Life Skills update

Hello Parents! I just wanted to give you an update on the Life Skills class. In January, we did a unit on Etiquette (table manners, place settings, hats, introductions, classroom, misc). In February, one week we did a lesson on Measurements/Kitchen Conversion/Reading Recipes. The next week we put those skills to use and baked cookies. The following week we made homemade laundry detergent and used some consumer math to determine the cost per load of homemade detergent versus cost per load of store bought detergent. The last week of February we did some review of our consumer math and measurements/conversions. In March we will be doing a Consumer Economics unit. I had a sick child  today, so a substitute (thank you Mrs. Mong!) started the unit. I expect this unit to last through April 1st.

There will be a substitute in mid-April while I am on a missions trip in Africa. The class will work on some various cooking skills while I am gone. That leaves only two classes after I return.

There was a request for the homemade laundry detergent recipe. The first recipe is what we made in class, and the second recipe is a powdered recipe.

Recipe #1.
1 quart Water (boiling)
2 cups/1 Bar soap (grated) - we used Fels-Naptha in class, I've also used Ivory
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda
2 gallons Water

• Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until melted.
•  Pour the soapy water mixture into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir until all is dissolved.
• Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed. 
• Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (it will gel.)

Recipe #2
2 cups/1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap (finely grated, other bar soaps may work as well)
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

• Mix well (Kari Davis puts hers in the blender) and store in an airtight container.
• Use 2 Tablespoons per full load.

These recipes and more can be found at  http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/.


Let me know if you have any questions,

Jessica Weatherford

Life Skills

Learning home repair skills! Thank you Rich for helping out.

Cakes are finished

Great job!

Life Skills

The 7th and 8th graders got off to great start today decorating cupcakes. I wanted to introduce them to using marshmallow fondant. They learned it's very important to use shortening on their hands and and the counter because it is so sticky! They also learned that usually a little bit of gel coloring can go a long ways. We used buttercream frosting as our "glue" for the fondant to to stick to the cupcakes. We saw Pac-man, Captain America, an Angry Bird, some hearts, a star, and other design elements.

Next week they will begin working in teams as they plan their designs for the cakes they will be decorating. We will also talk through how to make rolled marshmallow fondant (they will get to do that the following week) and buttercream frosting. We won't need aprons next week, but they would be a good idea for following 3 weeks.

Jessica Weatherford