here comes charlie

it's the language arts lessons and the day in and day out math exercises and the phonograms and flashcards and the handwriting practice; those are what make up the majority of our homeschool days.  and they are necessary and important and honestly a bit mundane.  but then there is homeschool magic.  moments when you feel like you've nailed it; you hit a homeroom; you got a win.

our big homeschool win for the fall happened quite unplanned.  this was not in my great big homeschool notebook, this was not one of many ideas pinned on pinterest.  we just sort of stumbled upon it.  so i get no credit here.  i'm so thankful for the chance to learn this way right along side my kiddos.

so, it all started where most good homeschool stories start, at the library. ;)  i was browsing the  j-easy chapter books and came across a section of books written by roald dahl and my eye caught an old tattered version of charlie and the chocolate factory.  i didn't read this as a kid, but i did watch and love (and was a little creeped out by) the movie.  so we checked it out and i decided i would start reading it to the kids at lunch.

turns out that charlie and the chocolate factory is an absolutely fantastic read aloud.  so many adjectives and so silly and an absolute blast to read.  we were in the middle of it when it was time for us to head to ben and sarah's wedding in kansas city and we read chapter after chapter in the car.  the kids just wanted me to read "one more" the whole way.  so fun.  so then we finished it and had a family movie night with the old classic version.  and then i found out that patsy's candies does free tours of their factory and we went on a tuesday and had an absolute ball and tried lots of free samples and watched them mix raspberries into white chocolate and watched the old, OLD machines push and grab and shape and wrap little chocolate bites.  it was just wonderful.

 one of their original taffy pulls.  over 100 years old. 

we had to wear hair nets before we went into the factory.

they got to pick out a patsy's treat before we left. 

and then i found a mom who had created an entire literacy packet to go with this book that has wiggled it's way into our hearts.  and avery has had a ball creating her own little book that goes along with the story.  she's researched the author and made a vocab flip book and even created her own candy invention. here is the link to that packet, she did a fantastic job putting it together. 

oh and we also made those no bake chocolate bites.  you know the ones where you melt cocoa powder and sugar and vanilla and stir and watch it start to bubble before adding the oatmeal. ;)

it was such a sweet few weeks. in more ways than one. ;)