Kitchen Table Learning

I love the kitchen. This week, as we sat at the breakfast table, suddenly a plump oppossum rolled out from under something (the compost? the flower pots? hard to say). He lumped along the sidewalk, across the alley and under our neighbor's deck. Only to emerge again a few minutes later. Out came the binoculars and books. We learned about the possum "playing dead" and decided that was a good tactic for dealing with conflict. (Someone might use that on her brother). We were surprised to see it out in the daytime and wondered if there were "day owls" -- possums that seem to be up at all hours of the day. With the binoculars out, the whole neighborhood suddenly became of interest -- spotting birds and squirrels and neighbors.

At that same kitchen table just yesterday, we had our math/science/home ec/art/etc class -- making rolls. The kids quickly took the whole thing over and I stepped out. The table was quickly covered with flour, tools, pans and rolls waiting for the oven:

The beauty of this project was in eating the results!