Banana Coconut Birthday Muffins!

We made these muffins for our birthday girls this month...

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil 
• 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon shredded coconut 
• 2 tablespoons currants

Preheat oven to 400° F 


Thoroughly grease a mini muffin tin.



Mix the first five ingredients together. 




Add the coconut flour, baking powder, cinnamon and shredded coconut and whisk together until smooth.




Spoon into into muffin cups.



Bake at 400° for 10 to 12 minutes.

After cooling, frost muffins with cashew cream and decorate with banana hats, currants, colored icing, or fresh fruit:

In the garden we discovered a teeny tiny baby snail,

newborn broccoli,

a zesty daikon sprout,

and a Texas Spiny Lizard!

We turned a simple Valentine craft into a Montessori inspired activity with multidimensional levels of learning!

We presented the tongs, beads, and sorting tray in a left-to-right order.  Materials in Montessori Education are presented in this order as an indirect preparation for reading and writing. 

The kids sorted the beads by color with the tongs. Sorting has so many wonderful cognitive benefits for kids as they learn to classify, evaluate, and concentrate.

“The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.” – Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child

They also loved creating their own sensory experience by playing with the beads in their fingers and hearing the sounds that the falling beads make.

We used the Montessori technique of 'analysis of movement'; when we are demonstrating a skill we break it down into clear simple steps.

"…the adult should be calm and act slowly so that all the details of his action may be clear to the child who is watching." – Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood

The kids were given the freedom to design their own hearts or try out a guided pattern or sequence of colors.

In Yoga class we are expanding on our 'blooming flower' sequence to include Spanish instruction:

"Florita, florita, porque eres chiquita?
Little flower, little flower, why are you so small?

"Crece, crece, crece
Grow, grow, grow"

"Florita, florita, la vida es bonita.
Little flower, little flower, life is beautiful.

We have been studying Vincent Van Gogh by looking at the book 'Vincent's Colors' and learning how the artist loved bright colors...

then we create our own art with our own choice of colors and techniques:

The kids created this collaborative pastel piece and when asked to describe their work they said:

"the blue is water"
"the orange is clouds"
"and the green is peppermint"

Mama Dita taught us how to make chapatis!

We have been reading the wonderful classic, Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran. Roxaboxen is an imaginary town built by children in early 20th century Yuma, Arizona.  

The kids love this book and created their own Roxaboxen in the backyard.

Here's a lovely shopkeeper selling ice cream cones:

A grocer selling carrots:

Our town mayor at City Hall:

And the Doctor is open and ready for patients:

Making lunch!  Bean and cheese tacos with avocado are a favorite.

We love bubbles!