of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the middle of each apple. Let them finish with the filling/topping additions of choice, finishing off with a drizzle of syrup. Add a splash of water to the dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the apples are soft and fork tender. After baking, let the apples cool enough before eating. Place an apple on each plate, spoon a drizzle of the sauce from the bottom of the baking dish onto your apple. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy! P.S. Don’t worry too much about exact measurements here. A little butter, a little sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon is part of what makes this such an easy recipe for little hands to help with. I set out the supplies and let Little Miss Mouse assemble everything herself. The only thing I needed to do was core the apples and operate the oven. Mom’s Cozy Corner Moms get to enjoy Apple Fall, too, right? While at the library with Miss Mouse, I popped over to find a couple of apple themed books for myself. I found an Apple Valley novel called “The Cottage on the Corner” and a historical fiction called “Beneath the Apple Leaves” by Harmony Verna. As soon as I got home, I made a cup of spice tea and dug into the first one. I finished it in three days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Modeling reading physical books is one of the ways I encourage a love of reading with my kids. Reading with a cuppa tea is how I model the “enjoying” part. =) My current fave is a blend by Twinings called Winter Spice, and I also enjoy a good cup of regular apple cinnamon tea. Life with perimenopause has taught me that my nervous system needs these “slow down” signals – and watching our kids grow up in this busy world has made it clear that our kids need those, too. Let’s teach our children how to enjoy a slow moment with a good book.
Why I Homeschool: The Real Reason
What Are We Aiming For? When I was learning how to drive a car, I developed a bad habit of looking at the road immediately in front of the hood. As I focused hard on the line to the left and the shoulder to the right, I ended up bouncing back and forth between the two, overcorrecting with micro adjustments constantly. The harder I focused, the more I weaved left and right, pin-balling between the lines – I couldn’t keep it steady. My dad taught me to lift my gaze up ahead, focusing farther down the road instead of right in front of the car. Amazingly, when I shifted my focus farther ahead and kept the lines in my peripheral vision instead, I held steady between them without looking directly at them. My dad taught me the value of focusing your eyes on where you’re headed, to hold steady on the way. Heart & Soul Too often as parents and homeschoolers, we develop the same bad habits. We focus on the milestones and the guidelines, overcorrecting this and micro-adjusting that, and (exhausted) we pinball down the road only looking at what is directly in front of us. “Following the guidelines” is not the destination. As parents, our “finish line” is much farther ahead. All of the milestones and guidelines are aiming us at that goal line (raising tiny people into full grown people) and THAT is where we must focus as we travel this road. We are aiming beyond the academics. We are aiming for their hearts and souls. Why I Homeschool First, what I’m **not** doing. I don’t homeschool because I didn’t have a good public school experience, or because I don’t like our local public school, out of fear, or out of pride. In fact, I had a great school experience, we have a wonderful local school system, I know that homeschooling doesn’t eliminate fear, and I’m too well aware of my faults to be too proud. Rather, I homeschool because the childhood years shape so much more than academics. And I don’t mean just the preschool and kindergarten years – I’m talking birth to adulthood. All the childhood years. Childhood is where so much of who we become begins to take shape. It’s where we learn how to work hard and how to rest, how to handle disappointment, how to treat people who frustrate us, how to see ourselves, how to make decisions, and what we believe is true and worth pursuing. It’s where character is practiced, values become convictions, and faith moves from something we’ve been told into something we have to wrestle with and eventually own for ourselves. What does the have to do with homeschooling? Everything. Now don’t get me wrong. I am NOT saying that publicly schooled kids won’t develop these skills, or their parents won’t be able to teach this things, or that homeschooling is the only way. What I AM saying is that character, heart, soul,.. these things are taught through a lot of time and proximity – and having your kids away at school all day only makes it more challenging. Not impossible, just harder. On the flip side: I am also NOT saying that homeschooling is easy, or makes training your kids hearts and minds easier. I’m only saying that it gives you more time and proximity. Homeschooling provides an opportunity to pour into your child’s education with more than simply academics. For me personally, I want more opportunities than what I would get at breakfast and dinner. One day my kids will move out (two of them already have) and I know that my one on one time is limited. I feel the clock ticking. I just simply don’t want to share my time with the public school. The Real Reason I Homeschool Aim and release. In archery, the first thing an archer does is take his stance, planting his feet and positioning his body toward the target. He nocks the arrow and sets his grip — firm, but not too tight. He raises the bow, draws the string steadily, and finds his anchor: that familiar, consistent place he returns to each time he draws. Then he fixes his eyes on the target. He breathes. And he releases. Parenting feels a lot like that to me. We take our stance. We decide where we stand and what we believe. We hold our children firmly, but not so tightly that we forget they were never ours to control. We anchor ourselves again and again in the truths and values we want to pass down. And through all of the lessons and milestones and ordinary days, we keep our eyes on where we’re aiming. Because eventually, we release. That’s the real reason I homeschool. Not for targets or guidelines or goals. Not for test scores or perfection. I homeschool for my kids. For the precious years I have to teach them, know them, guide them, and prepare them for the day when my job is no longer to hold the bow. My legacy. My arrows. What are you aiming for?
Think You Are Behind on Homeschooling? Think Again.
You’re Not Behind There’s a quiet fear that sneaks in on homeschool moms — often unannounced, uninvited. We start feeling behind on homeschooling. It sounds like this: We should be doing more. Everyone else is ahead. What if I’m missing something important? . . . “IS MY CHILD BEHIND?” It usually shows up when you scroll.Or when someone casually mentions what their child can already do.Or when a birthday passes and the expectations feel heavier than they did last year. Dear one: You are not behind. The Myth of the Invisible Timeline Somewhere along the way, motherhood and education were assigned an invisible clock.A checklist that no one remembers agreeing to but everyone feels measured by. But children aren’t checklists. And learning is not a race with a starting gun. Especially in the early years. Especially with gentle homeschooling. The truth is: much of what we call “being behind” is simply being different. Different temperaments. Different seasons. Different needs. Different rhythms. Every child is different. Different is not deficient. Learning Happens in Layers, Not Lines Gentle learning doesn’t move in straight lines. It spirals. A child may: What looks like nothing happening is often deep internal work. There are roots growing. And don’t you know that roots always grow underground first? Presence Over Performance If your days include: You’re not wasting time. You’re building the very foundation that learning stands on. Children are naturally curious in their preschool and kindergarten years and they just need a guide. Your child needs you more than curriculum. Connection before content.Security before skill.Wonder before worksheets. This isn’t delay. This is beautiful by design. As the one who sets the pace and tempo and checkpoints for your home, you’re designing the learning environment piece by piece. Faithfulness Looks Small (and That’s Okay) Faithfulness in these years often looks unimpressive by the world’s standards. It looks like: The world often measures progress by quick results. Scripture reminds us that fruit grows slowly—and quietly. And it grows best when it’s rooted, not rushed. Tending your child’s heart and mind in the early years is a lot like growing fruit: slow and steady, with love and care, patience and time. Even the child who makes intuitive leaps quickly or grasps new concepts readily will only flourish all the more when given space to do so. If You Need a Reframe Today Here it is: You are not behind on homeschooling. You are growing, becoming, learning. Your child is unfolding, blossoming, reaching. Learning is happening in ways you won’t even fully recognize until later. Gentle education is not about getting ahead. It’s about staying aligned: with your child, your values, the season you’re in. So take a breath. release unnecessary expectations, and trust that God is at work in the slow, faithful days. You’re not behind on homeschooling. You’re just where you need to be. God bless.