February Observations and Learning Opportunities

Cherry Month ~ LifeOfJoy.meFebruary is:

  • Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month
  • National Cherry Month
  • Grapefruit Month
  • Sweet Potato Month
  • Hot Breakfast Month
  • Bake for Family Fun Month
  • Barley Month
Next Week is:
  • National Pancake Week
  • National Date (fruit) Week
Fig Week ~ LifeOfJoy.me
I’ve never seen a fresh fig before. Hmm . . .
Individual Days:
  • National Gum Drop Day (15)Fat Tuesday ~ LifeOfJoy.me
  • National Almond Day (16)
  • International Pancake Day (17)
  • Chocolate Mint Day (19)

I always find it fun and interesting to see what foods are featured each month. You might try working them into your menu this month, who knows, maybe you’ll find a new food you or your children love.

If you aren’t in the habit of having a hot breakfast, you could give it a try one morning and see if it makes a difference for your family. Or you could make it as a special weekend treat. I like to make a hot family breakfast, ok brunch by the time I get around to it, a couple of Saturdays a month. Everyone is happy when I say, “I’m making ______ for breakfast.” As with most kids, mine love anything that involves syrup and because I want it to be healthier for them, I buy real maple syrup, not high fructose corn syrup, even though it is considerably more expensive.

I had fun researching this “Bake for Family Fun Month” observation. Turns out there is a really good ‘lesson plan’ over at the Home Baking Association‘s site, contributed by one of their members, Clabber Girl. The ‘lessons’ are broken into weeks but all the weeks appear to be available already at Clabber Girl. Domino Sugar has a nice informational page on baking with kids. If you are interested in finding more about Barley and maybe having some baking family fun with it this month, you can check out this site.

 

 Washington ~LifeofJoy.mePresidents Day (16th)

Monday is President’s Day. Brownielocks has a good webpage on the history of Presidents Day. The Washington Post posted some good information on the origins of Presidents Day last year and can be accessed here. The US Parks site has some good info too.

 Links for Learning
Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (17th)

As I mentioned before, I did not grow up celebrating Advent, Lent, Epiphany, or any other such thing. But as I learned about holidays as I homeschooled my children, I learned about them and found there were some good ideas to some of these observances.

Next Wednesday begins Lent, the season of fasting in preparation for the observance of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus. During Lent foods like meat, fats, eggs, milk, and fish were considered restricted. Thus to keep food from being wasted, they would have a feast to use up many of those items. According to ShareFaith.com,

The English tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday came about as a way to use as much milk, fats, and eggs as possible before Ash Wednesday began. In France, the consumption of all fats and fatty foods on this day coined the name “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras.

Lent Begins (18th)

It is hard to believe that as of next Wednesday, Easter will be just 6.5 weeks away. How will you prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus?

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Afiseaza emoticoanele Locco.Ro