September 13, 2007

Time Out for Groceries!

You know you're a homeschool mom when you and the kids are starving, you find there's no (desireable) food in the fridge and you load up the kids in the car for a FIELDTRIP! We found our pantry shelves empty this morning so I dug around for something to throw at the kids for breakfast and then headed to our local Publix.

On the way there--not to waste our schoolday, you know--I had the girls make out our list of groceries. My house is full of persnickety and picky eaters so pretty much eat the same thing around here, so remembering what to buy isn't too hard--my cart has the same boring groceries in it week after week. I'd call a product and a girl would have to sound it out and write it down in her car notebook. (Each child has her own composition book for the car; that way we always have something to write on.) They each took their notebooks into the store and had to look for the item and write down the price. My shopping took a bit longer than usual, but the task kept the kids busy and their hands off every item on the candy isle! Besides they were so busy with writing they forgot to ask for the free cookie and the expensive juice boxes.

After we unpacked the bags at home, I grabbed a handful of change and sat down with each child to count out enough money to match the prices they recorded. So not only did they get to practice their phonics and listmaking, they then saw first-hand the value of money. I love real life opportunities! I just wish we didn't have to be so hungry to seize them.

1 comment:

C said...

Now that my kids are older, I also let them be a part of budgeting the grocery list. When we're at the store, there will be times that we will have to decide what to put back, what to keep, how to alter the list, etc., to stay within our weekly amount. It is FABULOUS! They're learning so much!